Dear Villa and Oak Hill Parents,

Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year, a year of Wonder and Awe. I hope that you and your families have had a happy and healthy summer. Like many things in our current world, this letter will carry a different tone than in years past. 

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "Returning to school is important for the healthy development and well-being of children, but we must pursue re-opening in a way that is safe for all students, teachers, and staff." The safety of everyone in our community is our top priority. 

The Board of Trustees would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Baber, the Leadership Team, faculty, and staff for their tremendous efforts last spring and over the summer. They have devoted countless hours shaping a plan that is informed by science and will allow our children to return to campus in a safe and nurturing environment. Please read the COVID-19 Handbook to learn more. 

The success of Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill's plan depends on our partnership with you, our parents. We need your commitment to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 transmission. As individuals, households, and as a community, we must comply with the guidelines set forth in the COVID-19 Handbook. Adherence to safety guidelines needs to be a priority so that we maximize our students' time learning in the classroom.  

Our efforts must not be limited to our time on campus. As parents, we need to remain vigilant so that our behavior in our daily lives, and that of our children, also mitigate the risk of transmission. I implore you to:

• Abide by CDC and local health recommendations for wearing masks and practicing social distancing both on and off campus.
• Make sure that we as parents, and our children, are making wise choices that limit potential exposure.
• Talk with children about respect and compassion for others and about confidentiality and using good judgement in public comments about the health of their peers.
• Check in with your child each day to determine if your child is experiencing any symptoms before they leave for school.
• Keep the school informed of any COVID-19 symptoms or exposure in your family.
• Have a plan each day to ensure your child can be picked up promptly if they experience symptoms while at school.
• Follow the CDC guidelines associated with travel.

The policies outlined in the COVID-19 Handbook are intended to mitigate, not eliminate, the risk of transmission. No single action or set of actions will completely eliminate the risk of transmission. We have to be prepared for the time when a member of our community contracts COVID-19. The School has developed a comprehensive plan for when that occurs. This plan includes communication, contact tracing, extra cleaning and virtual learning, if necessary. 

And, in the eyes of St. Madeleine Sophie, we must model love and understanding for all of the members of our community. Anyone can get COVID-19. We must show compassion and empathy for others so that both physical and emotional healing can take place and the school can progress forward with learning and its mission.  

The School is ready. The faculty and staff are prepared. The Board of Trustees supports the full efforts of Mr. Baber and the leadership team. The remaining piece is your continued cooperation, partnership and understanding. If we work together as a united Sacred Heart community, we will achieve our goal of the greatest amount of learning and on-campus success.

Finally, I would like to welcome all our new families to the Sacred Heart family; we are thrilled you are joining in this journey. It will be a school year full of Wonder and Awe. I thank everyone for their continued support, partnership, and dedication to the School and the health of our community. 

Thank you,

J. Spencer Finney Jr.
Board Chair

Dear Sacred Heart Family,

We are less than one week away from welcoming our students back to campus. Our faculty, staff, and maintenance team have never before prepared so extensively for school to begin! 

Tremendous thought and planning have gone into reaching our goal of bringing our students back. We have implemented safety measures at every point during the school day. Our faculty and staff are ready to accompany our students on this journey for our school community. Now, more than ever, the engagement and commitment of our students and families is critical to our success in maintaining a safe environment, mitigating risk, and supporting the teaching and learning that is happening here. 

I am sharing our COVID-19 Handbook, Forward as One, with you. Forward as One is an addendum to the Student-Parent Handbook for the 2020-2021 school year. I ask each of you to take time to review this as a family. Entering a school year during a pandemic is new to all of us, and we each have a role to play in easing the transition for our students. Every Villa and Oak Hill family should begin orienting decisions and behaviors around the greater good of the communities we care about. Join me as we invest in this effort together and set the tone for a positive year with a collective commitment to building safe and healthy habits. 

Everything in our COVID-19 Handbook is important, but I would like to highlight a few things:

• Updated Mask Requirement: One of the most critical aspects of our COVID-19 Handbook is our mask requirement. On July 22, I sent our preliminary roadmap to the 2020-2021 school year. At that time, we communicated that masks would be optional for students younger than grade 4. Based on our continued research and planning, feedback from our stakeholders, and the recommendations of our Health and Wellness Task Force, we have expanded our mask policy. Masks are required for everyone grade 4 and older on campus. For students younger than grade 4, masks are required at certain times throughout the day, including screening and dropoff. Our faculty and staff will work with our youngest students to build safe mask habits. All students must come to campus each day with a mask on and with 2 additional clean masks in their backpack. For complete information on our updated mask policy, review page 8 of the COVID-19 Handbook.

• SchoolPass: We have partnered with SchoolPass to provide an app for our parents to quickly and easily complete a daily screen of each student. We will also use SchoolPass to streamline attendance, arrival, dismissal, and any necessary contact tracing. We are testing SchoolPass and will share download instructions and details with our parent community in time for the first day of school.

