COVID-19 Updates

Lower School girl in classroom wearing a mask

St. Mark's Cathedral School is closely monitoring all updates regarding COVID-19 and is committed to the well-being of our community. Please visit this page for information on this dynamic situation. We will continue to send updates to our families via email as needed.

Personal tours are available to prospective families by appointment.

2020-2021 Reopening Plan

Our 2020-2021 Reopening Plan is intended to reflect how the school as a whole will run; the separate divisions, or even grades, may have more detailed plans specifically designed to address situations unique to that division or grade.

In order to comply with state expectations for operating schools in the pandemic, we have adopted some specific health and wellness policies for the current year. These policies were emailed to all parents and include an electronic signature to acknowledge that you have read and acknowledge the policies.

Health and Wellness Attendance Policies 2020-2021

Phase 1 vs. Phase 2

Fewer than 10 people

Format

Daily in-person instruction
Some enrichment teachers and administrators teach core classes.
Modified class/instructional schedules

Schedule/Offerings

Five days of direct instruction per week
Virtual option available upon consultation with the division head
Preschool will have limited enrichments.
Lower School will have one enrichment period per day.
Middle School will have all core classes, homeroom, and study hall, but no electives or P.E.
All instruction will end at 11:30 a.m. on Fridays; students may then go home, or ASM will be provided at no charge until 3 p.m. for K-8th grade. Regular ASM rates apply for PS and for K-8th grade after 3 p.m.

Lunch

Students will eat in classrooms or outside.
Students may bring lunch or order meals from lunch vendors through the normal online ordering system.
Vendors will individually package and label each student’s order, and orders will be delivered to classrooms.

Fewer than 25 people

Format

Daily in-person instruction
Normal assignment of core/enrichment teachers
No modification of schedules

Schedule/Offerings

Five days of direct instruction per week
Virtual option available upon consultation with the division head
All divisions will follow normal schedules with all enrichments.
Playground and P.E. activities will be organized so as not to exceed maximum group size.

Lunch

Students will eat in classrooms or outside; in some instances students within the same grade may be able to join friends in another classroom if maximum group size is maintained.
Students may bring lunch or order meals from lunch vendors through the normal online ordering system.
Vendors will individually package and label each student’s order, and orders will be delivered to classrooms.

Virtual Learning

St. Mark’s will have virtual learning in place throughout the 2020-2021 school year. Virtual learning will be offered in the following situations:

Full school closure in response to directives from civil or ecclesiastical authorities
Specific grade-level closures as a result of directive from the Office of Public Health
Individual students in isolation at home in accordance with either a doctor’s orders or parent concerns

In the event of an all-school or all-grade closure/quarantine, the school will employ both pre-recorded (asynchronous) and live-video conference (synchronous) instruction. Each grade level will have a pre-established plan for synchronous instruction.

In the instance of individual students who are engaged in virtual learning while their peers remain at school, the school will facilitate video conferencing instruction throughout the day in accordance with the student’s schedule; students will be able to interact with teachers and classmates during these sessions. The video conference sessions can be recorded and made available to students who are not able to watch them live. Teachers will not offer separate instruction in addition to classroom instruction but will be available to students for help as necessary. Assessments will be taken at the same time as students who are in class, and attendance will be recorded.

Protocols & Expectations

Protocols & Expectations

St. Mark’s Cathedral School is proud to be able to offer virtual learning to students who need to remain at home while the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Virtual learning is provided for students who cannot attend school in order to protect their own health, the health of a family member, or the health of the community. Students may participate in virtual learning while they are self-isolating to prevent becoming exposed or while in quarantine after being exposed to someone else who has tested positive for COVID-19. In general, Virtual learning takes place through Zoom videoconferencing during actual class time. Google Meet serves as a back-up if Zoom is not working for any reason.

