Dear JPII and SPCS Family, 

Another quick update:

Together we have gotten through the first week of this awful situation. We are so proud of the students, families, and staff for such amazing work! We have gotten tons of positive feedback and notes of gratitude from so many of you. On the behalf of all of your Greenville Catholic School’s Faculty and Staff we would like to thank you! 

We will all continue to get through this together. 

It is readily apparent that getting back into the school buildings by Monday is not going to happen. The Governor has just announced school closures through May 15th. Rather than put a specific date on JPII and SPCS’s return let us just say the school buildings will be closed until further notice. This leaves room for optimism but lets us prepare for the rest of the year if necessary. We will give plenty of notice. 

Our goals remain:
1. Provide at least some semblance of normalcy, balance, and routine for our kids. 
2. Reduce/avoid additional hardship and stress to the extent possible. 
3. Deliver the best possible education under the circumstances such that our students can matriculate on schedule. 

With that in mind, your educators have been collaborating and working hard the past few days looking at best practices, longevity of our model, and any tweaks for improvement. Again, this will not be perfect. Perfect is our kids in the classroom with their extraordinary teachers. 

Here are some notes and slight changes we will implement over the coming days:

1. A four to one week. That is, regular virtual classes Monday through Thursday. Fridays will be a workday. This will give students, families, and educators a chance to catch their collective breath. As things move quite a bit faster in this virtual mode we think this shift is appropriate and best for everyone’s mental health while not sacrificing on educational quality. 
2. 
   
   1. Teachers will have virtual office hours on Friday workdays (these will be posted ASAP). 
   2. Students can use the Friday workday to catch up on projects and assignments as well as get extra help and/or tutoring when needed. 
   3. This will start next week since this week is already a four day week.

1. Over the coming days, all divisions and grade levels will be moving toward using Google Classroom and Google Meets if they are not already. The idea is to post assignments, submit assignments, post class materials, assessments, projects etc all in one place. Our faculty are making this transition to make things easier for students and families to manage all the information. 

1. At this time we are not planning any changes to the overall academic calendar. Please note that as this crisis is unpredictable plans could change. 
2. 
   
   1. Easter is a very important time of year for our Catholic Schools and families. Easter break will remain as is ..

1. We are continuing to plan and prepare for next year as always. 

Again, thanks to the whole community for coming together in such an extraordinary way!

St. Peter … Pray for us!!
St. John Paul II … Pray for us!!


Principal Conticchio and Principal Alexander

Fr. Ian Van Heusen will live stream Mass for SPCS faculty, students, and families at 12 p.m. Friday, March 20th.

From our Principal:

Dear SPCS Family,                        

As we complete our second day of remote learning, I just want to thank all of you and the students for doing an excellent job!  This is not an easy time for anyone and I truly appreciate your continued support, time and effort.  We are truly blessed to have such an amazing community here. 
With that being said, we will be having a Teacher Workday on Monday, March 23, 2020 to allow our students and teachers the time they need to continue doing such an outstanding job.  Due to the fact that we do not know how long we will be teaching this way, we want to avoid “burn out.”  
Thank you to those of you that have offered constructive feedback; it is always welcome.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns moving forward.  I will continue to pray for good health for all of you and your families.

Sincerely,
Joan Alexander
Principal

Dear JPII and SPCS Family, 

All of your division leaders and faculty: preK, primary, intermediate, middle, and high schools have been working hard together these past few days such that we can make a smooth transition to remote learning starting tomorrow Wednesday March 18 at 8am. Please, if you have the chance … recognize that under these extreme and stressful circumstances they have left their families at home such that they could come to the school buildings and create this new model for all of our kids. 

It is perfectly understood by all that school might not be the highest priority right now. Rightfully so!! We want to do our part in trying to create some structure for our kids new daily normal. We are also trying to be sure they get everything academically possible under these circumstances. All the while trying not to create more stress for students, parents, and staff. 

This is a Herculean task for all of us!  

All that said I hope the Greenville Catholic Schools community understands that these solutions will not be perfect … perfect would be in the classroom with their teachers and classmates. However, we believe these solutions are better than no solution at all. Things are going to come up, kids and/or staff might not be able to get online, we might have tech issues, people might not be well or just too stressed to do this on a particular day … that is absolutely okay!! All we can do is the best we can. 
We want to assure you that this is going to be a flexible and fluid process. This is uncharted territory for your school staff, for parents and guardians, and most certainly for our students. Certainly there will be tweaks and changes as we progress and learn. We welcome feedback!! Tell us what is working well and what is not.

Your teachers are going to be very flexible with all this. Please do not stress too much over this part. 

St. Peter … Pray for us!!
St. John Paul II … Pray for us!! 

Principal Conticchio and Principal Alexander

Dear JPII and SPCS Families, 


With careful consideration, collaboration, and much prayer we have decided to make a transition from on-site instruction to remote learning. We understand how this impacts all of our daily lives. Some may not agree or be angry with this decision. However, we are in an extraordinary and unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic crisis. We humbly ask for your collective support in this decision. 


