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June 18, 2021By Bill Doyle | CFP Correspondent
Headmaster Alex Zequeira is proud of the fact that despite the pandemic, St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury held classes in person for the entire school year. Other Catholic high schools took short breaks back to remote learning before the holidays or offered hybrid sessions.
“We’re the largest school in Massachusetts to be fully in person all year,” he said. “It’s been a healthy and safe experience and I think we’ve proven to ourselves as a community that we could fulfill our mission. Our academic program was fully operational, our athletic program was fully operational, our campus ministry program was fully operational, our arts program was fully operational. We were able to educate the boys in the best possible way given the circumstances.”
Gov. Charlie Baker ruled that due to the pandemic all schools had to teach remotely from March 13, 2020, until the end of that school year. However, after reviewing guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and conversing with local public health officials, Mr. Zequeira announced in mid-August that St. John’s would hold classes five days a week on campus in person for the 2020-2021 school year. Students who didn’t feel safe attending school in person were allowed to learn remotely. At no point, however, did more than 10 percent of the student body take advantage of that opportunity.
On the final day of classes on Friday, June 4, Mr. Zequeira walked the St. John’s campus and marveled at what the school was able to accomplish during the pandemic.
“What guided the decision and what guided our work the entire year was the goal of fulfilling our mission on a daily basis,” Mr. Zequeira said, “and we felt very strongly that if we could do it in a safe and healthy way, that we were going to be in person. Hybrid was pretty down on the list because we felt that if we could teach some kids on campus, we could teach all kids on campus.”
St. John’s had 942 boys this school year after adding seventh and eighth grades. Mr. Zequeira said about 55 students tested positive for COVID-19 during the school year, but none contracted the virus in school. He also said some of the school’s 120 teachers and staff tested positive, but none did so as a result of being on campus.
“It’s something that’s a testament to how hard we worked at this and how we kept folks safe,” he said.
Masks and hand sanitizing were required upon entering any building. Air filters were upgraded for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
To promote social distancing, desks were separated by three feet. To spread out students even more, classes were held in every available space on campus, including in the foyer and on the stage of the theater, and even outdoors when the weather allowed.
Class time was reduced to allow teachers time to sanitize desks between periods.
Mr. Zequeira believes St. John’s students benefited by learning in person rather than remotely. He also felt it was vital to develop brotherhood among students and a bond between students and teachers.
“It’s difficult enough with masks, but I think it’s next to impossible to do that over a screen,” he said.
He still remembers the joy on the faces of students and their families when they returned last fall.
“In September, I didn’t know how long we were going to be able to do this,” he said. “I can’t believe we’re sitting here in June and we’ve been in school all year. At the same time, I’m so proud of this community.”
ST. PAUL
St. Paul Diocesan Junior-Senior High School in Worcester conducted hybrid learning for the first three-quarters of the school year before switching to full in-person learning on April 12.
During the hybrid period, half of the 580 boys and girls in grades seven through 12 attended in person on Mondays and Tuesdays and learned remotely on Thursdays and Fridays. The other half learned remotely on Mondays and Tuesdays and in person on Thursdays and Fridays. All students learned online on Wednesdays.
Michael Clark, head of school and associate superintendent, said only two positive COVID tests among St. Paul students stemmed from close contact in school.
Overall, I think it went well within the context of the continuation of teaching and learning,” Mr. Clark said.
Teaching a hybrid model was challenging, however. Mr. Clark pointed out that teachers had to prepare to instruct in person and virtually. Some Chinese and South Korean students had to learn fully remotely because of concerns that the pandemic might have prevented them from being allowed to return to their home countries for holidays.
Students who came in close contact with others who tested positive also had to learn remotely while under quarantine for two weeks.
Notre Dame
Notre Dame Academy of Worcester held classes in person five days a week except for switching to remote learning for a couple of weeks following Christmas and the February vacation.
Head of School Lisa Mancini said 10-15 percent of the students accepted the option to learn remotely, but only a couple students continued remotely during the fourth quarter.
Students wore masks and sat three feet apart in class and sat six feet apart during lunch so they could remove their masks. The library, lunch room and gym were used for classes at times to spread out students. Some classes were held outdoors.
“I’m really, really proud of the faculty and the staff and the students,” Ms. Mancini said, “because at the beginning we were certainly unsure about how long we’d be able to maintain being in the building with the uncertainty of what was to come. The students adapted very, very quickly.”
Ms. Mancini said some teachers were nervous about teaching in person, but the school allayed their fears by using masks, face shields and even some homemade dividers that separated them from their students.
Teachers were allowed time off to receive their vaccines while other teachers covered their classes.
Notre Dame ended this school year with 202 girls in grades seven through 12, about 20 more than the end of the previous year. Ms. Mancini credited much of the enrollment boost to students wanting to learn in person at Notre Dame rather than remotely in a public school.
So far, 219 girls have registered for next year, which would give Notre Dame its largest incoming student body in eight years.
Ms. Mancini said Notre Dame had only three positive COVID cases, all students, and none originated at the school.
The pandemic made Notre Dame more versatile. Teachers made greater use of technology and will continue to do so when the pandemic ends.
To be safe, 175 alumni gathered outside at Notre Dame for a reunion the first weekend of June. They so enjoyed being outdoors with food trucks and a margarita man machine, reunions may never return indoors.
St. Bernard
St. Bernard High School in Fitchburg had to deal with the pandemic during its first year after transitioning from a Worcester diocesan school to an independent, private Catholic school. The school offered in-person learning except for switching to remote learning for two weeks leading up to Christmas.
“We have learned to be, I use the word ‘scrappy,’” principal Linda Anderson said. “We make a lot out of what we have and this year was kind of an added twist, but we made it work.”
Mrs. Anderson said eight to 10 students and one part-time staff member tested positive for COVID-19, but none of them contracted the virus at school.
Declining enrollment at the central Catholic school led to an operating deficit that the diocese could no longer afford, so supporters of St. Bernard’s raised $2.6 million, topping its goal by $100,000, in order to remain open, independent of the diocese.
Enrollment at the school for grades nine through 12 increased from 111 students at the close of the 2019-2020 school year to 158 students at the end of this school year. Mrs. Anderson estimated that 10-12 students enrolled at St. Bernard’s because of its in-person learning. She said the incoming freshmen class for next fall of more than 60 students is the school’s largest in more than a decade.
St. Bernard’s once had room for as many as 800 students in its building so to spread out students and practice social distancing this year the school took advantage of several classrooms that hadn’t been used in a while. Classes and study halls were also held in the cafeteria, auditorium and media center.
“I think it was fantastic,” Mrs. Anderson said. “Everybody had a can-do attitude. We were all so grateful to have a chance to be together again after the spring when we didn’t have a choice. Everybody looked at the glass as half full and made the best of a difficult situation.
