What happens next at schools?

By Margaret M. Russell
The Catholic Free Press
Superintendent of Catholic Schools David Perda was not surprised Tuesday when Gov. Charlie Baker announced that all schools in the state would remain closed to students for the remainder of the academic year.
“I think that’s something that I personally, and many school leaders, have been anticipating and planning for,” he said Tuesday afternoon, as Catholic schools in the diocese took the April vacation week as time away from the virtual classroom.
“We all thought it was a good idea to take that break,” he said.
So from here on “we proceed with plans to provide high-quality Catholic education through remote learning,” he said.
Since March 17, when the governor first closed schools because of the coronavirus pandemic, the superintendent has met twice a week with principals of all the Catholic schools. They set up a video conference call and go through a list of ideas, share strategies and troubleshoot any problems, he said.
“I feel so blessed to have a good group of positive people,” he said.
“The teachers have done a very good job with (remote learning) and I expect it will continue to the end of the year,” the superintendent said.
The first few weeks were spent discussing what kind of teaching strategies works for different types of students, he said.
“What’s the best way to reach kids? We’ve had good conversations about what different kinds of activities should take place and how to encourage the students to do things independently,” he said.
In recent weeks school leaders have began asking “how long is this going to go on?”
The governor’s announcement puts to rest some of the uncertainty, he said. It also set in motion some thinking about what “we do for some of the older kids, especially for seniors” who will be missing things such as proms and graduation ceremonies.
“It is a special year in your life,” he said. “It saddens me a bit to see these kids won’t have a chance to get through that senior year.”
According to Superintendent Perda, as the school leaders discussed how to improve things now, the big question came up: What about next year?
Once teachers and students return to the classroom they will have to deal with the disparities in learning that will have inevitably occurred over the final few months of the school year, he noted.
“Some (students) haven’t missed a beat; others are more dependent on student/teacher interaction. We have to plan on meeting students where they are,” he said.
“There are amazing people working in the schools. I am so proud of them – the way they pulled this off.”