January 2, 2022
Dear Providence Family,
I hope you had a Blessed Christmas and are enjoying a Healthy New Year!
Dr. Harper and I have been following the skyrocketing surge of the Omicron variant. I know we had several outbreaks around the time of the semester exams, and in anecdotal evidence I am aware of many families (faculty, staff and students included) who have contracted COVID over the break.
Most projections are for the spike to subside by the end of the month. We have relied on the advice of our medical consultants all through the COVID pandemic, and accordingly have asked for their input regarding returning to school. Their advice is to allow as much time between January 1st and the return to school as possible.
Out of caution we have decided to return to school on Monday, January 10, 2022. The three school days (and the following weekend) will allow some distance between any celebrations that occurred over New Year’s weekend and a return to the second semester.
We made the decision to not return to remote learning, which was beneficial as an immediate response to COVID last year. However, it is not substantiated replacement for in-person learning. We are confident that delaying the start of Semester 2 will not be detrimental to student learning.
The daily schedule for January 10th – 14th will be all A schedules with Celtic Time on Friday. The new deadline for students needing to makeup first semester examinations has also been extended to Thursday, January 13th. Exams will be proctored after school in the BLC January 10th – 13th. Students may take up to 3 exams per day. If your student needs to makeup an exam, both you and your student will be contacted via email this week to schedule those exams.
Our winter athletic teams will practice and compete as scheduled. The athletic directors are in close communication with each other, monitoring data and rescheduling contests as necessary. Their priority, as always, is the welfare of our students and community. The Athletic Office staff will communicate any schedule changes to players and families. We also encourage you to check our 8to18 website for updates.
We thank you for your patience as we work together to provide the Providence Catholic education in a safe and healthy environment.
Fr. Merk & Dr. Harper