text: Looking Ahead - January 7, 2022 - DeLaSalle High School
  Looking Ahead – January 7, 2022
  COVID – Omicron Updates
  Entrance Exam – January 8
  Budget Planning Continues, Tuition for 2022-23
  Young Alumni Offer College Perspective at January 10 Parent Association Meeting
  Online Learning Day – January 14
  Alpine Ski Team Begins Season
  As the new year and new semester start, we are grateful for your ongoing support and understanding. It's been a good year, but as we all know and understand, there are ongoing challenges with relation to the international pandemic and its impacts on our DeLaSalle community. We're all in this together and our first priority always is to support each other's well-being and our students' learning and social-emotional health.
  Due to the current surge in COVID cases in the Twin Cities, schools are facing unique challenges to maintain full staffing of cafeteria workers, maintenance team members, bus drivers, and even teachers. We are grateful DeLaSalle has, to date, been able to continue in-person learning, due in large part to the extra efforts given by our teachers and staff –and substitute teachers. Moreover, we are grateful for timely communications from families reporting illnesses, for your many kind words, patience and understanding. And, we pray for those affected by the pandemic in particularly difficult circumstances.
  All of us are anticipating what may need adjustments in the coming weeks. Our Pandemic Response Team is meeting regularly and we are following recommendations from the Minnesota Departments of Health and Education. We will be quick to communicate updates to families as needed.
  As families know, the school busing industry has been impacted throughout the year. We HIGHLY recommend that all families whose children ride a school bus to and from school keep updated about our external vendor's operations. If you have not already done so, all students and parents are strongly encouraged to download the Versatrans My Stop app.
  Versatrans My Stop – Apple iOS
  Versatrans My Stop – Google Play
  Once the app is opened, select our bus service by choosing "AST Minnesota Charter." Parents and students will use the same username and password. Both the user name and the password are the student's five-digit ID number. Now is the time for our families to be prepared as best as possible if there are staffing impacts or temporary interruptions in school bus service in coming days.
  Also to note: We have already instituted temporary policy changes regarding activities and athletic events, in place until COVID numbers diminish once again. All participants will be required to wear masks at all times in indoor settings, including practices and competitions. Spectator attendance will be limited and masks will be required. We will allow three spectators per participant in the Main Gym, and one spectator per participant in the LL Gray Gym. This applies for DeLaSalle participants as well as for participants from other schools. There will be no concession sales at athletic contests until further notice. More information about modifications to school lunch service, assemblies, and activities can be found by clicking HERE.
  Class of 2026 Entrance Exam and Parent Seminar are Tomorrow!
  We are excited to have received application materials from over 250 eighth graders and their families to date, with the application deadline of February 11 still more than a month away. Tomorrow, January 8, we host eighth grade students for the annual Entrance Exam, which is one of four requirements to complete an application for ninth grade each year. Families who have not yet signed up their student for the Entrance Exam may still pre-register by filling out this form. Walk-ups are always welcome and may also register when they arrive on campus tomorrow morning. Check in and registration will begin at 7:45 am and continue until 8:20 am. While students are testing, parents are always invited to stay for the annual Parent Seminar. Starting at 8:30 am, we will cover the application process, academic scholarship criteria, registration and course selection, spring and summer orientation programs, and more. A comparable Spanish-language presentation will also be offered to parents.
  Work continues on the 2022-23 budget, but the DeLaSalle Board of Trustees has approved several cornerstone pieces of next year's budget, which will include increases in compensation for teachers and staff as well as increases in financial assistance programs. The Board approved a 2022-23 tuition amount of $15,690.00. All of us at DeLaSalle appreciate the sacrifice that parents are making to send their sons and daughters to our school, whether you are paying the full tuition or a reduced tuition through allocation of financial aid. Over 98 percent of parents are on time with tuition payments this year. We are also heartened that, primarily due to the wonderful support of our alumni, friends, and many of our parents, a DeLaSalle tuition is still less expensive than all but three Catholic high schools in the Twin Cities and less than half of what some private high schools charge. We remind families that applications for financial aid for 2022-23 are due by Friday, February 25.
  The DeLaSalle Board of Trustees made the decision five years ago to move to a continuous enrollment model. Continuous enrollment streamlines the re-enrollment process and eliminates the need for sending a repetitive re-registration form and a new tuition agreement to families each year. With almost all students re-enrolling at DeLaSalle year over year, the process of completing multiple forms ends up being unnecessary. A timeline of key dates follows:
  Financial aid applications are now available. Families who want to apply for financial aid for the 2022-23 school year can do so through TADS. Reminder to all families that a financial aid request must be completed each school year in order to qualify for financial aid.
  The Minnesota State High School League's ExCEL Award – Excellence in Community, Education and Leadership – is a unique, annual recognition program designed exclusively for Minnesota high school juniors who are active in school activities, leaders in their schools, and who demonstrate a strong commitment to community service. DeLaSalle High School's 2021-2022 ExCEL Awards winners are Riley Blaylark and Alexa DeRoche. We congratulate them and their families.
  The January meeting of the DeLaSalle Parent Association is a perennial favorite, when young Islander alumni join us for a special type of college planning panel for parents. We host our always informative panel discussion from the first-year student's perspective. All parents are invited to join us and hear what De alums from the Class of 2021 would say helped with their college planning, decision and transition — and maybe a couple of things they wish they had known or done differently. Practical and understandable advice from one Islander to another is always helpful. Students are certainly welcome too. The meeting is Monday, January 10, starting at 6:30pm, in the Schulze Lab (D104).
  Friday, January 14, will be an online learning day for all students. Each teacher will be assigning coursework for that day. Faculty and staff will gather on campus for prayer, Lasallian study and formation, and department curriculum planning.
  Each year, the DeLaSalle community celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with prayer, discussion, and classroom activities. Due to DeLaSalle's current pandemic restriction limiting large-group gatherings, an assembly will not happen this month. Instead, on Thursday, January 13, small group sessions facilitated by teachers and staff will be held in classrooms and meeting spaces. In these sessions, Islanders will watch video, read from Dr. King's writings, join in prayer, and share ideas and options for making his dream of just and peace-filled communities reality.
  DeLaSalle High School also honors the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. by recognizing the federal holiday. There will be no school on Monday, January 17.
  The Schulze Family Foundation is committed to providing assistance to students from middle-income families who do not receive federal grant assistance. Students who have distinguished themselves through school, community and/or church activities while showing strong academic achievement in high school are encouraged to apply. Forty-six (46) scholarships of $5,000 per year will be awarded for four consecutive years of full-time enrollment with satisfactory academic performance. To learn, click HERE.
  Alpine Ski Team Begins First-Ever Season
  Thirteen Islanders enjoyed their first alpine (down-hill) skiing meet of the season on Wednesday, January 5, at Buck Hill in Burnsville. This is the first year for alpine and nordic skiing teams at DeLaSalle.