On Monday March 16th our school buildings will be open from 10am - 12pm for the few students that might need to obtain items, books, notebooks etc from their lockers and/or classrooms. We asked students on Friday to bring everything home with them so there should be very few that need to come collect absolutely necessary items. 


Starting March 17th the school buildings will be closed to students and families. They will remain closed for approximately two weeks. That is, through March 30th and pending any changes in advice and/or mandates from state and federal leadership. As this is a very fluid situation this term could be shorter or longer. Any changes will be communicated as quickly as humanly possible. 


Please be aware that remote learning will look very different for the high school division, middle school division, intermediate division, primary division, and pre-school program. You will be receiving more communication from school and division leaders as well as teachers with specific instructions and plans for each division and class. 


The transition to remote learning will officially begin Wednesday March 18th. However, please be on the lookout for an abundance of information from teachers and staff between now and then. We will need your help in getting students ready and prepared for the transition at 8am on Wednesday.


The only way we can get through this successfully and without changes in the academic calendar is if the entire Greenville Catholic Schools community works together to maintain the integrity of our children’s education to the best of our ability. We need your help!! It will take much sacrifice and inconvenience by all … if we are diligent, work hard, and be patient with each other we will get through this together. 


Let us all continue to pray for our community’s health, peace, and grace in this most tumultuous time. 


St. Peter … Pray For Us!!
St. John Paul II … Pray For Us!!


Principal Conticchio and Principal Alexander

Dear SPCS Family,
Your student is bringing home all of their textbooks and materials they would need should the school transition into digital learning between now and Monday.  As of now, we WILL be coming to school Monday, so please bring texts and materials back.  If anything changes this weekend, I will alert you via email and text alerts.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Have a good weekend.
Sincerely,
Joan Alexander
Principal

Dear JPII and SPCS family,
Please be aware that we continue to very closely monitor the progression of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We are paying particularly close attention and following Pitt Co. Health Officials, the NCDHHS, the CDC, and WHO guidelines and advice. As well we are currently making contingency plans for the case that this situation requires a disruption in normal school operations and learning.

People who think they may have been exposed to COVID-19 should contact their healthcare provider immediately. Please be aware that there are no confirmed cases of infection at JPII nor SPCS. As of this writing there are no known cases in Pitt County. In fact all known cases in NC are travel related. People may very well be self quarantined for a variety of reasons … e.g. travel history, unrelated illness etc. This does not mean they have been infected. 
Please use trusted resources like www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html, pittcountync.gov/coronavirus, and https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/diseases/COVID19.html for factual information and advice on how to combat the spread of the Coronavirus and subsequent disease COVID-19 to stay informed.

What are we doing?

1. We are sharing this advice from the CDC website with students: 
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
• Follow CDC’s recommendations for using a facemask.
• CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19.
• Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. 
- If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty.
2. Staying in constant communication with Health Officials.
3. Monitoring student absences, travel, and illnesses very closely
4. Relaxing our policies on absences and makeup work
5. Evaluating and/or canceling large events, community service activities, and field trips.  
6. Following cleaning and disinfecting recommendations and protocols. 
7. Making contingency plans for a transition to remote learning.
As of today State officials are not recommending school building closures. Please rest assured that if such a decision needs to be made we will do so with extreme care and consideration. We understand the impact this would have on our community.

Please do not panic but take this time to prepare. Along with normal at home preparedness. Have contingency plans for child care and make sure you have good internet access. If you would please reach out to your appropriate main office if you do not have reliable high speed internet at your homes.

A transition to remote learning would require reliable internet service at your homes. To be successful such a transition will require all of us working together as a community … from home. 

Please be patient with us as this is uncharted territory for us all. Rest assured we will make the best possible decisions to protect our students, families, staff, and community as humanly possible. 
Above all please continue to pray for all those affected by and a speedy end to this crisis. 

JPII Principal Conticchio and SPCS Principal Alexander

Dear JPII and SPCS Families,

Throughout this pandemic crisis you will likely be hearing more and more from us as information comes available. In light of some misinformation floating around we wanted to send another quick memo to clear this up.

It is important that people who self quarantine are not assumed to have Covid-19 (the pandemic type of Coronavirus). Remember we still have people coming down with the various flu viruses and common cold viruses (like NL63 a common Human Coronavirus around since the 60’s). People that come down with these common viruses are at higher risk of complications from the pandemic level-novel Covid-19 and will often be advised by medical professionals to protect themselves by self quarantine. People that have traveled to and from high risk countries and/or so called “hot spots” are also often self quarantined.

Please be assured with absolute certainty that if anyone in our JPII and/or SPCS community gets infected with Covid-19 you will be notified immediately after we are notified. We will not be putting out notifications when students or staff come down with the flu or other common cold viruses that are in no way related to this pandemic Covid-19 virus. We will never withhold important information and always do our best not to convey unnecessary information.

Principal Conticchio and Principal Alexander