Sunday Evening News 11.15.2020
November 15, 2020
SUNDAY EVENING NEWS
It takes all of us!
EVENING REFLECTION & PRAYER
“Brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness.”
St. Paul calls us to remember that we are children of light. During this school year, St. Paul Catholic High School has implemented the theme of #bethelight for all of us to follow. Now more than ever we need to be a bright light in today’s world. With more uncertainty looming over us during the next few weeks and months ahead with the COVID-19 pandemic, may we strive to be Christ’s light in the darkness. May we remain vigilant in our efforts and always know that God is in control and his light is still shining down upon us.
Let us pray,
Grant us, we pray, O Lord our God, the constant gladness of being devoted to you, for it is full and lasting happiness to serve with constancy the author of all that is good. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Have a safe and healthy week. Fr. Glen, Chaplain
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Peace and Greetings:
Trust this letter finds your family well. Recognizing the increased levels of COVID-19 cases across the country and in Connecticut, I have received some inquiries regarding St. Paul’s plans for instruction and learning moving forward to the upcoming holidays and winter season.
First, let me acknowledge my sincere gratitude to our students, parents, faculty and staff for your patience, flexibility and commitment, in and out of the classroom, the first two months of this school year. Both the in- person and remote learning process has gone smooth, for the most part, with a noticeable renewed appreciation for our school community … every day in-school has been a gift!
From the return to school in August through today our top priority or guiding principle is and continues to be the health and safety of our entire school community with any instructional decisions made during COVID- 19 based upon the available public health data, while safeguarding the importance of access to in-person schooling for our students’ education, social-emotional and physical well-being.
Last week, the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), Department of Public Health (DPH) and Archdiocesan Office of Education, Evangelization & Catechesis (OEEC) stated that the mitigation strategies (i.e. daily health assessment, masks, social distancing, sanitizing, hygiene, ventilation, etc.) being implemented are working, despite the increase of COVID-19 cases in our state and region. We will continue to work closely with the Bristol-Burlington Health District (BBHD) who is closely monitoring the community spread of COVID- 19, as well as being a valued partner in helping us navigate any COVID-19 concerns within our school or home environments. Therefore, we intend to stay the course unless the local community or our St. Paul health data dictates otherwise.
As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches and the risk of spreading COVID-19 becomes more prevalent, I strongly encourage our St. Paul community to practice safe measures as recommended by the State of Connecticut (i.e. no nonessential travel, no indoor or outdoor gatherings of 10 or more people, etc.) and comply with the applicable travel advisory requirements (i.e. quarantine for 14 days or test negative within 72 hours of returning from out-of-state travel).
As a school community, we’ve been amazing so far with generally everyone caring about each other and working to keep our facility as safe as possible. However, we’re going to have to ramp up our practices and make additional sacrifices if we’re going to be able to stay in school moving forward. We’re in a very fluid and fragile situation. We know words are not the prevention. But we can do this if we ACT responsibly one day at a time. It takes all of us. #spstrong
Finally, in an effort to be flexible and work with our family’s concerns during this time of uncertainty, I recently shared a modified policy change indicating self-designated remote learners will be allowed to request permission to change to in-person learning at any time during this academic quarter by simply having their parent/guardian email me at cdupont@spchs.com. Each student request will be reviewed on a case by case basis depending on in-person availability in the classrooms. Students should wait for a confirmation email from me before returning to school.
Those students who are temporarily (i.e. a few days or weeks) remote learning, for whatever reason, are allowed to return on their pre-discussed date or when cleared by the BBHD. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding this matter.
SCHOOL CALENDAR
Week of November 16 – 20
Monday, (Day 2); Tuesday, (Day 3); Wednesday, (Day 1); Thursday, (Day 2) and Friday, (Day 3)
Week of November 23 – 27
We will be following this week our published Reopening Plan – Fall 2020 document for remote learning. On Monday, November 23 and Tuesday, November 24 all classes will meet virtually for 30 minutes with 15 minutes scheduled between classes. Lunch will be 12:15 – 12:45 pm for everyone. There will be no classes November 25 – 27 in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Students will return to campus for in-person learning (or remote option) on Monday, November 30 (Day 1).
A reminder that the Thanksgiving week calendar is being adjusted to accommodate our Dining Hall HVAC expansion project. Air Temp Services will be increasing the existing ductwork in the Dining Hall to allow for greater conditioned fresh air to be supplied to the lower level of the school and install a new outside condenser to provide heat and air-conditioning to this assembly area. The HVAC project will take approximately two weeks to complete.
SNOW DAYS
I’ve heard some students’ concerns regarding anticipated “snow days” this winter. We believe “snow days” serve a purpose as an unannounced mental health day for everyone thus five days have been built into the 177-day school calendar. However, excessive “snow days” may lead to pushing the end of the school year into late June. In this instance, we will do our best to avoid excessive “snow days” by implementing remote learning, as appropriate, to preserve the June 11, 2021 last day of school date.
WEEKDAY MASS
Our weekday Mass on Wednesday, November 18 at 7:15 am will be offered for the special intentions of the Cheerleaders. Students and faculty/staff are invited. Please enter St. Gregory the Great Church by the side parking lot entrance.
THANKSGIVING MASS/CANDLELIGHT LUNCHEON
We will celebrate Thanksgiving Mass by class at St. Gregory the Great Church this Friday, November 20.
