St. Cecilia Catholic School Insider

Weekly Insider - January 15, 2021

COVID Protocols Update

Please view the video above from Principal Jeff Matthews regarding updates to our Returning to School Plan as it relates to our COVID protocols, and the importance of each one of us doing our part to protect our community and keep our children in school.

Required Daily Self Screen Form

We will be increasing our monitoring to include a daily health screening like many schools are already doing. This quick, one question form corresponds to the updated Flow Chart linked below.

This form will need to be submitted for every family every day.
We recommend saving the link to the home screen of your phone as confirmation of submission of the daily health screening will need to be shown to the carpool attendant when temperatures are taken in the morning. If your child(ren) are being taken to school in carpool by another parent, it is still required for every family to fill out the form each day.

Updates to Flow Chart and Protocols for Returning to School

January 15, 2021 - Updated Self Screen Flow Chart
If a student is out of school due to a close contact exposure and symptoms later develop AFTER the first day of the quarantine, the quarantine timeframe restarts with the onset of symptoms. It is important to contact our school nurse, Meredith Coursey, every time your child is absent and with any updates during the quarantine period.
If a student is at home due to the presence of symptoms - with no known close contact - and wishes to return to school, two negative tests are required before the student can return. The update to this policy is the requirement for the second test to be a PCR test. These PCR tests are more accurate and more reliable than the rapid tests.

Important Reminders Regarding School COVID Protocols

In addition to these updated protocols, it is incredibly important to follow all of the protocols and communicate with the school. Our goal here is to keep ALL of our students ON CAMPUS.

We will do everything in our power to keep your children in school.
When protocols are not followed, when close contacts are not communicated to the school, or when students are sent to school when close family members are being tested, it can put all of our students at risk.
When one student tests positive shortly after being on campus, it creates a ripple effect that affects multiple families and even teachers.
Thanks to our policies and protocols, we have not yet had any spread here on campus that we are aware of.
However, our pressure point for pivoting to remote learning for all or even canceling classes will be the number of students and teachers that we are able to have on campus.
The more students and teachers we can keep on campus, the more able we are to keep ALL of our students on campus.

Admissions & Re-Enrollment

The process for new student applications for the 2021-2022 school year remains open and will continue through Friday, February 5, 2021.

If you are interested in applying for a sibling or if you know someone interested in applying to St. Cecilia Catholic School, please visit our website or contact Carol Mandola to schedule either a virtual or in-person tour and/or to discuss our Admissions process.

Admissions testing of potential students for next year begins January 27, 2021. New student applications must be fully completed to schedule a date and time for testing. All new student Applications must be completed by no later than February 5, 2021.

Please note, the Application process is only for interested students who are not currently enrolled in St. Cecilia Catholic School at this time.

Our Re-Enrollment Process for currently enrolled students who will be returning to St. Cecilia Catholic School for the 2021 - 2022 school year will begin on Friday, January 29, 2021, and conclude on Monday, February 8, 2021. There is nothing you need to do at this time, and families will receive a separate email for the Re-Enrollment process on Friday, January 29, 2021.

Annual Fund Incentives

If your family made a gift at the $250 level or more, the incentive items were delivered to the homerooms of students in 5th grade and lower today. The items for middle school student families will be delivered next week.

January School Board Meeting – Tuesday, January 19th

The January School Board Meeting will take place at 6:30PM on Tuesday, January 19th. Board meetings are open to parents to attend and are currently being held on Zoom. If you are interested in attending a meeting, please contact our School Board President Nadine Balombin.

Parent Volunteer Assistance Opportunities

Thank you to those of you who have expressed interest through HSA and our School Board in volunteering on campus for situations such as carpool, recess duty, and classroom substitutions. To help us better gauge interest and availability, please fill out this form.

HSA Monthly Meetings

On Tuesday, January 12th, HSA had their January monthly meeting. You can view a recording of that meeting here.

Spelling Bee Winners

Congratulations to Elementary Spelling Bee winner Toby Elijah Reventar and the Middle School Spelling Bee winner Valentina Gunn. Both students will represent St. Cecilia Catholic School next week as part of the Archdiocesan Spelling Bee.

Second Quarter Honor Roll

Please click here to see the Principal's and Teacher's Honor Roll list for the second quarter of the school year.

Spring School Sports

We have received permission from the Catholic Schools Office and the GHCAA to begin planning for a spring sports season. Do you have a child who wants to play Soccer, Baseball, Softball, Track, Volleyball, Tennis, or Golf? If so, please fill out this online interest form. If they are interested in multiple sports, please check all the sports they are interested in to receive the appropriate information on try-outs and pre-season practices. Once we have enough players to form teams, you will receive additional information.

6th-8th Grade

Soccer (Co-Ed)

Softball (Girls)

Baseball (Boys)

Track (Co-Ed)

Tennis (Co-Ed)

Golf (Co-Ed)

Volleyball (Girls – Conditioning Only)

The earliest any of the practices and seasons for these sports may begin is the week of February 8th. The dates for practices and the season are still subject to change. Please note, there will be health and safety protocols and restrictions in place for the sports due to COVID-19.

Employment Opportunity

With Cindy Duca retiring from the school Secretary position in December, we are pleased to announce that Adrianne Grobelny has taken over the position of Secretary. With this move, the Receptionist position for the school is now open. Additionally, we are still looking for Substitute Teachers. Click here to see our updated Pay Scale for substitute teachers. Click here for the online application process for both the Receptionist position as well as Substitute Teacher application.

Advanced Math Course for 6th – 8th Grade Students

Mr. Reynold D’Souza, a Mathematics Instructor at Strake Jesuit, will be teaching an online Advanced Mathematics class, Math+, this spring for boys and girls in the 6th to 8th grades. The online course will focus on the concept of Infinity. For more information on the course and to register, please see this document.

HSA Caring Committee

If you are experiencing a hardship of any kind please contact the HSA Caring Committee for support or prayer requests. They are here to help!

The HSA Caring Committee is a volunteer group that supports St. Cecilia Catholic School families who are dealing with illness, death, or crisis.

Our mission at St Cecilia Catholic School is the ongoing Catholic formation and education of the whole child in mind, heart, and spirit, in preparation for an adult life of commitment and service.