Greetings St. Ignatius Families,

Our silent auction will be live on Tuesday, February 22nd! The “Love In Deed” baskets are amazing!  There will be many wonderful options to bid on during the silent auction leading up to our live event next week. Have you considered hosting a watch party among your family friends or with your extended family? Watch parties can provide a fun way to participate in this interactive live virtual fundraising event. There will be an opportunity to play a watch and win game or two during the live event on Saturday, February 26th at 7:00 PM. Please pre-register by Wednesday for our “Love In Deed” event. Classes that have 75% or more families register by Wednesday will earn a class free dress day on Friday, February 25th!  
 
In the ever changing landscape of COVID, we heard last week Oregon will likely drop mask mandates by March 31st, returning mask protocols to the local level. Our school’s COVID team met this week to discuss current  recommendations from ODE and our LPHA in regards to masking to determine the safest way for our school to proceed through the spring. With our current vaccination rate of 93% and Omicron receding, we feel the following updates to our current protocols are timely. The updates to our COVID protocols we will implement beginning on March 1st include: 

• Optional outdoor masking 
  
• Allowing for mixing of student cohorts in the outdoor setting only, as this will allow for outdoor family group activities 
  
• 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.  
  
• Returning to church for school prayer services and Masses, limiting the number of grades and alternating weekly 

We will still eat outside at a distance as the weather allows. All indoor protocols will remain in place for now. Our COVID team will continue to meet monthly to evaluate the latest recommendations from our LPHA and ODE to determine when and if further protocols may be adjusted. We can see our many layers of mitigation have kept our school community safe throughout this school year so far. 

As we prepare to return to church weekly as a school, we will ease back in starting with multiple Ash Wednesday prayer services to allow for all students in kindergarten through eighth grade to attend one service. Two classes at a time plus nine eighth grade students will attend a thirty minute prayer service once during Ash Wednesday. 
Ashes will be sprinkled on the top of the head to avoid touching. Our school will participate in the Novena of Grace by grade level in the classroom with each class watching one assigned, recorded service. Students attending the Novena of Grace in person with their family will not be considered tardy. Through March and April, two-three classes will attend school Masses at a time giving nearly all of the classes an opportunity to attend an in person Mass once during Lent. Hopefully, the remaining students will be able to watch the school Mass live streamed from their classrooms each week.  

We are working on kind, respectful behavior with and between our students. We are reminding our students to clean up after themselves during lunch outside by picking up garbage and spilled foods. We ask students to use school appropriate language at all times. We remind students to not take hats from each other. We expect respectful communication with staff and between students. Please have follow-up conversations at 
home regarding these expectations.  

“Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7  

​Carol Pausz 
Principal