The Catholic Schools Office of the Archdiocese of Washington has reduced the student-to-student distance limit from 6 feet to 4 feet.
In a letter and chart further below, Catholic Schools Secretary Kelly Branaman explains the decision to allow schools to change their operational plans to allow for more in-person students, citing the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the approval of Archdiocese Legal Counsel.
With the support of Father David, our parish pastor, SJB has submitted a modified operational plan that would allow students to sit as close to 4 feet to each other in classrooms for the 4th quarter of this school year.
Although a 4-foot distance is permitted in the operational plan, the school does not expect that students will need to sit closer than 5 feet from each other. The school will try where it can to maintain 6 feet of distance between students.
As more students return for in-person learning, SJB's plan will be to spread out students as much as possible and keep them in the same classroom rather than divide them and place one group in an auxiliary room.
Parents of at-home learners will be able to decide on Wednesday, March 17, to "opt in" for in-school learning for their children. Until then, the school won't know how many more students will be coming into each class or how far apart they will sit. The first day of in-person school for opt-in students will be Tuesday, March 23.
SJB currently has 156 in-person learners and 67 at-home learners. Click here to see the full chart.
All other aspects of the SJB operational plan remain unchanged from the reopening plan presented to families in August and approved by the Montgomery County Health Department and Archdiocese of Washington.
There are no changes to requirements that students and staff wear face masks at all times, frequently wash hands and ventilate rooms with open windows, learn and play in separate grade-level cohorts.
Secretary Branaman's Letter
Dates Ahead
Friday, March 12 -- No School Archdiocesan Professional Development Day
Monday, March 15 -- 6 pm School Advisory Board Meeting
Wednesday, March 17 -- Opt-In Date, Effective March 23
Friday, March 19 -- No School, Faculty Record-Keeping
Monday, March 22 -- No School, Faculty Retreat
Tuesday, March 23 -- Opt-in students return to the classroom
-- Tuition Payment Plans Sent to Families
Friday, March 26 -- Stations of the Cross grades 1, 4, 7, 8
Tuesday, March 30 -- Full Day, Last Day before Easter Vacation
Monday, April 12 -- School resumes after vacation
Calendar For Next School Year is Online
See the Gold Folder for more news and information about what's happening in the school and the SCB community.
Apply for BOOST Scholarship for 2021-22 School Year
Applications open March 10 with a deadline of April 30. We have had several families at SJB received BOOST scholarships for tuition.
Here's last week's Principal's Note.
Here's the link to the 4th-grade pen-pal feature on CBS Evening News.