OCS Principal's Message

Today felt like the first day of school on our campus, according to many of the students. It was the first time since spring of 2019 that we saw everyone without a mask in our hallways. Despite the weather, a beautiful day!

As you may have noticed, I have not provided you with a Covid update in nearly two months because that is how long it has been since there has been a case on campus or a student quarantine. With that said, let me remind you that we are following the CDC, LDH and Governor's order when it comes to quarantines. For those who are not vaccinated, anyone in close contact with a positive Covid case must quarantine for 14 days, which can be shortened to 10 days without symptoms and 8 days with a negative test result and no symptoms on Day 7. That's a small price to pay for normalcy. Thank you all for your patience as we persevered through the last 18 months. Masks on school buses are still required, but other than that it is great to see our students smiling.

Again, with the end of some restrictions we were able to run our first fire drill since spring of 2019 today. We have another fire drill scheduled next week as well as a weather (tornado) drill the week before Thanksgiving and an intruder drill the week after Thanksgiving. I reminded elementary students today after the rosary that we practice what to do, just like you practice in sports, over and over, so that everyone knows what to do in an emergency. There is nothing scary about a drill if you consider it in those terms. Thank you in advance for reminding your little ones of that fact.

Yes, there was excitement on the campus Monday afternoon well after school dismissed for the day. The school has procedures in place for emergencies that happen before, during and after the school day. The incident happened three blocks from campus and the drivers involved were moving away from campus. City police did not request that we go on lockdown, our coaches acted to do so out of an abundance of caution. According to police there was no threat to the campus or the students on campus. We try to be proactive and often act to lock down campus long before we get a call from city police so that we can protect your children. I will always let you know when there has been an incident as well because we believe in being open about safety. Our coaches, spirit moderators, tutors, after-care teachers, and drama coach did an excellent job getting the students into their "safe" places quickly and without panic. We now know that sound carries clearly (and loudly) through the graveyard and back to the practice fields. Strangely enough, the sound could not be heard in the front of the campus closer to the actual incident.

I don't know about you, but I am excited as we move forward into Autumn and a return to normal school days. Congratulations to our junior high football teams who play tomorrow in the league championships; to our volleyball teams who won as many games as they lost in their inaugural season; to our drama group putting on their first performance Friday for our elementary students; and, of course, to our football team, battling Sacred Heart for the district championship Friday night in Ville Platte. Look for more exciting news on the athletic front as we move into the winter months.

Academically, our teachers are working hard on our reaccreditation process that will culminate in the Cognia/AdvancED visit in February. Our school improvement plan is just about finalized with a focus on improving standardized test scores, new textbooks and good utilization of our federal Covid relief money for technology issues. Enrollment is strong, our finances are in excellent shape, and we have the wonderful leadership of a young and dynamic chancellor in Father Pettit. Our Catholic identity on campus has never been stronger.

As always, thank you for your support. Our school is not just students and faculty, but students, faculty, administration, parents, alumni and supporters. We are the Opelousas Catholic family living our mission "To Know, Love, and Serve God."

Mrs. Heintz