Dear St. Mary's Community,
We hope you are well as you prepare for the start of the school year. We are excited to welcome both our new and returning students to campus.
Last year, St. Mary's committed to a return to in-person learning with great success. We opened our doors guided by our Care for All Reopening Plan and maintained in-person learning for the entire school year.
We are pleased to announce our Care for All 2.0 Plan for the 2021-22 school year. This plan will operate under the same core areas that Care for All is founded on:
1. Spartan Community: This is lived through physically joining together to worship, learn, and support one another. We are best when we are together.
2. Excellence in Teaching and Learning: Providing the quality education our students expect and our teachers are committed to delivering.
3. Safe and Secure: A safe and secure environment is paramount to our nearly 1,000 students, faculty and staff that will gather on our two campuses this fall.
With that foundation, please see below an overview of Care for All 2.0 for the St. Mary's Community 2021-22 School Year:
Feel Sick? Stay Home
All members of the St. Mary's community must review the provided daily symptom checker to make sure they feel well before arriving to campus.
Mandatory Masks
Masks will be worn by all members of the St. Mary's community while indoors on campus. Masks may be removed when dining and when outdoors. Masks will be required on St. Mary's transportation. St. Mary's issued masks will be distributed to students during the first week of school.
In-Person Academic Instruction
Academic instruction will be in-person only for all students every day. Remote learning will not be offered as an option for the 2021-22 school year. If there is an unforeseen shut down due to government issued order, we are prepared to switch to remote-only learning immediately.
School Life
Sports and extracurricular activities are scheduled to begin as planned for the Fall.
Cleanliness
Additional cleaning staff has been added to clean campus and enhanced cleaning materials are available to aid in disinfecting surfaces. Touchless hand sanitizing dispensers are located throughout campus.
Student Health
If a student is not feeling well during the school day they should report to the Nurse’s office. If a student’s symptoms are those associated with COVID-19, they will be placed in an isolation room. The student’s parent/guardian will be notified and must be picked up from campus immediately.
COVID-19 Exposure Protocol
If a St. Mary's Community member is vaccinated and exposed while wearing a mask, and demonstrate no symptoms, quarantine will not be required. However, you will be required to provide a negative test between the third and fifth day after exposure.
If a St. Mary's Community member is not vaccinated, regardless of exposure or symptoms, you must quarantine until you receive two negative tests, one on the third day from exposure and one on the fifth day from exposure. The exposed individual may return to school on the 8th day from exposure and with their two negative tests.
Vaccination
Vaccination for eligible members of our community is highly encouraged. All vaccinated members of our community should upload proof of vaccination though the portal. This will be kept on file and will allow St. Mary's to follow proper protocol according to vaccination status.
Travel
If you are vaccinated and travel domestically, no test and no quarantine is required upon return. If you are not vaccinated and travel domestically, you must quarantine until you receive a negative test on day 5 of return. All international travelers must quarantine until you receive a negative test on day 5 of your return.
Communication
St. Mary's commits to notifying the St. Mary's community of any COVID-19 positive cases on campus when the school year begins. The two-tier communication will first be contacting any individual who is considered a direct contact. The second will be notifying the community of the positive case. No identities of COVID-19 positive individuals will be shared at any time.
We have updated our Care for All 2.0 webpage with this information so it will be readily available to you. We will continue to monitor the situation of the pandemic and be ready to adapt as needed. Our goal is to provide in-person learning while keeping all of our community safe and secure. We look forward to educating our students and a great start to the school year. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Thank you,
Dr. John F. Dolan
Head of School