Happy Friday, Merion Community, It was wonderful to see so many of you at our town hall Zoom meetings last week. Thank you for your partnership in this journey to reopen school. Your questions and comments make our reopening plans stronger, and your support and prayers bolster us during these challenging times. As I wrote in the opening letter to Imagine. School Reimagined: Comprehensive Guide for the 2020-21, our plan is a work in progress. As we implement our plan, we continue to ideate, finding new ways to enhance learning and community at Merion while keeping health and safety at the forefront of everything we do. We're excited to share the first in a series of weekly updates designed to help you prepare for the upcoming school year. While this year will look and feel different, we are committed to maintaining the essence of a Merion Mercy education: high academic standards and strong faculty-student relationships, built on a foundation of Mercy values. Compassion and concern for the welfare of others is at the center of our Catholic identity. In these last few weeks of summer, I ask you to embrace our common responsibility to care for others by refraining from travel for two weeks before school. Please avoid non-essential travel after August 18. Here is a link to the areas identified by the Pennsylvania Department of Health as states with high Covid-19 rates. Montgomery County Department of Health recommends our students to quarantine for 14 days upon return from one of these states. Click here to learn more. We cannot reopen school safely and maintain the health of our community without your help. Thank you for your sacrifice and commitment. Have a wonderful weekend, and be well, Laura Farrell Enhancements to Opening Guide Information Asynchronous Coaching Team (ACT) We understand students need support to develop the mindsets, skills, and dispositions to learn effectively on asynchronous learning days. These skills enable them to become better problem solvers and critical thinkers who are able to leverage technology to learn deeply. To help your daughters along this journey, we have added structure and support to asynchronous (non-campus) learning days. Each student will be assigned to a small team led by a faculty or staff member. This check-in on asynchronous days will help students set their goals for the day, identify resources needed to complete their work, and encourage students to seek opportunities for self-care. Each and every student will be assigned an ACT leader prior to the first day of school. Students will be required to attend a daily morning gathering from 8:30-8:40 a.m. to begin their day with morning prayer and announcements from Good Morning Merion (GMM). The GMM staff will also release extra content on select days. After GMM, place-based students will begin their first period class; asynchronous students will join their ACT leader from 8:40-8:55 a.m. via Zoom. GMM begins at 8:20 a.m. on Fridays; there will not be ACT meetings on Fridays. Schedule Update To accommodate ACT meetings and facilitate safer arrivals and dismissals, Staffulty Meetings, Department Meetings, and Office Hours on Tuesday and Thursdays have been moved to the end of the day. Please see the updated schedule below. Virtual Option
Families may elect for their daughter to start the school year completely virtual and join the hybrid schedule at a later date, or remain virtual all year. If you want to select a virtual learning option for any part of the school year please complete this form by August 14. MyMMA
We are pleased to roll-out MyMMA, a password-protected education management system that will keep us connected, informed, learning, and growing together. MyMMA will house all information related to academics, advisory, activities, athletics, school events, and other community areas. You will also use MyMMA to access course assignments, calendars, athletic scoreboards, gradebook, report cards, and the school directory. Parents will use the username and password that they already created during the online enrollment and re-enrollment contract process in the spring. The same credentials will be used for MyMMA. You will be able to recover your login information through the system if necessary. Additionally, students will receive information on how to retrieve their username, create a password, and access and navigate MyMMA in next week's communication. Course schedules will be live in MyMMA later this month. Orientation Days Because of the new hybrid schedule, the uniqueness of having been away for so many months, and the desire to bring everyone along with Covid-19 expectations, orientation will take place over the course of four days. Each day will be designed with activities specific to each grade. Transfer students will have orientation with the grade into which they're entering. - Monday, August 31 for freshmen
- Tuesday, September 1 for sophomores
- Wednesday, September 2 for juniors
- Thursday, September 3 for seniors
Student Orientation consists of three parts: a pre-recorded segment or movie module to watch in advance; a live Zoom from home facilitated by select educators and student leaders; and an on-campus, in-person experience for socializing. Uniform
We recognize a need for more relaxed enforcement of our existing uniform code as we adjust to atmospheric changes with our hybrid schedule and health/safety protocols. We intend to maintain school tradition while offering flexibility, within reason, to accommodate comfort in different learning environments at school. We also want to honor the investment that parents have made in purchasing our required uniform pieces. Please click here for uniform updates. Description of Acceptable Masks
We ask that all students wear a cloth mask, preferably a solid color, and that no mask contains words or acronyms other than Merion Mercy or MMA. What is acceptable? Homemade masks are fine, but please, no political endorsements or objectionable/offensive imagery and words (see above). Masks must be at least two-ply (note: many neck gaiters are only one-ply). Masks may be reusable or disposable. Masks cannot have breathing vents or valves. |