Dear St. Patrick families,

This is a scary and unchartered time we are in. As of yesterday, there is much uncertainty that faces us and circumstances are changing daily. As of yesterday, the president has extended the social distancing for another 30 days, which means the earliest school would resume would be sometime in May. I am meeting with the staff today to bring some clarity to our situation regarding school work.

As of this time, we have been forced to cancel the following events – the 7th and 8th grade D. C. trip, the 7th grade Challenger mission, Camp Fitch, Camp Christopher and the spring show. I cannot speak to confirmation or First Communion yet. Refunds will be given for the D. C. trip. Please give us time to get that worked out. We are also going to determine how the 3rd quarter report cards will be distributed.

Regarding Edchoice, if you were on an expansion scholarship, we need to get your renewal paperwork now. The deadline is still April 15th, and I do not know if there will be an additional period in May. New expansion applicants must also turn in that paperwork now. Traditional Edchoice families, which are those from Ravenna and Akron, your window opens April 1st and the deadline is May 30th. My understanding is that those schools who were on this year’s list, will be the only ones from which traditional Edchoice will be accepted. Schools who were on the 2020 – 2021 list will not be eligible.

State testing has been suspended for this year. Those students who would be taking them will not be required to do so. Third graders will not be held to passing the ELA test. Since most of our third graders had already passed the test, this will not be a big issue.

I will be doing a parent broadcast regarding when work packets will be available. Most of the middle school teachers are already using Google classroom with the students and will continue to do so. If you have not done so yet, download the app Zoom to one of your devices. The teachers will also be using that where applicable.

At this time the building is closed to all students with very limited access to those parents who may be picking up work packets. Since the building has already been disinfected, I cannot run the risk of exposure. I also do not have anyone at this time who would be able to do any additional cleaning.

As I said this is a scary time. We do not know what will happen next. I will keep you updated as much as possible with either a parent broadcast or a posted parent bulletin. Official word of what is going on will either come from me or your child’s classroom teacher. If you hear something on the internet or social media it most likely is not true. There is light at the end of the tunnel but it will be a long tunnel!

Be safe! Be healthy! And, as always ….. GO PANTHERS!