An Update from our Newly Virtual School
Dear Friends of Cristo Rey Columbus,
I wanted to reach out to you, our Cristo Rey Family, to keep you informed on the status of Cristo Rey Columbus High School students and staff. Our administrative team has been following guidelines from our public officials, collaborating with other educators across the Cristo Rey Network, and consulting with medical experts over the past few weeks. Our community’s safety and health are extremely important to us.
Following the directives of our Governor, face to face classes have been cancelled. All athletic events and extracurriculars are also cancelled. Beginning Monday, March 23, we will be transitioning to virtual learning. Our faculty are using this week to discover best practices in on-line instruction and make this new learning opportunity as authentic as possible. Our teachers and counselors have been collaborating to find creative ways to teach remotely, taking advantage of the iPads that all of our students have. We are working with those students that do not currently have internet access in their homes by providing hot spot access points. By the end of this week a new teaching and learning program will be available to all of our students for however long this shut down lasts.
While we are closed, Cristo Rey will be offering meal pickup at the school Monday through Friday from 11:00 to 1:00. This started on Monday, March 16. Students will get two meals (a breakfast and a lunch). They will be available in our main lobby. Meals are also available to all students 18 or under at many public school locations. We are working with our students who cannot access any of those options (for example, because they are babysitting their siblings) to deliver meals to them.
Staff and faculty members are remaining as flexible as possible to ensure we are able to meet the needs of our students and one another. We are all learning how to respond to a new situation that has been changing day by day.
As a community of faith, we ask for your prayers for those who are already impacted by this virus; those who may become infected, especially those at most risk; and those health professionals working to keep us safe. This global health event impacts us all. We must take careful precautions and follow advice provided by public health experts. Cristo Rey Columbus High School will continue to adapt and follow best practices as this situation develops. We thank you for your support, patience, and prayers. Only by working together, in prayer and faith, can we all remain vigilant and healthy during this time.
Take Care and God Bless,
President Jim Foley
Thank you to Ms. Betty and Arlene’s Cuisine for helping us navigate current challenges and continue to provide meals to our students!
In Other News!
Mamoudou, ’20, is the winner of a Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation scholarship. Mamoudou has always been a game changer – a real force for positive change in our community and in the world. Looks like his good work has paid off with a $20,000 scholarship to cover tuition or room and board at the college of his choice. To date he has been accepted at Case Western, Morehouse, Dayton and Indiana University. In addition, The Ohio State University accepted him as a Morrill Scholar, which covers full in-state tuition. He hasn’t decided quite yet, so stay tuned, but wherever he goes he is sure to continue to be a force for good. We couldn’t be prouder!
Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is….
The Admissions office tasked the Cristo Rey High School Digital Photography class and club with capturing photography of student life to be used on the new CRCHS website. Many thanks to those students and their teacher, Nathan Laufersweiler-Hanf, for an impressive array of images. We will share a few now, and starting May 1st you will see many more on our new website!
Necessity is the mother of invention…
The Cristo Rey Columbus staff and faculty have this week to retool and learn how to offer effective and engaging online learning for our students, and keep the other important business of the school going. Above, our Admissions Director Meghan Devring shows off her home office and some Irish pride (Happy belated St. Patrick’s Day!)