Since March 13, parents, students, teachers, aftercare providers and entire neighborhoods have scrambled to understand what it would mean to wake up the next morning and not get ready for school.
In less than four weeks, entire school communities rapidly responded to a virus that is less than four months old.
Within hours of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announcing a statewide school closure, principals and administrative teams for the Diocese of Cleveland rallied their teachers and tackled developing online curriculum for the 40,000-plus students enrolled in Catholic schools across Northeast Ohio.
“Everyone is learning,” said Frank O’Linn, diocesan schools’ superintendent. “I am incredibly proud of the partnership between parents, students and teachers adapting to this dramatic change,” he added.
O’Linn provided a video address to parents on March 30 following the state’s extension of school closure through May 1.
Schools are continuing to operate -- but in a new and unfamiliar way. Not only are teachers providing a- home assignments and digital instruction via video conferencing, they are redefining what group work and praying in community look like.
At Holy Trinity School in Avon, the day begins just as it always did -- with morning announcements. Co-principal Mike Modzelewski posts the video announcements at the same time the first morning bell would have rung inside the school. From there he or other guest anchors lead students in opening prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and notable facts or liturgical references to the date on the calendar.
“Keeping morning routines -- including morning announcements -- is a practice that many of our schools are implementing,” O’Linn said.
For many, this period of time feels traumatic with the change being too much, too soon. To help maintain productivity and to keep students feeling connected with what is familiar, importance is placed within school communities on making the home-school experience incorporate elements of what was typical within the school environment.
Assisting parents at home with keeping morning routines before logging onto digital academies, ClassDojo or Google Classroom help ease any tension a student may be feeling as they adapt to the new style of distance learning.
Creating school spirit so that students embody a feeling of pride without walking through physical classroom doors also has been celebrated virtually throughout Catholic schools.
St. Dominic School in Shaker Heights previously had the opportunity to play the National Anthem at Progressive Field during the 2019 baseball season. On what would have been Opening Day 2020, the school posted the video on social media channels and encouraged students to wear their baseball-themed T-shirts at home. This week, the school planned a virtual spirit week complete with wacky pajama day. Parents posted photos incorporating the #SDSSpirit hashtag during each of themed spirit days.
St. Albert the Great School in North Royalton distributed family prayer posters and encouraged families to place them in their windows at home. “We are in this together and it certainly helps to see the friendly, faithful homes of our wonderful families when we get the chance to walk outside,” Principal Ed Vittardi wrote to parents.
At Trinity High School, students created a video series titled, “#WeAreTHS” to keep high school families engaged with one another.
Jack Maloney ’21 and Dominic Blackstock ’20, interns in the marketing and graphic design offices at Trinity, had an idea to bring together students, alumni, teachers, staff and even pets. Through pre-recorded short messages of positivity produced on cell phones, iPads, tablets or other devices, an array of spirited messages grew over social media. The videos include challenges, prayers, comedy, Easter greetings and more. Maloney organizes the videos from his house. They are posted daily on the school’s social media pages and on YouTube.
“Our leaders and educators are doing a remarkable job. It is no small task to shift from in-person to remote learning on an accelerated timeframe,” O’Linn said.
Photo courtesy of Trinity High School, featuring Trinity High School senior classmates connecting through the #WeAreTHS video series.