The Re-entry Team, led by Principal Stephen Lamont, is the task force working to develop the comprehensive plans for opening school. We are following the Reopening Plan and Guidelines provided by the Catholic Schools Office (CSO) of the Archdiocese of Washington. Our final plan will be approval by the CSO prior to implementation. We are also referencing recommendations from state and local governing bodies, Center for Disease Control & Prevention, American Academy of Pediatrics and the State of Maryland’s Recovery Plan for Education. We are in communication with the School Advisory Board, the Home & School Association, and health, safety, and cleaning experts. We have surveyed our community and are working with our faculty on academic planning and professional development throughout the summer.

We are prioritizing the needs of our families whether it is by providing in-person instruction or by remote teaching. When students and staff return to the building, we will be adhering to health and safety protocols such as mask wearing, frequent hand washing, and enhanced cleaning. During in-person learning, the number of students in a classroom will be limited to allow for desks/work spaces six feet apart. There will be limited interactions between classrooms (e.g. lunch will be served in classrooms rather than in the cafeteria with multiple classes) to limit exposure. Chromebooks, iPads, textbooks, and materials will not be shared among students during the school day. We will also be looking for opportunities to maximize time spent outdoors. While guidance continues to be in flux, we continue to prepare for several learning models.

Blended Model

St. Martin’s School building would be open to faculty, staff, and students with limitations on the number of people allowed in the building due to size restrictions and guidelines. Schedules would be created where students will receive in-person instruction a few days a week with distance learning on the other days. New technology has been purchased and would be implemented to allow for more synchronous and live instruction.

Distance Learning

Distance learning will include a combination of synchronous, live instruction, and asynchronous instruction including pre-taped lessons, assignments, teacher feedback, educational learning platforms, and more. Families will have the option to choose distance learning for their students. Having a robust distance learning model in place will allow for a seamless transition from in-person learning to distance learning in case of a quarantine requirement or to meet a change in state and local guidelines. We continue to update our platforms, digest feedback, and provide professional development to our faculty and staff to provide best distance learning practices.

Health and safety protocols are safeguards put into place for individuals, organizations, and venues that mitigate, but do not eliminate entirely, the risk of transmitting the virus that causes COVID-19. The effectiveness of these measures depends upon the commitment of the entire community to work in concert with each other to adhere to them.

School health and safety measures include, but are not limited to:

• Student desks will be situated 6 feet apart, and we will be minimizing student movement throughout the building

• All staff and students will be required to wear a face covering in the building

• Good health hygiene practices (e.g., regular hand washing and hand sanitizing)

• Two layers of daily health screening:

  • Home health screen prior to school: Monitoring your family’s health and not sending children to school when they are sick

  • School arrival health screen: This will include a health and temperature check at school prior to entering the building

• Facility cleaning that includes regular sanitizing and disinfecting