Back to school

Richard A. Sokerka

Catholic schools across the country are welcoming back students for in-person instruction this month that will involve stringent safety protocols while also offering continued options for virtual learning that Catholic schools across the nation so adeptly adopted in March as COVID-19 spread.

While Catholic schools faced a variety of challenges in different parts of the nation in reopening, they are ready to provide a variety of learning options: in-person, remote and a hybrid of the two. At the same time, they are in constant consultation with local health officials and other government officials for updates on how best to maintain school buildings to keep students and staff safe.

“The health and safety of our students and of our educators is paramount, and it needs to be balanced with what is best for our children,” said Mary Pat Donoghue, executive director of the Secretariat of Catholic Education for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Here in the Diocese of Paterson, Mary Baier, superintendent of schools, said, “All of our schools are returning to either all face-to-face or a hybrid model (with a few days on and a few days out). We have always raised our standards high for all our students with a rigorous curriculum. This applies to both in-person instruction and remote instruction. We have received high praise from our families on the expediency with which we entered into a remote environment in March where we did not compromise the teaching and learning of our students.”

As Catholic schools open their doors, it is also a time for special prayers for students, their teachers, staff and their families as the 2020 — 21 school year will be unlike any other experienced in our lifetime.

And who better to pray to for safety and health than St. Joseph Calasanz, whose feast day we celebrated Aug. 25. After all, he is the patron of Catholic schoolchildren and all involved in Catholic education. Not only did he open a free school to serve the uneducated poor, he also aided those suffering from the plague in Rome in the 16th century.

These humble actions in his lifetime make him a powerful intercessor for teachers and students and for protection from viral diseases facing our educational system and world in our present day.

So this school year, let us pray that through the intercession of St. Joseph Calasanz, everyone in our Catholic schools will be kept safe and healthy and that our lives can return to normal, free of the coronavirus.