Principal's Corner
Dear Families,
I have never been prouder to be the academic leader of our Visitation School community. These past few months and the last part of the 2019-2020 school year have truly been unprecedented. However, the resolve and spirit that exudes those in our community (teacher, staff, parents and students) has truly been inspiring and I am extraordinarily grateful to lead us into next year.
As we all know, Gov. Newsom and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles issued directives that all schools in LA County will begin the year online. While we were all disappointed to learn that we will not be able to start the year on campus, we are eager, ready, and filled with excitement for the start of the school year! We will transition to on-campus instruction as soon as health officials deem it safe to return. At that time we will return to campus with our original plan to be on site following the 4:1 model (Monday-Thursday on campus, Fridays online).
Until then, our Bulldogs will begin the year with fully online instruction. Students will be interacting and working with their teachers live, every day via zoom, in addition to other asynchronous (independent, teacher directed, pre-recorded) lessons. We will be utilizing some of last years tools and models, but increasing the synchronous (live) instruction to be daily with the teachers, while also introducing some new tools and procedures to make online learning smoother for our students. Many of the recommendations have come from teachers and families in order to improve the quality of our online instructional practices.
Attached to this email is a document that outlines a lot of details about our online plan for this coming year. You can find the attachment by clicking here.
There are a few other details that I want to share with you:
First, there will be a materials pick up day which will also serve as a “Meet and Greet” with the teacher. To allow for physical distancing you will be assigned a window of time to visit the classroom individually and pick up your child’s school materials to begin the year (textbooks, chromebooks, iPads, etc.). Your teacher will be present in the classroom to meet you and your child as a way of beginning the year with a formal in person greeting. The dates for these days will be August 26th for families with last names A-H and August 27th for families with last names beginning with G-Z. More details will follow. Please mark these dates on your calendar. Also, school begins online on September 1st!
Second, the issue of uniforms. While we will require uniforms for on campus education, uniforms will not be required for distance learning. Therefore, I can recommend you wait on purchasing uniforms until we know when we will be allowed back on campus. I know how fast our little ones grow! Let’s not spend money on uniforms if they will grow too fast to use them. Once we get word that we can resume on campus classes, we will let you know to purchase uniforms through Michael’s Uniforms. However, at the beginning of on campus instruction I will permit students to come to school wearing spirit wear and/or utilize a dress code until we are able to all have enough time to get school uniforms.
Next, school supplies will still be needed for your student. They will need most of the individual learning supplies to begin online learning. However, things like tissues, paper goods, sanitizer, etc, can all wait until we resume on campus instruction. There is no need to purchase or send in those items at this time. School supply lists are available on our website for your convenience along with the summer reading list and projects that need to be completed by the beginning of school.
Finally, I want to introduce our 1st grade teacher for this year. Ms. Angela Mitchell has joined our staff and will be taking over as our new first grade teacher while Mrs. Herber takes her year leave. We are so excited to have Ms. Mitchell join our team. Ms. Mitchell has been teaching in Catholic Schools for several years and is a proud graduate from UCLA (Go Bruins!). She also holds a Master's Degree and teaching credential from the state of California. Please join me in welcoming Ms. Mitchell to Visitation!
I remain confident in our teachers and staff to deliver the same quality education you have come to know and expect from Visitation. Visitation will always rise to the challenge and do our best to be your partner in the academic, physical, moral and Catholic education of your child. I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at the Meet & Greet on August 26th and 27th!
Again, please click here for Visitation's Online Learning Guidelines.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication to Visitation.
To health,
c
I have never been prouder to be the academic leader of our Visitation School community. These past few months and the last part of the 2019-2020 school year have truly been unprecedented. However, the resolve and spirit that exudes those in our community (teacher, staff, parents and students) has truly been inspiring and I am extraordinarily grateful to lead us into next year.
As we all know, Gov. Newsom and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles issued directives that all schools in LA County will begin the year online. While we were all disappointed to learn that we will not be able to start the year on campus, we are eager, ready, and filled with excitement for the start of the school year! We will transition to on-campus instruction as soon as health officials deem it safe to return. At that time we will return to campus with our original plan to be on site following the 4:1 model (Monday-Thursday on campus, Fridays online).
Until then, our Bulldogs will begin the year with fully online instruction. Students will be interacting and working with their teachers live, every day via zoom, in addition to other asynchronous (independent, teacher directed, pre-recorded) lessons. We will be utilizing some of last years tools and models, but increasing the synchronous (live) instruction to be daily with the teachers, while also introducing some new tools and procedures to make online learning smoother for our students. Many of the recommendations have come from teachers and families in order to improve the quality of our online instructional practices.
Attached to this email is a document that outlines a lot of details about our online plan for this coming year. You can find the attachment by clicking here.
There are a few other details that I want to share with you:
First, there will be a materials pick up day which will also serve as a “Meet and Greet” with the teacher. To allow for physical distancing you will be assigned a window of time to visit the classroom individually and pick up your child’s school materials to begin the year (textbooks, chromebooks, iPads, etc.). Your teacher will be present in the classroom to meet you and your child as a way of beginning the year with a formal in person greeting. The dates for these days will be August 26th for families with last names A-H and August 27th for families with last names beginning with G-Z. More details will follow. Please mark these dates on your calendar. Also, school begins online on September 1st!
Second, the issue of uniforms. While we will require uniforms for on campus education, uniforms will not be required for distance learning. Therefore, I can recommend you wait on purchasing uniforms until we know when we will be allowed back on campus. I know how fast our little ones grow! Let’s not spend money on uniforms if they will grow too fast to use them. Once we get word that we can resume on campus classes, we will let you know to purchase uniforms through Michael’s Uniforms. However, at the beginning of on campus instruction I will permit students to come to school wearing spirit wear and/or utilize a dress code until we are able to all have enough time to get school uniforms.
Next, school supplies will still be needed for your student. They will need most of the individual learning supplies to begin online learning. However, things like tissues, paper goods, sanitizer, etc, can all wait until we resume on campus instruction. There is no need to purchase or send in those items at this time. School supply lists are available on our website for your convenience along with the summer reading list and projects that need to be completed by the beginning of school.
Finally, I want to introduce our 1st grade teacher for this year. Ms. Angela Mitchell has joined our staff and will be taking over as our new first grade teacher while Mrs. Herber takes her year leave. We are so excited to have Ms. Mitchell join our team. Ms. Mitchell has been teaching in Catholic Schools for several years and is a proud graduate from UCLA (Go Bruins!). She also holds a Master's Degree and teaching credential from the state of California. Please join me in welcoming Ms. Mitchell to Visitation!
I remain confident in our teachers and staff to deliver the same quality education you have come to know and expect from Visitation. Visitation will always rise to the challenge and do our best to be your partner in the academic, physical, moral and Catholic education of your child. I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at the Meet & Greet on August 26th and 27th!
Again, please click here for Visitation's Online Learning Guidelines.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication to Visitation.
To health,
c
