Dear St. John Vianney Families,

We want to thank you all for your patience as we have navigated a reopening process for the school year. While this fall will look different, we have great hope for the future and we look forward to seeing the children at school again. As we shared with you at the end of July, we have created a comprehensive reopening plan, complete with measures and protocols to ensure the safety of our students, families and staff. In light of the ever changing nature of the current situation, our plan continues to evolve and adapt to new circumstances and recommendations.

After prayerful discernment and meaningful dialogue with the diocesan leadership team, the school pastor and teachers, and in consultation with the Spokane Regional Health Department, St. John Vianney Catholic School has adopted a progressive phase-in model for the 2020-2021 school year offering in-person instruction to a portion of the students.  This phased approach prioritizes students in greatest need for in-person learning.  

In accordance with the Washington State Department of Health’s “Decision Tree for Provision of in Person among Public and Private K-12 Students During COVID-19”, St. John Vianney Catholic School will be implementing the following measures for reopening, which have been endorsed by the diocesan Office of Education and Bishop Daly (Please review the letter from the diocesan Office of Education attached to this email.): 

• Preschool through 3rd grade will receive in-person instruction on our campus full-time. Families may opt for continuous/distance learning for Kindergarten through 3rd grade. Preschool will be taught by Mrs. Kerley and Mrs. Flynn, Kindergarten by Mrs. Rizzuto, 1st Grade by Ms. Johnson, and 2nd/3rd Grade will be taught by Dr. Brandal. Students will also have P.E. with Ms. Lafferty and Music with Ms. Vanegas.
• 4th grade through 8th grade will begin the year at home in the continuous/distance learning model as described in our reopening plan and will be phased into in-person instruction on our campus as conditions allow. Daily schedules for continuous/distance learning will be shared in the coming days. 4th Grade will be taught by Mrs. Purchio and 5th Grade will be taught by Mr. Hardin, who will also teach 6th/7th Social Studies. Mr. Hartley will be the 6th/7th Grade homeroom teacher and will teach 6th/7th and 8th Grade Language Arts and 8th Grade Social Studies. Mrs. Turcotte will be the 8th Grade homeroom teacher and will teach 5th-8th Math and 6th-8th Science.
  • The phasing timeline for the entry of 4th-8th grades will be determined by the guidelines of the earlier mentioned “Decision Tree”.
  • The benchmark needed to reach in order for these grades to return to on-campus instruction would be 25-75 cases per 100K residents in Spokane County over a 14 day period. As the region reaches those benchmarks, grades 4-5 would be phased in next, followed by grades 6-8.
  • There may be some flexibility in offering the most vulnerable 4th -8th grade students a place at the school to engage in virtual learning. This will be decided on a case-by-case basis based on input from teachers and families and limited by available space. A form to begin the decision-making process will be made available to families by Friday, August 21. 

Several factors contributed to the rationale for this phase-in plan:

• The COVID-19 statistics and metrics for Spokane County are beyond the level that would allow for full reopening of in-person instruction.
• Children 9 years old and under are at lesser risk of contracting and transmitting COVID-19.
• Younger children are more vulnerable in a distance learning model due to technological aptitude.
• Younger children are unable to stay at home while parents/guardians are at work.

Additionally, the diocese has made the following decision regarding delaying the first day of instruction:

The diocesan schools have collectively decided to adjust their start dates in order to be fully ready for students. Therefore, St. John Vianney will begin instruction on September 14th to allow time to shift to the two learning models occuring within the same building and to give our students and families time to get acquainted with the new protocols for entering the building and for using any new digital platforms.

• We are excited to welcome Kindergarten – 3rd grade students for in-person instruction beginning September 14th.  School will start at 8:00am daily - please note, there is no late start on Thursdays.  Educare will be open daily from 7:00am - 6:00pm for those students attending in-person instruction.
• 4th – 8th grade will begin distance learning September 14th.
• Preschool will begin in-person instruction on September 1st as per the original school calendar.

For in-person instruction, we will continue to follow the safety and CDC guidelines mentioned in a previous email. This includes wearing masks, social distancing and sanitation.  Preschool students up to age four are not required to wear masks, but certainly may if desired.  To continue phasing in students to in-person instruction, we are asking you to partner with us and take seriously the responsibility to follow local health district guidelines which include wearing masks in all public places and not attending or hosting large gatherings.  We truly desire to have all our students back for in-person instruction and that can only be accomplished by cases decreasing in our county.  

Starting September 1st, we will be scheduling individual times so all students in grade K-8 may meet their new teachers, pick up books and Chromebooks, drop off supplies and complete beginning-of-the-year assessments.  We will have a schedule out soon for you to sign up for one-on-one appointments with your teachers.  During this time, teachers will also be engaged in professional development for technology, sanitizing, and cleaning, as well as administering the initial assessments of all students.

Again, we thank you for your patience and we pray for all of you as we start this new year.  Please keep all of us in your prayers as well.  We look forward to seeing you soon!