9/4/20 - Friday Forget-Me-Nots by Jim Silcott

Photo Caption: A few of our eighth graders on the first day of school in Language Arts learning under the tree!

Dear Our Lady of Peace Family:

It is so nice to see our students, your children, back at Our Lady of Peace! I compliment them on how well they are adapting to the new procedures and limited travel during the school day. Thank you. And although I miss seeing the smiles covered up by masks of every color and dsscription I look for the crinkling of the eyes above the mask to tell me when one of them is smiling. I have seen a lot of crinkling eyes this week.

Week one was our tweak week, a chance to test our plan with real human beings and not imaginary children in our summer planning brains. Every day the faculty and staff have debriefed the day to see what is working and what needs improvemen,t and as each new group has entered the building we have tried to improve upon what we have learned the day before.

Things will continue to evolve as we go through these opening weeks of school and as new mandates come from on high. Below, you can see that the travel advisory put in our handbook only a few weeks ago has already been relaxed.

We have been able to get our upper level math students remaining in our building so that they won’t have to go to the church basement for class. Columbus buses are running but are still a little erratic on times.

The bus drivers whom I have met seem very nice and willing to work with us and I have a meeting on Monday afternoon with our superintendent and the Columbus bus supervisor.

The launch of Digital Academy has been, at times, as adventurous as a roller coaster ride at Cedar Poin,t but Susan Gualtieri and Kathy McMahon keep at it daily. Once all the bells and whistles are in place it should prove to be a great tool for parents and teachers. Remember to let Susan in the office know if you are having any issues accessing it.

Guidance about students or adults becoming sick, Covid or not, continues to be adjusted and refined. Here is the latest:

-If you have any one of the following:

           Fever of 100.4 or above

           New or worsened cough

           Loss of taste or smell

           Sore throat

           Nasal congestion or runny nose

-Or two or more of the following:

           Headaches

           Body aches

           New or worsened fatigue

           Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea then:

Keep you should be tested for Covid and stay home until the following criteria are met:

           Positive test- stay home until cleared by the health department.

           Pending test result- stay home until results are known.

           Negative test results- Stay home 24+ hours with fever and improved symptoms.

           No tested- Stay home for 1o days fter symptom onset and 24 hours without fever and improved symptoms.

           Alternative Diagnosis- Stay home 24+ hours without fever and improved symptoms.

Our new teachers and staff members have hit the ground running, They are all a great addition to an already wonderful group of people with whom I get to be with on a daily business. In short, this week has shown that everyone is determined to make this work so that we can stay in school every day!

On Tuesday we welcome all of our students! Have a great Labor Day weekend.



Jim Silcott