Thursday Update: March 24, 2022

IT’S A BOY!

Congratulations to Mrs. Burr:  she delivered a beautiful baby:  Cormac Joseph Burr.  Mom, Dad and baby are all doing well.  Our prayers and best wishes go to the Burr family!

KEY CHANGES TO COVID-19 GUIDELINES FOR K-12 SETTINGS

Below is a summary of some of the key changes regarding the relaxing of restrictions announced by the Provincial Health Officer and Ministry of Education:

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT:  Schools can return to classroom and learning environment configurations and activities that best meet learner needs and
preferred educational approaches, though should still consider strategies to create space between people.

SCHOOL GATHERINGS AND EVENTS:  Intra-school events (events with just students, staff and
necessary volunteers) do not have a capacity limit.
Inter-school events or those with visitors (e.g., parent
spectators):
• Should not exceed 50% capacity and proof of
vaccination should not be implemented while the PHO Gatherings & Events Order is in place.
• Can return to 100% capacity when the PHO Gatherings & Events Order is lifted (expected end of day April 7, 2022).

Schools should make every effort to avoid venue/locations that place additional requirements that could prevent a person from being able to participate.

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT:  The decision to wear a mask or face covering is a personal choice for staff, students and visitors. A person’s choice is to be supported and respected.

LENTEN MORNING MASSES

We will continue our annual Lenten sacrificial tradition of inviting our Grades 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 classes to attend 8:00 am morning Masses during the season of Lent.  Please see below for the scheduled days and time.

March 30:  Grades 2,3
March 31:  Grades 4, 5
April 1:      Grades 6, 7

April 6:  Grades 2, 3, 4
April 7:  Grades 5, 6, 7

April 11:  Grades 5, 6, 7
April 13:  Grades 2, 3, 4

SEXUALITY AND YOUR CHILD (SYAC) EVENING

Parents of students in Grades 4-7 please mark your calendar for Thursday, April 21, 2022 at 6:00 pm for our SYAC evening.  This year we will have separate Zoom sessions for Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6 and Grade 7 via Zoom.  (Link to be sent closer to April 21, 2022).

Pondering the mystery of who we are, as a child of God, as a unity of body and soul, and as male or female best happens in the lived reality of family, even in its imperfection.  Our SYAC evening continues the partnership between home and classroom, begun with I am a Gift from God program.
This evening lets parents know that:

• you matter (most significantly) in your child’s life and your  children listen to you (even if it seems at times they don’t)

• Parents are the best suited to teach and form their children in human growth and development;

The school also shares the responsibility, in support of parents, to form young people in understanding who they are and growing into who God has made them to be.

Together home and classroom reveal the truth of who we are and what the gift of sexuality is for as well as proposing the free and life-giving path of chastity. In so doing, we also meet the curricular
requirements of both the ministry and our CISVA Christian education.

STUDENT LED CONFERENCE SIGN UP INFO

Student led conferences will occur on Friday, April 29, 2022.  This is an opportunity for students to show their parents a collection of work they have done and demonstrations of their learning.

Parents can sign up for a 20 minute slot beginning Friday, April 8, 2022.  Parents can sign  via the OnVolunteer system.  

Please note that this is not a regular day of school and students will only come to school during their scheduled conference time.  Students should come for their conference with their parent(s) dressed in full uniform.

CONSTRUCTION…OCTOBER 2022

A heads up to all SMES families:  Holy Cross High School is scheduled to begin construction on Phase 1 of their new buildings in October 2022.  This means that the St. Matthew’s and Holy Cross parking lots will be affected.  Holy Cross and SMES are working together to find ways to ease the potential traffic congestion by shifting our start and end times to school.

Beginning September 2022 St. Matthew’s start and end times will be as follows:

8:50 am START TIME

3:00 pm END TIME