Good evening middle school families,
It’s hard to believe that four weeks from now, we will be finishing our first week of school and will be enjoying the beginning of Labor Day weekend. On behalf of everyone at PA, I cannot begin to express how much we look forward to seeing your children back at school in our building on the first day of school, and our administrative staff are hard at work planning this school year to make it as wonderful and safe as it can possibly be.
School will look different when your children return. Some of our regular policies and procedures will look very different at first, but these measures are in place to keep everyone healthy and keep us all learning on our gorgeous campus. Our task force, guided by our amazing Mrs. Murphy, has created a series of best practices from the recommendations of the Minnesota Department of Health, American Academy of Pediatrics, Center for Disease Control, and Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. I would like to highlight some of these protocols for you here today, mindful that we are still working on a number of additional protocols. I would also like to encourage everyone to be adaptable and flexible, as our policies may change over the course of the school year as more best practices become known over time.
Here are some of the highlights of our procedures for the beginning of the school year:
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Students will be able to enter the building at 8:00 AM each day, and upon entering the building will need to visit their lockers and report to their first class period of the day. Middle school students will have specified entrances to use to prevent overcrowding of specific entrances. As we begin the year, breakfast will not be available in the Great Room.
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All students, faculty, and staff will be required to wear a face-covering each day, with some exceptions during the day such as PE classes and lunch. For more information on face coverings, consult the FAQ section.
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Locker access and passing times between classes will be staggered to allow for increased social distancing and to limit the number of students in the hallway at a time.
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During lunch, tables will be spread out to accommodate for increased social distancing. Two students will be able to share a table. To provide extra room, the multipurpose room will also be utilized during lunch to create additional space. The lunch lines will be spaced with appropriate distancing.
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Desks and chairs will be sanitized after every class.
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Sanitizer stations are placed in every classroom and hallway. Students will be reminded to frequently sanitize their hands and wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
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We will continue to celebrate the most important class of the week, Middle School Mass, at the end of the day on Wednesdays. Masses will be held in the Performing Arts Center to allow for maximum social distancing.
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The after-school program’s activity room will move to the Great Room downstairs to allow for increased social distancing. The homework room will still be offered in one of our middle school classrooms. The activity room will still remain open until 6:00 each school day.
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Many of our fall events that draw large numbers of people will be moved to the Spring this year.
At this link you will find a series of frequently asked questions created along with Mrs. Murphy, which give more specific health protocols we will be using as we begin the school year. As we prepare for the beginning of the school year, know that I am looking forward to serving you and your families as Middle School Director and cannot wait to welcome our students back for middle school orientation at the end of the month!
In Christ,
Kyle Rickbeil
Middle School Director
Providence Academy