​Our students were absolutely over the moon with joy meeting in their family groups in the beautiful sunshine Wednesday afternoon. All of us thoroughly enjoyed walking around and watching our amazing 8th graders lead their family groups in charades and ‘would you rather’ games. As the weather improves through the spring, we intend to meet more frequently in our family groups outdoors as we make up for lost time!
Congratulations to all of our Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) teams for the spirited battles this week. We are proud of the accomplishments and examples as avid readers!

St. Patrick’s Day Theme Dress: Please assist your student in choosing school appropriate St. Patrick’s themed dress. The students are quickly growing leaps and bounds, therefore please take a look at proper clothing fit for your student with modesty and appropriate language or images for all students in mind. The guidelines for school themed dress is in our handbook available on SchoolSpeak on p. 32. Thank you for your support with dress expectations in school.

COVID-19: In the ever changing landscape of COVID, our school’s COVID team met on March 9th to discuss our own community’s feedback along with the latest guidance from the CDC, ODE, and the OHA. Based on the current information, St. Ignatius School will implement updates to our COVID protocols on Monday, March 14th.

Mass: We will return to school Masses in the church on March 16th. Grades 2, 5, and 8 will attend in person, masked, with the remaining students watching from their classrooms via live stream giving nearly all of the classes an opportunity to attend an in person Mass once during Lent.

Report Cards: Second trimester report cards are now available on SchoolSpeak. Please electronically sign your student(s) report card for this trimester.

Registration: Registration packets went out Wednesday and are due next Friday, March 18th by our noon dismissal. Tuition assistance letters will go out next week. Applications in FACTS must be complete to be given tuition assistance. The in-parish tuition assistance grants will be awarded after the form is submitted and approval is given from Fr. Mike Moynahan.

Aftercare and Afterschool Programs: Vermont Hills Family Life Center will contact you after you submit your registration to let you know your child’s start date. Saturday Academy and Chess America will offer spring classes for students in grades 5-8. Saturday Academy flyers will be available next week.

SAC Recruitment: We are in need of new members for the School Advisory Council next year. Please consider volunteering for this important committee. We are accepting applications until April 22nd. If you have any questions or would like to nominate someone for SAC, please contact our SAC Co-Chair, Mike Moore.

Our hearts are with the people of Ukraine during this challenging time. As a school, we are discussing how we may support the children suffering in Ukraine and will have more information to share after spring break. Classroom teachers discuss world events, such as this conflict, as they come up in classroom discussions at age appropriate levels. The Archdiocese has many ways your family can support the people of Ukraine immediately.
May we take time this Lenten season to trust in the slow work of God. “Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.” Romans 12:12.

Carol Pausz
​Principal

Thank you to Mr. O’Brien and his crew for Shrove Tuesday complete with pancakes before school!  Thank you to the amazing 8th graders and Mr. Beseau and Ms. Olson for the wonderful Ash Wednesday prayer service.  We are so blessed to have Fr. Mike Moynahan and Fr. Pat Couture guiding us on this special day as we begin the season of Lent.  What an incredible gift to be able to have our 8th graders carry on the tradition of dispensing the ashes to our students with a sprinkling on the top of heads this year. 

In the ever changing landscape of COVID, Oregon will now drop the state mask mandates on March 11th., returning mask protocol decisions to the local level.  Our school’s COVID team will meet on March 9th to discuss current recommendations from the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and our Local Public Health Authority (LPHA) in regards to masking to determine the safest way for our school to proceed forward.  The Oregon Department of Education has released updated guidance for schools this week.  With our current vaccination rate of 93% and Omicron receding, we implemented the following updates to our COVID protocols on Tuesday, March 1st: 
Optional outdoor masking 

• Many students and staff chose to continue to wear masks outdoors. 
  
• Please speak with your student about what you would like them to do for masking. 
  
• Teachers will not be monitoring who should and shouldn’t have a mask on. 

Allowing for mixing of student cohorts in the outdoor setting only, as this will allow for outdoor family group activities 

• Next week, we will have our first outdoor family group activity. 

Vaccinated parent volunteers in the school for specific projects.  Must be up-to-date on C.A.S.E. training and submit proof of vaccination. 

• Art Literacy volunteers are currently needed. 

Returning to church for school prayer services and Masses, limiting the number of grades alternating weekly 

• March 16th, we will return to Mass in the church limiting the number of classes attending in person with the remaining watching on live stream. 

We will still eat outside as the weather allows.  All indoor protocols will remain in place for now.  Our COVID team will meet again on March 9th to sift through the latest recommendations from our LPHA and ODE in determining when and if indoor protocols may be adjusted.  We can see our many layers of mitigation have kept our school community safe throughout this school year so far.

Our school is participating in the Novena of Grace by grade level in the classroom with each class watching one assigned, recorded service. We encourage families to attend the Novena of Grace Masses in person as a family. Students will not be counted as tardy to school if they are coming from the Novena of Grace Mass with their family. We will return to school Masses in the church weekly, beginning on March 16th, with three classes attending in person and the remaining students watching from their classrooms via live stream giving nearly all of the classes an opportunity to attend an in person Mass once during Lent.  
Please spread the word about our wonderful school. We will host an in-person Open House with tours after the 10:30 AM Mass this Sunday, March 6th. Registration packets for next year will be sent out next Wednesday, March 9th. Please be sure you have completed your FACTS tuition assistance application.  

May we take time this Lenten season to trust in the slow work of God. “ Make known to me your ways, Lord. Teach me your paths.” Psalm 25:4.