Dear Students and Parents/Guardians,
Governor Kate Brown announced new guidance measures on Friday, October 30th for all schools in Oregon, public and private, regarding returning students to campus for in-person learning. The new metrics for high schools (which are different than elementary schools) state that two measures need to be met before high schools like Jesuit may return to in-person learning:
Based on these criteria, it does not appear that our state officials will allow Jesuit students to return to campus in the near future. As such, Jesuit will officially remain in remote learning at least through the end of the first semester on January 14, 2021.
Jesuit will continue to monitor this situation very closely. We look forward to seeing these guidelines met, allowing our students to return to in-person learning. These metrics are available at the Oregon Department of Education website.
We strongly believe that our students' academic, spiritual, social, mental, physical and emotional growth are best served in an in-person environment on our campus. Given that not all students are comfortable or able to come back to campus, we will make appropriate accommodations for remote learning for those unable to be at Jesuit if and when we reach the required guidelines allowing our students to return to campus.
The state has established different guidelines for different school levels in Oregon. For example, some elementary schools have met the guidelines for in-person learning. Here is a complete list of the operating status of all Oregon schools.
There seems to be some confusion in our community about the ability of the Jesuit leadership team to unilaterally decide to move to in-person learning. As we have stated on a number of occasions, we are legally prohibited from doing so by the Governor's Executive Order declaring a state of emergency.
However, since this pandemic began, our Jesuit leadership team has been closely collaborating with the Archdiocese of Portland and our state officials in Salem (the Governor, the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority) to insist upon the rights of Catholic schools like Jesuit to have the autonomy to determine when it is safe to return to in-person learning. We will continue to fight this battle on behalf of our students.
We will continue to do everything we can within the state-mandated guidelines to welcome students back to campus to enjoy co-curricular activities such as Campus Ministry, Christian Service, DEI, clubs, drama, robotics, and athletics.
We are grateful to our students, our parents, and our faculty and staff for your support, patience, prayers for our community, and commitment to our mission as we continue to navigate our path forward during this unprecedented health crisis.
Please do not hesitate to touch base if we can answer any questions.
Peace. Gratitude. AMDG. Thomas D. Arndorfer President Paul J. Hogan Principal
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