Houma Christian School

8/3/2021 Att: Parents and students, In less than one week, we will be welcoming our students back for the start of the 2021-2022 school year. As our staff is finalizing last minute preparations for the new school year, I want to give everyone an update on COVID-19 prevention strategies we will be be implementing this school year. We will be sending out another document later with all the safety measures being implemented. We want to provide our students and staff a safe and nurturing learning environment at all times. Yesterday, the Governor came out with a state proclamation on mask mandates that included K-12 schools requiring students to wear a mask while indoors. The Governor put the emergency proclamation in place for one month. With the Governor’s new mask mandates, Houma Christian School will implement a mask mandate similar to the one last year. After one month of the mask mandate in place, we will carefully look at the data to determine if any modifications or cancelations would be appropriate. As a religious organization, the Governor’s order does give us some flexibility to adjust as we deem necessary. At this time, we feel that it is best to begin the first four weeks of school with a cautious approach. Students in grades 3rd – 12th grade will have to wear a face mask while indoors. Students will be given needed breaks from wearing face coverings in the following situations:  Outside  Eating lunch or snacks  Athletes participating in sports  Periodically while in static groups in class Also, students may be exempt from wearing a mask with a valid medical exemption from a medical doctor. For more information on medical exemptions, parents should contact the school nurse. While the school mandate covers grades 3rd – 12th, parents of students in all other grades may choose for their child to wear face coverings. We trust and believe parents will make the best decision for the health and well-being of their child. We will continue to rely on support from our parents to help mitigate the harmful effects of COVID-19. We ask you to please continue to monitor your child before sending them to school and do not send them if they are exhibiting any of the symptoms such as fever, coughing, chills, etc. This is our third year impacted by Covid-19. And while we start out this school year with some uncertainties, we are confident with what we learned already to successfully mitigate the spread of the virus. Through 2021-2022, we will continue to analyze the data to make whatever changes are necessary to maintain in-person learning. Blessings Pastor Ben Bufkin James Champagne

Who is ready for Warrior Football?!?! In addition to this schedule, the Varsity football team will play on Friday August 20th in a scrimmage vs CCA (at Warrior field) and also Friday August 27th for the jamboree vs Ascension Christian, location TBA.

We are so blessed to be in the running for Bayou's Best of the Best PRIVATE SCHOOL. Use this link to vote and consider sharing as well. You can vote daily until August 15th. (updated working link) https://houmatoday.gannettcontests.com/Bayous-Best-of-the-Best-2021/gallery?group=393385

Att: High School Students. There is one mistake on the high school schedules. Jennifer Breaux's classroom number should be 121 and not 117. Thanks

Reminder: Tomorrow (Tuesday) is our high school orientation. It is from 8:00 – 10:00 beginning in the gym. Parents and students may come at any time during the designated time. We are encouraging everyone to wear masks while indoors during orientation.

Elementary parents: Due to the recent Covid-19 surge, we have modified our elementary orientation guidelines.   On Thursday, August 5th, we will host our elementary orientation.  At orientation ONLY ONE PARENT from each household may attend.  NO STUDENTS Parents of students with last name A-L attend at 5:30. Parents of students with last name M-Z attend at 6:30. Additionally, a new parent orientation video will be posted in our app and on the YouTube channel.  Attendance at orientation is optional for parents.

Senior Portraits ✅

Att: High School Students and Parents (7th-12th). High School Meet and Greet is coming up this week. The High School Meet and Greet will be Tuesday, Aug. 3rd, from 8:00-10:00. Parents and students are welcome to come at any time during the designated time (8:00 – 10:00). Students will receive schedules and visit their classrooms at this time. The will also be able to set up supplies in their lockers, receive shirts, visit the nurse, band director, etc. All parents and students should enter through the front door of the gym. Student schedules will be set out on tables in the center of the gym. A New Parent Orientation Video will be posted and uploaded for viewing on the website, FACEBOOK, and school app. Hope to see you there. Blessings.

Attention parents. If your child requires medications such as epipens or asthma inhalers to be kept at school, please bring it by Tuesday through Friday morning of next week (August 3-6) between 8:30 AM and 11:00 AM. Also bring the completed medical forms at this time. If you need to print the 3 required forms, they can now be found on the Houma Christian School website or in the App under documents, then important documents and finally open the medical document file folder where you will find the PDF's to print. If you need to come at any other time or have any questions, please contact Allyson Wiltz, HCS school nurse at 985-851-7423 ext. 115.

Reminder: Tomorrow, we will have our "Back to School" Pep Rally at Living Word Church at 6:00pm. Lot's of room to social distance. Lot's of fun and a great inspiring message from Pastor Ben Bufkin.

Houma Christian School would like to congratulate Sandy Charlet for being named Head Volleyball Coach for the HCS Varsity team.

