San Miguel School Kicks off 2021-22 School Year; Welcomes New Students and Families
San Miguel School began its 2021-22 academic year the morning of Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, by welcoming students and parents of the incoming 6th-grade class. The first day of school marks the start of the 20th school year since the Lasallian middle school was founded in 2002.
Dozens of early-arriving new students and their families lined up in front of San Miguel’s building at 7705 Georgia Ave., before the scheduled 8:15 a.m. start for the day. One-by-one, parents and students checked in and entered the building — where they were greeted by San Miguel School faculty and staff.
As part of their first week of school, incoming 6th-graders participate in a two-day “bootcamp” to acclimate them to life at San Miguel. The 7th and 8th grades begin classes on Wednesday, Aug. 4.
The 6th-graders began the day with the first breakfast of the year in the school cafeteria. They were joined by San Miguel School Principal David Palank, who welcomed the group and gave them an overview of their first few days at San Miguel and the first year at their new school.
San Miguel will conduct fully in-person instruction during the 2021-22 school year with several health precautions still in place to mitigate the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Families must complete a health questionnaire for their sons before arriving for school each morning. Once in the building, students must also continue social distancing and are required to wear face masks (except for during meal periods, when extra space is allotted between students).
Monday’s start of class carried special significance for the San Miguel School community with the resumption of a more traditional school day format. The COVID-19 pandemic forced San Miguel — like many schools — to adopt all-virtual instruction to close out the 2019-20 school year, even foregoing the traditional graduation. For the 2020-21 school year that ended in June 2021, San Miguel still eschewed most large gatherings. Instruction all year took place via hybrid in-person/virtual format where a majority of students attended class in-person part of the school week and then took classes in a virtual format the rest of the time. With the risks of the pandemic better understood and managed by Spring 2021, graduation was allowed to take place in person in June with only San Miguel staff, faculty and students and their families in attendance.
Monday’s start of classes also kicks off a year-long celebration of San Miguel School’s 20th anniversary. To mark this milestone, San Miguel School will organize several virtual and in-person events for its community, highlighted by the 2022 San Miguel School Annual Scholarship Benefit, to be conducted virtually on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. Events are also planned to celebrate alumni, trustees and donors from the first 20 years of San Miguel School’s history.
For more information on upcoming events and San Miguel School’s calendar for the upcoming academic year, please see sanmigueldc.org/calendar.