Dear School Families,
Cardinal Cupich recently released a video confirming the commitment of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Office of Catholic Schools to in person/on campus learning this fall. Steps toward our return to campus on August 26th will be undertaken following all local and state guidelines to keep our community safe, and with the support of our COVID task force. We understand that much continues to develop and evolve with regard to the policies that ensure the safety of our students and teachers. With this in mind, we are actively planning around a continuum of learning models to ensure we are responsive to the varied needs of our community in a rapidly changing environment.
More on our fall preparedness, and the accommodations we will make to learn, pray and grow prioritizing safety and health will follow throughout the summer months ahead.
I invite you to watch Cardinal Cupich's address here
if you have not yet had the opportunity to do so. Because the needs of the Catholic school community across the greater Chicagoland area are varied, especially with regard to enrollment and sustainability, I share an excerpt below that bears repeating for its relevance to our local Saints JFX family:
As we complete the academic year in our Catholic schools, your children and our educators and you adults who have helped them deserve a round of applause for enduring difficult challenges in these unprecedented times. It wasn’t easy, and we thank you for your dedication and the support you have given to your parish and your school. We helped lead the way in responding quickly when school buildings were closed and we adapted to e-learning. Our teachers showed great creativity in providing the kind of quality education that distinguishes Catholic schools.
However, the question on everyone’s mind is: Where do we go from here?
We want you to know that we have every expectation that our schools will be open in the fall. And that we will employ measures that keep the safety of your children a top priority. We are working with experts in this area, as well as state and local public health officials. Anyone returning to one of our school buildings can have confidence that we have taken every measure we can: enhanced regular cleaning and disinfecting of high contact areas, the use of plexiglass barriers in common spaces such as main offices, the availability of adequate supplies of sanitizer and PPE, and temperature checks on anyone showing symptoms.
We also know that some will prefer or need to stay at home. Remote learning will be available for these students, so they can keep pace with their class.
Our decision to plan aggressively for reopening our schools this year is based on the value we place on face-to-face instruction and the community learning environment that has been a hallmark of Catholic school education over the years. Over the summer we will keep you up to date as our plans develop, but we are sending this first message to assure you we will do whatever is needed to open our schools this year.
The Cardinal, the entire Office of Catholic Schools team, and our entire Saints JFX faculty and staff are praying for you and your families, and we ask God to keep all of you safe over the summer months. We are eager to see our Catholic community return to campus in the fall, healthy and ready to get back to work!
God bless,
