Good afternoon St. Joseph’s Families,

I hope you are enjoying your summer thus far! Happy 4th of July next week!!

Much planning and preparation is going into making our 2020-2021 school year great!. While there are still many unknowns, I wanted to give you some information and share with you the results of the 2020-2021 planning survey. We continue to work on the comprehensive plan for our upcoming school year- it is difficult as information is still constantly changing and shifting. Your input on the survey helps us know what you feel is important and will be taken into consideration. I will make the comprehensive plan available to families mid-late July.

The planning survey was sent to parents of our 1st-7th grade students. I wanted to make sure that parents of our new kindergarten students had this information as well. We had 180 families complete the survey – we have 251 families so I felt we had great overall representation-across grade levels as well.

Based on survey results and discussion with faculty and staff:

• Our intention is to  start school as originally planned on August 17th for 1st-8th grade and August 19th for kindergarten students
  • This is dependent on many factors related to COVID-19 – federal, state and local restrictions
• Here is a link to the questions on the survey – It is a Google Doc so may not be cell compatible
• Here is the data( by highest percentage) to the question on the survey that asked: What safety measures would need to be in place for you to be comfortable to send your child/children to attend school? (choose all that apply)
  • Hand washing/hand sanitizing  stations = 79.6%
  • Fewer Classes attending Mass on Tuesdays = 52.5%
  • Daily temperature checks or thermal scanning = 46.4%
  • Social Distancing = 42%
  • No additional safety measures are needed as long as school is following health guidelines = 41.4%
  • Staggered start and stop times to avoid large gatherings = 39.8%
  • Avoid gathering in cafeteria – eat lunch in classrooms = 36.5%
  • Teachers rotate classrooms/students stay in in one classroom = 30.9%
    • Every child and staff member is requested to wear a mask – 17.7%
    • Every child and staff member is required to wear a mask = 17.7%
    • Avoid playing on playground equipment = 13.8%

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions you might have (emericht@stjoes.com). Enjoy our great Idaho summer.

Please take care and God Bless.

For Excellence in Catholic Education

Blessings,

Tammy Emerich

Principal

St. Joseph’s Catholic School