August 27, 2020
Dear Middle School Parents,
We are thrilled to have our students back on campus and continue to remain vigilant in practice of our protocols and procedures to ensure student and adult safety and well being. I recently completed a COVID-19/contact tracing course taught by Emily S. Gurley, Ph.D of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. This course has helped me to better understand the disease from its origination and ways to prevent the spread of the infection. Also, this course has allowed me the opportunity as a reflective practitioner to examine my own practices and how my choices could affect others.
At assembly and advisory, I will be speaking to the Prep students about my experience, the successes of our first week and a half of school, and ways we can continue to operate safely and joyfully. Goal IV of a Sacred Heart education is building community as a Christian value, and the question that keeps coming to mind is “How do we build community when we can’t be within 6 feet of each other and are masked to prevent the spread of COVID-19?” As a community, we are finding ways to build community, while practicing safe distancing. We are attending classes together, laughing together, eating lunch in community spaces and praying together daily. So, what can we do to continue this work once we leave our school?
We must always remember that our decisions impact the safety of others, and in order to maintain a safe community we must follow the protocols and procedures our state has set forth.
- We should practice social distancing on weekends and after school.
- We should stay home if we have symptoms of illness or fever.
- We should support each other by reminding our friends to wear masks correctly.
- We should postpone our birthday parties, gatherings and slumber parties to a time which is safer to gather in numbers.
Each student will also participate in a self-reflection on the first week and a half of school and ways she can personally improve in following the guidelines and protocols in or out of school. At the conclusion of our reflection time, we will use the “I Like, I Wish, What if” method to gather feedback on the first week and a half of learning inside the gates. We will also gather feedback on ways to help our community when not on campus. The feedback will be included in our weekly newsletter, In the Middle.
I invite you to reflect as a family on the ways you can support our efforts to stay healthy, stay safe and stay in school. Your partnership and family commitments are key to keeping our community safe and our school in session.
Sincerely,
Laurie Friedrichs
Middle School Division Head
