Week One

School Update - Week One

We have had 3 days filled with procedures, directions, support, and prayer. We had our first Mass this morning with 1st grade and Middle School students. Fr. Vinny did a lovely job directing us and his homily included the phrase “Hold Your Horses”.

We found out today that many families have not been receiving any of our email communications. If you are one of those families we are sorry for that error. It was determined that the transfer of data from Powerschool to School Messenger was not complete for each student. We have corrected the transfer errors and sent an email to everyone with a link to this newsletter. If you do not get an email by 4:30PM on Friday please send a message to office@smsindy.org to let us know. Include your email address and your child’s name in that message please.

Below are all the communications sent out in order by date. If you have already read it, thank you.

August 13 @ 10:30AM - Come Work with us

We have 2 job opportunities during the school day:

Working in the cafeteria - Support staff member for the USDA School Lunch Program. If you are interested please contact Dianne Metzler 317-919-3853 or d.metzler@smsindy.org

Working in the Classroom - Instructional assistant 6 hours a day/5 days a week. If you are interested please contact Eric Schommer 317-255-7153 or e.schommer@smsindy.org

Thank you for your consideration.

August 12 @ 6:30PM - Pick Up Process

Hello Parents,

Today went much better than yesterday for our dismissal. Thank you so much to the people that came after 12:45 and helped us keep things from backing up. If you came early, you may have been asked to move and park in the South lot. With so many cars coming at the same time for dismissal, we create problems wherever we line up. That’s why it is important that you DO NOT line up ANYWHERE. This means no lining up on Knollton Road, no lining up in the Church parking lot across the street, no lining up even in the South lot. We need you to PARK in a spot instead. This creates the safest environment for everyone to leave in an orderly way and not block traffic on roads or in our lot. Again, please continue to come at 12:45 and not earlier. If you do arrive early, please PARK in the South lot and DO NOT line up.

If you have any questions, please contact office@smsindy.org.

Thank you!

August 11 @11:30AM Pick Up

Good Morning,

Thank you for following our morning drop off procedures. If you had any confusion, please contact our office for support at office@smsindy.org . It will be quicker tomorrow.

For pick up, please enter from Knollton Road. That is the road on the back side of our property. You can arrive starting at 12:45PM today. Please do not come early. We will be there to help you with North and East lot procedures.

God Bless You,

Eric Schommer

Principal

August 11 @ 9:00AM Breakfast & Lunch

Good Morning, This is a reminded that everyone has access to breakfast and lunch everyday at no cost this year. Please take advantage of this program.

August 10 @ 2:45PM Digital Health Forms

Good afternoon families/Buenas tardes familias,

Here is an easier way to relay your child's medical needs. Attached is an electronic form. I hope this helps. CLICK HERE

Lauren Everman, RN BSN

School Nurse

August 10 @ 9:45AM Health Forms

I hope everyone is ready for a great first day of school tomorrow! While we wait for PowerSchool to roll out this week, I would love to know more about your kids' medical needs. If we have not spoken, please send an email including allergies and medications or send the attached form with your child this week. Attached is a health form you can send with your child this week. Also, a reminder to continue bringing medication to the office. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out via email or phone.

Thank you and I look forward to seeing all the kids tomorrow! Gracias y espero ver a todos los niños mañana!

(LINK NO LONGER ACTIVE - Use Digital Form Above)

Lauren Everman BSN RN

August 9 @ 5:25PM Welcome Back

We have missed you dearly and look forward to seeing you on Wednesday. It has been a difficult last 3 weeks without the ability to contact you. For those that are new to St. Monica, We will be here to guide you through the first few days. Please follow our staff directions and ask for assistance as needed. We plan on having a fully functional student management system, Powerschool, by then end of this week. Directions for parent logins will be distributed as soon as we have them available to us.

1:00 Dismissal

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week are all 1:00PM dismissals. You can line up starting at 12:45PM. Please do not arrive before 12:45PM. You will enter from Knollton Road.

Office

Our office is open all week from 9am-1pm. Stop by if you need assistance or call 317-255-7153. We will also have free uniforms available all week.

Supplies

All students will need to bring headphones and a backpack to school daily that holds all of their belongings. Until further notice, we will not be using lockers. You may be asked to supply a yoga mat by your teacher. If so, this will be used for both movement and learning.

Drop off

Regular drop off is from 7:15-7:45 at door 3 which is the overhang door near St. Augustine Hall on the North side of the building. Everyone enters the property from Fox Hill Road. Please do not enter from Knollton or Michigan Road. We will open the doors at 7AM for those that need to drop off early. We are not able to open our doors until 7am.

