Patty Bajek / Thursday, August 19, 2021

Saints Speak from Mrs. Marshall - 8/19/2021 - Off to a Great Start

Dear parents,

We had a great first full day today! I enjoyed seeing your children’s smiling faces at lunch; they are happy to be back in the cafeteria and McSherry to have a little more of a “normal” lunch setting.

We’ve been so busy these first few days that we haven’t gotten to take many pictures. We are looking for your first day of school photos! And, if you have any pictures from our amazing Meet and Greet, we would love to receive those as well. Send your photos to socialmedia@ascacademy.org.

We will have our first school mass of the year tomorrow (Friday) morning at 8:15am with Fr. Scott Huggins from St. Elizabeth Seton as our presider. Our 2^nd, 4^th, 6^th, and 8^th graders will attend in person while others participate virtually. We also invite all parents to join us virtually using this link.

For arrival/dismissal, just two reminders:

Students should enter and exit vehicles curbside, on the side of the car closest to the school building. This helps ensure your child can safely get in and out of the car.
Beginning Monday, our preschool students will dismiss at Door 1 at 3pm. For those of you first in line at Door 1, remember to leave the lane closest to school open until after preschool dismissal.

Now that school is back in session, all visitors should go to Door 1 to check in at the Welcome Desk. This is also the door you’ll use if you’re dropping something off, if your child is tardy, or if you are picking your child up early for any reason.

We look forward to welcoming parents for Curriculum Nights next week! Curriculum Night for 1^st-5^th grade will be Tuesday, August 24, beginning at 6:30pm. Curriculum Night for Preschool, Kindergarten, and 6^th-8^th grade will be Wednesday, August 25, also beginning at 6:30pm. All visitors should enter at Door 1, and masks are required. We will begin with a quick introductory presentation in the gym, and then you will have the chance to visit your child’s classroom(s) for presentations from the teachers. To limit overcrowding in the classrooms, we ask you to consider sending just one parent per child. For 1^st-5^th grade, there will be two sessions so if you have two students in these grades you can attend both presentations. For junior high, you will follow the student’s schedule so you can meet all the teachers.

Our nurse, Mrs. Fuller, has provided these flow charts to help us all better understand current COVID protocols and guidelines. Use these to help with next steps when:

We are currently updating our online school directory, Directory Spot. Once it is ready to launch, a SchoolSpeak email will be sent letting families know how to download the app and access the directory. A Family Directory Entry Form was part of the required online paperwork on SchoolSpeak.

We are so excited about the return of extracurricular activities! We are offering a variety of clubs and activities this year for you students. Use the links below for more information on the current offerings and how to register:

Lego League (4 ^th -8 ^th grade)
Chess Scholars (K-8^th grade)
Art Enrichment (3^rd-8^th grade)
Sticky Fingers (K-5^th grade)

I know many of you with children in 5^th-8^th grade have had questions and concerns about athletics and the plan for spectators. All Saints will not be allowing spectators to attend this weekend’s games. There are specific protocols for spectators that must be followed, and we will be using the next few days to create a plan to safely and successfully allow spectators to attend future games. I know this is frustrating and disappointing for parents. For that, we apologize. We received the updated “Return to Play” guidance on Tuesday, and as you can imagine our focus the last 48 hours has been on the students’ return to the classroom. We are excited to once again have athletics after a 17-month hiatus, but we also need to make sure we can execute all Return to Play protocols safely. This weekend, our focus will be on the players so we will be ready to welcome fans, per the guidelines, in the coming weeks. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

We look forward to seeing many of you for Curriculum Night next week!

Warm regards,

Margie Marshall