Dear Royals Family,
As we approach the end of the school year we are still looking for ways to transform several of our ‘live’ student events into virtual ones, like ‘Coffee Night’, school masses, senior breakfast, and Royal Day. Logistical and local challenges might prove insurmountable in many of these cases but we are hopeful that some degree of ‘normalcy’ can be maintained with these events. This is especially true of graduation; 'Live,' 'in the plaza,' and 'on June 5' are, of course, our ultimate hopes for this event, but the safety of our community will be the most important factor in whatever plans we make.
With that in mind we are also looking at other ways to gather and celebrate graduation as well: perhaps in cars (think ‘at the drive-in,’ or on a large farm or field, or even driving up to the steps of the school for a private, individual “ceremony”) or perhaps virtually or if necessary, later in the summer when social distancing is relaxed enough to allow it. We will need to see if any of these options can be done safely but regardless, we remain absolutely committed to having an event to celebrate our graduates who have endured so much in the past several weeks.
As we’ve all grown accustomed to by now, more details will come as conditions evolve. Thank you for your patience.
One big question I hope to now address is the school/community service program. We consider our service requirement to be one of the most essential student experiences in their time at Mission Prep. However, we also want to make sure that the health and wellbeing of our students and families remains a top priority. That means we are going to adjust our service requirements a bit for this school year.
Due to these extraordinary circumstances, this year's community and school service hours for freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will be reduced by half. If your student has already completed more than half of their hours for this year, we will absolutely credit those hours toward next year’s requirement. The purpose of this reduction is to make sure that no student is compromising their health in order to meet the old requirements. Please note that when we resume normal campus operations next year the hourly requirement for each year will return to pre-crisis levels but the total hours needed for the classes of 2021, 2022, and 2023 to graduate will still reflect the reduction from this year. Here are the updates:
Freshmen – now 5 Community Service Hours/2 School Service Hours (for this year)
Sophomores – now 7 Community Service Hours/5 School Service Hours (for this year)
Juniors – now 10 Community Service Hours/5 School Service Hours (for this year)
Seniors who still have any hours left to complete may now complete a school service project that will satisfy any remaining hours (only for the class of 2020). Details about this project will go directly to seniors and their families next week.
With these changes it is even more important that students make sure that their MobileServe account is up to date. Please direct any questions about the service program to Mrs. Buresh.
Thank you all for your patience as we navigate through these uncharted times. I remain completely awestruck by the professionalism and grace shown by our entire faculty and staff as well as the commitment of our community of parents, grandparents, students, and friends, and I wish all of us a pleasant weekend.
Yours in Christ,
Mike Susank
Principal