Day-to-day life in South Jersey Catholic schools has been colored by COVID-19 for almost two years.
In March 2020, Catholic schools shifted overnight to two weeks of remote learning and adapted quickly as those weeks turned into four months. In September 2020, South Jersey Catholic Schools opened their doors for in-person learning when very few other schools in our area did — and when many expected them to fail.
They did this because Catholic school leaders, teachers and parents know that Catholic schools work best when students can be together, able to serve one another face to face, help each other grow in knowledge and wisdom, and live what they believe. (They also opened because guidance from the N.J. Department of Health encouraged schools to open and gave specific procedures for doing so. Schools were not open in defiance of any public health directives, but rather in compliance with them.)
The 2020-21 school year was a shining success for principals, teachers, school nurses and everyone who demonstrated the grit, perseverance and resolve to make school work for students. This applies especially to parents, who were called on more than ever to work in partnership with their children’s schools. More than 90 percent of parents who choose Catholic school use the words “family” or “community” to describe their children’s experience. Those partnerships, which always support student success, were renewed as each school community faced the challenges of last school year together.
If the 2020-21 school year gave Catholic schools an opportunity to shine in the face of operational and health-related challenges, the 2021-22 school year is giving them ample opportunities to overcome mental and emotional ones. COVID fatigue is real. We are bombarded with messages from public health and government officials, as well as the news sources that surround us all day, every day. Many in our community have recovered from COVID-19, but many mourn the loss of those who have not. The constant barrage of these challenges and the memories of our individual and collective journeys wear on each of us.
School principals, teachers and nurses — and the families and students they serve — are no different. Continuing to navigate the nuances of quarantines, COVID-19 testing, eligibility for sports, temporary remote learning, and remembering to wear a mask properly can be frustrating, deflating and exhausting.
Fortunately, Catholic school communities can learn from the many examples in our faith history how our ancestors overcame those emotions. The Israelites felt those emotions on their journey to the Promised Land. Countless prophets imploring our ancestors to repent felt them, too. So did the Jews in the time of Jesus, who were waiting for their messiah.
In each of these instances and so many more, God responded powerfully with His saving grace, offered in love and compassion, and providing hope and salvation. Catholic school communities are infused with the same grace and can access the same hope it provides. They recognize it, say it out loud, and accept that grace every day, and they do it together.
That doesn’t make the struggle go away, but it helps students, parents, families, teachers and principals persevere. It helps us all to know that God is with us — and will carry us — through the current challenges, and that God will be there, just the same, when new ones arise.
This is what we celebrate during Catholic Schools Week: Catholic schools embrace our faith and lead with it. They do not hide or limit it to individual expressions during quiet moments. The ability to do that together, and to live in an environment intentionally infused with God’s grace, is the foundation of all the successes we celebrate this week. Please join me in praying for their continued success and God’s continued presence as we meet the challenges of today and the future together.
Dr. William A. Watson is diocesan head of the Secretariat for Catholic Education and superintendent of Catholic schools.
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