LEWISTON — School administrators at Saint Dominic Academy notified parents late Thursday night that students at the Lewiston campus will move to remote learning from Monday to Wednesday next week in response to an outbreak of COVID-19.
An outbreak is defined by the Maine Center for Disease Control as “three or more linked cases of COVID-19 among different households in a 14-day period.” As of Wednesday afternoon, Saint Dominic Academy’s Lewiston campus had identified 10 cases of COVID-19 in the last 30 days, according to the CDC dashboard.
Students from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade attend classes at Saint Dominic’s Lewiston campus, while the Auburn campus serves students in grades nine to 12.
Principal Alanna Stevenson said the decision was made based on guidance from the CDC.
“We looked at where our situation is at and decided given the short week next week and with the upcoming holidays that it would be in our students’ and families’ best interest to transition to remote learning.”
Monday and Tuesday are full days of school, while Wednesday is a half day. Stevenson said students have the opportunity to learn synchronously or asynchronously while remote.
In-person instruction will resume after the Thanksgiving break on Nov. 29.
“We really have not had any kind of significant impact (from COVID-19 this year) and I wouldn’t say that this is really a significant impact as much as, again, more considering the holidays approaching and making sure that our families are able to celebrate with their loved ones,” Stevenson added.
Saint Dominic is one of a number of schools which have decided to move students to remote learning in the days preceding the Thanksgiving holiday.
Minot Consolidated School notified parents on Tuesday that students would shift to remote instruction from Wednesday until the Thanksgiving break after 19 people tested positive earlier this week. In Winthrop, classes were canceled Monday and Tuesday next week in response to multiple outbreaks in district schools since the school year began in September.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
