Please note: 

The deadline for enrollment into the St. Mary Parish Virtual Learning Program was Monday, Sept. 21. Parents who enrolled their children by that date will receive Welcome letters between Sept. 25 and 27. Letters will be sent to the email address listed on the application and to the student's email address.

Students who were enrolled after the deadline as the result of extenuating circumstances will be enrolled after Tuesday, Sept. 29, in the order in which their enrollments were received. 

Beginning Monday, October 5, 2020, Virtual Meal Pick-Up will be available at each school on Mondays from 9:00 AM- 10:00 AM. There will be no Virtual Meal Pick-Up on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 as we transition to Phase 3 guidelines.

• Parents of students enrolled in virtual learning who would like packets consisting of 5 breakfast and 5 lunch meals must submit a request each week to reserve a packet. 

The Reservation Form links can be found on our website at http://www.stmaryk12.net/mealpickup.

• Forms must be submitted by Wednesday at noon (12:00 PM) for pick-up on the following Monday. The form will reopen each Monday at 6:00 PM.
• Adults picking up meals must bring the student's Lunch Card and/or student ID badge for verification.
• Meals must be picked up between 9:00 and 10:00 AM on Mondays at the child’s school he/she would attend.
• The reservation form must be completed each week for each child.

St. Mary Parish Schools began this school year under COVID-19 Phase 2 restrictions. For the safety and security of our families, we implemented a virtual option for students, a hybrid schedule for grades 6-12, and classroom and bus capacity limits.

On September 11, Governor Edwards announced a move to Phase 3. This action allows buses to transport students at 75% capacity, and classrooms can accommodate a few more students with social distancing measures in place.

In Phase 3, St. Mary Parish Schools can begin making plans for all students to return to school campuses for daily instruction.  Beginning on Monday, September 28, all students in grades K-5 and those in grades 6-12 will attend face-to-face classes on a daily basis.  The hybrid schedule will be discontinued for grades 6-12 as students return to a daily instructional schedule.

Parents who have chosen an all-virtual option for their child should contact the school to discuss possible Phase 3 alternatives that would best promote their child’s continued learning.

The school system is very aware of special circumstances facing families during this extraordinary time. Our goal is to provide consistent instruction throughout all pandemic phases. St. Mary Schools strictly follows all guidance issued by the Office of Public Health, Louisiana Department of Education, and Centers for Disease Control regarding wellness protocols throughout its schools and offices. The movement to Phase 3 still requires that students participate in a wellness screening each morning, wash hands throughout the day, and adhere to social distancing and face coverings.

Under Phase 3 guidelines, the district is confident that students can return to a safe learning environment with daily instruction designed to meet the needs our students. Educating children in a time of ongoing change is a challenging task, but it is worth our efforts to ensure that all students receive an exceptional education in St. Mary Parish.

We look forward seeing our students once again for in-person learning on Monday, September 28.

View full press release

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act provides P-EBT benefits for students who received free or reduced meals during the 2019-2020 school year.

Families who had not previously applied for this benefit have the opportunity to do so at this time. Applications are accessible online at pebt.doe.louisiana.gov and must be completed by September 29th. The benefits are intended to assist children who missed meal service as a result of school closures.

The following videos have been posted to assist parents and students who are learning to use laptop devices and district applications in the home and in the classroom.

• Microsoft Teams: Parent Overview

• FAQs (Frequently-Asked Questions) for Laptop Use

These videos are permanently located on this website under Parents/Students | Learn at Home | Learn-at-Home Support

Parents of students enrolled in virtual learning who would like packets consisting of 5 breakfast and 5 lunch meals must submit a request each week to reserve a packet. 

The Reservation Form links can be found on our website at http://www.stmaryk12.net/mealpickup.

• Forms must be submitted by Friday at noon (12:00 PM) for pick-up on the following Wednesday. The form will reopen each Wednesday at 6:00 PM.
  
  
• Adults picking up meals must bring the student's Lunch Card and/or student ID badge for verification.
  
  
• Meals must be picked up between 9:15 and 10:15 AM on Wednesdays at area high schools, which will serve as the pick-up locations for all feeder schools.
  
  
• The reservation form must be completed each week for each child.
  

Note: For this first week, the form links will open one day early on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 6:00 PM. 

(Students in junior high and high school who are attending class on a hybrid schedule will be issued meals packets when they exit school on their face-to-face attendance days.)

The Center for Disease Control has issued a very critical update regarding the use of face coverings for protection from the spread of COVID-19. The change directly impacts the school system’s face covering protocol as announced several weeks ago.

Specifically, the use of “neck gaiters” is not recommended and will no longer be part of acceptable face coverings for schools. The CDC also recommends that face coverings with vents be excluded from use as the protection level is very low.

The school system will continue to update parents and staff regarding any further releases from the CDC or Office of Public Health as the information becomes available.

As part of ongoing preparations to launch a successful start to the school year, St. Mary Parish Schools will be conducting a series of overview sessions for parents who have elected virtual (online) learning for their children. Each session is dedicated to helping prepare students and parents for the daily instruction and routines that will be required at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Parents who have elected to enroll their children in the district’s virtual education program should attend overview sessions according to their child’s grade level. Since each overview is different, parents may need to attend more than one session.  All trainings will be delivered online and can be accessed from any device that has internet access, including mobile phones.

Parent overview sessions will be hosted over the course of several days beginning Tuesday, August 11, with two timeslots to accommodate a parent’s schedule.

• Elementary School:  Tuesday, August 11 (1:00-2:00 PM) and (5:30-6:30 PM)
• Middle School: Thursday, August 13 (1:00-2:00 PM.) and (5:30-6:30 PM
• High School:  Wednesday, August 12 and Monday, August 17 (5:30-6:30 PM)

At the conclusion of these overview sessions, parents will have until August 19 to make adjustments to their selection of online learning. The district will not be able to honor any educational option changes after August 19 as student schedules for both on-campus and virtual schooling will be finalized.

View Press Release

Session links can be accessed from any school or district website calendar.  Following each session, the session link will revert to a recording of the event.

The St. Mary Parish School Board has voted to enact the changes to the district's School Calendar proposed by Dr. Teresa Bagwell at the Special Session held on Thursday, August 6, at 4:00 PM. 

The changes to the school calendar were based on several factors, including

• the importance of providing additional preparation time as teachers transition to virtual instruction.
• the desire to share more information with parents about their role when choosing a virtual education for their children.
• the concerns of parents about returning their children to traditional learning in the face of a COVID-19 pandemic.
• the need to ensure that the technology to make online learning work was ready to be deployed.

The Board's vote postpones the first day of school for St. Mary Parish students to Tuesday, Sept. 8. 

View Calendar

Additional new items can be found on the District News Archive page.