Summer Notes - Communication #1

June 4, 2020

Office Summer Hours

The main office will be staffed the following hours during the month of June. This means that the building is open for anyone needing to stop in the main office. Additional hours are certainly available if needed, please contact Mrs. Conlon to check availability.

8:30AM-1:30PM; Monday through Thursday

Once we have a better understanding of July and schedules, we will send out a communication indicating these hours.

Response to the Events in Today's World

I wanted to take this opportunity to provide a response to the events happening throughout our city, state, and country as a result of the tragic death of George Floyd. The events unfolding in front of our eyes are devastating and elicit a number of emotions. As a school and as a Catholic community, we have been purposefully and actively listening. In fact, we are reaching out to members of our school community who are most affected by these events.

Our plan for addressing this as a school and with students upon return are forthcoming. For us, real change takes time and is an ongoing commitment. As the educators of your children, please know that we take this responsibility to the highest regard. Empowerment and inclusion are part of our core.

Here is what we are doing at St. Matthew:

We're educating... ourselves and learning about the brutal history people of color have had to endure in our country.
We're listening... to people's stories. Friends of color who we've known for a very long time, as well as people that we're just getting to know for the first time. We are just listening.
We're creating... resources to help our staff talk about this with your students. We are looking at a variety of tools, language, and practices that address the systemic racism in our communities.

We ask you to join us in these conversations. Included below are some documents from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops that help us start the conversation.

We are here to listen and are working on plans and educational materials, for when we return to together, to help teach students about the importance of respect and treating one another with dignity. We are grateful for this opportunity to make St. Matthew and our world better.

USCCB Link

Open Wide Our Hearts Document

Summer Tutoring/Camp Offerings

It is with sadness that I write to tell you that St. Matthew will NOT be able to offer any in-person summer tutoring or camps. One of the new restrictions in place for the protection of the teachers and the school is for the teachers to carry a 1 million dollar personal liability insurance policy. This requirement adds a pretty significant cost to teachers and unfortunately means that we will not be able to offer our wonderful summer offerings in person.

I am saddened by this but know that it is important we adhere to the Archdiocesan guidelines. I will be asking teachers to consider a Zoom option for families and students. If that is something of interest to them, I will have them reach out to their class directly for signing up.

SCRIP

The last day to purchase SCRIP to be counted for the upcoming school year

(2020-2021) is June 30th, 2020. After this date, the SCRIP amounts for each family will be calculated and sent to you via email. Additionally, tuition contracts will be updated with that amount and be resent to you for signing. Should we have questions on where the funds should be sent, we will be in touch to ensure the money is sent correctly.

All purchases beginning July 1st, 2020 and after will go towards the 2021-2022 school year.

We will be doing one last physical order. All orders in before 10AM on Monday, June 8th will be placed and gift cards should arrive on Thursday. At that point we will share details of pick-up.

Return to Learn Plan

St. Matthew has established a Return to Learn School Leadership Team in accordance with Iowa Department of Education guidance. This team is preparing for the infrastructure, health, safety, academic standards, social emotional and behavioral health and equity of returning to classes and learning in the fall. You will hear from this group in two ways:

We will share developments in the planning
You will be asked to respond to several surveys in the next few weeks.

We appreciate your assistance and partnership in this endeavor, helping us to create the best plan possible for a return to school in August. This team is comprised of the following people with additional support from the school and parents.

Father Don Czapla, Priest and Parish Representative
Tiernan Dolan, Facilities Manager
Amy Ball, Preschool Director
Ms. Carney - PE Teacher
Mrs. Driscoll - JK-2 Teacher Representative
Mrs. Adams - 3-5 Teacher Representative
Amy Thuente, Parent and Board of Education Representative
Hollie Braid, Parent
Angie Steffen, Parent
Liz Eichhorn, Parent and Healthcare Representative
Heather Feller, Parent
Shannon Wood, Parent
Janessa Huilman, Parent

Governor Reynolds has decided to utilize the $26.2 million allotted to Iowa for the expansion of broadband access and improving access to technology for K-12 education. Please take a few minutes to complete this to help solidify funds needed in our area and for our school.

Iowa Technology Survey

Xavier High School Enrollment Study

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Recently during this Easter season, we heard a profound statement from John’s Gospel: “Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.”

How easy it is today to let our hearts be troubled and to worry about tomorrow. Yet, when fear attempts to tie up our lives, we need to open our hearts and hear Jesus’ call to have faith in Him. Let’s allow Jesus to set us free, to entrust our worries to Him and embrace him as the resurrection and the life.

This image speaks to the work we do at Xavier High School as we develop the total person in a Catholic environment, one that trains young people to believe in Jesus as the resurrection and the life. We at Xavier High School are committed to offering a Catholic school education rooted in faith with a rigorous academic program. With that in mind, we have engaged Meitler, a national Catholic school planning firm, to assist us in researching our enrollment potential. As part of the study, we are conducting market research to clearly understand the needs and perceptions of the community. Meitler has over 49 years of national experience in research and planning of this nature, specifically with Catholic schools.

We encourage you to participate in this process with us. This survey is an important component of the planning process and provides you the opportunity to share your insights and opinions about Xavier High School.

Please take the time to respond candidly to each question in the survey. All of your responses are very important. All responses are confidential.

Please complete the survey by June 8, 2020 using the link below. Please complete only one survey per family.

Thank you for your prompt response and your commitment to Catholic education!

Sincerely yours,
Chris McCarville
President, Xavier High School

Meitler Survey - Click Here

Summer Book Study

All are invited to join us for 6 weeks this July to read and discuss 13 Powerful Ways to Pray by Father Eamon Tobin. This book study is in collaboration with All Saints Parish. Our plan is to either meet online or in person depending on guidelines from the Archdiocese. Please check out our website or click the link below for more information.

Book Study Information