The Columbia campus of the Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy will close for the next week, beginning Tuesday, after seven students at the school contracted the H1N1 virus in recent days.

According to a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Boston today, the school will re-open on Tuesday, June 16. The school year will end as scheduled on June 24.
Mary Russo, the regional director of the academy, said today that the state's commissioner of education has waived the requirement that the school hold 180 days of classes during the academic year.
"We did everything we could possibly do to keep the campus open and we're sad that the children will miss out on some of the special year-end activities that were planned," Russo said. "The teachers have sent the students home with assignments. This is not a vacation."
School officials are working with the Archdiocese to coordinate sanitizing of the entire school campus.