COVID-19 Updates/Return to School/Return to Sports

We are working diligently with our staff, faculty and administration to prepare to safely welcome all our students back to campus for the fall. Tomorrow, we will submit our Health and Safety Plan to the Diocese of Harrisburg. Once we receive approval, we can provide additional information to you on the details of the plan.

There have been many questions about whether students will be returning to school wearing a mask. Students will be required to wear masks during different parts of the school day. We are working on spacing out desks in our classrooms so that we may provide a safe distance for students and teachers. When students move between classes, masks will be required. In any school situation where social distance cannot be maintained, masks will be required. Each student will be expected to bring a mask to school with him or her each day. Masks need to be a solid color with no patterns, pictures, words, etc. Our teachers will be wearing face shields that are approved as a safe face covering, The face shield will be extremely helpful for our students to be able to see our teachers speaking, as well as hear them.

We feel blessed that we are able to bring our students back into our school and classrooms this fall. We ask for your kindness and compassion as we move through this process of providing an education in the safest manner possible. I personally pray daily for guidance for myself and our staff and feel confident that we have creative, energetic and dedicated teachers who are committed to our mission, our students and our school.

In closing, I would like for you to take just two minutes to view this school video that was made this spring. Even if you have already viewed it, I ask that you play it again. It is an excellent reminder of all parts of Delone Catholic that make it such a special place to be.

May God Bless You and Your Family,
Donna Tompkins
Principal

In the words of Elizabeth Ann Seton, Patron Saint of Catholic Schools, "The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other."

In August, we plan to end our separation from students and reopen the school for all our students and staff. This week, the Diocese of Harrisburg released a reopening plan framework for the 2020-21 school year. This extensive document provides guidelines in a number of areas so that we may safely reopen the school in the fall. We have assembled a Health and Safety Planning Committee to address each of these areas. We will update you weekly as we create our school's plan to meet the Diocesan guidelines and safely bring all of our students and staff back to campus. We ask for your patience as we work through this process

We have created a link on our school's website home page titled "Return to School/Sports/Activities." Please use this area as a resource for information, forms and continual updates. In addition to this week's Return to School Update, videos, forms and information have been posted to this page for both sports and activities.

In the meantime, we would appreciate all your prayers for our committee members as we navigate through these uncharted waters.

We are pleased to announce that our Athletic and Activities Health and Safety plan is now board approved and our students may begin voluntary summer sessions effective immediately. Your coach will provide further information in regards to schedules if your program typically conducts summer sessions.

A copy of this plan is available on the school website.

Below are some key highlights that we need everyone to be aware of to make our return to activities safe and successful.

Signing an assumption of risk form: An acknowledgement of risk form must be filled out and turned into your coach before your child is allowed to participate in any voluntary summer session. Only one form is needed for all voluntary sessions this summer. The form is available on the school website.

Pre screening: All coaches and students will be pre screened before they are permitted to participate in any voluntary session. This will include a temperature scan and a questionnaire as well. If your child does not pass the pre screening process, he/she will not be permitted to participate and will be sent home or isolated from practice until a parent is able to pick him/her up. Further guidance can be found in the Health and Safety plan as to when your child is able to return to activities. Additionally, if your child is not feeling well for whatever reason, please keep him/her home and monitor his/her symptoms.

Parent attendance: At this time, we are not permitting any parents or visitors to attend any voluntary summer sessions. Parents are able to wait in their cars during the session if they would like but we are asking that no additional people be at our sessions at this time.

Masks: In compliance with Pennsylvania's mask order, all students must bring a mask with them to each session. Masks are required upon arrival and during the pre screening process. Masks do not need to be worn when actively participating in an activity but we are strongly encouraging them during down time or non-activity based portions such as chalk talk, watching demonstrations, etc.

Hydration: All students must bring their own water/hydrating fluids to each session which is labeled with their name. The school will not be providing any water at this time including team water jugs, bottles, water fountains, etc. If a student does not have water or other hydrating fluids with him/her, he/she will not be able to participate in that session.

Hand Sanitizer: We are strongly encouraging all participants to bring and use their own hand sanitizer.

Youth sports vs. K-12 sports: As some of you may have other children participating in youth sports right now, you may notice and be wondering why our plan may have more precautions and safety measures in place. This is because as a school we are under the guidance of the Pennsylvania Department of Education and also the PIAA for athletics. Both of these organizations have provided more guidance in regards to starting athletic activities than youth sport organizations have. This may cause the differences in procedures and does not mean one is right and the other is wrong, but simply that schools and youth sport organizations fall under different categories at this time.

Sharpen your pencils and make room in your backpacks. We’re opening the school for the Fall Semester, and we are excited to see our students, faculty and staff roaming our hallways and filling our classrooms.

Some changes have taken place since March…former Principal Richard La Rocca moved on to the next chapter of his life, and the Board of Directors conducted a search to fill the position. That effort did not produce a new principal for this school year, so the Board decided to pause the search process. Vice Principal Donna Tompkins was asked to assume the role of Interim Principal for this school year, and Mrs. Tomkins accepted that challenge.

Mrs. Tompkins, along with her administrative team as well as faculty members, are diligently working with the Diocese of Harrisburg and the Pennsylvania Department of Education to safely open school on time.

Course schedules will be mailed next week, with some other dates of note:

August 19 New Parent Orientation Meeting, 7 p.m. in the school cafeteria
August 17-21 Teacher In-Service
August 24 First Day of School for Freshmen
August 25 All Students Report to School

Please stay tuned for more details as we continue to prepare for a great fall semester.
Student Athletes

Mr. Tim Bonitz, Athletics Director/Dean of Students has been working with the PIAA and the Diocese in order to develop a plan for student athletes to return to action for the fall season. That plan is in its final stages and should be approved soon.

The important date for parents and fall athletes is Monday, July 13,at which time Mr. Bonitz and the
fall sports coaches will conduct their annual Parent Meeting. This get-together, however, will be held in a virtual format, and details of that meeting will be coming soon.

Check back soon for more details.

We are currently finalizing our Athletic and Activities Health and Safety plan and we are anticipating starting voluntary summer sessions in the near future. Once the plan is approved, it will be posted on the school website and a separate correspondence will be sent out as well.

If you have not already signed up for your respective sport, please do so now at Sport Sign Up link to receive more updates and information from your coach.

The true purpose of this email is to provide an update on the status of the Fall Sports Parent/Player meeting scheduled for Monday, July 13. Due to current restrictions on large gatherings there will not be an in-person meeting. However, the information presented at the general meeting will now be provided in a digital format via email and our social media platforms the week of July 13th.

Sport specific information regarding your team for the upcoming Fall season will be provided by each head coach at a later time.

Additionally, sport physicals are still scheduled to take place on Monday July 27 from 4-6PM at Delone Catholic and more details will be provided later in July. Student athletes are encouraged to get physicals for the upcoming sports season from their own physician or organizations that provide physicals for high school sports.

OSS is providing physicals for $15 at their Hanover location at 470 Eisenhower Dr. They can be contacted at 717-747-8387 and attached is a flyer with more information.

Finally, attached is the pre-participation packet which includes the physical form required to participate. All paperwork must be completed and turned in by Monday, August 3rd for your child to be able to participate. The main office is open for paperwork drop-off Monday through Thursday from 8 AM- 1 PM during the Summer.

Any questions regarding physicals or paperwork can be directed to Mrs. Hefner at khefner@delonecatholic.org.