Dear Mount Carmel School Families,

As shared on the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation’s official media outlets, the CNMI is experiencing a recent surge of positive cases. While containing the community spread of the virus is unlikely, Mount Carmel School is making the following adjustments to keep students and employees safe, as well as sharing vital information summarized below:

• Mount Carmel School will return to optional face-to-face synchronous learning or asynchronous remote learning until February 24, 2022
• All extracurricular activities are suspended until February 24, 2022
• Mount Carmel School reminds families of MCS COVID-19 protocols
• Parents are asked to support the school’s efforts to keep students safe
• Official contact information to help our families

Although the recent surge in our community has caused panic and alarm, we ask our families to remain calm and patient. All schools, businesses, and government organizations in the CNMI are experiencing the same challenges the spread of this virus has caused. Therefore, we kindly ask our families to remember to see with Christ’s eyes and trust that we are all doing our best to best serve the needs of our school and the greater community.

Mount Carmel School will return to optional face-to-face synchronous learning or asynchronous remote learning until February 24, 2022

From February 09 to February 24, 2022, Mount Carmel School will give families the option to have their student(s) participate in face-to-face synchronous learning or asynchronous remote learning.

Families opting for asynchronous remote learning will need to email their child’s homeroom teacher as soon as possible so that all related coursework is published on the appropriate online learning platforms.

All extracurricular activities are suspended until February 24, 2022

As an additional precaution to limit direct contact during this community surge, Mount Carmel School will suspend all extracurricular activities from February 09 to February 24, 2022.

After February 24, 2022, Mount Carmel School students who would like to participate in extracurricular activities are required to abide by the following:

• Maintain a GPA of 2.33 or higher,
• Participate in face-to-face synchronous classes,
• And submit a copy of the student’s completed COVID-19 vaccination card if not already submitted

These procedures are no different from what was communicated and expected prior to the recent surge.

Mount Carmel School reminds families of COVID-19 protocols

As a reminder to our families, Mount Carmel School’s COVID-19 protocols state the following regarding any communicated positive case:
 

• The school will provide such individuals with guidance and information on what steps to take after returning home, such as home or government-provided quarantine and COVID-19 testing.
• If a student, faculty or staff is confirmed positive for COVID-19 off campus, he/she is instructed to stay home or in a designated government quarantine facility until he/she is cleared by a negative government provided COVID-19 reading.
  • If positive from a surveillance testing event, a parent/guardian must notify the school of the test date and result and provide official documentation
  • If negative from a surveillance testing event, a parent/guardian must provide official documentation from the COVID-Task Force indicating a NEGATIVE test result.
• In the event of a confirmed COVID-19 case amongst employees or students that were present or suspected to have been present on campus during the time frame that they tested positive, the school will notify the affected classroom/office stakeholders and follow current action plans recommended by the official health organizations, executives, and experts.
• The school will also inform any relevant government/public health agencies to determine if a case investigation or contact tracing is necessary.
• The school will ensure that privacy is respected of the affected individuals and will comply with all applicable government regulations, laws, and statutes.

Please note that students that have been advised to participate in a surveillance testing event can still participate in face-to-face classes if they are fully vaccinated and show no flu-like symptoms. Additionally, parents and guardians can also choose to keep their children home until test results are available indicating a negative test result. However, Mount Carmel School does not advise parents to allow their child to participate in face-to-face classes if their child was contact-traced by the CNMI COVID-19 Task Force.

Parents are asked to support the school’s efforts to keep students safe

We humbly ask parents and guardians to assist our team in talking with their children about the importance of following the 3 Ws and other ways to prevent any large-scale spread at the school.
 

• Wear a mask at all times while on campus
• Watch your distance of at least six feet apart between friends and classmates
• Wash and sanitize your hands regularly

Additionally, we ask our families to please promote the following with their children:

• Do not share food, drinks, or supplies
• Limit time spent with friends and peers outside of school hours
• Participate in regular surveillance testing at the school or when needed at community-based testing locations.

Official contact information to help our families

Opting to have your child participate in asynchronous remote learning?

• Contact your child’s homeroom teacher

Need to share a positive or negative test result?

• Email [email protected] and [email protected]

Main Office Phone Number: 670-234-6184
Business Office Phone Number: 670-235-1201

It is important to us to share with our school community that while we can no longer contain the spread of this virus, we still have the power to control what we do to limit the spread. While this pandemic has caused many challenges in our lives, we need to work together to keep each other safe. With FAITH in God, HOPE for a better tomorrow, and LOVE for each other, we can get through this because we are KNIGHT STRONG.

Si Yu’us Ma’ase, Olomwaay, stay safe, and God bless,

Frances T. Taimanao
MCS Acting President