THIS IS NOT PLAN A.   My job, along with many others here, is to run a school. We are not running a school this week, so it is certainly not plan A, and it does not feel good.

On Monday we had an in-service scheduled for our math series. It was initially scheduled about 14 months ago. When we found a very cold building Monday morning, we checked for the warmest room, looked at alternate sites for the meeting, then went to Mass. After Mass the presenter arrived, and I had decided to ask her about the cold room. If she was OK with it, we have it here. If she was not OK with cold we move to another site. Cassie is from Colorado and she said, “Bring it on!” You can tell by the picture above taken 2/3 of the way through the in-service that the room did not warm up excessively by any means.

The math content was exceptional, and we did a few side experiments as well. The electrical infrastructure cannot handle three space heaters, but it can handle two. The heaters made a few degrees difference, but when it is -20 F, they didn’t do as much as we had hoped. We will look at the wattage of those heaters and make the most of the supplemental heat in classrooms as needed on Monday. (See this link to sign up to bring a space heater: Space Heaters | Flocknote ) Monday is predicted to be 50 degrees warmer than last Monday when it was so cold. That will matter.

Father is looking closely at what can be done when it is so cold to avoid a repetition of the current scenario. He will be consulting with HVAC professionals as needed. On Tuesday afternoon we had a short virtual meeting with teachers and school family leadership parents to appraise them of the situation and get input. My objective was to inform, get input and unity of thought. Going into the meeting, I had hoped we might be able to save a day or two this week, but I don’t mind cold much at all. When some of our most resilient teachers said something like, “I can handle cold, but the little kids can’t take less than 60 degrees when we are in it for the whole day.” Similar comments were heard a few times.   

We had considered an off-site location for a few days of school. Sister Mary Agnes and I had taken a few minutes to list things that would take a good bit of planning. Our list in a nut shell consisted of: transportation (bus, or drop-off), staggered start, as you can’t drop off two places at once if we used the few warm places here, who goes where, desks/chairs, communication, schedules (specials, resource teachers are in one place only), student supplies, cleaning, paper towels, etc. for daily use, a stipend for the facility?, transitioning there, recess?, lunch, teacher assistants, copies, combining classes… After we finished the list, it became obvious that a shift for a few days was not plausible.

While I realize parent opinions vary widely, one piece of input consisted of, “If we are going to have to cancel, likely for multiple days, do it all at once so we can plan, not one day at a time.”

When we finished the meeting and follow-up, including consultation with an HVAC professional, Father stated the obvious: We have to take these days off.  I wasn’t going to be the one to say it, as it was too painful, but I could see the writing on the wall.

So…on one hand, I don’t like it at all. Schools without kids just don’t work, and that’s what we have today. On the other hand…God dealt this up. I can be mad or take it for what it is and move forward. Either way we have no school today. I struggle to give a strong, “Thank you, Lord,” but I’m working toward getting there. I’m also praying for all of you, especially those for whom this causes real hardship.

Sister Mary Michael, C.K.

January 17-19: No School (K of C free throw contest will be rescheduled)

January 22: 6th/7th/8th grade confessions

January 23: Girls' Basketball 7 p.m. (away); CSS Food Market after school

January 25-31: Book Fair

“God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in His own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek Him, to know Him, to love Him with all his strength.” (CCC #1)

Each one of us spends our life growing in our understanding and knowledge of God. Our relationship with Him has great potential to deepen throughout our life. In a similar way, the various cultures around the world have also, throughout history, grown in understanding and relationship with God. As Catholics, we believe in the universality of the Church, and are called to have great respect for the wide variety of cultures contained within the Church. It is beautiful to learn about the ways that various cultures have come to a fuller understanding of the human person.

Pius X Open House for new students is Monday, February 5^th at 7 p.m. in Flavin Gym. Clubs/Activities/Athletics will also be showcased. Come see what it means to be a part of the Pius X family!

If you'd like to donate a meal to the Sisters at St. Teresa Convent, see this link: Sisters Meal Volunteers: Feeding the Hungry - Meals for School Sisters of Christ the King, St. Teresa Convent 2023-2024 (signupgenius.com)