Dear St. Louis Families,
By now most of you have heard about Governor Northam’s Executive Order 53 which, among other things, announced the closure of all K-12 in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year. I know that, like me, you have many questions about the implications of this announcement. As we work to address those questions in the coming days, know that we will continue working with your children in our e-Learning model. Our primary goals remain sustaining our Catholic learning community and the continuity of learning for our students.
What Does This Mean for Our Students?
For our St. Louis school community, this announcement means we will continue to provide our instruction via distance learning methods for the remainder of the school year. The good news is that we are ahead of the other school systems and already working kinks and glitches out of our e-learning model! Thank you to those families who provided invaluable feedback on the first week—I am grateful!
Virtual Attendance Required
It is important that you know and understand that we are committed to providing teaching and learning to our students remotely through online learning digital tools. It is our intention to provide the least disruption to learning as possible in order to maintain the integrity of our academic program at St. Louis. Teachers have already been preparing lessons that ensure the essential curriculum objectives necessary for grade promotion for our students. In addition, teachers are implementing assessments that are innovative as well as utilizing out of the box, creative assessing techniques to determine mastery of certain skills is happening routinely. For this reason, it is important that our students are logging on each day to their virtual classrooms in grades 3-8 and students in grades K-2 are completing daily required tasks and submitting/uploading them per the individual teacher’s requirement. Virtual attendance comes from the daily participation in these learning tasks; it is not perfect, but it is the only means we have for taking attendance.
Specials Classes Assignments
Specials classes
have also prepared projects that can be completed throughout the week as fits best into your child’s daily schedule, but please understand that the work is still required too. The suggestion is for a student to work on one Specials class per day. Please refer to our
COVID-19 webpage
attached to our school website for up-to-date information from our teachers. Please also look for daily announcements and our prayer as a good way to begin the day and establish a good routine for your child.
I thank you for your prayers and all that you continue to do to help us navigate this unique moment. I am committed to providing information in a timely manner to you as further guidance from both the Virginia Council on Private Education and the Diocese of Arlington Office of Catholic Schools becomes available to me regarding plans for the last trimester.
Please continue to pray for all those on the front lines of this global health crisis—the medical personnel, those adversely impacted by the disease itself, and our first responders.
Peace,
Anne M. Dyke
Principal
