South Jersey Catholic school teachers and students celebrated their last school day for calendar year 2020 and the 70th day of the school year last week. With few exceptions, each of those days has been a full day of school, with most students and teachers together in the classroom.
On the surface, school days look different this year: Students and teachers wear masks and sit and stand farther apart from each other than usual, often with plexiglass shields between them. They wash and sanitize their hands more frequently, too. Thanks to the vigilance of our school communities, no South Jersey Catholic School has been advised to transition to remote learning by its local health department due to suspected spread of COVID-19 within its walls. Some have done so voluntarily, on a temporary basis, out of an abundance of caution.
In their essence, school days this year are like any other: A walk through the hallways, a perusal of school social media pages, and a peek into the classroom through the technology used by students learning remotely all reveal vibrant places, bursting with creativity. Students learning remotely are engaged with their teachers and classmates through Zoom or Google Meet. For all students, many assignments are delivered and collected electronically to reduce physical interactions. Books and coats are stored in new, personalized cubbies next to desks to reduce movement in the classroom. Elementary classrooms are alive with student artwork. In middle school classrooms, there are questions and debate. The camaraderie and dialogue that characterize high school classrooms are present in force.
There is widespread agreement that in-person education has the most positive impact on students’ spiritual, social, emotional, and academic development. While Covid-19 has presented new challenges, principals and teachers have overcome those challenges in ways that speak loudly and clearly to their priorities. Animating classrooms and engaging online participation can be exhausting work, and new health and safety protocols add unprecedented complexity to the craft and practice of teaching. But each principal and each teacher has committed to the extra effort because Catholic schools are Catholic communities in which love is the model, the mode of operation, and the basis of all interactions. Simply put, Catholic school leaders and teachers put students first. They know what is best for students, and they do it unselfishly and unconditionally.
Catholic schools are not immune to the forces that may cause a temporary transition to remote learning. Schools are prepared to make that transition if there is evidence of in-school spread of COVID-19, or if exposure within the community outside of school leads to cases or quarantining that overwhelms the school’s ability to deliver the educational program. Otherwise, South Jersey Catholic school leaders and teachers will continue to prioritize students and their well-being through in-school learning.
At Christmas, we celebrate God’s unconditional love for each of us through the Incarnation. We are called to embrace the Incarnation by selflessly sharing the gift of God’s love we have received with each other. This year, the gift of love offered by South Jersey Catholic School principals and teachers to their students is a clear and shining example of that unconditional love. Let us all thank God for their service to the Church and pray that they have a peaceful, hopeful, joyful, and very Merry Christmas.
Dr. Bill Watson is superintendent of schools, Diocese of Camden.
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