Our small class sizes and a carefully crafted, Diocesan-wide action plan have put Michigan City's Catholic schools in a position to continue faith-based education later this month.
Notre Dame Catholic School, Queen of All Saints School, and St. Stanislaus Kostka will be joining Marquette Catholic High School in returning to in-class learning for the 2020-2021 academic year.
All LaPorte County Catholic school leaders, along with leadership within the Catholic Diocese of Gary, continue to stay in regular communication with LaPorte County and Franciscan Alliance health officials. Per their guidance, and in accordance with the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Catholic schools in Michigan City have unveiled their plans to return to school which include many components that the medical community has been instructing all along.
To safely open schools, there are two required conditions: the level of coronavirus in a community has to be low, and the school has to be prepared. Having met those conditions, all Catholic schools in Michigan City have been working all summer towards re-entry.
Smaller class sizes will enable students to socially distance within the classroom, with masks being worn throughout the day when necessary. Personal protective equipment (PPE) has been ordered and will be distributed amongst faculty and staff. Marquette Catholic has ordered partitions for teachers, replaced water fountains with bottle refill stations, and installed air purifiers to increase clean air circulation.
Marquette principal Allyson Headd was appointed to the re-entry committee for the Diocese of Gary Schools.
"As soon as the IN-CLASS document was released in June and governor Eric Holcomb announced Indiana schools could return to classrooms in the fall, we shifted our summer focus to preparing campus and supporting our schools for just that. We know the burden last spring put on our teachers, students, and families. As educators, it is our job to provide students with the best opportunity for education available, and we have been working hard all summer to be prepared to do so," Headd stated. (Marquette's full plan can be found here.) "It's easy enough to follow for our students, teachers, and parents, and it's simple but effective enough to take all the recommended health and safety requirements that allow us to fulfill our expectations for high-quality education in the classroom," Notre Dame Catholic School principal Natasha Magnuson said.
"Our faculty and staff have been preparing to offer an academic environment that is safe and welcoming. We are united as Catholic schools in working with LaPorte County health officials to welcome our students and faculty safely back," Queen of All Saints principal Kim Gondeck remarked.
"Our highest priority is to provide safe, healthy environments for our children to learn and deepen their faith," Father Kevin Huber stated.
We're ready for this.
All schools are still accepting students for the upcoming school year. Enroll today at marquette-hs.org, notredameparish.net, qasschool.org, sanctusstanislaus.com.
Marquette Catholic accepts the Indiana School Choice Scholarship (voucher). Click here for more information on this scholarship opportunity for which you might qualify.
