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Hopefully everyone is taking this “Spring Break” week to relax and recharge.

Our staff, parents and students have truly come together in the past few weeks to make sure learning continues even though in-person classes have been cancelled. Take a mental break and let’s get ready to finish the school year strong!

If you haven’t yet signed up for our meal delivery program, please do so. We’ve partnered with the Healthy School Food Collaborative to offer the delivery of shelf-stable, easy-to-prepare meals to students and other children in the same household during the school closure. Ten meals will be delivered at a time, enough for breakfast and lunch each weekday. You can sign up on the school district website at www.stjohn.k12.la.us. If you have questions or need assistance with the application, you can call The Healthy School Food Collaborative Helpline at (504) 322-1118.

As you know, information during this pandemic is constantly changing and we want to provide our families with the latest and most accurate information. If you are not receiving texts from the district and/or your child’s school, please email your child’s name, school and a current phone number to swaller@stjohn.k12.la.us so that you may receive important updates during this time.

By now, seniors and graduating juniors should have received information regarding senior projects. These senior projects will be used to satisfy the graduation requirement of earning Carnegie units for courses in which they were enrolled during the second half of the spring semester. These projects are due May 1 and we encourage students to start on them as soon as possible. More information about the projects is also available on our website.

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association has made the decision to cancel all remaining winter and spring sports for the 2019-20 school year.

We are awaiting further guidance from the Louisiana Department of Education before making a decision about graduation ceremonies. However, all events scheduled in April, including proms, have been cancelled at this time. Our hearts go out to our seniors, who are missing so many major milestones of their senior year, but we also know the Class of 2020 is strong and they will adapt and overcome whatever is thrown at them.

Last week, state groups including the Louisiana School Boards Association and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education requested the Governor keep schools closed for the rest of the year and he indicated this week that he will likely do so. As of this writing, he has not issued his official proclamation, but please know the St. John the Baptist Parish Public School District is committed to continuing the remote learning opportunities that have been put in place and to working with our families to adapt these opportunities as needed to make sure our students are learning throughout the remainder of the school year if, and when, a permanent closure occurs.

We continue to share information in a variety of ways during this time. Our website at www.stjohn.k12.la.us includes all of the information above, as well as curriculum, mental health, internet and other resources, FAQs and a breakdown of how each school is communicating with families. Schools are also communicating on their individual websites which can be accessed through the district site. If you haven’t yet done so, please make sure to sign up for text alerts at the email address above and follow us on Facebook and Twitter @SJBP schools.

Jennifer Boquet is communications specialist for St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools. She can be reached at jboquet@stjohn.k12.la.us.