COVID-19 Communication

Dear Xavier Catholic School families,

We want to let you know that all Xavier Catholic School teachers will be meeting on Monday, March 23rd and Tuesday, March 24th via web conference to develop plans for learning during our closure. Families/students should plan to hear from teachers on Wednesday, March 25th with guidance on how we will be proceeding. We want to reiterate that our Xavier Catholic School administrators and teachers will be working collaboratively across our local Catholic school community (by grade level and subject area) to develop this guidance. As mentioned in our update from yesterday (3/17), we are committed to moving forward with learning opportunities and support to ensure that students are prepared for when they return. 

Eight schools in the Cedar Rapids Community School District will begin to offer free breakfast and lunch for pick-up beginning Monday, March 23. ALL students in Cedar Rapids 18 and younger can pick up breakfast and lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Mon-Fri) at the following elementary schools as well as Roosevelt Middle School for free: 

In order to allow for students to pick up belongings, St. Matthew will allow a window of time for students to come into the building in a restrictive manner.  The scheduled time is Wednesday, March 25 from 10:00-12:00.  In order to maintain social distancing recommendations, please use the following guidelines

If possible, all PK-5 students with last names beginning with the corresponding letters are being are asked to use the following times for materials pick-up:

10:00 - 10:30    A-G

10:30 - 11:00    H-L

11:00 - 11:30    M-R

11:30 - 12:00    S-Z

A Word of Thanks                                                                

As we wade together through these uncharted waters, the administrators of Xavier Catholic Schools would like to extend to our families and staff our heartfelt appreciation. This is an unprecedented situation for everyone, and it obviously presents many challenges.  It is often said that a community shows its character, or maybe better, its virtue when challenging situations arise.  If this is the case, the Catholic schools in Cedar Rapids are blessed with a community full of particularly virtuous people.  While our staff has been encouraged to try to relax this spring break, they are gearing up to serve and lead however needed.  Our families have expressed so much appreciation and support for the staff as they discern how to best provide growth opportunities for the children while we socially distance ourselves.  All of this is being done, of course, with safety and our children as our top priorities.  Thank you for your partnership in this most blessed, and sometimes most challenging, work of raising up these children entrusted by God to us all!

 

A Few Resources                                                                   

Our faculty will soon share resources for children to grow.  Until then, we thought that families might appreciate some resources to continue to develop as people of faith and joy.  Toward that end, please consider the following resources (included below) for your family.

As a reminder, all school facilities are closed for outside personnel. This is a critical step in keeping our buildings and grounds clean. Staff and teachers can currently access facilities to retrieve items with proper administrative approval; in doing so, they are asked to enter and exit quickly.  Additionally, we have a plan with our maintenance staff that includes necessary additional cleaning efforts that will be taken care of in the coming weeks with a deep clean the week of March 30th.

As mentioned in previous communications, we continue to meet on a daily basis and work collaboratively to keep you updated as new information becomes available.  Please know that a page has been created on the St. Matthew site to keep you updated on all things related to the Coronavirus, it can be accessed by going to https://school.stmatthewcr.org/covid-19 or clicking the link below.

Sincerely,  

Brian O'Donnell, Principal, St. Pius X 

Megan Boomgarden, Principal, All Saints 

Amy Conlon, Principal, St. Matthew

Casey Kettmann, Principal, St. Joseph

Heather Williams, Principal, St. Jude

Zach Zeckser, Chief Administrator, Holy Family

Josh Gredys, Principal, Regis

Angela Olson, Principal, Xavier

Chris McCarville, President, Xavier