The youth of the parish are invited to join the Youth Ministry. A variety of activities are offered to give youth a well rounded social experience that includes exploration of faith issues and opportunities for service.

For more information, please contact the Youth Faith Formation Office via email at yff@sjrgparish.org or phone at 505.244.2154.

We are so happy to be welcoming back our students and catechists to in-person learning this year. The safety and health of our students and their family are essential to us. To ensure that we maintain the optimal safe learning conditions and comply with governmental and Archdiocesan guidelines, we have implemented some new processes and requirements. Below, I have outlined the changes that are in place currently; please be mindful that as health orders change, we may be required to make adjustments as well. 

1)    MASKS - Masks must be worn at all times while inside the building and must be worn properly to cover both nose and mouth. This requirement is part of the current health order and is being adhered to by the schools. We fully expect this should not be an issue, as students have become accustomed to using these at school and are only in class for 1 hour and 20 minutes. 

2)    FOOD AND DRINKS - We will no longer be allowing snacks in the classrooms. We encourage you to send a water bottle with your child as well. The water fountains will not be operational, but we do have a filling station for water bottles. We encourage you to give your child a snack before coming in or having one available for them at pickup. As restriction protocols change, we will revisit the process. Currently, we cannot correctly distance children during snack time. 

3)    GUESTS - We will not allow classroom guests this year. We have limited space in the classrooms, and to provide adequate spacing and plan appropriately for materials, we will not allow guests into the school. 

4)    DROP OFF - We are limiting the number of people in the building and will no longer allow parents to walk in with students. On the north end of the Nazareth center is a roundabout where you will pull in to drop off your child. You will remain in your vehicle, and the child will wait until a staff member or volunteer with an orange vest comes to get them from the car, who will then walk them over to their meeting area or classroom. 

5)    PICKUP - You will enter through the roundabout on the north end of the building. Please put an 8x10 paper with your child’s/children’s name in large letters along with their grade level on the passenger side of the dashboard so that volunteers can see it. We will bring children to the roundabout area from the lines as we see you arrive. 

*The drop-off and pickup process will be very similar to elementary school processes. **

6)    EARLY RELEASE OR LATE ARRIVAL - If you must bring your children late and the gates on the north end have been closed, proceed to the main doors of the Nazareth Center. Doors are locked, so you will need to ring the bell and be let in. No more than three families will be admitted at a time to sign in. Please respectfully wait your turn in line. When you exit the building, you will use the doors that are marked “EXIT ONLY.” For early dismissals, we will not dismiss students within 20 minutes of class end. We are preparing students to go home during this time window and will not accommodate a pickup within that 20-minute window. 

7)    ILLNESS - If your child is ill, DO NOT BRING THEM TO CLASS. If your child displays ANY COVID symptoms in class here, we will send them home, and a verified negative COVID test will be required for readmittance. 

8)    QUARANTINE - If your child has been told they cannot return to school, the same rules apply, and they will not be allowed here either. They must wait out their ten days or have negative results to return to us just as they would regular school. If your child is exposed or becomes ill, or for any reason needs to quarantine, we will provide lessons to be taken home or will upload assignments to be worked on and submitted through Google classroom. 

9)    ABSENCES - If your child misses some classes and you would like to be able to make up that class, you must call us in advance. If the call is not made before class, no makeup work will be given. The students are allowed three absences before we withdraw them from the program. If there are extenuating circumstances, please communicate with us, and we will help you as much as possible. 

We make every effort to ensure the safety of all of our families who are involved in the Youth Faith Formation ministry. However, despite all the precautions we take, we cannot guarantee that no one will be exposed to some contagion. If there is an exposure of any kind, all families will be notified immediately. And the following class will be over Google Meets to allow proper time to disinfect the classroom.  

I hope that this year will be a successful one where all students and catechists enjoy the return to the classroom to celebrate and learn about our faith with their peers in our parish community. 

If you have questions at any time, please do feel free to contact me at 505-450-8270. Text is the quickest and easiest way to reach me. If you need a callback, please allow 24 hours, and e-mail is typically a 24 to 48-hour turnaround. 

May God keep you safe, healthy, and blessed. I look forward to seeing all of you on September 26th, 2021.

Many blessings,
Stephanie Pickup