Loretto rises to the challenge of distance learning
Posted on October 29, 2020, by Loretto Community
Editor’s Note: Thank you to Buffy Boesen SL and Melissa Casale for information on distance learning at Loretto Academy. Regina Drey SL wrote the St. Mary’s Academy story.
Loretto Academy, El Paso
Grades pre-K through 12
health care and essential workers for their hard work to keep us safe.
Loretto Academy students, faculty and staff members are busier than ever. We are thankful for the resources to continue to educate our students and to continue to nurture a strong sense of community.
We have ensured that all students have access to the technology they need to work from home, and our teachers are creative with interactive assignments. Students have written poems, taken photos and drawn to express their emotions during this uneasy time.
Starting Sept. 8, we initiated a hybrid model, a mix of online and in-person classes.
Photos courtesy of Loretto Academy
St. Mary’s Academy, Denver
Grades pre-K through 12
Distance learning was a creative and challenging time at St. Mary’s Academy with Zoom and technology giving students, whether junior kindergartners or seniors, new ways of learning.
Teachers created engaging lessons, worked with students individually and in small groups, and communicated with parents. Earth Week events, Senior Retreat, Baccalaureate Mass, May Crowning and other traditions happened in new, meaningful ways. Even the beloved closing ceremonies and graduation moved to the parking lot but exuded a spirit of joy.
While home, students were involved in the larger community by making and donating masks, being pen pals with children at their service-learning sites, and creating cards and videos for Motherhouse Infirmary residents.
On Sept. 1 students in all grades returned to campus for full-time five-days-a-week learning with a small number continuing to learn remotely. The gratitude and happiness of being together again, even if at home, was palpable.
Photos courtesy of St. Mary’s Academy
