One hundred eighty school days — 284 calendar days — ago, 8,838 students walked into the 25 elementary and five high schools of the Diocese of Camden. When they arrived, 872 school leaders, teachers and staff members were there to greet them. The air was filled with the excitement of the first day of school and an appreciation for the blessing of in-person learning after an abrupt shift to remote learning in March 2020.
With the joy of the return to school was hopeful tension as students and staff wore masks, sat further apart than usual, took their temperature before entering the building, and learned many new routines. The goal of those routines was the same on the last day of school as it was on the first: To invite as many students as possible to in-person learning for as long as it was possible to do so safely.
We set this goal firmly grounded in our Catholic faith: We believe that our schools are Christian communities, that we need each other, and that we are best when we are physically present to one another. We believe that much of learning is social and that most students learn best in person. We believe we have a responsibility to love our neighbor, which translated to each person making extraordinary efforts to protect those around them.
South Jersey Catholic Schools students were among the small minority attending school in-person all day, every day, from the first day of school through many days afterward. Students stayed in school as the number of COVID-19 cases in the state rose from 343 on the first day of school to a peak of 6,612 just after Christmas.
Throughout the year, some students and teachers tested positive for the virus, and others quarantined to protect themselves and their school communities because they had come in close contact with the virus. Families made sacrifices to keep children home when sick or exposed and to ensure that they were able to keep up with school. Teachers learned entirely new skills so that they could teach those who were home through videoconferencing while teaching in-person students at the same time.
All of these sacrifices paid off. The number of cases of COVID-19 that were confirmed to have been transmitted in the classroom during school hours this year was zero.
This is an amazing testament to what Catholic communities with shared principles and faith in God can do when we keep our focus on living the Christian principles we confess. And it wasn’t bad for learning, either: Early standardized testing results indicate that students in South Jersey Catholic Schools remained on track with their achievement and growth from previous years. As always, the tests will help us to identify which students need additional support, but overall, South Jersey Catholic Schools students have not experienced the COVID learning loss that concerns many parents and schools across the country.
Students recently celebrated the end of the school year with senior proms, eighth grade dinners, and Baccalaureate Masses and graduations — events that were very much in question only months ago. They reflect the reality around us with more and more people returning to pre-pandemic routines, thanks to changes in the course of the virus and the availability of a vaccine to many members of the South Jersey Catholic Schools community.
We have learned this year more than ever that no matter what challenges we face, we can adapt together. At the same time, the year was a success because we did what we always do: Accept and embrace the Grace of God, together, and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit for each school community. Please join me in praying for a healthy, safe, and rejuvenating summer for Catholic school students and their families, as well as the school leaders, teachers, and staff who serve them.
Many Thanks
Saint Paul tells us that we are all members of the Body of Christ, each with different gifts. I have never experienced this message as profoundly as I have over the last 15 months with so many individuals collaborating in a sustained, faith-driven, effort for the good of our Catholic school family.
I continue to be grateful for Bishop Dennis Sullivan’s constant and consistent leadership and the vision, support and guidance that allowed Catholic schools to flourish this year. I am likewise grateful to pastors for doubling down on their commitment to Catholic schools.
I am thankful for principals and other school leaders who have worked tirelessly without a break since March 2020 to ensure that students remained safe and continued to learn, for teachers who poured themselves into their work every day and all year out of love for their students, and for aides who did whatever it took to make sure both teachers and students had what they needed to succeed.
I would like to extend my thanks to those who worked outside the classroom to support our schools: The advancement directors who found new ways to invite families into their Catholic school communities and raise funds that support them, the school nurses whose expertise shone through as they kept students healthy and safe, the secretaries and front office staff who fielded questions and managed new kinds of information with patience and grace, and the maintenance personnel who redoubled their efforts to sanitize and clean the schools.
On behalf of the leaders, teachers, and staff from all Catholic schools, I would like to thank the parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and other guardians and family members who trusted their Catholic school leaders and teachers and stayed committed to our shared ministry — and helped their children through changes and challenges all year, and to so many others, too many to name, who made this year possible.
Most of all, I am thankful to God for the blessings we have all experienced this school year. In him, all things are indeed possible.
Dr. William A. Watson is Superintendent of Schools, Diocese of Camden.
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