|
|
St. Mark School
A National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence
|
St. Mark School is a Christ-centered learning environment that teaches Gospel values and fosters academic excellence. Aware of the dignity and uniqueness of all students, we are committed to the spiritual, intellectual, moral, social, and physical development of each child.
|
|
Dear St. Mark Families,
I hope you are all well and that your summer is off to a healthy and restful start. We are looking forward to safely reopening our school doors on September 2nd in compliance with Diocesan, CDC, State and local guidelines for in-person learning for the 2020-2021 school year!
We are thrilled to be able to offer a safe and secure environment for healthy learning. Our entire student community (K-8) will be able to attend school 5 days a week and our St. Mark After School Program will be returning.
Our Little Lions Preschool Program will have in-person instruction with 2-day, 3-day, or 5-day options for families. Our administrative office and teachers will provide further details about Preschool orientation as information becomes available. We are planning on the first full day of Preschool, September 8, 2020.
Planning at the Diocesan level has been ongoing for a successful return to in-person instruction in the fall. It is my expectation that we will continue to receive guidance from relevant government/medical/educational authorities in the next few weeks, and as a result, our plans for reopening our school building will evolve throughout the summer. Please keep in mind that we are planning for something two months into the future with current information and data trends that are available. Final reopening plans may differ from town to town, preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school.
I will have more detailed information to share after the Office of the Superintendent publishes the Diocesan School Reopening Guidelines. In the meantime, I want to share some details as we work to reopen in a safe and healthy environment.
In order to promote healthy hygiene practices
- We will be installing no-touch hand sanitizers for student use.
- We will remove some of our flexible seating options, such as upholstered couches, chairs, pillows, etc. in classrooms, as they are harder to disinfect.
- There will be no more community sharing of supplies (for example, pencils, crayons, markers, etc.). There will be strict guidelines on what students may bring to school from home.
- Nurse Wendy is working with the Stratford Health Department to make a plan to best care for your children.
In order to promote social distancing
- Our student drop off and pick up procedures will change.
- Access into the building will be restricted to students, teachers, and staff. Parents will be permitted in very limited cases only, which will be outlined prior to the beginning of school.
- Lunches will be eaten in the classrooms until further notice.
- In elementary and middle school, desks will be socially distanced. All desks will face the same direction rather than be organized in clusters.
- Students will be contained to cohorts whenever possible and sharing of physical spaces between cohorts will be limited.
- In order to accommodate a full return of our entire student population, locations of homeroom classes will need to change depending on number of students in the class and classroom physical space available to socially distance students. Not all rooms in the school building have the same dimensions.
Please be assured that the health and safety of our students, staff, parents and the community is paramount and our top priority is to make St. Mark School building a safe place for our students to return to in the fall. Our goal is for you and your children to feel comfortable and safe. We will reinforce that message and look for every opportunity for our building to remain child friendly.
I will continue to stay in touch periodically this summer as our plans come into focus, and I look forward to seeing all of you very soon.
Stay safe and be well.
Yours in Christ,
Melissa Warner
|
|
Home School Association
Our St. Mark school community would like to express our sincere gratitude to Jennifer Tayman (HSA President), Jeanine May (HSA Co-Secretary), and Alicia Formato (HSA Co-Secretary) for their time and dedication to the Home School Association and support of the students of St. Mark School.
Currently, St. Mark School Home School Association by-laws are being reviewed by the School Advisory Board. Until the bylaws are ratified by Board and approved by the Diocese, it is unclear at this time if there will be an election of officers or following past practice, appointments of officers based on recommendations of the School Advisory Board. In the meantime, if any parent (K-8) would like to make a nomination for an officer position, please email Carolyn Mannino by
clicking here.
Nominations will remain anonymous and accepted until 12pm on Tuesday, July 7, 2020.
We need to start planning for fundraisers and events for 2020-2021 school year; however, until further information about sizes of group gathering s available for social events, we cannot begin our planning process.
|
|
2020 St. Mark Yearbook
The 2020 St. Mark yearbooks are ready and are waiting to ship. Once they are delivered to us, we will set up a date and time for a Socially Distant pick up.
|
|
St. Mark Bottle and Can Drive
Our Bottle and Can Drive will be Saturday, July 11th from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Please support our drive by dropping off your bottles and cans.
We are seeking volunteers to help sort recyclables. Stop by anytime if you are free to help between 10:00 - 2:00 pm. We will be practicing Social Distancing and we ask that all volunteers wear a mask.
|
|
For important information and updates on COVID-19, visit the
|
|
Please visit our school website regularly at
www.stmarkschool.org
. Important school updates including copies of notices, newsletters, HSA links, and school calendars can all be accessed on the website.
Visit our social media pages for updates on our school community.
|
|
500 Wigwam Lane, Stratford, CT 06614
|
|
Faith in action is love - and love in action is service.
Mother Theresa
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
