Planning for a safe return to school

The ground beneath each of us trembles and crumbles under the immense weight of uncertainty and fear as well as universal suffering. The pandemic explodes with a toll of epic proportions. Even amidst the shaking ground, these ongoing health and safety struggles must be met with openness to new possibilities and ways of thinking. We must stand firm and all rise together to meet the COVID-19 challenges with mind, body and spirit. Our loving Lord never abandons. He blesses us with courage, perseverance, fortitude and vision.

Kindergartner Ayla Rey opens the door to her Montessori classroom at Sacred Heart Catholic School before the pandemic. She will begin the new school year as a first-grader.

Planning for the reunification of our students and teachers in our Catholic schools is key. Sound and effective planning for resuming instruction in August must safeguard our children’s safety, health, and well-being. They must be entrusted to our care and protect faculty/staff members in our school communities. Our robust academic programs, rooted in Gospel values, must challenge and inspire our students to learn, serve, and succeed.

The Return to School Parent Survey has equipped the Office of Catholic Schools (OCS) with valuable insight and actionable feedback. We are pleased with an outstanding 1,140 responses received. We humbly thank you for your time and transparency as you shared your thoughts, concerns and ideas. We are honored by your words of appreciation and your trust in our Catholic school’s system to move forward with the best educational experience for your child/children.

Some key conclusions that can be drawn from the survey results are as follows:

Each student’s health and safety are essential, and we must consider the broad sense of health, which includes social-emotional well-being and meeting the developmental needs of children. Each student is gifted with a unique set of learning skills, and some will thrive in non-traditional learning models, and others may struggle.

There is a resounding fear from many families to return to in-person instruction during this pandemic. Each family is uniquely experiencing this situation with varied resources, support systems and work flexibility. Options for vulnerable students and students with vulnerable family members must be included.

Teachers, students and parents all experienced distance learning for the first time this spring. Teachers were challenged with providing high-quality education that you and your child are accustomed to in the classroom, with entirely new methods and tools. Distance learning strategies must be improved upon, communication must be constant and clear, and we must attain high standards for distance learning.

The Office of Catholic Schools is dedicated to providing intensive professional development to support teachers and to enrich their skills to achieve excellence in distance learning.

Each school is building upon the Spring 2020 distance learning experience with clear vision and goals for improvement.

Also, based on the survey results, the OCS has designed a “Framework for Daily Instruction” that will be provided to all schools. Our priorities include a focus in three key areas: A robust academic program centered in Christ and rooted in Gospel values; an integrated educational partnership between students, school faculty/staff and parents; and the implementation of evidence-based health measures that support the safety and well-being of all students and staff.

The Framework addresses educational best practices and provides for a vast array of paradigms to address parent concerns. Options for five days a week person-to-person, as well as a hybrid model of in-person and distance learning, will be provided. A separate option of distance learning will be provided for those families that desire this model. Middle and high schools may offer a rotating Monday-Wednesday and Tuesday-Thursday model with Friday serving as a day for student support, teacher planning, assessment and professional development.

This “Framework for Daily Instruction” is one component of a comprehensive guidance document, “Charting Our Future Through COVID-19,” provided by the Office of Catholic schools. This document will be made available to all schools to assist in planning for the 2020-2021 school year. And it will be posted on our website in the coming days as a resource for parents.

We anxiously await the return of our students’ beautiful shining smiles and the joy of children learning, laughing, talking, and praying together in our classrooms again. We ask for the intercession of our Blessed Mother, and we pray that each of us may be the light of Christ and see the light of Christ in others this day as we step boldly into the future.  

See more on this here.