First Things First
I hope that each of you enjoyed your summer breaks and you have had the opportunity to spend most of your time with the ones you love. As things keep changing, I want to assure you that even when LA County does get off the state monitoring list, we will not jump right back to our original plan of hybrid learning.
LA County's Department of Public Health (DPH) shared last week it was in the midst of developing an application process for schools interested in applying for a waiver that would allow in-classroom instruction for students in grades TK through grade 6. In order for us to reopen, every school must meet certain guidelines. I have included them here for you to preview. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O9E0EQG1FYqBG7aBH_-nME9MwexWu57C/view?usp=sharing
The classrooms have been sanitized and clean twice by Mrs. Reed. The school landscape had been trimmed. The bathrooms have been repaired and disinfected. Father Julio has added a roof to Mary's Patio and is planning to use it for Sacramental Celebrations. We began the process of getting rid of the royal blue paint on campus but that project will be ongoing. Don Carlos and Junior will be converting the drinking fountains to handwashing stations. There is much more to be done but I've been conservative on the school's maintenance expenses. I am saving the money for the personal protective equipment (PPE) that we will need once we reopen with onsite instruction. Most classrooms have last year's disinfecting supplies that can be used to start this year.
This week I took a must needed break from going to the school to work. Even though, I am still working from home. I will not be back at school until August 6th but I have scheduled the professional development/meetings that will take place in the next two weeks.
We will begin the 2020-21 school year with distant learning. Teachers will be teaching from their classrooms and students will be learning from home. Since we have a collaborative working environment I don't worry about getting the school ready and up to par The next two weeks of planning together will be crucial in having an effective school year.
In listening to educational leaders the message that I keep hearing is this is the time when we need to be most resilient. The educational system has certainly changed to a knowledge-based learning system. We will need to apply 21st-century learning skills such as flexibility, adaptability, observation, empathy, creativity, innovation, and learning how to learn. This year's goal is to learn new ways to structure the online education platform.
We gratefully welcome back our ever-faithful teachers and staff. Our returning faculty and staff include; Ms. Deleon, Ms. Salcido, Ms. Vargas, Mrs. Barajas, Mrs. Garcia, Mrs. Diaz, Ms. Fletes, Ms. Gordillo, Ms. Lopez, Coach Dennis, Ms. Stacy, Mrs. Reed, Mario, Teresa, Mrs. Sharon Padilla, Mrs. Natally and myself, Mrs. Rivas.
To complement the continuing staff, the following teachers were hired: Mrs. Esmeralda Llamas has been employed for the 1st-grade position. This year will be her first year teaching at a Catholic school. She has taught in public and charter schools. She has a bachelor's degree in multiple subject education from California State University Dominquez Hills. For the 6th grade vacancy, Mr. Virtor Ramirez was hired he will be teaching middle school Social Studies and Language Arts to our 8th graders. He has over twenty years of Catholic school teaching experience. He has a bachelor's degree in English literature and physical education from California State University Dominquez Hills and a master's degree in coaching and athletic administration. Lastly, Ms. Arlene Estrada was hired to be part of the middle school team as our new ELA teacher. She is a graduate of California State University, Los Angeles, and has a master's in education and credential in special education. She has taught twenty years in Catholic schools and enjoys teaching middle school students.
