As of the week of September 27, 2020, Saint Joseph High School is back in Mode 1, or completely in person learning. For the Saint Joe body of students, this has no been this way for a long time now. Adjusting back to this type of learning and schedule may be a little difficult for some students. I have compiled some tips to help make this transition back as smooth as possible for the Indians:

1. Make Sure You Have All of the School Supplies That You Will Need For Classes.

We started this year online, and at the beginning, there were not very many school supplies required. Most work assigned remotely could be completely done on the computer. With the exception of one notebook for all my classes and a few pencils, I really did not need many school supplies until we came back in person. Teachers never really announced what supplies to buy for their classes this year like they normally do, so make sure you are taking the responsibility to buy the supplies that you think you will need. Make sure you have a charger for your laptop to take along with you during the day, notebooks for each class, loose leaf paper, folders or binders, and pencils and pens. It is very important to have these things of your own, as you do not want to be sharing supplies with other students in an effort to minimize contact.

2. Carry An Extra Mask With You

You never know when something may happen right. It is always good to be proactive and be prepared. What if something spills on your mask and you cannot use it, or what if you forget you mask in your car or in the lunch room? It may be helpful to carry an extra mask around with you throughout the day just in case something like this happens. A mask is the last thing that you want to be without right now.

3. Check Your Assignments Frequently

For many Saint Joe students, assignments for classes are located in a whole new place this year. Gone are the days of checking the calendar for assignments. Gone are the days of the “it wasn’t on the calendar” excuse. Assignments for all of your courses can now be located under the modules tab on each classes home page. Here assignments and agendas are typically sorted by date, or chapter/lesson. This limits the confusion of each classes work being located in a different page. So after school, be sure and check the modules for whatever classes you are meeting with the following day. Be sure you have all of the work completed that you need to before the start of the next day. Now it is all in the same place from class to class, so it is easier now than ever!

4. Get Plenty of Rest

Staying up all night to cram for that big exam? Think again, for this may be hurting you more than it is helping you. Be sure and get plenty of sleep at night in effort to be more well rested when adjusting back to fully in person learning. Students perform statistically better when properly rested versus when deprived of the necessary amount of sleep. It is recommended for high school aged teens to get about 8-10 hours of sleep at night. So be diligent about your work and activities, and do not stay up too late.

5. Check Your Student Email Frequently

It is important to check your student email often. It is here that you find your health screening to be completed everyday before you walk into the building for the safety of you as well as others. Other important information can be found here as well such as canvas assignment notifications, college visits, meetings with teachers, and any announcements a teacher may send out to a class. Your email is important to keeping organized, on top of your academics, and staying in the loop.

Welcome back students, and I wish you all the best of luck in this one of many transitions this year. The student body has been proactive and resilient in all of the ever changing things going on this year. This is a good way to represent Saint Joseph High School and it’s student’s, so let’s keep it up. Happy to see (half) of your smiling faces in the halls once more!