We can feel the buzz about as the teachers have been in the school setting up their classrooms and getting things ready for this somewhat surrealistic return of the students. They were all here for their first in-person faculty meeting since February! It’s great seeing movement about the building and to hear voices again in the hallways. At present enrollment for the school stands at 422. Third grade is the only in-person grade where we are actively taking students. Most of the classes are now full. Students will return in earnest on September 8th. Read more.
We know that we are living in challenging times. As August marches on to September and we gear-up for the opening of school, we know that there are many variables than can disrupt those plans. The political and social turmoil around us has all of us in a sense of dis-ease. I have addressed this before in some of these letters. Read more.
Certainly in the midst of the social and personal effects of the pandemic the fallout from Isaias seemed overwhelming. As you probably noticed with the disruption of our daily livestream of Mass the parish complex was out of power from Tuesday afternoon until Saturday afternoon. While through the fortunate situation of being on a different grid than the church and school complex Father JM and I never lost power. The disruption to the work of the parish, as we are just now gearing up after the lockdown, was very challenging. We are investigating the purchase of a generator to safeguard against such disruptions in the future. Read more.
Well it certainly has been an interesting summer hasn't it! As I write this the parish is without power and has been now for over 15 hours as the result of the tropical storm that came barreling through here on Tuesday afternoon. I know that many of you are in the same situation as we are here. As inconvenient as it is at least it does not appear that any of us have sustained any serious damage. It does seem, however, that Mother Nature is piling on as we are also still enduring the pandemic. I pray that we are all safe and doing well in the midst of all of this crisis. Read more.
Plans for the fall are coming along well. We are in constant conversation concerning the opening of school, the process for religious education for the parish children, adult faith-formation, and the normal functioning of parish life. We know it isn’t easy, but it all must be done. Read more.