Schools opening, teachers, families preparing

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

School leaders and families expressed excitement and hope this week about the new academic year, despite added difficulties due to the coronavirus.
On opening day Monday at St. Leo Elementary School in Leominster, the following greeting, leave-taking and question were among the exchanges.
“Good morning! I’m so happy to see you guys!”
“Love you. Have a good first day.”
“Which door do I go in?”
Parents drove into the lot, where the principal, teachers and assistant secretary welcomed the students cheerfully.
“It was very nice to witness the enthusiasm,” said John Shannon, a member of St. Leo Parish, leaving the church after Mass to prepare for his job: remote teaching for Frances Drake Elementary School in Leominster.
“I saw the families, some of the students” at St. Leo’s, he said. “I recognize some as altar servers.”  They seemed very happy to be back.
“And the staff created a welcoming environment,” he added. “I noticed the balloons when I pulled up. Some of those little things make a big difference.” (Balloons waved in the breeze at one of the school doors, where Elsa Deya, assistant secretary, sanitized students’ hands before they entered.)
“August 26 … was the first time students were in school in over five months,” reported Joan Matys, head of school at All Saints Academy in Webster. “For all the movement breaks and mask breaks built into a new schedule, learning is under way and homework has begun!
“As the first school in the diocese to open its doors to in-person learning, All Saints Academy has been preparing for this moment for many months. … It has been challenging, but not impossible.”
Other schools are preparing for their opening days, in a variety of ways.
“I just really want to commend all our Catholic school teachers,” Father Ronald G. Falco, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Northborough, told The Catholic Free Press. He especially praised the people at his parish’s school, St. Bernadette Elementary.
“They just have been right there, just really men and women of faith,” he said. “Their commitment to Catholic education is to be commended. I speak to them about not losing hope.”
Everyone knows protocols for protecting physical health, but another concern is fear and anxiety, which can erode hope, he said. He said it is important to encourage the virtue of hope “in ourselves and our students.”
He talked about celebrating Mass – with social distancing requirements – for the school community.
“It certainly is part of the curriculum, but now the challenge is how to do that,” he said.
St. Anna Elementary School in Leominster was to have a retreat for teachers this week, with Mass and a presentation by religion teacher Jessica Valera, said Renée Legendre, principal.
She and the teachers were also making videos for students and parents to watch before returning to school, so they can see the changes in the building, arrival and dismissal protocols and what their teachers look like in masks.
Preparations for opening next week were also continuing at Trinity Catholic Academy in Southbridge.
The principal, Josie Citta, said pre-school, kindergarten and first grade are full, and fifth grade looks like it might fill up. The school lost some students, “but we have gotten new families, because they want their kids in school in person,” she said, adding that they come from several towns.
She said she’s been meeting weekly with teachers, and they’ve been receiving Google Classroom training and training in remapping the curriculum to fill in academic gaps caused by students being out of school.
Lucius Batih, who’s turning 5 on Sept. 8, hasn’t been in school yet – except for orientation in his pre-school classroom at Trinity Catholic. He doesn’t know what’s “normal” for school, so “this’ll be normal for him,” said his mother, Leanne Batih.
“We were going to do part-time day care, part-time school, just as a transition,” she said. “But, with the pandemic, he’s been home since March. His day care experience has been cut off.” So he’s going to Trinity Catholic five days a week.
On Tuesday she and her husband, Nazar Batih, brought him to meet his teacher, Melissa Hilli, and her aide, Sandra Lomme.
Conducting the orientation for one family at a time, Mrs. Hilli explained the “new normal” to Mr. and Mrs. Batih, who are from Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish in Spencer.
“Do you have concerns about wearing masks during the day?” she asked them, as Lucius eagerly investigated his new environment, with help from Mrs. Lomme.
“We’ve been practicing,” to help Lucius get used to the mask, his mother said.
“We have our circle time,” Mrs. Hilli said. “It’s not going to be quite a circle this year.” She said there will be some trial and error, and they can’t share food or toys like they used to.
Mr. Batih expressed concern about the difficulty of encouraging young children to share, given coronavirus restrictions.
“You can share your playing time,” Mrs. Hilli said. “You have your building space here. You have your building space here. Just don’t touch each other’s toys.”
She also told about religion and morning prayers, work in workbooks, singing and the presence of a school nurse.
Mr. Batih asked his son if he liked the classroom. Lucius nodded enthusiastically.
“We’re very excited to have you come and meet your other friends,” Mrs. Hilli told him.

“I’m very excited,” Mrs. Hilli told The Catholic Free Press. She said when doing remote learning videos she didn’t get children’s responses, and even Zoom is hard for pre-schoolers, who need more hands-on learning.