This week, you may have noticed that the positive COVID-19 case counts for Pierce County have been well below 48 per day. In fact, today's number was 35 and our 14 day number is 74.4/100,00!!! This is excellent news. You may recall, we need to be under 75/100,000 to consider re-opening. There are a few other metrics that need to be addressed, as well, and the Archdiocese of Seattle (and our school) is working with the Tacoma Pierce County Health Dept to determine how and when we can open. One question is...do we need to be under the 75/100,00 for 7 days? For 14 days? That is still being determined. While we are using the information from the Governor, TPCHD, and Department of Health, the Decision Tree is a bit vague on the re-opening allowance. I can tell you that the very soonest we would be able to bring more students on campus for regular classes would be the week of Labor Day. The question is whether we are permitted to do it that soon. Also, are we bringing back 1st - 4th? 1st - 5th? Can 6th grade be included in elementary and be brought back with the 5th graders since we have a multi-age classroom? So, you can see that we still have many questions and Dr. Chen (TPCHD) is working with the schools and the Archdiocese on the re-opening of our school, Catholic schools, and all public and private schools.

So, what I DO know for now is this:

• Pre-K and K will be onsite beginning this Tuesday.
• Students in Pre-K and K should be in full uniform (and K should be in masks, Pre-K is optional for masks)
• Tuesday and Friday are a noon dismissal for Pre-K and K and there will be no cohorts for the other students on those days.
• Next week will be remote learning for grades 1 - 8 (Zoom sessions beginning at 8 am)
• Cohorts for grades 1 - 8 will be on Wed and Thurs afternoon from 1 - 3 pm.
• Students in grades 1 - 8 should be wearing their uniform top (navy blue or white polo) during their Zoom sessions and in cohorts, but a full uniform is not required.
• Parents need to start purchasing uniforms now, however, since it looks like we will be back on campus (at least through grade 5 and maybe grade 6) in the coming weeks. We have a lot of used uniforms at the school, so see Ms. Nina if you need to purchase one from us.
• Chromebooks and other materials should have been picked up this week. If you still need to do so, Ms. Nina will be at the school Monday from 7:30 am - 3:30 pm so you can still do it then.
• Teachers are prepared to utilize all of the new curriculum and Chromebooks to pivot back and forth from remote to onsite learning when necessary.
• All classrooms have brand new webcams (thank you to Sergio and Carrie Hernandez) for remote instruction.
• Parents should be prepared to pivot between remote and onsite learning during the fall, as this could be something that happens from week to week (hopefully not that often).
• The school has implemented new protocols for cleaning, social distancing/masks, remote and onsite learning, and in many other areas so we feel very prepared to handle whatever comes our way during this unprecedented time, focusing on the learning and health/safety of our students (as well as staff/community).

One last item, we will not be able to offer meals (breakfast/snack or lunch) until further notice. We are still finalizing the licensing process. So, please make sure you pack a snack and lunch for your child when they are at school or camp for the full day. We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes you.

This may be a wild ride, but it will be a great year and we are so excited to see the kids again and to settle in to our new home in Fife.

Have a wonderful weekend and please join us on Monday at 6 pm for a mass to kick off the new school year.

Blessings,

Katie Dempsey