Virtual learning is not intended to be used when students are home and actually sick or are away on a family trip for a day or two. Students who are away from school should not attend Zoom classes without making prior arrangements with the teacher. The student’s division head will inform teachers of plans for virtual learning and will determine which, if any, enrichment activities the students will attend. In most instances it will take twenty-four hours for division heads and teachers to make the necessary arrangements to being virtual learning, in order to make certain students have the necessary books and materials and teachers have had time to set up links and copy or scan papers for parents.

Students engaged in virtual learning must understand that they are still attending school and expected to meet our behavioral and academic expectations. These expectations include but are not limited to the following:

Students
Parents

Students

Attendance

Students will “arrive” in class promptly, prepared to learn. As a practical matter, that should mean being at the computer in advance of the scheduled start time in order to find the correct link and log in.
Students in grades 4-8 are expected to attend all assigned classes with each teacher. If they are not able to attend a particular session, they need to inform the teacher of the absence. It is not fair for a teacher to open a Zoom link and spend time waiting on a student who will not be arriving.

Preparation

Students need to have a dedicated workstation for virtual learning. That may be a desk, the kitchen table, a window seat, etc. Students should not be wandering around the house with a device but should remain in place as one would in a normal classroom.
Students should be prepared for class when it begins. That means having books, notebooks, homework, pencils, and paper all at the workstation. Students should not be wandering away from the workstation to find needed or missing items.
Students should be physically and mentally prepared to be “in” class. That means having had breakfast or lunch, being dressed in school-appropriate clothes, and ready to participate actively and appropriately in class, whether by taking notes, participating in class discussion, or working on assignments.

Class Conduct

Students should keep their camera on, with their correct name displayed, and with audio muted so that household noise is not disruptive to the classroom experience.
Students should not have distracting or inappropriate backdrop photos. Teachers may at any time ask students to delete their backdrop.
Students should not be on additional devices during class without permission.
Students should not leave the workstation without the teacher’s permission, just as they would not leave the classroom at school without the teacher’s permission.

Academic Work

Virtual students are normally expected to take tests and submit assignments, including homework, at the same time as in-class students.
Parents need to visit with the teacher(s) in advance to determine the means of taking tests and submitting assignments, whether electronic or school drop-off.

Parents

Virtual education places additional distinct burdens on parents.

Please make sure your children have a designated workspace and know when and how to log in for classes.
Please provide oversight of your student to ensure he or she is attending in class, but do not participate in class. Just as you send your child to school, strive to “send” him or her to school virtually. Comments to teachers or students during Zoom sessions are not appropriate.
Supervise schoolwork or testing at home, but avoid compromising academic integrity by offering assistance that would not be available in a classroom setting. Students should do their own work, and teachers should be able to tell that students have done their own work. Typing or handwriting a student’s work without advance permission from the teacher or an active 504 plan in place is a significant violation of academic integrity and prevents the teacher from being able to assess a students’ progress or understanding.

Health & Safety Measures

The school will make every effort to comply with the requirements and suggestions of the Louisiana Department of Education with regard to sanitation and hygiene.

Healthy Hygiene Practices

Hand-sanitizing stations will be placed at all school entrances, and all classrooms will be provided with hand sanitizer. Students will disinfect their hands upon arrival, before and after eating or going outside, and throughout the day.
Masks will be worn by all adults and all students in grades 1-8. Students in PS3-kindergarten will have masks at school and wear them for arrival/dismissal, when in halls, and as directed by teachers. Teachers of students in PS3-kindergarten may request that students wear masks in class. The school will provide a mask to all students, but any mask/cloth facial covering may be worn.
Students will bring water bottles from home and will not use shared water fountains.

Student/Staff Screening

Student temperatures will be taken in cars at morning drop-off. If the temperature is above 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit, students will be required to go home. (See Health and Wellness Policy for additional details.)
If a child has a fever of 99.5 F at any time during the school day, he or she will be sent home.
Children who have been sent home with a temperature above 99.5 F must have a doctor’s note clearing them to return to school OR a parent note stating they have been fever-free for 72 hours.
Faculty and staff temperatures will also be taken, and the same protocols will apply.

