March 27, 2020 - 3:00 pm Community Update Dear Saint Francis Families,
Enjoy our rally videos! While we have much to celebrate, we are also making some adjustments in light of the extension of our closure to ensure our remote learning program continues to support the many needs of our students and families. Please review this information carefully with your students to ensure we are all on the same page with regard to the schedule and expectations for next week.
Academic Program Overview We were fortunate to have the opportunity to take a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to designing our remote learning platform from the outset. Even with the rapidity at which the situation surrounding COVID-19 has evolved, our academic team proactively researched and identified best practices for shifting to an online format, and we continue to evaluate and hone our structure to best serve our students.
Class Meetings Students are expected to be physically present and available for check-ins and Zoom meetings during their assigned subject blocks. Should a teacher choose to host a Zoom meeting during their subject block, these meetings are considered mandatory, and attendance will be taken. Students must communicate in advance with teachers if they are ill or have an extenuating circumstance. Zoom calls for office hours that are outside of the scheduled subject block will remain optional, but are recommended should students have questions or need support.
Assignments Our educators will be scaling back on the volume of assignment submissions to ensure a manageable workload, and we have established due dates for each subject area to help streamline the weekly schedule for our students. Students are expected to submit work by the assigned due dates, and to communicate with teachers directly if an extenuating circumstance prevents them from submitting on time. We will continue to provide flexibility in accepting late work with appropriate communication from students; however, if an assignment has not been submitted nor communication made with a teacher within a week of the assigned due date, teachers will enter a zero for that assignment in the gradebook until the assignment is received. We encourage parents to review Schoology each week with their students and to reinforce the importance of creating a schedule for work completion together. Again, communication and engagement are top priorities for our students, and these metrics will help us to ensure both are taking place.
Student Expectations Please review our updated remote learning for students overview as well as these reminders relative to student behavior and expectations when using Zoom. As Holy Cross leaders during a time of great turmoil in our world, we know our students will treat our learning environment and educators with the utmost respect. That being said, we want to make sure expectations are clear, and that students understand that our handbook remains in effect. We greatly appreciate your partnership and support in ensuring our learning environment continues to reflect our Holy Cross values in all facets.
Health and Wellness We want to remind our families of the importance of prioritizing health and wellness during this time. Our counselors have established Zoom office hours where they are available to support students, and our health and fitness teachers continue to share meditations, home workouts and mindfulness exercises to support students' overall well-being. Please continue to nourish your body and spirit - staying healthy and safe is truly the most important priority for all of us.
Faith In this season of Lent, we are especially mindful of our practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. While traditional opportunities for service may be limited due to shelter in place ordinances, we are reminding students that compliance with local authorities is in fact service to the community, and is a type of fasting and sacrifice that truly benefits our neighbor. For community prayer, we are continuing to expand opportunities and shared resources including our daily announcement prayers, "Faith Time," links to livestream masses in our Diocese, notifications of worldwide prayer in the Church and more. Please be sure to follow us on social media (@SFHS_CampusMin and @sfhs_campusministry) for more opportunities to come together in prayer as we continue through this Lenten season in preparation for Easter.
Be well, and have a restful weekend. We are in this together! Day 9: Novena to Saint Joseph Saint Joseph, one of the most noticeable characteristics of your spiritual life was your consistent obedience to God, for your life was based upon faithfulness and confidence to the Lord who loved you. At the very beginning of the Gospel, it is recounted that Mary, who was betrothed to you, was found to be pregnant. As a just man, you decided to send her away quietly so as to cause no harm to her reputation. The Lord, however, asked you to take her as your faithful wife, and you, obedient to this first intervention of God, entered into the ever-mysterious ways of the incarnation. Just a few months later, the Roman emperor commanded that a census was to be taken throughout his empire. With firm confidence in God's providence, you accepted this second trial. You therefore set from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the city of David, where the Messiah was to be born.
Again, after the visit of the Magi, you faithfully obeyed as the Lord once again commanded you: "Arise, and take the child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and remain there until I tell you." Without hesitation, you awakened your family, and that very night you became emigrants into Egypt and remained there until God instructed you to return to the land of Israel. As you well know, the Lord also speaks to us in our own lives. He does this in the events which take place around us, in the silence of prayer, and in the teachings of his Church. Help us, Saint Joseph, to discern God's voice amid all the distractions of our world. Amen.
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