COVID-19 Response and Resources

Check here for information regarding SMSH's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other relevant resources.

Welcome!  We have missed you!  We are a community of families, and we are all feeling a great sense of sadness from our SMSH family not being able to be together these past few months.  However, we are also a community of the faithful, full of hope and resilience.  We know, and pray, that better times are ahead for all school communities.

Here at SMSH we have spent several months considering possible ways to resume school for the 2020-2021 school year.  Given the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, we have used numerous resources, both internal and external, to develop a safe reopening of school and plans for learning scenarios.  

Like all other schools, we outlined our plans for all three learning scenarios — full remote, partial in-person, and full in-person. We hope to be able to open in a partial in-person learning structure as we know that student growth depends heavily on in-person instruction and socialization. However, if we do not open in person right away, we are confident that our students will continue to learn and grow thanks to the hard work and dedication of their amazing teachers.

We are grateful for this community-wide effort and for all who have contributed their time, talent, and resources to this unprecedented situation. We will always keep a close eye on the scientific guidance, and we will be keeping our Saints community of  students, parents, and educators informed on a regular basis. If done effectively, together, these measures should greatly reduce the risk of virus transmission within the school.

Learning Guide

For the 2020-2021 school year remote learning refers to any curriculum, content materials, and instruction happens during the traditional school day but not at our school building.  All reopening scenarios have a remote learning component and therefore will be part of every reopening scenario.  We as an entire community need to prepare ourselves that at some point this academic year a mix of full in-person, partial in-person, and remote learning may take place. 

You may access our complete Learning Guide here.  This guide outlines not only the anticipated learning scenarios, but also the safety protocols such as:  mask wearing, hand hygiene, social distancing, class sizes, etc.

  • Full Remote

    Full Remote: Many students participate in remote learning classes.  Textbooks, workbooks, and other traditionally “school provided” materials will be provided to the students prior to the start of limited in-person instruction.  During Limited In-person (remote) learning, instruction takes place during the traditional school day hours.  The academic year will be divided into quarters.

    Pre-K:   The classroom teacher meets digitally with students for one hour a day as a whole class, with an additional hour for pair work groups following a schedule (whole group will meet daily, small groups will meet on a rotating every-other-day schedule.  The one-hour daily meet can be broken into smaller time periods for better quality meetings.  Students will be provided daily assignments, long term projects, etc. as part of a flipped classroom model.  Weekly learning packets with activities consistent with the week’s learning theme will also be provided.  Additionally, students will have scheduled classes with the arts (includes art and music experiences), and  Spanish once a week.  Assignments, videos, worksheets, additional resources will be provided and posted by the classroom teacher and accessible to students and parents via Google Classroom.  An anticipated daily routine/schedule that is grade appropriate will also be provided.  Attendance will be  taken.

    Kindergarten-2nd grade: The classroom teacher meets with students digitally for one hour a day as a whole class, with an additional hour for pair work groups following a schedule (whole group will meet daily, small groups will meet on a rotating every-other-day schedule.  The one-hour daily meet can be broken into smaller time periods for better quality meetings.  Students will be provided daily assignments, long term projects, etc. as part of a flipped classroom model.  Weekly learning packets with activities consistent with the week’s learning may also be provided.  Additionally, students will have scheduled classes with the arts (includes art and music experiences), and  Spanish once a week.   Students will be grouped by their homeroom for remote learning  Those students who are home healthy but quarantined will follow the same schedule and guidelines.  Those students who are sick, for any reason will utilize Google Classroom and work with the classroom teacher.  Assignments, videos, worksheets, additional resources will be provided and posted by the classroom teacher and accessible to students and parents via Google Classroom.  An anticipated grade appropriate daily routine/schedule will also be provided.  Attendance will be taken.

    3-6th grade:  The classroom teacher meets with students digitally for an hour to an hour and a half a day as a whole class, with an additional hour for pair work groups following a schedule (whole group will meet daily, small groups will meet on a rotating every-other-day schedule.  The one-hour daily meet can be broken into smaller time periods for better quality meetings.  Students will be provided daily assignments, long term projects, etc. as part of a flipped classroom model.  Weekly learning packets with activities consistent with the week’s learning may also be provided.  Additionally, students will have scheduled classes with the arts (includes art and music experiences), and  Spanish once a week.   Students will be grouped by their homeroom for remote learning.  Those students who are home healthy but quarantined will follow the same schedule and guidelines.  Those students who are sick, for any reason will utilize Google Classroom and work with the classroom teacher.  Assignments, videos, worksheets, additional resources will be provided and posted by the classroom teacher and accessible to students and parents via Google Classroom.  An anticipated grade appropriate daily routine/schedule will also be provided.  For 6th grade students only, Spanish class will be scheduled for twice a week.

    7-8th grade:  The schedule for classes will not follow a traditional in-person model.  Rather a Humanities Day (ELA, Social Studies), Sciences Day (Math, Science) schedule will be followed.  These classes will meet digitally for one hour twice a week, again, following a schedule.  Religion instruction also occurs twice a week, however the specific days are dependent upon the teacher schedule.  The entire schedule will be shared prior to the start of remote learning and will only be adjusted with the permission of the administration.  Students will be provided direct instruction, daily assignments, long term projects, etc. as part of a flipped classroom model.  Students will be grouped by their homeroom even for remote learning.  Those students who are home healthy but quarantined will follow the same schedule and guidelines.  Those students who are sick, for any reason will work with teachers.  Attendance is taken daily at both the beginning and end of class.  An Appreciation of the Arts (includes art and music experiences) class period will be scheduled once a week.  Spanish class will be scheduled twice a week. Attendance is also taken.  An anticipated grade appropriate daily routine/schedule will also be provided.  Students will be graded and assessed throughout remote learning.  The grades earned by students will be present on any and all academic records including those used for high school applications.

  • Partial In-Person

    Partial In-person (hybrid):  Some students attend classes in person while others participate in remote learning.  A cohort models of group A and group B would be utilized.  For this model only half of the school’s entire population (but the whole class) will be on campus at one time.  To the greatest extent possible siblings will be part of the same cohort.  When the cohort meets at school the daily “traditional” schedule is followed.  There will be no pull-out resource services.  Education services will be provided within the classroom.  If all cohorts meet remotely the Limited In-person structure is used regarding meeting times.  The academic year will be divided into quarters.

    Prek, Kindergarten and 1st grade: To the greatest extent possible Prek, Kindergarten, and 1st grade  students will participate in school on campus five days a week or for their typical attendance schedule.

    Cohorts A and B: The division of the cohorts is entirely dependent upon the restrictions placed by the state, i.e.: percentage of students on campus, or maximum number of students in one room, etc.  The schedule of what cohort is on campus will be structured on an every other day schedule, i.e Blue Day and Red Day, for every day school is scheduled.  Students will have the grade appropriate content instruction, in addition to a slightly adjusted Appreciation of the Arts, physical education, and, if scheduled, Spanish instruction.  All students will have the same instruction over the course of the quarter.  Curriculum instruction will require a more manageable pace.

  • Full In-Person

    Full In-person:  All students, except those who have opted into the remote learning program, attend classes in person.  Students remain in their classroom for a majority of the day and sit with 3 ft desk edge-to-desk edge spacing with masks on.  Bathroom breaks, masks breaks, and outdoor recess times (Prek-6th grade) are all scheduled.  During eating times the class will eat in shifts (ex. every other row) in order to provide 6ft distancing with masks off.  There will be no pull-out resource services.  Education services will be provided within the cohort/classroom.   The academic year will be divided into quarters.

Online COVID-19 Resources