Written by Mary Beth Peabody
Summer school, enrichment programs, tutoring, camps and teacher meetings are giving many schools in the diocese a chance to ease in to routines that will become the “new normal” when school resumes in September.
“It was great welcoming the students back in the building,” said Linda Pirolli, principal at Saint Vincent de Paul Regional School in Mays Landing. About 20 students in grades one through eight are enrolled in a summer tutoring session, two mornings a week.
Teacher Eva Maria Quattrochi said the transition has been smooth, and she is happy to be working with students in person again.
“I think the children need it. We all need to be back. … Remote learning worked for us, but it’s better to be in the classroom,” she said. Quattrochi said she wipes down desks, chairs, keyboards and other equipment before students arrive in the morning. Everyone who enters the building gets their temperature checked and answers basic questions to screen for COVID-19 symptoms or possible exposure. And then it’s on to class time, with instruction, work on the Smartboard, diagramming sentences, computer time, and one-on-one time with students.
“There is plenty of room for us to be six feet apart, and we’re all wearing masks,” she said, adding that the class feels fun and relaxed.
Rising fifth grader Abby Torres shares Quattrochi’s enthusiasm for being back in the classroom. “It’s been really good. I love the teaching in front of you more than the tablet. I love everyone here,” she said.
Abby said that during remote learning she missed her friends, the cafeteria and playing outside.
Paul VI High School in Haddonfield is also getting into a routine, with enrichment classes inside and baseball camp on the field. Principal Sister Marianne McCann is optimistic about the full time return to live school, with safety as her top priority.
“Socially, the students really need to come back to school, but we have to make sure it’s as safe as possible,” she said. Sister Marianne stressed the important role parents play as partners, “making sure the students know when they come out of their homes that they’re well, that they have their own supplies, they wash their hands, they have their masks on. I think together we can open safely in September.”
Superintendent Dr. Bill Watson sees summer programs as a great way to practice for the fall reopening.
“It’s on a smaller scale but the principles are still the same, he said. “Wear your mask. Keep your distance. Wash your hands. Those three steps are so critical to everything we do.”
Watson was especially pleased to observe classes at PVI, where teachers and students had no trouble maintaining the six foot distance requirement. He said that, even through masks, teachers’ “enthusiasm, the quality of what they’re saying, and their interactions with the students are every bit as joy-filled as they usually are. It seems like they haven’t missed a beat.”
Even teachers who don’t have summer classes have been spending time at school — for task force meetings, helping to reconfigure classrooms and participating in training sessions.
Patti Paulsen, principal at Holy Angels Catholic School in Woodbury, is especially grateful for the collaborative spirit among schools. She and a group of her teachers recently went to Williamstown, where Saint Mary School’s technology coordinator, Lori Mazzeo, helped them learn the ins and outs of Google Classroom.
“The schools in our region work so well together,” said Paulsen. “My fellow principals keep me going.”