We are looking forward to seeing you tonight at our formal back to school night. We will meet at 7 PM in the Church. After a short presentation from me and from several parish ministries, we will dismiss to the classrooms for our teacher presentations. We will have two 15-minute sessions, back to back. There will also be an opportunity to visit the gym for spirit wear and We Are Family shirt orders.

As you enter the church, Ms. Brown and Mrs. Garr, our school receptionists, will be passing out the back to school packets. These packets have sheets to allow you to review and correct your family information in Powerschool, a family directory form, medical forms, a lunch menu, updated school calendar, and more.

There will also be an opportunity to sign up to volunteer with the parish festival. There are signup sheets along the entry way as you enter the church. Please consider donating a few hours of your time to this important parish fund-raiser.

Although we are starting the year with no school day visitors, we will allow parents to walk their students to the classroom if they wish on the first day provided the parents wear a mask. Please arrive between 8:00 and 8:20 AM to walk to the classrooms.

God bless,

Janet Abdoulaye, Principal

In case you missed it from last week's Memo....

As you may know, the CDC recently updated its guidelines for schools this fall. The CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Indiana State and Hendricks County Health Departments all strongly recommend that students wear masks indoors in educational settings.

I thought I would take a moment to explain why we support this recommendation based on what we have learned in the past year.

• Students learn best in person at every age. Education is a deeply social undertaking. Students and teachers need in-person interaction in order to provide an appropriate learning environment.
• Students do not social distance well at any age. From three years old to 14 years old, students are often in close proximity to one another as they talk, work, and walk through our building. They thrive on discussion, working in groups, and being together, all of which require they be in close proximity to one another.
• Our classroom sizes are not large enough to permit 6 feet of distance between students. Several of our classrooms are at capacity in enrollment which presents an additional challenge in distancing students.
• Students wore masks last year with little difficulty. It provided an important individual layer of protection on top of additional layers such as increased handwashing, social distancing to the extent possible, improving ventilation, and enhanced sanitation.
• Last year, we had 22 cases of COVID among students and staff throughout the fall and winter months, but we did not have any evidence of spread within our building due to consistent masking and contact tracing.
• With masking, we are required to contact trace and quarantine students based on close contact to a positive case at a 3-foot radius. Without masking, the radius is at 6 feet which will result in more quarantines when we have a case in the school.

At this point, our health and safety plan states, "face coverings may be required for all unvaccinated students in the future if conditions in the community change, i.e. increased cases, contagious variants, etc." We are seeing increased cases in the Hendricks County area and the very contagious Delta variant is now the predominant strain of COVID. I am watching the state dashboard carefully for data on the spread of COVID in our area.

In the event that cases continue to increase dramatically in our county, we may move to required face coverings. Our commitment to in-person learning is strong and we will take whatever steps necessary to continue in-person throughout any challenges presented this school year.

At this time, I am simply asking each family to consider sending their children to Saint Susanna in face coverings. Please consider the reasons presented by these professional organizations as well as what we have learned from the past year. As a community, I believe we can ensure a safe learning environment for our students and maintain in-person education throughout the year.

However, if you would normally apply for the free and reduced lunch program, I ask that you continue to apply. The application and parent information letter are available as links at the bottom of this newsletter. This information is used by the state of Indiana to determine our funding for the Title 1 program. This funding helps pay for after-school tutoring and other programs that directly benefit our students. Printed applications will be provided in the back-to-school packets, available for pickup at school, and available in the links on this newsletter. If you have questions about the application, please contact Ashley Trump, cafeteria manager, at atrump@saintsusanna.com

Not sure if your child would qualify? Check out the qualification guidelines, including household size and income, on the parent letter linked below.

• Registration is open for boys and girls CYO cross-country grades 3-8 now thru mid-August.
• Girls CYO Basketball registration is also open now thru August 20th for girls grades 4-8.
• To register simply log on to the website: www.saintsusannaschool.com and choose CYO Registration under the athletics tab. Once on-site, click: St. Susanna Online Sports Registration Form
• For questions or concerns please email: cyoboard@stsusanna.com

The service hour tracking form can be found here and a copy will be sent home in the back-to-school packets. We ask that each family complete five service hours this school year. These hours can be completed during school or parish events.

Upcoming events include:

• Parish festival - Signup to sell raffle tickets before/after the weekend masses HERE
• Signup to help at the festival https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0d4aada82ca7f85-2021