Joyfully Embracing Our Mission

St. Clare School Family News | 9th January 2022

Journeying in Hope and Love: Building a Culture of Accompaniment

The Road to Emmaus

As they approached the village to which they were going,

he gave the impression that he was going on farther.

But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”

So he went in to stay with them.

And it happened that, while he was with them at table,

he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.

With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,

but he vanished from their sight.

Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us]

while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”

Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way

and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

~ Luke 24:28-32, 35

Dear St. Clare School Families,

Welcome back to Ordinary Time! This Sunday's celebration of the Baptism of our Lord marks the end of the Christmas season. As Msgr. Fran noted, we got to celebrate Christmas as during our Epiphany Mass on Friday at school. It was wonderful to hear Christmas songs again, recalling the special season when we celebrate that Jesus is known to us and is our Emmanuel, God-with-us.

RETURNING BACK TO SCHOOL

I want to congratulate you for doing a commendable job partnering with us to make sure students stayed home if they have traveled, are sick, or have household members who are sick. It truly shows your generosity and care for others. It may be inconvenient to have to take time away from work to care for your children at home, but for the good of all, you made the sacrifice. Thank you!

I also want to give a great big thank you to Mrs. Rizzo. Cherell, as she is known to us, has been managing the many toggles of returning to school, ensuring that families have the information they need and facilitating the communication between administration, diocesan and local health offices, teachers, staff, and families. It's a daunting task and she makes it look easy, always remaining positive and doing her best to be helpful. I am also grateful to those of you who keep this in perspective when the news you receive may not be what you want to hear. We know it's difficult, but this is the main reason why we haven't had an outbreak at our school.

Let's continue to work together, knowing that it is in the best interest of the students. Trusting that we are in close communications with those who have the science and the data is crucial and we are grateful that you understand this. Presuming positive understanding, seeking first to understand and engaging in respectful dialog is truly appreciated on our end.

UPDATE ON ONSITE TESTING RESULTS

As you can imagine, all testing companies, including health care providers and the County are experiencing a challenge due to the surge in cases and the concerns of the general public. Covid Testing Today has sent us a message asking for our patience as they provide resources to labs to expedite result reporting. They are hopeful that they will be back on track to providing results within 24 hours once operation supports are in place.

In the meantime, we ask for your patience. If you have not registered through Flowhealth to receive results, kindly do so. You can always contact the testing company directly if you have any questions: CTT Project Team: (323) 212-5225 | team@covid-testing-today.com | covid-testing-today.com

MORE IMPORTANTLY, we need your assurance that you are ALL completing the Daily Screening Report in ParentSquare. Our teachers and staff will continue to check these--get in the habit of checking your students to see how they are feeling every morning before you get in the car to school.

Our teachers and staff are remaining vigilant when we see students with symptoms. As we always have done, you will be called to pick up your child if they have a fever, exhibit symptoms that are contagious, whether COVID-related or not. Thank you for understanding that we have over 200 individuals who go home to over 180 homes that will be impacted by your decision to send a sick child to school.

CHANGE IN POLICY RE: ANTIGEN TESTS TO RETURN TO SCHOOL

Please note that effective tomorrow, Monday January 10th, the Diocese of San Jose elementary Catholic schools will be aligning with the County on the most recent update on acceptable tests to return to school. Families may administer FDA-authorized tests that have been approved for home use when COVID-19 tests are required to return to in-person school. Specifically, antigen home tests may be used to return to school after quarantine or isolation in accordance with CDPH isolation and quarantine recommendations and TK-12 Guidance.

NOTE: Please follow the CDPH guidance for documentation of home test performance. In addition, we may request photos of labeled test kits, a signed attestation form, or input of testing data into apps provided by the testing companies (see

Over-The-Counter-Tests-LHJ-Guidance (ca.gov)). Please be prepared to provide this when you opt to use home kits. Please email cherell.rizzo@dsj.org if you need clarifications.

ALL OTHER GUIDELINES REMAIN THE SAME UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

FORMATION HAPPENS EVERY DAY

Even if it seems that all the information you are receiving have to do with the pandemic, please know that our teachers and staff are providing the best formation for your students under any circumstance. I am proud of our teachers and staff and the care they show your children every day. Please continue to direct questions to your homeroom teacher and please remember to thank them.

AN UPDATE ON THE CleanAir4StClare CAMPAIGN

Thank you to our school families and parish community and friends who have sent in donations towards our campaign. We have received over $100,000 in donations and we continue to receive some more. I hope that you will consider giving as this will benefit your students and hardworking teachers for years to come.

Ask your family and friends to support our efforts! I know that with your help we can make this happen. A Catholic school to our north posted on their social media site that their community supported their annual appeal upwards of $200,000. That's an amazing showing. Every little bit helps. We appreciate your support.

CELEBRATING DR. KING'S LEGACY

Now, more than ever, our students need to learn about issues of equity, race-relations and diversity and inclusion so that they can realize their potential as advocates for truth and justice. Please make it a practice to have these conversations at home with your child(ren).

There are many resources available including picture books, age-level appropriate documentaries and videos. Here are a few:

Nat Geo for Kids on Dr. King
PBS for Parents Books on Diversity
Resources from NEA by Grade Level from the National Education Association
Documentaries to Inspire Kids to Change the World from Common Sense Media
More documentaries for children from Common Sense Media
Movies about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement (check for appropriateness for your grade level)

Dr. King's dream is the same dream that Jesus taught about during his ministry. It is a dream that needs all of our efforts in order to be realized.

I pray that the four-day weekend ahead will give you an opportunity to find hope and joy.

Peace and all good things,

Mrs. Cecile Mantecon, Principal

The Baptism of the Lord

Funding a Need | CleanAir4StClare

2021-22 School Calendar

Below, you will find the Calendar Grid for the school year. Some find this difficult to navigate, so I’ve created the Calendar Highlights document which I hope will make it a bit easier for you to consume.

Some changes since the end of the school year: we added September 20th as a NO SCHOOL DAY and our School Year will end a day earlier. The original calendar had us attending 183 days of school, knowing that we had three days over the required 180 days. We are keeping the 181 days in the event we have to close for an emergency due to poor air quality.

Other options to view the calendar include a Google calendar synched to ParentSquare, or subscribing to the St. Clare School Public Calendar below:

Google Public Calendar

You are invited to subscribe to the St. Clare School *PUBLIC* Google Calendar which is also synched to ParentSquare.

PUBLIC URL TO ACCESS FROM A WEB BROWSER

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=drexelschools.org_u0vj6uj1r91qlk8hu9uk1t7qro%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FLos_Angeles

PUBLIC ADDRESS IN iCAL TO ACCESS FROM OTHER APPS

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/drexelschools.org_u0vj6uj1r91qlk8hu9uk1t7qro%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics