HEALTH AND SAFETY
Our Health and Safety Committee has been hard at work planning and organizing in support of the safest school environment for the 2020-2021 academic year, putting the health of faculty, students and community first. The committee has organized its reopening campaign around the theme
Get Ready: Screen (temperature + symptom checks), Shield (mask wearing), Sanitize (clean hands, masks + surfaces), Space (social distancing practices)
. In the coming weeks, comprehensive health and safety plans will be delivered in the following supportive sections:
MASKS — Requirements, proper handling and care
SCREENING AT HOME — When do I keep my child home from school?
ARRIVAL + DISMISSAL — Traffic patterns and school screening
HEALTH PROCEDURES — What happens when a member of a cohort becomes ill?
Watch for updates from the Health and Safety Committee over the coming weeks as we work together to ensure a healthy and safe back-to-school transition across both our Saints JFX campuses.
ACCOMMODATING REMOTE VS. IN CLASSROOM LEARNING
While our schools are committed to safe, in-person and on campus learning, we are poised to accommodate families who may decide that remote learning will be a more prudent alternative for their household.
In order to help us finalize plans for our reopening, we request that each school family complete our
Learning Preference Survey
to confirm their choice to opt for in-person or remote learning this fall.
Learn more and find an overview of each learning option
in our survey here
.
COHORT SIZING AND SOCIAL DISTANCING MEASURES
We are in final stages of classroom and cohort design with the goal of student and teacher safety foremost in mind. After careful consideration of parent input, school resources and implementation of a dual campus alternative (with the move of SFX Preschool and Jr K to the SJ campus in support of safety and social distancing), classroom sizes will be reduced for the 2020-2021 school year as follows:
• Enrollment for grades 7 and 8 is now closed to maintain classrooms of no more than 21 students.
• Preschool through 6th grade rooms will be broken into three cohorts (homerooms), with each cohort projected at 20 or fewer students. No cohort will exceed an enrollment of 20 students per room.
Importantly, these changes align all SFX and SJ classrooms with
AAP guidance
recommending 3-6 feet of spacing in classrooms. In most cases, student desks on both Saints JFX campuses will be positioned to maintain 6 feet of separation.
BEFORE AND AFTER CARE
Before and After Care programming is being adapted with safety in mind this fall. After Care will be offered from 3-6pm beginning Tuesday, September 8th on both campuses for $15 per hour per family. Families who require care across two campuses will pay a single per family fee of $15 per hour for that coverage. At this time, school leadership is evaluating the safety and logistics of a Before Care program. An announcement regarding the return of Before Care coverage will be made by October 1st.
Please help us anticipate family demand of our After Care programs by taking a moment to
complete this After Care Family Survey
if your students will be utilizing this school service this fall.
MIDDLE SCHOOL ATHLETICS
Our Athletic Director Rob Wennington is in constant communication with our council and the IHSA regarding the future of athletics programming in our Catholic Schools for the 2020-2021 seasons. Mr. Wennington anticipates new IHSA guidance later this week and SFX is poised to respond and adapt in compliance with safety guidelines and considerations. In particular, stay tuned for updates regarding 5th-8th grade fall sports very soon.
Thank you again to those who have shared helpful feedback and posed thoughtful questions to
reopening@sfx-school.org
. We continue to share answers and insights in response to these emails within 72 hours, and remain grateful for your candor and expressions of support. Be sure to refer to our
FAQ page
as additional answers, links and resources continue to be added over the coming weeks.
Many thanks,
