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WELCOME TO THE HOLY TRINITY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR!

Dear Celtics,

 

Welcome everyone to our new school year! Thank you all for your support, patience, and partnership as we work to keep our school open for our students.

In my weekly Newsletter, I will try to give you a glimpse of the experiences your children are living in the Halls of Holy Trinity. I will include photos that showcase the day to day moments as well as capture the highlights of each week.

I will also include our schedule for the coming week that you can use as a compass for the daily expectations (what uniform to wear, what athletic events are planned, etc.). For a more complete schedule, always refer to the Google Calendar on our website - but for a 'week-at-a-glance' view, our Weekly Schedule generally lists our main highlights. I will update you of any changes made mid-week to our calendar, or if something has been omitted or removed.

In the newsletter, we like to list our Weekly College Acceptances, so if you are a senior, be sure to let Mrs. Sanders know of any congratulations we need to add to our list.

We also post news around town, or events that are part of our greater community. If you have an upcoming event that we can advertise, such as a Parish Festival, send me the information and I will add your event. Of course at the moment there isn't much going on due to Covid, but as soon as there is something to announce, let us know!

Finally, a note about COVID: Holy Trinity has been given special permission as a private school to open ahead of area public schools for In-Person attendance. This is an extraordinary privilege which we must all work to protect and keep. While we are doing our best to guard against any exposure, it is not an impossibility that here and there members of our community will test positive for the virus. It shouldn't frighten us and it won't be a condemnation of our efforts to stay safe. Nor will it condemn our school to closure.

If students are exposed to the virus, they will be able to continue to attend school via our Distance Learning platform. And any time missed from actually being sick (vs. being symptom-less and just quarantining at home) will be honored as needed. Students will have the full support of the school.

However, if one of our staff or faculty is exposed, their need to work from home may have a domino effect that threatens our In-Person status: students who have that teacher would have no-one in their classroom. We do have subs that can come in for the inevitable normal absences teachers experience each year. But we would struggle if we needed to have one or more subs for the 14 days required for quarantine, not to mention any extended time if a teacher were actually ill with the virus. We hear of days out sick and quick recoveries. Alas, we also hear of months out sick.

Because of the massive impact an extended absence of one or more of our faculty/staff would have on our chances of keeping our school open for all our students (vs. Distance Learning for All students), we ask that students pay particular attention to keeping their teachers and the staff at school safe from the any chance of exposure. Our students were amazing this past week, keeping their masks on, maintaining their social distance - they followed our protocols and for that we are all extremely grateful and thankful. You made our jobs easy!

Students know that 'close contact' is more than 15 minutes next to someone when there is less than 6' between them. And if there is no mask, that close contact becomes even more problematic. Our students went through their days on campus this past week truly adhering to this definition of 'close contact'. We ask that they particularly respect this with the adults at the school. We ask that they help protect our ability to be In-Person by making a point of protecting our faculty/staff.

Together our Holy Trinity community can ensure that we stay open for In-Person school throughout the remaining months of the pandemic. And if we see that we're able to expand our numbers of students attending In-Person, we want to show that we know how to do that while keeping all members of our community safe.

Thank you to everyone, students, parents, guardians, teachers, and staff, who are staying alert and careful and mindful of the special privilege we've been given by the State of Texas.

Here's to a great school year!!

Mrs. Brogan

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WEEKLY SCHEDULE

WEEK OF AUGUST 24TH

Monday, August 24th - Blue on Campus

• Monday class schedule - Class periods 1, 3, 5, 7.
• School starts at 8:15 am and ends at 3:45 pm.
• Lunch at 11:59 am - Bring your own lunch. Microwaves and Snack Bar re-open.
• Uniform: regular uniform.
• Prayer Service: 9:54 am. Distance Learners Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDB5uLJyU8c&feature=youtu.be

 

