Dear Parents and Guardians, As we approach our September 8 start date for the 2020–2021 school year, I’d like to provide more information about our decisions regarding the changes to the master calendar.  As administrators, our primary goal is to provide the best educational experience possible for our students. It is our strong belief that in-person instruction is, by far, the most effective model for educating high school students. Because San Francisco’s current status on the “watch list” could prevent us from being able to offer in-person classes to start the school year, we need to train our faculty to be effective in a distance learning platform.

August 24 – September 4 Faculty Training While our faculty have been preparing over summer for the return to school, we have scheduled dedicated training to include curricula on what we believe are the key areas which will make this a successful school year. Certification Course in Online Instruction  Student and Teacher Wellness School Safety Protocols and Training (for eventual opening) Coed Transition Guidance (from a former principal)

Decision on Format for First Day of School The state mandate regarding county “watch lists” asserts that as soon as a county is removed from the list, schools must wait 14 days before opening. On August 25, we will know whether Riordan will be able to open its doors to in-person instruction or begin in a distance learning format on September 8. We don’t want to make any official announcements until August 25, but we can assure you that our great hope is to have students on campus the day after Labor Day.

Our Goals Safety: We can also assure you that our rigorous safety protocols will provide the safest possible environment. In the event that we are still on the watchlist on August 25, I will alert the community that we will be in a distance learning format.  Certification: Although more online learning is not ideal, all of our teachers will have been certified to provide excellent instruction via Zoom in the same bell schedule as we would use for in-person instruction. Creativity: We have been creative with our master calendar and our bell schedule and will be providing approximately the same number of class meetings as we did this past year; however, we won’t be ending the school year until June 4. We hope this change and slight extension of the school year is not too disruptive.

Archdiocesan Schools Update There are four high schools operated by the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Two of the schools opted to start on their scheduled dates, and two schools chose to delay the start until September 8. In addition to providing time for professional development, the delayed start date gives us the best possibility for the most in-person instruction days over the course of the year. All schools beginning this week are using a distance learning format. The schools that have delayed their start dates still have a chance to begin classes in-person if counties move off the “watch list.” Regardless of when San Francisco comes off the list, by the end of the year, Riordan will have put itself in a position to provide more in-person instruction than schools that began in mid-August.

Thank you for your patience as the school works to create flexible systems that will be effective in all possible scenarios. Please see Hybrid and Distance bell schedules that have the same start and end times for classes. Dean of Academics Nate Simon gives an overview of the schedule in this video. Sincerely, Mr. Tim Reardon Principal

Archbishop Riordan High School | Website

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