Sickness/Attendance

St. Mark’s specifically requests that parents monitor their children’s health and refrain from sending to school children who are or may be sick.
In particular, children should not come to school if they have had a fever or taken fever-reducing medications within the past 48 hours; have a persistent cough, sore throat, or breathing difficulties; or have had vomiting or diarrhea within the past 24 hours.
Faculty and staff are expected to observe the above guidelines.
In accordance with DOE guidelines, an isolation room has been established for students who are sick. It is located in the Little School in a room adjacent to the nurse’s station.

Known COVID-19 Cases

Social Distance Practices

Parents/visitors will only be allowed into the school by appointment after sanitizing their hands and having their temperature checked. Parents who are bringing lunches or forgotten items to school will leave them in the space provided outside the front doors and will not come into the building.
Classroom seating will be arranged to allow as much social distance as possible.
Efforts will be made to limit the numbers of students in the halls at any time. Some stairways and doorways will be unidirectional.
Playground schedules will be designed to prevent students of one grade from interacting with students of another.
Chapel will be live-streamed with only one grade or classroom physically present in the Cathedral for the service.
All students will eat lunch in classrooms or outside.
Carpool pick-up procedures will be modified to prevent students from different grades intermingling with each other.
There will be no field trips, pep rallies, or musical performances.

Cleaning & Disinfection

OPH guidelines for cleaning of shared spaces, restrooms, and high-touch areas will be implemented as directed for early childhood and K-12.
Student desks will be wiped down throughout the day as appropriate. In shared classrooms, desks will be wiped down at the end of a class period when students are leaving and upon the arrival of the next group in the classroom.
Teachers are encouraged to keep doors/windows open to allow for increased circulation.
The school is installing GPS Bi-Polar Ionization in the HVAC system. This technology uses charged atoms to kill 99.9% of microbes.
The daily cleaning service will hand-disinfect all surfaces and additionally spray ionized disinfecting mist in all classrooms.

ASM (Extended Care)

Athletics

The traditional spring sports of golf and tennis will be offered in the fall of 2020, along with cross country. Girls basketball will not be offered in the fall.
The Association of Shreveport Private Schools basketball league will determine later in the fall whether the girls and boys basketball seasons can be moved to winter and spring or will need to be shortened or eliminated.

Parent Webinar Recording (8/10/2020)

A review of protocols and questions about the 2020-2021 school year. Hosted by Dr. Carter and the Division Heads.

Watch video

Updates from the Head of School

Virtual Learning Expectations
September 8, 2020

Video: Parent Webinar Recording
August 10, 2020

Weekly Update and Reopening Plans
July 30, 2020

Start of School, Classroom Visits, and More
July 23, 2020

Update for 2020-2021 School Year
July 14, 2020

Summer Update #3
June 26, 2020

Summer Update #2
June 17, 2020

Summer Update #1
June 5, 2020

School Office Hours

Monday - Friday
8 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Masks must be worn inside the building. Parents and visitors are only allowed into the school by appointment. Please call 318.221.7454.

Resources

Another pandemic woe: Zoom fatigue

How Will Social Isolation During COVID-19 Affect Our Kids?

Parent Perspective: Distance Learning During COVID-19 Closures

How 'regular school' parents can homeschool their kids

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Louisiana Department of Health

Medical Advisory Committee

Dr. Margaret Crittell

Dr. Amanda Haynie

Dr. Cherry Horton

Dr. Eric Thomas

Dr. Wanda Thomas

Questions?
We're here to help!

Dr. Chris Carter
Head of School
318.226.4028
ccarter@smc.school

Jessica Russo
Preschool Director
318.226.4030
jrusso@smc.school

Alexis Wedgeworth
Lower School Director
318.226.4052
awedgeworth@smc.school

Allison Nolen
Middle School Director
318.226.4039
anolen@smc.school

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