Dear St. Charles Parents,
We had a great first day of school! I’m very proud of our students, staff, and parents. Thank you for your support and partnership.
In the year ahead, there will likely be disruptions due to the pandemic. Many of the potential disruptions are detailed in our preparedness plans located here. In addition to the potential for student or grade level quarantine periods, we could end up in a situation where we have a shortage of substitute teachers. If this case arises, a grade level cohort may have to distance learn for a period of time. Another potential disruption is excessive heat and humidity. We may have to shorten or cancel a school day due to excessive heat. We have not done this in the past, but at this time we have students wearing masks.
As you can see, the “what ifs” can go on forever. You can count on our staff to put our students first while putting one foot in front of the other to do our best each day to make disciples of Jesus Christ who strive for excellence in faith, virtue, service, and academics. We will rely on your prayers, cooperation, and support throughout this school year.
Here are some communication bullets:
- Please be diligent about keeping your children home if they have any symptoms and call our school office. We will guide you through the process. There is also a flow chart that reflects recent updates in the MDH decision tree. We will be following this flow chart, and we want to make it available to our parents so you understand what we are using to guide our decisions.
- We will not have students bring birthday food treats to school this year. If you choose, your child may bring a pencil or some other small item that they can share with classmates. The items will need to be sprayed with sanitizer before being distributed, so keep that in mind.
- We will be limiting the number of grade level cohorts to 2 in the cafeteria, one on each side. This means that some cohorts will eat lunch in their classroom or outside on certain days. Students will not need to remember their lunch pin numbers. Our attendant, Mr. Carpenter, will enter all lunch pins.
- Plan on less paper and assignments coming home this year. To reduce the potential for spreading germs, teachers may not return lower level practice assignments.
- When we begin going to Mass this year during the second week of school, students will not be able to go and sit with their parents. We will have an area reserved for each class that meets distancing standards.
- Please have your children bring a full water bottle to school each day. Drinking fountains are disabled, only the bottle fillers are functional. We will provide paper cups for students who forget their water bottle.
- Please remember that St. Charles is a “Nut Aware” campus. This means that we keep our students with allergies safe by not bringing items that contain peanuts or tree nuts. Alternatives to peanut butter include Wow Butter and Sun Butter.
- Please make sure your child is wearing a mask before they enter the building. This will be a requirement every day until further notice. Please remind your children to keep distance between themselves and other people. Have them practice long distance air high fives.
- Arrival: Please begin dropping students off at 7:30 AM. The first bell is 7:40, and the tardy bell is 7:45. As we work out how long it takes to admit all of our students, we will adjust the tardy bell. To begin the year, students will not be marked tardy while the drop-off process is going on.
- Dismissal: Please begin arriving at 2:30 for dismissal. We will begin releasing students at 2:40 and believe the process will be complete and you will be on your way by 3:00. Walkers will be dismissed at 2:40.
Thank you for your support and God bless you,
Danny Kieffer
St. Charles Principal
