April 19: Senior update from our Principal, Jacob Horne

Conclusion of the 2019-20 School Year

Dear Senior Parents,

To say this has been a tough way to end your son’s career at Benedictine is an understatement. Later you will receive my usual weekly email to the entire parent community, but we wanted to contact you first. We have no doubt that your son is about to move onto another great road on his journey through life, and we wanted to explain how we seek to end this school year.

Our federal, state, and local government officials and policies are continuing to provide challenges as school leaders around the United States attempt to navigate these uncharted waters. School leaders are making a myriad of decisions according to what is best for their school community as they attempt to account for so many variables. We have witnessed schools cancelling everything but classes and moving to virtual events; or simply cancelling events altogether. We are now in a phase where schools (including colleges) are beginning to plan for the next school year and how COVID-19 may, again, plague our best laid intentions.

With no definitive insights into if or when our society will return to what was once “normal,” we have to make decisions for our own BC community. We all recognize that there is no easy answer, and we sincerely hope that you continue to see that we are doing what we believe is best for our young men. Below is a list of dates and events that we have begun planning. We ask that you pencil them into your calendar, and as we complete our logistical plans, we will communicate with you.

5/7: Last day of classes for seniors

There will be no senior exams. Our cadets have endured enough uncertainty and anxiety without having to worry about final exams. This means that your son’s second semester grade will be an average of his third quarter overall grade and his fourth quarter overall grade. For this reason, he must continue steadfast in completing all work assigned to him by his teachers for the next three weeks.

5/11: Senior Checkout (9:00AM-3:30PM)

This will likely be organized by last name to ensure we are following local and state guidelines related to COVID-19.
- Locker clean-out
- JROTC Uniform turn-in
- Parking Tag Return
- Business Office Affairs in good standing

5/17: Graduation Ceremony

Due to current local and state policies, the Diocese will not allow us any type of graduation activity (as a group or as individuals) nor can they promise a specific date in the future. The logistics surrounding what happens at graduation are significant. Given the response of the Diocese, we had to decide how we want to proceed.
Our guiding goal has always been to provide a graduation as close to the traditional event as possible. We have considered what other schools are planning (virtual graduation, drive-by graduation, postponement). We feel that the virtual or drive-by ceremonies are too impersonal for our tight-knit community. Similarly a postponed graduation may lead to one or multiple senior cadets missing that future date, thus never having any type of graduation ceremony. We hope to present your son his diploma that he has worked so incredibly hard to attain instead of prolonging the wait.
With the Cathedral out of the picture, we felt the next place that most closely resembles our traditional ceremony would be the Benedictine Monk’s chapel. The Priory Chapel is a very special and beautiful chapel, a sacred place that many members of the Benedictine Military School community have never seen. In the best of ways, it will provide a unique experience that no other Benedictine graduate has had. As expected, the Benedictine monks are more than happy to open this location for our cadets.
We envision welcoming each family to participate, individually, in a small ceremony where their graduate will be presented his diploma by Father Frank and me. If he completed JROTC, he will be coined (a traditional military honor), by LTC Suhr, and Mr. Steve Salter will take professional pictures of your ceremony.
Just like Senior Checkout, this event will likely be organized to allow each family an individual experience without jeopardizing any current health policies.

We realize what is missing is the gathering of the entire senior class. Being with your brothers to celebrate crossing that finish line is important. Coach Britt is often the one who tells the incoming freshmen that they will be challenged like no other school. We know that to be true, and that is why graduating from Benedictine Military School is so special. We want these young men to celebrate crossing that finish line together. In that sense, the Alumni Association is considering ways to facilitate a special group, social event, for the class of 2020 once all of the government mandates are lifted.

Thank you for all of the support of that you have given and continue to give Benedictine Military School. Have a great week, and God bless.

Sincerely,

Jacob Horne

Principal

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