Monday, March 16, 2020

Dear SJS families,

We have a lot of important information to share, please read this entire email:

Materials Pickup & Drop-off

*Excluded from this is Kindergarten and 4th grade who already have everything they need*

As noted in yesterday’s email – a parent or guardian should come by the school to pick up a packet and/or books at the following times:

**TODAY – Monday, March 16th from 3:00pm – 6:00pm

**Tuesday, March 17th from 9:00am – 12:00pm 

All 8th grade students must turn in their research paper at one of these two drop off dates.

For anyone who was Absent on Thursday, these are the pickup times for your child’s materials as well.

Pickup/drop-off of assignments will be in the BREEZEWAY LOT only.  Please do not buzz into the school.

 

Office Hours

As of right now, the school will answer phone calls M-F between the hours of 9am and 1pm.  No parents, students, or teachers will be allowed in the school.

 

Distance Learning

Teaching will continue via distance learning.  All students are expected to keep up with their studies.
For grades K-4, your child’s teachers will email you daily as to what work should be completed and also will give you information about some online platforms that may assist your child in enrichment activities.

 

For grades 5-8, your child’s teachers will post assignments daily in Google Classroom.  All students will have daily required assignments that must be turned in by a time that will be communicated from your child’s teacher.  Please note, the Google Classroom servers are going to be exceptionally busy.  If your child gets a note that the server is unavailable, they should shut down and wait a bit (particularly today).

Illness

If your child is ill during these days and unable to complete their daily lessons, you must email lsager@saintjamesschool.net so we can record their absence.  Teachers will be notified of their absence and know not to expect the work that day.  However, the work will need to be completed and handed in asap.

 

Other Important Notes:

*This plan is in place until March 27th and we will communicate as we have information to share.

*For activities that we needed to cancel (basketball banquet, father/son event) we will return your money when students come back to school.  We are still deciding if the Soiree will be held at a later date.

*During this time that teachers and students are not allowed in the building, the entire school will be disinfected and cleaned.

*We still have a deadline to order yearbooks of Friday, March 20th.  If possible, please order online.  The website and school code are on the order form your child brought home last week.  Online orders are being accepted until April 6th.  If you are unable to order online, please bring your order form to school during today or tomorrow’s breezeway pickup times.  Or, mail it to the school so it will be here by Friday.  Questions can be directed to our volunteer yearbook coordinator Mrs. St. Jean at lstjean@saintjamesschool.net

*Book & Art Club will be rescheduled for when we return

*The soccer season is on hold for now

*At this time, there has not been a change to our 8th grade graduation date, but we will update you immediately if this changes.  Our Pre-K and Kindergarten “Stepping Up” celebrations will have a final date determined once we return back to school.

Please take every precaution possible to stay healthy and safe during this difficult time.  I am praying for all our students and families and appreciate the sacrifices everyone is making to keep our students moving forward.

May the peace of Our Lord be with you.

Sincerely,
Bridget Zorger
Principal

 

 

 

 

As a reminder, there is no school tomorrow (Friday, March 12) as teachers will be attending an offsite conference.

While a school closure related to the corona virus is NOT imminent at the moment, our school is preparing in case Manchester schools do opt to close for a period of time (SJS will follow the Manchester public schools’ protocol).

If a closure is anticipated for a long duration, we are preparing to have students continue with their learning and studies through the use of technology.

At this point, we are looking at the K-8 program and the access to technology that students have at home should we need them to work remotely.  Middle School Students are all actively using their Chromebooks and Google classroom at home, so we are not as concerned about them.

If you have a student in Kindergarten – 5th grade, however, please complete the following form to help us with our planning (If you did not do so yesterday):   https://forms.gle/FmT7Qd8DyZz13QGx6

Please also review this release we received today from the Archdiocese of Hartford, containing additional information on policies we are implementing immediately: AOHSchools.coronavirus.3.10.2020

The next Book & Art Club for students in grades 3 & 4 will be held after school on March 24th, if your student would like to attend, please RSVP using the permission slip below.

March 24 Book & Art Club Permission Slip Grades 3&4

A couple of notes:

• If your child has a food allergy, please have them bring a snack.
• Pick-up will now take place outside the gym doors.
• Please be sure you check in with Mrs. Rafferty or Mrs. Carpenter to sign-out your student before leaving.

On Saturday, March 21 from 11am-1pm join fellow Saint James School Fathers, Sons and Special People (male) at Dave & Buster’s in Manchester for a fun day of games!  The RSVP form was sent home with students a while back, but can also be found here.  All attendees will receive complimentary coffee, tea, juice and soda courtesy of the HSA.  All responses are due by THIS Thursday (3/12) since there is no school Friday.  Any questions or concerns, please contact Alicia Poth at aliciapoth@gmail.com.