Tuesday, August 25th - Blue on Campus

• Tuesday class schedule - Class periods 2, 4, 6, 8.
• School starts at 8:15 am and ends at 3:45 pm.
• Lunch at 11:59 - Bring your own lunch. Microwaves and Snack Bar open.
• Uniform: Mass uniform (no hoodies or sweatshirts)
• Mass: 9:44 am - 10:44 am: Mass live streamed here: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77873474293?wd=by8vSEZpTXdEUElldDRtNU5kaDdpUT09

 

Wednesday, August 26th - Gold on Campus

• Wednesday Mass schedule - Class periods 1, 3, 5, 7.
• School starts at 8:15 am and ends at 3:45 pm.
• Lunch at 12:00 - Bring your own lunch. Microwaves and Snack Bar open.
• Uniform: Mass uniform (no hoodies or sweatshirts)
• Mass: 9:44 am - 10:44 am: Mass live streamed here https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77873474293?wd=by8vSEZpTXdEUElldDRtNU5kaDdpUT09

Thursday, August 27th - Gold on Campus

• Thursday class schedule - Class periods 2, 4, 6, 8.
• School starts at 8:15 and ends at 3:45
• lunch at 11:30
• Uniform: regular uniform
• Prayer Service: 9:54 am Distance Learners Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDB5uLJyU8c&feature=youtu.be

Friday, August 28th - Blue on Campus (Next Friday will be Gold on Campus)

• Friday class schedule - Class Periods: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
• lunch at 11:30
• School starts at 8:15 and ends at 3:45
• Uniform: spirit wear
• Prayer Service: 9:09 am. Distance Learners Link here: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/77873474293?pwd=by8vSEZpTXdEUElldDRtNU5kaDdpUT09

Monday, August 31st - Blue on Campus

• Monday class schedule - Class periods 1, 3, 5, 7.
• School starts at 8:15 and ends at 3:45
• Lunch at 11:59 am - Microwaves and Snack Bar re-open
• Uniform: regular uniform
• Prayer Service: 9:54 am.Distance Learners' Link will be posted here:

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FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL AT A GLANCE

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19TH - FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL AND TRINITY DAY #1

Welcome all our new students! Welcome back all our returning students! To kick off our 2020-2020 school year, we welcomed all Hybrid students to the school for a day of community building and fun. It was a bit awkward to start with due to the social distancing protocols, and not all our community could be there in person - but with our Distance Learners joining us via our Live-streamed events, we all rallied and had an awesome first day of school!. We are so proud of all our students, both in-person and distance, and we thank them for their enthusiasm and commitment to making the best of a challenging situation. Thank you Celtics!

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WE CELEBRATED OUR FIRST MASS OF THE SCHOOL YEAR WITH FR. JOHN GUZALDO FROM ST. LUKE'S PARISH.

THANK YOU FATHER JOHN!

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THURSDAY AUGUST 20TH - FIRST BLUE-ON-CAMPUS DAY FOR TRINITY DAY #2

On Thursday we started putting into practice everything we'd been working on all summer. Blue group students learnt how to walk around with social distancing rules, with masks on all day, and got a taste of our new protocols. Our Gold and distance learners navigated the ins and outs of logging into their classrooms at the same time their friends at school were walking in. There were some false starts, and confusion about what day it actually was (it's Thursday and my schedule says one thing, but it's supposed to be Friday? Say what?). But overall we made it through.

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FRIDAY AUGUST 21ST - FIRST GOLD-ON-CAMPUS DAY AND TRINITY DAY #3.

And Friday our Gold Group came on campus and learned the on-site rope while the Blue Group stayed home. The Distance Learners got more settled in their routine and got a chance to go through each of their classes and work out any kinks that carried over from Thurday. Friday was a bit smoother over all and our Celtics, both at home and in person, showed their stellar resolve and stamina in how they comported themselves through this second day of classes. Well done Celtics, we are so proud of you!

AND A SHOUT OUT TO ALL OUR DISTANCE LEARNERS, CONSTANT OR HYBRID! WE MISS YOU!

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THIS YEAR WE HAVE PLENTY OF SIBLING GROUPS!

