This summer, as their public school counterparts have grappled with logistics and safety concerns, Richmond-area private school leaders are preparing to open for the 2020-21 school year. In July, private school leaders shared plans for on-site learning, adhering to the commonwealth of Virginia’s school opening guidelines, and developing their COVID-19 mitigation plans as required by the state.
The firm plans stood in contrast to area public school systems that were still deciding how learning would take place in the coming school year. Chesterfield County Schools held a series of virtual community meetings regarding potential options for reopening schools. Henrico County Public Schools were soliciting input from their families and employees for a survey in early July with hopes to reopen in the fall. Richmond Public Schools were also surveying families and staff to weigh in on a number of opening plans, before deciding to operate virtually for the fall semester.
In contrast, Collegiate, Trinity Episcopal, St. Christopher’s, Richmond Waldorf School, Orchard House and Seven Hills indicated on their websites that they would open for in-person classes with contingency plans in place to respond to the unpredictable pandemic. Benedictine College Preparatory students are starting the new school term a bit later this year. Their September opening is set to accommodate the St. Gertrude girls who are moving to the Catholic all-boys’ school’s Goochland campus. The Cadets will make room for the Gators in the monks’ Benedictine Abbey building.
Four leaders of private institutions spoke about their schools’ swivel to remote learning during the spring and their preparations for the coming year.
Pivoting
Sabot at Stony Point, St. Michael’s Episcopal School, Cristo Rey Richmond High School, St. Catherine’s School and The Steward School changed to distance learning this past March after Gov. Ralph Northam declared schools closed through the end of the year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The length, size and scale of the pandemic caught everyone off guard,” says Tom Bendel, Sabot at Stony Point head of school.
Bendel praised his staff, whom he says rose to the challenges of remote teaching, armed with a unique approach. “We’re more focused on inquiry,” he says. “It’s a simpler, smaller community. We focused a lot on social and emotional development.”
In late January, St. Catherine’s staff discussed the possibility of the coronavirus coming to the United States. The week before spring break, Terrie Hale Scheckelhoff, head of the all-girls pre-K-12 school, called faculty and staff together to encourage them to begin thinking about how they would teach if they needed to use distance learning for a few weeks upon their return from break.
“Over a period of several days, we developed a distance learning program that I initially thought we would only need a couple of weeks,” says Scheckelhoff, commending St. Catherine’s teachers for a quick transition and creative strategies. Scheckelhoff is part of another transition at the school, as Cindy L. Trask, former science department chair at St. Catherine’s, will take over as the head of school on Aug. 1.
Steward School head Dan Frank says the transition to remote learning wasn’t difficult.
“It was hardest on parents who had to help their kids and who had to learn platforms,” says Frank, who surveyed families about their experiences along the way. “We held lessons that mimicked the school day. But we recognized kids can’t be on screens all day. To address the social and emotional needs, we moved into scenarios that backed off screen time, where students could work independently.”
Armed with a laptop, students at St. Michael’s already had access to an online program teachers used for remote instruction.
“But we found families wanted additional time for emotional connections that were missing,” says St. Michael’s Head of School Bob Gregg. “We involved the extended-day staff for more opportunities to hang out.”
“The length, size and scale of the pandemic caught everyone off guard.” —Tom Bendel, Sabot at Stony Point head of school
Ninth grade students at the newly formed Cristo Rey Richmond High School were compelled to learn online and were prepared with Chromebooks provided by the school, which primarily caters to low-income Black and Hispanic students who work one day a week, in a job placement that pays for a portion of their tuition.
“The students were comfortable with that and able to work the devices,” says Gabe Obregon, chief of staff and assistant to the president. “Anybody with a Wi-Fi problem, we were able to provide a mobile hotspot. So there was little difficulty.”
Preparing for 2020-21
St. Catherine’s formed a school opening task force in April to consider possible scenarios and to develop detailed plans in alignment with the governor’s guidance and Centers for Disease Control recommendations to return to campus.
“We intend to open the school in August, with all girls age 3 through grade 12 on campus for in-person teaching and learning five days a week,” Scheckelhoff says. “Our team is dedicated to preparing the campus and educational program to support our students while social distancing. We are planning for anything in order to be ready for everything.”
Steward is also planning to open with classes every day for all students, but with a streaming option for students and faculty. Sabot will also offer an online program.
In July, Obregon said Cristo Rey administrators were working through their plans for the coming school year, which he said would involve some in-person instruction, while listening to guidelines and advice from health officials and the governor.
“There will be half in-person and half virtual learning,” Obregon says. He adds that the staff is listening to questions from parents of current and prospective students about concerns to mitigate the health risks of meeting. “[This coming school year], it’s not an option to go completely online and not an opportunity to select [how they will be instructed], but an opportunity to do both. Students will be able to come in person. There will be a component that is virtual, however, it is not yet finalized.”
With strict guidelines regarding COVID-19 still in place, extracurricular activities and sports at St. Michael’s are forcing decision-makers at the school to consider alternatives to their regular schedule of visiting and hosting groups of athletes from other localities.
Says Gregg, “I’m hopeful we will compete, but it may be intrascholastic.”
Rethinking Space
With guidelines stressing smaller class sizes, private school leaders expressed concerns with accommodating students in schools’ existing spaces.
“Right now, our challenge is fitting 950-plus students in our buildings while following social distancing recommendations and meeting all of the current demand for our school,” says St. Catherine’s Scheckelhoff.
Sabot staff are working to spread students out using their ample outdoor space.
“We have a lot of smallish [indoor] spaces,” Bendel says, “but we also have daily programing in the [adjacent] forest of Larus Park and garden space. We focus on kids’ direct learning and the environment; our students have access to wonderful outdoor places for unstructured play.”
For private schools with a sprawling campus like St. Michael’s, the guidelines to limit the number of people in confined spaces are an impetus to further use areas outside the classroom walls.
“Fortunately, with 70 acres we can find, develop and maintain certain ways to keep our kids engaged outside, not only on the playing fields, but we also have a lake,” Gregg says.