Att: Blended Academy Students/ Parents: Blended Academy parents please check your email regarding your child's conference dates/times. Email Mrs. Nina Pontiff, nina_pontiff@houmcachristianschool.com, regarding any questions.

2021 graduates, Bennett DiSalvo & Marisela Delgado received their scholarships form The Rotary Club of Houma-Terrebonne and attended a luncheon to honor them. Included in this photo are members Brett Duthu & Mart Black.

We are so super proud of our upcoming Senior, Zoe Sissac, who represented Terrebonne Parish at the Legislative Youth Advisory Council Conference at the State Capitol in Baton Rouge this past week. Great job Zoe!

Houma Christian School “Back to School 2021” Principal’s Message As the opening of school quickly approaches for the 2021–2022 school year, we are preparing a “Back to School 2021” plan for our students and parents. The Louisiana Department of Education has recently released their operational guidelines for both public and nonpublic schools to utilize in planning for the upcoming school year. While these guidelines are not mandates, they do provide valuable recommendations to help schools plan for a safe opening. It is our goal to provide a more “normal” learning environment for our students this year. Last year was a very challenging year for our school, as well as all the schools across our great country. All the research undoubtedly demonstrated that students learn best with in-person learning and having the benefit of daily teacher-led instruction. Due to Covid-19, students and staff were faced with numerous protocols, mandates, and restrictions in an effort to provide the safest environment possible. These protocols and measures were obviously needed and necessary at that time as there was still much uncertainty on best practices of how to effectively protect our students and staff. Safety and security of our students and staff is and will always be of highest priority. As we begin the 2021 school year, we are still facing significant levels of Covid-19 especially with the current Delta Variant surge. However, we are still planning for a much more normal start to the school year. We will keep some of the previous safety protocols and guidance in place to ensure the safety of our students and staff. The main areas focused on last year were social distancing, sanitizing, face coverings, and quarantining those infected and also close contacts. This year we will continue to focus on social distancing to the greatest extent possible, having a daily cleaning and sanitizing schedule, and quarantining those infected and close contacts. The state’s mask mandate was lifted at the end of last school year. For this upcoming school year, students/parents and staff will have the personal option to choose to wear a face mask or not, but masks will not be mandated. We will also make some modifications to our virtual instruction for high school students from last year. Last year, we offered virtual instruction to all our students who were absent for any reason, which we believe resulted in a culture of too many students missing school for invalid reasons. We will continue to offer live virtual instruction (grades 5th -12th) to only those students that are on the official quarantine list. Students in grades Pk-4th will have alternate make-up work provided in the event of quarantine. All other students who are absent from school due to illness or other reasons will have to make up their work assignments upon returning to school following the protocols currently in place to make up assignments and assessments (student handbook). Conclusion: It is always our goal at HCS to create and maintain a learning environment that is safe and nurturing for all our students and staff. Last year, we were able to witness firsthand the devastating effects of disrupting the in-person learning environment and the negative impacts it had on both the academic and social development of our young children. It was clearly evident that students achieve much more when they are learning in a traditional classroom setting with live instruction where trained teachers are able to apply their full repertoire of teaching strategies daily. It will be our goal to operate within a more “normal” setting this year while still monitoring the data and keeping everyone safe. We ask that everyone please pray for all the schools, students, and staff as we have the arduous task of safely educating students through these challenging pandemic surges. We will continue to put our trust in Proverbs 3: 5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” **More information will be coming next week.

Attention All Bus Riders! Please complete the bus form found on our website. Starting August 2nd, forms may be dropped off at the office. Allow two business days for your request to be processed. The bus will begin running on Tuesday, August 10th. Bus forms must be in by orientation on August 5th if your child will ride on August 10th. Just a reminder, high school students cannot ride the bus in the morning.

Parents have been asking about the HCS guidance in reference to 2021-2022 operational guidelines in preparation for the opening of school. We are currently working on a Back to School Plan and hopefully will be ready to send out by next week. We are planning to have a more “normal” start to the school year. Blessings

Parking Passes for Seniors will be sold in the Sanctuary on Monday, July 26th from 9:00 - 12:00. Please use the following schedule (last name) to help avoid crowding: 9:00 A-E 10:00 F-O 11:00 P-Z Parking Passes for Juniors (and Seniors who could not make it Monday)will be sold in the Sanctuary on Tuesday, July 27th from 9:00 - 12:00. Please use the following schedule (last name) to help avoid crowding: 9:00 A-E 10:00 F-O 11:00 P-Z The $15.00 Parking Pass fees will be charged to your FACTS account at the time of purchase.

2021-2022 School Calendar https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1315238/21-22-Calendar.pdf

7th – 12th Grade class schedules are not yet finalized. All schedules will be completed and published by July 30th and will be available on webpams. A printed copy will also be available on August 3rd which is Student Orientation Day.