Catholic schools across Pennsylvania have worked especially hard to maintain safety measures since reopening this fall. Principal Jane Wagner of Blessed Sacrament School in Erie says they are even kicking it up a notch on the precautions amid an uptick in COVID cases across the country.
“We’re having that fall surge that they’ve been predicting,” Wagner told me on a FaceTime call this past week. “So we’ve kind of had to step it up on the morning announcements, reminding them to make sure that you are washing your hands and wearing your masks and keeping your distance.”
That comes in the wake of a number of other safety measures that were put in place well before the students actually reported to class. That included a two-week countdown on the Blessed Sacrament Facebook page that detailed a different part of their back-to-school plan each day.
“One day we did a short video on the markings on the hall. We’re the bulldogs, so there were paws on the floor with signs that said ‘pause on the paws.’ We did another video to show them what the cafeteria would look like. We did another video to show them what dismissal would look like. “
The classrooms looked completely different to students when they returned. Wagner says the furniture was taken out of the rooms so they could maximize the distance available between students.
“Most of the teachers now just have a teacher desk in their rooms,” she said. “All the book shelves, extra tables, all those things are now stored in either the art room or in the library so that we can reach that six-foot distance in spacing in the classroom.”
Wagner praised the teachers for their creativity in making things work. She said some of the teachers have even decided to get rid of the desks altogether for some of the younger students.
“They’ve gone to lap desks and mats on the floor so that the little kids know what their space is.”
Wagner says they are still having gym class, but it has been mostly outside. They don’t use the locker rooms for changing. Kids have to wear their gym uniforms to school.
Lots of changes–all translating into safety and effective instruction.
