St. Mary Parish School System Releases Information Regarding Closure of Schools

Governor John Bel Edwards has officially proclaimed that schools will stay closed for the remainder of the academic year. Students in St. Mary will continue their educational studies through the use of school-issued, instructional resource packets provided to parents in two prior phases with an additional phase to be released in the upcoming weeks. The school district also has an array of online instructional options presented by grade level on the “Learning at Home” page on the district’s website. Further, K-8 students may log into the online portal, “Clever,” to access various English language arts and math programs as they would during the normal school day.
Parents can expect frequent communication from schools and announcements from the district as the school year draws to a close. An organized release of information will encompass important areas such as, graduation, promotion, summer programs, etc. and will be immediately released as decisions are finalized. St. Mary Schools fully intends to make every effort in sustaining learning for students throughout this time and will continue to provide resources for parents in order to fulfill that commitment.
Additionally, immediately upon the governor’s statement of presumed closure, St. Mary officials contacted the “Meals to You” program to extend the meal delivery deadline to May in order to secure a supply of breakfast and lunch items through the normal close of school. The immediacy of this request will place the parish in a position to support uninterrupted meal delivery services for those who elected to enroll in the program.
Although the governor’s proclamation was anticipated, it is a bittersweet end to the school year and for students who miss crucial face-to-face classroom instruction, social time with peers, and the caring stability that daily school attendance brings. Every teacher, principal, and district official empathizes with the impact that this necessary closure has on children albeit crucial to public health, and are devoted to offering students a mechanism to diagnose and recover essential learning beginning on the first day of the new school year.