Greetings SPN Families,
Two weeks from tomorrow is the first day of school at Saint Philip Neri! Enthusiasm for the 2022-23 school year is building each day as we near August 24th. We are looking forward to meeting our new families at the welcome events planned for new students on August 13th and 18th.
Our school community's health and safety are paramount in preparing for our return to school. We are happy to hear that Alameda County is currently experiencing a decline in COVID-19 cases. We will continue to follow COVID safety provisions which have proved vital to maintaining student and staff wellness.
In order to ensure a safe return to school, we ask that you do the following any time you attend a school event, on or off campus, and certainly for the first day of school and for the school year.
- At this time, masks are optional for indoors and outdoors, except for those who have been exposed to COVID. We will keep you updated if this requirement changes. KN95 masks or the equivalent in design are recommended for best protection. Should students experience a COVID exposure at school, masks will be required for the quarantine period.
- If your family and/or your student(s) have been traveling, we highly recommend that you test for COVID when you return. We are not mandating testing at this point, but do recommend it. If you need a test for your student, you may pick one up (one per student) in the Office prior to August 24th.
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Please continue to conduct The Daily Health Screening.
- If symptoms are evident, please do not come to school or the school event. Students will also be sent home if symptoms develop onsite. On school days, phone the school office to inform us, and we will help you track the symptoms. If symptoms persist, COVID testing may be necessary.
- If your student has been directly exposed to COVID, please phone the school office to inform us, and please have the student wear a mask when indoors while you monitor for symptoms for at least 5 days. Attendance at school or school events, while masked, may occur during this time as long as no symptoms occur.
In addition to the practices above, our COVID mitigation efforts include ventilation in classrooms and other indoor gathering spaces, hand hygiene, and sanitizing and cleaning facilities daily. With everyone’s cooperation, we can make this a safe return to school.
Campus and school safety are also a high priority. As a reminder, during school hours (8:30 a.m.-3:10 p.m.), all of our exterior doors will be locked, including the front door. Please try to minimize avoidable reasons to use the front door during school hours (i.e. dropping off lunches and other items for students, tardy students, appointments, etc.).
Finally, the national teacher shortage that's been reported in the news recently is also affecting SPN. We are currently actively searching for an Eighth grade Homeroom/middle school English Language Arts teacher. The Vice Principal, Mr.Toner, and I will fill in for these positions until a permanent replacement can be found. In all things, I trust that God provides for us what we need. I am also an advocate of word of mouth and personal connections. I am asking you all to please pray for a qualified teacher for our wonderful middle school students. If you know of anyone who might be a good fit for this position, please send her/him our way.
Looking forward to welcoming everyone back to school. Until we see each other, stay safe and well.
Warmly,
Julie Thomas
