REP is Virtual This Year
Welcome back to a new REP year! We are looking forward to seeing all families and excited about starting a new method of Religious education classes. If you have not completed registration paperwork due to uncertainty about REP classes, we ask that you complete the registration process and return the paperwork. The registration paperwork can be found under Religious Education on this website. (https://olwparish.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2020-2021-Registration-Documents.pdf)
Students entering Grade 2 must have had formal religious instruction the previous year, otherwise they will be placed in Grade 1. Grade 2 is a sacrament year, as students will receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist for the first time. Students entering Grade 7 must have had formal religious instruction in Grade 6 before being accepted into the Grades 7-8 Confirmation Preparation Program.
After much deliberation and having determined that any form of in-person learning will compromise the health and safety of our students and catechists, we have made the difficult decision to begin the 2020 – 2021 REP year in a remote learning model.
Our religion texts also offer supplemental materials and resources that will enhance the learning unit. The amount of classroom time will be discussed with our catechists to ensure that the students will remain engaged in the virtual classroom delivery. Supplemental resources will be offered for home use as well as classroom instruction.
We have the ability to join classroom instruction and will do so each week. Just as classroom teaching observations were conducted in the past to guarantee the expected standards of our program, this new method of virtual learning still allows us the opportunity for observation.
With restrictions on Church capacity, temperature checks, registration required for contact tracing, and sanitation regulations, the beginning of the year Masses for all grades will not be held this year. Our hope is that as the state releases restrictions and we move forward into the next phase, we can once again plan Masses.
The 2020-2021 Confirmation Masses at 10:00 and 2:00 for the incoming grade 8 students is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 13, 2021. First Reconciliation is provisionally on the calendar for Saturday, February 6, 2021 at 9:30 while First Communion is tentatively on the schedule for May 1, 2021 with Masses at 10:00 and 1:00.
Families will be notified sometime in August of classroom placement and provided with instructions for textbook and supply pickup which will occur on the first day of class in September. Times will be staggered to allow for social distancing and limitations for group size.
Thank you for supporting us in the virtual learning environment which we know will reduce the risk of COVID 19.
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