Saint Rose School Reopening Plan
The school leaders with whom I have worked with through this process are united in making the best health-‐related decisions for their students and staff. I know this is very true with the Catholic School leadership. Given the safety measures to be in place at the start of the year, I support the Catholic Schools in their decision to return to campus in August.
The following plan is the fruit of much research and input, both personal and professional. We are grateful to the following individuals who served on the committee and advised Saint Rose of Lima School administrators on how to best reopen with safeguards that enable students, teachers and staff to operate safely and effectively:
- Sr. Catherine Marie & Colleen Hawkins: Administration
- Susan Akers & DeAnne Hathaway: Front Office Staff
- Nicole Chauvin: Preschool Director
- Staci Rose: Admissions
- Lisa Luscinski: Teacher
- John Williams: Parish & School Facilities Manager
- Nathan Miller: Parent & Metro Government Facilities Manager
- Phillip O’Reilly: Parent and Food Service Expert
- Kathy Stewart: Cafeteria Supervisor
- Dr. Marie Brock: Parent and Family Medicine Physician
- Dr. Melita Bradley: Parent and Pediatric Physician
- Jane Hearnsberger: Parent and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
- Amy Swartz: Church Staff
- Nick Campos : Church Staff
- Lynn Sigler: Church Staff
In addition, we had the benefit of the expertise of Rebecca Hammel, our Superintendent of Catholic Schools, who served on the Metro Nashville task force with area experts and educators to develop a plan to reopen. She, in turn, formed a diocesan task force to produce protocols for our Catholic Schools. Our committee reviewed these protocols and provided us with recommendations on how best to adapt these safeguards to our particular school situation.
As a community, we have experienced COVID-19 in an ever-changing landscape. While many are not in agreement as to how this pandemic should be handled, we have tried our best to base our decisions on common sense and science. The parent surveys we received from our school community affirmed a preference for what we have long held as a priority, that is: in-person instruction with all of the social, spiritual, emotional and physical benefits that come with a Catholic education. We are grateful to the 128 parents who completed the survey. It provided us with the information we needed to communicate in a way that addresses the direct concerns of our parents. Several individuals also shared with us some practical ideas that have been incorporated into our plan.
Please note that at this time the details contained in this plan take precedence over those outlined in our handbook.