First Day Pictures

On the first day, there will be directions to a photo spot at the front of the building away from the drop off line. Please park in a parking space and get out to take your picture before getting in the drop off line. Please do not stop to take pictures at the drop off door.

Pick Up

Email office@smsindy.org or your teacher to let us know which lot you want to use for Pick up. If you are going South or East you will use the East lot. If you are going North you will use the North lot. You can also contact the office to discuss which option is best for your family.

Aftercare

We will provide aftercare starting August 11th for those in need. Aftercare is a pre register and pre pay service. If you need after care, please click the link to register and pay: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdIWVdIiq4_Yl-5tkFx33cptGupfDmKN84cWQo3yWaPdqCEFw/viewform

This service is not available if you still owe from last year.

Masks

Everyone in our building will be wearing their masks at all times. As of today, this includes recess due to new information and recommendations from the Marion County Health Department. Safe mask breaks will be provided.

Visitors

At this time, we are not allowing any visitors inside the school building. This includes parents, grandparents, or other relatives. We look forward to the time when we can welcome you back for visits and volunteering.

July 30 @ 11AM

To Mask or Not to Mask? - This is not the only question.

Due to the pandemic, last year was filled with many aspects not usually associated with schools. We were all hopeful that it would pass quickly once a vaccine was readily available revealing a fully engaging 21-22 school year. Though many of us have been able to become fully vaccinated, we are still in the pandemic and continue to require precautions in order to function safely. We are offering in-person classes only unless an entire class or the school is quarantined or we have a school closure due to other unexpected situations. At that time, eLearning will take place. With recommendations from the CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, The Archdiocese of Indianapolis, and The Marion County Health Department, we are confident that we can continue to provide an effective yet safe environment for your child. As more data is revealed, changes will be made throughout the year.

Face Covering (Mask)

At this time, face coverings are required for all staff and students while inside the school building regardless of vaccination. There are exceptions to this requirement. Face coverings can be removed at teacher request for short periods of time during specific instruction activities such as phonemic awareness and other speech related activities. At such times, students will be socially distant. Face coverings will also be removed during the consumption of food and drinks as in the past. Face coverings will not be required outside the school building during recess, outdoor classroom use, while in the garden, or any other outdoor activities. Your child is welcome to continue to wear a face covering while outside and during all classroom activities. Please let your child’s teacher know of your desire to be masked at all times so she/he can support your decision.

Social Distancing

Social distancing throughout the building will still be implemented. Our focus is on maximizing the spacing within the classrooms, organizing the timing with the use of community spaces such as restrooms and the cafeteria, and orienting students within the classes to face a similar direction. We will resume the use of small group instruction within the classroom while remaining masked.

Cleaning

We will keep up our cleaning and sanitizing routines for the restrooms, common high touch areas, and the cafeteria. Encouragement of regular hand washing and sanitizing will continue as well. Many of our students will be permitted to eat lunch in the cafeteria this year. This comes with spacing and cleaning challenges so we will be integrating it with caution and a lot of pre-planning.

We are adding the use of the cafeteria and small group table instruction within the classroom. Our surface sanitizing wipes, year supply of hand sanitizer, and hand soap have all arrived and are ready for use. Though on back order, we are awaiting the arrival and installation of our air filter systems to assist in improved classroom air quality. Our goal is to reintroduce study trips during the second semester. I know our bus driver would like it!

Encouraging

We continue to encourage: Vaccinating those that qualify, using outdoor learning spaces regularly, and monitoring personal health daily. We recognize that each school has a different approach to creating a safe learning environment for the children. We believe that our approach provides a safe environment with some flexibility for teachers and students when necessary. We will continue to monitor our situation and make changes as we are able based on our data. Hopefully this year, those that are fully vaccinated will no longer be required to wear face coverings. A process for being exempt from wearing face coverings is being evaluated but implementation will no take place until our community is ready and able to safely do so.

Volunteering

We will begin allowing volunteers back into the building once the community is at a stable rate and our community demonstrates a committment to a health educational environment. We are looking forward to this time together.

Please remember that we are all working at different comfort levels and we need to respect each other. The plan incorporates research as well as the understanding of our community and human variables. If you would like to discuss this plan in more detail, please contact me through email to set up a time to meet. Our goal is to continue to keep everyone safe while providing the most effective Faith, Family, Academic, and Service oriented education possible. With your support, this will be a more engaging year filled with activities that provide reinforcement and excitement for learning and growing in faith.