• COVID-19 Handbook Update Process: All of the new policies and procedures adopted for risk mitigation will be under regular review. We will continue to take a flexible approach and work with our Task Force on an ongoing basis to make sure our policies are working correctly and reflect current research and best practices. Please regularly review our COVID-19 Handbook to check for updates. 

Thank you for setting aside time to become familiar with our new policies and for being supportive partners in our reopening effort.

Last week's storms caused flooding on our lower campus. Our tennis courts, playgrounds, and lower campus buildings are undergoing some repairs. We typically use our lower campus for dropoff and pickup of our grade 3-6 students, morning care and Acorn Club, athletics, and outdoor play. Because of the storm damage, the lower campus will be closed for a short period of time. We will make adjustments to accommodate the lower campus functions and communicate those adjustments to you. We will let you know when we have the lower campus up and running again.

The Principals will share additional information in a separate email today. Let us face the 2020-2021 school year with courage, confidence, and readiness for what lies ahead! 

Cor Unum,

Michael F. Baber
Head of School
 

Dear Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill Families,

I look forward to welcoming you to our 92nd year at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill! This will be a year of Wonder and Awe for all of us as we navigate our new landscape. Our school-wide theme for the year captures our readiness to move forward as a community filled with hope and resilience, grounded in our love for each other.

I have long believed that Sacred Heart education is a true gift. One hallmark of Sacred Heart education is that it happens within the context of a relationship between teacher and student. The energy of this partnership fuels the dynamic exchange of learning in all the disciplines: humanities, science, mathematics, the arts, and athletics. Within this unique partnership, a love of learning is planted, tended, grows, and lasts a lifetime. This partnership is at its best when we are physically together.

The effects of the global pandemic are far-reaching. Religious language would say it has transfigured us. We are better at our craft because it has called us to see disruption as a cause of conversion, or, as Ian Symonds would say, accelerated change. The pandemic has called us to be our best selves, moved us to diversify how we educate, and framed our best strategy as a fluid, nimble endeavor. 

Thank you for your patience and support as we prepare to welcome students back to our campus. We will be open for our students five days a week this fall. Our Preliminary Roadmap to the 2020-2021 School Year is a reflection of the thorough planning and logistical work of our Sacred Heart educators and our Health and Wellness Task Force. Our decisions are grounded in our mission, the love inherent in a Sacred Heart school, and our ultimate goal to provide an excellent experience for those in our community. We will be flexible and adjust as things change, and we will communicate clearly with you. 

There will be changes to our typical school year kick-off events and traditions as we focus our energy on in-person learning. The increase in cases of COVID-19 in St. Louis, especially in young people, causes me great concern. As a school community, we must all adhere to the safety guidelines set by the CDC and the St. Louis County Department of Public Health. Our diligence is especially critical in these final weeks before we return to campus. Adhering to Villa and Oak Hill's new safety procedures will feel more natural for our students if they are already using safety measures in daily life.

We will share more detailed information with you next week as you prepare for the first day of school on Wednesday, August 19. We plan to  release our COVID-19 Handbook in early August.

Along with the good news of reopening, I share some more positive news with you. We welcomed three new Trustees on July 1: Mary Elizabeth Grimes, David Jones, and J. Claire Todorovich '94. I could not have asked for a better class of leaders as we continue on the path of excellence, and I am grateful to all of our Trustees for their commitment to Sacred Heart education. 

Everything that we do is geared towards supporting your child as they become the person they are called to be. Now, more than ever, a Sacred Heart education is priceless. We not only provide the best educational experience in St. Louis, we do it as a community of faith, excellence, and service. We are preparing each and every one of our students to change the world with love. 

If there is anything that I can do for you, please let me know. I can be reached at hos@vdoh.org. I and scores of other Sacred Heart educators stand ready to nurture and challenge our students. We cannot wait to have you on campus to make us even better and brighter. Welcome to a year of great promise, a year of Wonder and Awe. 

Yours in the Sacred Heart,

Michael F. Baber
Head of School

Dear Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill Community,

Yesterday, we celebrated the long-waited and most beautiful culmination of Commencement 2020! Congratulations to all our graduates and welcome to our newest alumnae!

I thank each of you once again for rolling up your sleeves and making the best of a difficult situation brought about by COVID-19. Our partnership in the education of your children is stronger than ever. While we have scores of success stories from remote learning, we are, by design, a campus-centered school community. 

It is our fervent hope and constant plan to re-open campus for the 2020-2021 academic year. We are working on the details of exactly how we do that while ensuring the health and safety of all. We will share a high level explanation with you in July and a more detailed plan by August 1.

Until then, please do not hesitate to reach out with your questions, comments, and concerns. Dr. Schroeder, Mrs. Steenberge, and I want to hear from you.

I wish you a restful, safe, and healthy summer, and I look forward to welcoming you back to campus for what promises to be an excellent year of Wonder and Awe, our school-wide theme for 2020-2021.

With much gratitude,

Michael F. Baber

Head of School