 

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR MAKING OUR KICK OFF TO THE 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR SUCH A SUCCESS!

 

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A NOTE ABOUT PRAYER SERVICE

Dear Celtics!

Thank you all for a great first week! We are still adapting to distance/hybrid learning, but below is a schedule and explanation for how Prayer Service and Mass will work going forward.

Additionally: Students, if you are interested in helping with different aspects of Prayer Service (Music, Technology, Altar Serving, Reading, Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, Sacristan, etc.) please fill out the following Google Form letting us know what you would like to be involved in! https://forms.gle/EGVVJ5BtU7f8fF6d8

I am in the process of setting up a Google Classroom that has ALL the students in it called Prayer Service/Mass. (Not everyone has been added yet, so do not panic if you don't see it yet!) This is where I will post the following:

• Zoom Link for Mass and Adoration
• Information about the Virtue of the Week (links to weekly Virtue Videos, outline of Virtue Discussion, etc.)
• Other resources for personal prayer (especially for our distance students)

Prayer Service Schedule:

MONDAY: Virtue Prayer and Discussion

• BLUE Students: Will watch a short video introducing the Virtue of the Week, and will participate in a small group prayer and discussion of this video
• GOLD Students: May use this time for personal prayer and reflection. Resources/Guides for this will be available in the Google Classroom
• Distance Students: May watch the video introducing the Virtue of the Week and either do their own reflection on this virtue or participate in a group prayer and discussion of this video with the members of their family or household. An outline guiding this discussion/reflection is available in the Google Classroom.

TUESDAY: Mass

• BLUE Students: Will attend Mass in the Student Center
• GOLD Students: May either use this time for personal prayer and reflection or tune in using the link in Google Classroom.
• Distance Students: May either use this time for personal prayer and reflection or tune in using the link in Google Classroom. We are asking that Distance Students tune in for Mass either Tuesday or Wednesday.

WEDNESDAY: Mass

• BLUE Students: May either use this time for personal prayer and reflection or tune in using the link in Google Classroom.
• GOLD Students: Will attend Mass in the Student Center
• Distance Students: May either use this time for personal prayer and reflection or tune in using the link in Google Classroom. We are asking that Distance Students tune in for Mass either Tuesday or Wednesday.

THURSDAY: Virtue Prayer and Discussion

• BLUE Students: May use this time for personal prayer and reflection. Resources/Guides for this will be available in the Google Classroom.
• GOLD Students: Will watch a short video introducing the Virtue of the Week, and will participate in a small group prayer and discussion of this video.
• Distance Students: May watch the video introducing the Virtue of the Week and either do their own reflection on this virtue or participate in a group prayer and discussion of this video with the members of their family or household. An outline guiding this discussion/reflection is available in the Google Classroom. Distance Students may also use this time for personal prayer/reflection.

FRIDAY: Adoration

• ON CAMPUS Students: Will attend Adoration in the Gym
• OFF CAMPUS STUDENTS: May either use this time for personal prayer and reflection or tune in using the link in Google Classroom.

We will likely adjust this schedule above as we go through the year. In the meantime we thank you for your patience, and look forward to seeing you all as soon as possible!

 

Christ's Peace,

Ms. Snyder

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A NOTE FROM ATHLETICS

If you haven't seen our newly polished and upgraded locker rooms, make sure to stop by for a peek. Our new AD Coach Shelton, along with Coach Merritt, Coach Bennett, Jim Fetherman, artist-extraordinaire Mrs. Ritchie, and an army of loyal Celtic athletes worked all summer to completely transform our lockerooms.

 

Thank you all so much for your hard work and tremendous energy! We really are a Celtic FAMILY!

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COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES

CONGRATULATIONS TO CATHRYN BARKIS!

She has been accepted to AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts and was offered a scholarship of $8,000.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO SHELBY FREEHILL!

She has been accepted to Sam Houston State University.

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WELCOME CLASS OF 2024!

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THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO...

CELEBRATING OUR SCHOOL SONG ALL TOGOTHER AND COMING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY!

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