Class of 2024 8:00 am
Class of 2023 9:45 am
Class of 2022 12:15 pm
Class of 2021 1:15 pm
We welcome Fr. Anthony Federico, parochial vicar at St. Bridget Parish, Cheshire who will celebrate the Junior Class Mass.
Our annual Thanksgiving Candlelight Luncheon will be provided during all the normal lunch waves. The menu will include: sliced turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, apple crisp and bottled water for
$5.00.
ADMISSIONS NEWS
Our next Open House is scheduled for Saturday, November 21 from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm. Advanced appointments can be made by visiting www.spchs.com/openhouse or by contacting our Admissions Office at cmone@spchs.com. The next Placement Exam is Saturday, December 12 at 8:00 am. We appreciate your partnership in promoting St. Paul Catholic High School to your family, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances.
GUIDANCE NEWS
COLLEGE REP VIRTUAL VISITS
This is our last week of college virtual visits! The two colleges coming this week are:
| Tunxis Community College | Tuesday 11/17 | B period |
| Central Connecticut State University | Thursday 11/19 | A period |
Seniors who are applying to college with a December 1st deadline need to fill out the transcript request form by 11/16. If you have a December 15th deadline it needs to be filled out by December
1st. https://forms.gle/PWU42EK6H5BkfxhK8
Congratulations this week go out to Sammi Bray who was accepted to University of St. Joseph and CCSU and Zachary Oakes who was accepted to the University of New Haven! Seniors share your college acceptances with the School Counseling Department.
ATHLETIC NEWS COLLEGE SIGNINGS
Shaun Remillard – Baseball Nina Zwolinski – Soccer
American International College American University Springfield, MA Washington, DC
CONGRATULATIONS! Mr. Dennehy will be scheduling additional Class of 2021 student-athlete college signings this week.
WINTER SPORTS SCHEDULE
The CIAC Board of Control will meet this Tuesday, November 17 to give us more direction/guidance on the winter sports schedule.
ANNUAL PASTA SUPPER FUNDRAISER – Saturday, November 21
Every year, our Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball Teams host a pasta dinner. This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the fundraiser will be slightly different … it will be curbside. Prepackaged meals including pasta, salad and bread will be delivered right to your car at your arranged pick-up time.
Single/Individual Meals – $12.00 Family Style (Feeds 4) – $40.00
Pick-up is in the senior courtyard in the rear parking lot of St. Paul on Saturday, November 21 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.
To order your dinners please see a St. Paul girl or boys basketball player or contact Coach Mone at cmone@spchs.com for more information and details! Thank you for your support!
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
United Way Thanksgiving Food Drive Thanksgiving Bingo
Student Government and the United Way Youth board want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the St. Paul community for their awesome efforts in this year’s food drive. We collected over 900 cans for the United Way of West Central Connecticut and the Little Sisters of the Poor and over $900 for our Mission Club. GREAT JOB!
CLASS OF 2022 PIE FUNDRAISER
Parents/guardians of juniors please remember that tomorrow, Monday, November 16, is the day when the pies which your sons and daughters ordered for their fundraiser must be picked up from school. Students can pick up their frozen pies in the Alumni Lounge off the Dining Hall. If you are coming to pick them up, please come to the athletic entrance glass doors in the back of the school between 12:30 – 3:00 pm, and a student will bring your order to you.
ST. PAUL SWORD
Read this week’s update of the student newspaper at: https://stpaulsword.weebly.com/
THE SPIRIT OF THE FRANCISCAN CHRISTMAS FAIR (November 21 – December 20, 2020)
This year, because of the pandemic, the Franciscan Christmas Fair, benefitting the Franciscan Life Center and Franciscan Home Care and Hospice Care will be online. We invite you to join us for The Spirit of the Franciscan Christmas Fair November 21 – December 20, 2020. We will share the spirit of Christmas with you through our Living Crèche, selling fair items online including Christmas trees, wreaths, centerpieces, pottery, handmade miniature reindeer, handmade candles, Merry Miscellaneous items, Holy Land pieces and more. There is a Basket Raffle and Santa and Mrs. Claus will be live from the North Pole. Please join us in supporting The Spirit of the Franciscan Christmas Fair by visiting www.franciscanchristmasfair.org.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (November 16 – 22)
Happy Birthday wishes go to: Delaney Jordan, Calista Oria, Zoey Rubins, Eric Sovia, Abigail Stanford, Kelsea Tefoe, Ainsley Toland, Mrs. Conner and Mr. Landin.
FINAL WORD
As COVID-19 cases continue to increase across the country and in our state, please adhere to the following
MANDATORY PRACTICES to help keep our St. Paul community healthy and safe.
- Every student, faculty and staff member must complete the BBHD Daily Health Check before arriving at St. Paul each morning. The link is on the website homepage and attached here: https://forms.gle/v9mNDN8abHEYBk8G6.
- REMAIN HOME IF YOU ARE NOT FEELING WELL. Students can take advantage of live stream remote learning for most of their classes while out of school.
- Wear a mask, covering both your nose and mouth at all times.
- Wash your hands or sanitize frequently throughout the day.
- Watch your distance keeping at least six feet or two arm lengths whenever possible.
- Only two (2) people in a restroom at a time.
- Practice these mitigation health strategies beyond the normal school day (i.e. evenings and weekends) to leave the virus outside our borders.
Stay well … take care of yourself and take care of each other.
St. Paul, pray for us!
Cary M. Dupont ‘72 President/Chief Administrator
