St. Viator reopening for in-person classes in August

August will see a full return to school for students at St. Viator High School, the Arlington Heights high school announced in an email to school families Friday.

Families will have the option of having their children participate via eLearning.

Students will be split for the first two days of school Aug. 19 and 20 and will begin in-full attendance on Aug. 24.

The schedule will feature fewer but longer classes each day.

“We feel that this format allows for the best in-classroom opportunity while minimizing movement throughout the building and student to student contact,” said St. Viator President Brian Liedlich.

The decision was based on the recommendation of a 21-person task force of administrators, faculty, parents and alumni and was reviewed by a series of medical professionals.

Liedlich cautioned that directives from the Gov. J.B. Pritzker, various government health departments or the Archdiocese of Chicago could force changes to the plan at any point.

"Our task force has also laid out plans for a hybrid approach in which students only attend classes in-person on certain days or a return to full eLearning, so we can pivot quickly if needed, but we are looking forward to a safe and productive return to the classroom in August," he said.