Hornet Herald
Teaching the Way of Jesus Christ.
May 11, 2020
Holy Family Catholic School
Email: awalters@hfsfw.org
Website: hfcsfw.org
Location: 6146 Pershing Avenue, Fort Worth, TX, USA
Phone: (817) 737-4201
A Message from the Principal
Dear Holy Family Catholic School Community,
As we move through this unprecedented time,
I ask you to take my hand, and the hands of all our parents and teachers,
and take a leap of faith into the 2020-2021 academic year.
Although it is true that we are still navigating the unknown and are in a state of limbo in may ways, there is one truth that I can hang my hat on: Holy Family Catholic School will continue to provide a quality, caring, Catholic education to our students for the remainder of this year, and into next year, 2020-2021.
Across the nation academic leaders are planning for three potential ways in which schools will be in session next year:
1.) Business (almost) as usual: students will return to school next August but with a multitude of added health and safety procedures in place.
2.) Hybrid learning: students will learn both at school and at home. Students will rotate days when they are in school classrooms and in virtual classrooms. Smaller numbers of students will be in the building on any given day to allow for smaller class sizes and more physical space for social distancing practices.
3.) Distance learning/virtual classrooms will continue, with improvements added based on the experiences of this quarter.
Educators are also aware, as are parents, that there will be gaps in student learning from this quarter into next quarter. As hard as administrators, teachers, parents and students have worked this academic quarter, there are still standards within the curriculum that were not covered. Or, if they were covered, it was not on a daily basis with the close, consistent, classroom experience with their teachers and friends. It may be reassuring to know that this is a national and global issue, not just a HFCS issue; everyone has had to adjust to a dramatically different learning experience.
Holy Family Catholic School is working to end this year successfully and has also begun creating contingency plans for the 2020-2021 academic year. The teachers are preparing strategies to help bridge our students into the next grade level of learning after a challenging fourth quarter. Developing strategies to close the fourth quarter learning gap will be the major focus of our HFCS summer, teacher in-services.
On May 18 Governor Abbott will most likely be making an announcement about when Texas school buildings and classrooms will be opening, or how much longer they will remain closed. I will keep you informed of any decisions Governor Abbott and Bishop Olson make about our schools.
What an amazing journey this has been, and continues to be. I have been noticing many remarkable initiatives, collaborations, creativity, and a whole lot of resiliency being displayed by international businesses, governments, scientists, artists, educators, and by us, the HFCS community. I sense a new appreciation for the power of committed relationships found in family, friends, and faith communities.
I am deeply grateful for all of you, our pastor, our teachers, parents, and students for displaying courage, dedication, and persistent effort in making the last quarter of our school year go so very remarkably well. Our faculty has always been collegial, generous, and collaborative, and these qualities have deepened during the challenge of COVID-19; I am proud of how are teachers have risen to our current challenges!
Whether we have a “normal”, hybrid, or virtual school experience next year I am asking you to take my hand, and the hands of all of our parents and teachers, and take a leap of faith into the 2020-2021 academic year.
I encourage you to re-enroll your child this week if you have not done so already. Having an accurate enrollment number will support my planning strategies for 2020-2021
Let’s keep moving forward!
God bless you,
Ann Walters
Mrs. Ann Walters, MPS
Principal