Notre Dame Academy families,
I know you have all been watching the continuing decline in the number of COVID cases along with the expanding distribution of the vaccine. We, too, have been watching closely and are eagerly anticipating a green light from the County of Los Angeles to reopen for in-person instruction. Please know that while the wait continues, we are actively preparing to reopen. We want our girls back on campus!
As a reminder, County guidelines require testing positivity be less than 8% with fewer than 7 cases per 100,000 people for two weeks in order to resume in-person instruction. While we’ve met the threshold for testing positivity, we’re still at a case rate of 12.3 per 100,000, so we’re not yet able to start the two-week countdown. You may have heard about other high schools opening, but no high school -- public or private -- is allowed to provide on-campus instruction at this time except for small groups of high needs students. We continue to collaborate not only with area schools, but also with County and Archdiocesan leadership to glean the most current and accurate information to inform our decisions and take immediate action.
While we cannot begin hybrid instruction without County approval, we can provide limited opportunities on campus. We are thrilled to welcome students by grade level for a celebration of Mass, community building, and social-emotional connection on March 18, 19, and 26. In addition, we've established the following timeline for faculty, staff, and students in preparation to begin hybrid on-campus instruction pending County approval.
- The week of March 8, teachers will be on campus for two days of training and practice without disruption of the class schedule.
- The week of March 15, all teachers will be teaching from their classrooms on campus, again without disruption of the class schedule.
- A small group of high needs students will continue to work on campus each day.
- Our sports teams will continue to practice and compete as allowed.
Our faculty and staff have been working tirelessly to maintain exemplary instruction for our girls during distance learning. Our safety committee has been working concurrently to ensure the safety of our students, faculty, and staff. We have successfully launched the TK through fourth grade, daycare, and high-needs cohorts at the elementary school and are preparing to open fifth and sixth grades soon. I am confident we can do the same for the high school as well.
We need your help to do so safely. We need a commitment from every family to read and follow all of the procedures below. Successful community days will enable us to safely expand to hybrid instruction over the coming weeks. As always, we are grateful for your continued support and look forward to welcoming you to campus soon!
In Notre Dame,
Lilliam Paetzold, '84