Return to School 2020-21

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July 23, 2020

Dear St. Ignatius Martyr School Community,

Greetings to all of you. I am writing to inform you that after consultation with the Diocese of Austin Catholic Schools Office and in the interest of safety for our students, faculty and staff we will begin our school year with 100% online instruction. Online instruction will begin on August 19, 2020 and will proceed through September 4, 2020.  Our plan is to begin our dual platform, in-person and online concurrent instruction, on September 8, 2020.  

To assure that our students receive the needed materials for online instruction, parents will come to the school for pickup of curricular materials, textbooks, Chromebooks etc. Distribution will occur by last name in alphabetical order. We ask that you try your very best to comply with this schedule to avoid any large group gatherings. We will have packages already prepared for you for easy drive-thru pickup.   

Important: If your child does not have an electronic device at home that he/she can utilize for online instruction, please make sure that you notify your child’s homeroom teacher by August 7, 2020 and we will provide him/her with a school Chromebook. Listed below are the names of the teachers and their email address:

A Message from Our Principal

Greetings to all.  Over the past several weeks, the faculty and I have been working on formulating a reopening plan for the 2020 -2021 school year. I know that many of you have been waiting to hear from me as to how we will go about to reopen our school.   It has been very difficult to put a plan together because of the ever-changing dynamics of the pandemic and the resultant guidance and policies provided by various governmental agencies and organizations.  Nonetheless, we have created the following plan to reopen our school safely based on the latest policies and guidance provided from agencies such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Texas Education Agency (TEA), and local and state governmental entities.
 
The safety of students and staff is of utmost importance.  We have placed a great deal of thought into our safety protocols, to include all of the social distancing requirements currently suggested and required.  Because of these safety protocols, we have had to reassign some grade level classrooms to safely accommodate the number of students in the grade; in some instances, we have had to divide grade level classes into two groups. 
 
I fully understand that some parents may not want to have their child return to school because of a pre-existing condition that places them in the “high risk” category.  I also fully understand that some parents may still be hesitant to have their child return because of safety concerns.  In these situations, we will make distance learning fully available to those families.  Students will be able to access their classes via electronic means and listen to the ongoing instruction and will follow the same class schedule as students in school. Each teacher will provide instruction and requirements based on their class. Attendance, class requirements and expectations for this dual platform instructional approach will be the same for students attending via online platforms and those attending in-person. Parents may have the opportunity for their student to return to the campus during the year if they choose to do so. Spacing will account for all our students.
 
Lastly, I want to make sure that you understand that our plan is subject to change based on governmental directives and policies.  These entities may decide to close schools, at which time we will change over to conducting all classes via distance learning.  Our distance-learning plan is included in this document.  We have made changes to our approach based on lessons learned and input from the survey we conducted in May of this year.  Thank you to all who participated in our survey and have given us feedback.
 
Let us continue to pray for each other and for the end of this pandemic. Please join me in working together to remain resolute in keeping our school community strong and viable. 
 
May our Lord keep all of you safe,
 
Fred Valle



The virus that causes COVID-19 can infect people of all ages, and Catholic school administrators, teachers, and staff will do everything feasible to keep students safe. That said, research from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), among others, has found that while children do get infected by COVID-19 and some severe outcomes have been reported in children, relatively few children with COVID-19 are hospitalized or have severe symptoms. Nevertheless, a child with a mild or even asymptomatic case of COVID-19 can spread the infection to others. The same is true for adults. Even if an infected person is only mildly ill, the people they spread it to may become seriously ill or even die, especially if that person is 65 or older with preexisting health conditions that place them at higher risk.

While it is not possible to eliminate all risk of furthering the spread of COVID-19, the current science suggests there are many steps schools can take to reduce the risks to students, teachers, staff, and their families significantly. This guidance document contains information on practices that minimize the likelihood of viral spread. This will be posted on our website 1 week prior to the start of school.