St. Patrick School 2020 Parent/Teacher Conference Information

On October 22 and 23, St. Patrick School will host its annual fall parent/teacher conferences. As with all things during this pandemic, much prayer, thought, discussion, and deliberation has taken place.

The following has been decided for our 2020 fall parent/teacher conferences:

High School: Will host walk-in in-person conferences for those parents who are comfortable attending on Thursday 4:30-7:15 p.m. and Friday 12:00-2:45 p.m. Virtual conferences may be scheduled by the parent or by the teaching staff as-needed and will be scheduled for Friday 8:00-11:00 a.m. if possible. If this is not possible, appointments will be scheduled for a different time.

Middle School: Conferences will be student-led with the student and parent(s) meeting and discussing their portfolios at home. Student portfolios will be sent home on Monday, October 19. The parent will sign a form for their student to return to their teacher indicating that the conference was completed. Teachers will be contacting parents and setting up virtual meetings for those students who need more discussion. Parents may also contact teachers to set up a virtual meeting if they have any concerns or questions.

Elementary School: Will host in-person conferences by appointment 4:30-7:15 p.m. on Thursday evening and 8:30 a.m.-2:45 p.m. on Friday. Virtual meetings will be scheduled for those parents who are uncomfortable attending an in-person meeting. A form will be sent home for parents to sign up for a day and time regardless if the conference is in-person or virtual.

Additional Notes:

Please note that our school counselor, Mrs. Jenny Garcia, will be available to meet either in person or virtually if there is anything you would like to touch base with her on. You may contact her at jennygarcia@portlandstpats.org.

While attending conferences, we ask that all parents maintain six feet of distance from our staff and wear their masks as they are mandated. We will need time after each conference to sanitize; please be patient when entering a classroom to meet with a teacher. For parents who have a scheduled appointment, it is crucial that they are on time.

Please note that for the safety of our students, we will not have in-person classes on Friday, October 23, as scheduled but will instead have a remote learning day. This will give all our students and school families the opportunity to try Canvas, our new learning management system, from home. It is important that all our students and their family’s login to Canvas on this day to obtain and complete assignments. This will prepare everyone for using Canvas in the event of another mandated school shutdown.

Our goal is to meet our parents for conferences in whatever way they prefer and are comfortable. Parent/teacher conferences are an important tool to ensure we keep our strong relationship between school and home.

It is important to note that while we are having conferences in-person, our policy remains that we do not allow parents or other guests in the school during the day when students are in session. Each evening, all our rooms are disinfected. At the end of conferences on Friday, the school building will again be disinfected before it sits empty for the weekend.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact high school principal Randy Hodge at randyhodge@portlandstpats.org or PS-8 principal Mrs. Cortney Smith at cortneysmith@portlandstpats.org or by calling the school at (517)647-7551.

Courtesy photo.