President of the Kuemper Catholic School Systems, John Steffes, says this school year has been one of the toughest ever seen by instructors and staff. He says he believes their early adoption of certain mitigation methods has been instrumental in keeping the students in class. Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio
The week before Thanksgiving, Kuemper had a spike in cases with 22 positives and around 100 students quarantined. But that has now dropped to four with just 17 in quarantine. Steffes says they are fortunate to have recovered and they hope to maintain low numbers. When it comes to enforcing the necessary COVID mitigation methods, Steffes says masks have become so routine there are many students who don’t even realize they have them on. But there is always an exception to the rule.
He credits the extra work by the teachers over the summer to get advanced training on remote learning and the ongoing efforts to ensure their educational standards.
When asked to provide a grade for how they have handled the first half of the year, Steffes says he thinks their hard work deserves an A+. But when it comes to looking ahead to the second, there are still a lot of unknowns.
As they look toward the break, Steffes notes some special events. Kuemper has scheduled four masses on Tuesday, Dec. 8 for the Immaculate Conception and students will get a chance to have reconciliation before Christmas. Steffes says there is a very special tradition for one group on the final day before break.
And when it comes to the traditional Christmas concerts, Steffes says these will take place during the school day and be livestreamed for those who would normally attend. Not all of the dates have been worked out yet, but the high school concert has been scheduled the Epiphany, on Wednesday, Jan. 6. Students will return to class after the break on Monday, Jan. 4 and the end of the first semester is Thursday, Jan. 14. The full interview with Steffes can be found below.
https://www.1380kcim.com/episode/kcim-interview-john-steffes-kuemper-president/