Area private schools look to face-to-face learning in fall
Amid a summer of unease caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic, some Anne Arundel private schools have announced plans to reopen with face-to-face learning this fall.
St. Martin’s Lutheran School of Annapolis released on June 18 plans to reopen with face-to-face classes, five days per week beginning on Sept. 8. St. Martin’s appears to be the first school in the county to announce plans to fully reopen this fall.
And the Archdiocese of Baltimore Department of Catholic Schools announced in a release Thursday the goal for its schools to return to in-person classes on Aug. 31. This date is not set in stone and is dependent on changes in local and state restrictions in the coming weeks.
In conjunction with CDC recommendations, the archdiocese will refer to guidance on reopening from its own Planning Ahead Task Force for Catholic Schools.
Archdiocesan schools — which include six Catholic elementary and middle schools in Anne Arundal County, St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis and Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, according to the archdiocese’s website — are required to follow guidelines from the archdiocese. St. Martin’s is not an archdiocesan school.
According to the release, Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore are scheduled to begin reopening with the return of faculty and staff on Aug. 24, subject to change dependent on local and state guidelines. The archdiocese will provide bi-weekly updates about the progress of its task force.
The Anne Arundel County Public School system plans to have an update on summer learning and fall reopening plans at the Board of Education meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
Head of St. Martin’s, Patrick Kiley, said he firmly believed students should physically be in school this fall and that learning online deprives students of the full educational and social development that they experience with in-person learning. He said this development is especially important for the school’s youngest students.
“Distanced learning certainly had its role in the fourth marking period of this school year, but it was tough on our youngest learners,” said Kiley. “We want those kids in school.”
Kiley said he made the decision to open school to provide stability for the school community during a period marked by uncertainty. Kiley said he has preliminary plans in place, but that “concrete, actionable steps” will likely be communicated to parents in early August.
Kiley’s preliminary plans for September include a daily schedule in which students will be in class for two hours, followed by a break for snack and recess, then class for another two hours, followed by lunch and a second recess, and then a final two hour stretch of class before leaving for the day.
With the exception of recess, St. Martin’s revised school day will involve limiting student movement.
All students, including those in middle school who would normally switch rooms for each class, will have a designated desk in a designated classroom, and teachers will travel between classrooms. This lack of movement between classes is what prompted Kiley to introduce a second recess period.
Kiley said a St. Martin’s fourth grade classroom can typically hold around 20 desks, but with social distancing guidelines in place due to the pandemic, that same classroom will fit only 12 desks, each six feet apart in every direction.
This new classroom setup is just one of a number of changes that will be implemented in the weeks leading up to Sept. 8.
The school building will have one dedicated up stairwell and one dedicated down stairwell to further promote social distancing. Hand sanitizing stations will be placed throughout the building, as will signs providing hygiene information for students.
There will be training for faculty and staff to ensure proper practices for maintaining the safety of teachers and students alike. The specifics of the training have yet to be finalized by the school’s board, according to Kiley.
St. Martin’s is a pre-K through eighth grade school, and its total enrollment last year was less than 100 students. Kiley said he doesn’t anticipate the altered learning environment will have any impact on the school’s enrollment numbers.
Raffi Karamian, whose daughter will be a first grader at St. Martin’s in September, said he is excited that his daughter will have face-to-face schooling, and is “one hundred percent” comfortable with it.
When asked about measures the school would take if Maryland experienced a sharp increase in coronavirus cases or if any students at the school tested positive, Kiley said the St. Martin’s school board aims to have concrete plans for these circumstances by early August.
“Our teachers have a monumental task ahead of them,” said Kiley. “This is going to be a school year unlike any other.”