Loretto Students Return to School

Escuela de Guadalupe

By Vicki Schwartz

On-campus learning began Aug. 26 at Escuela de Guadalupe. When parents were surveyed at the end of the last school year, it was clear that the vast majority wanted their children in school rather than learning via Zoom. Most of the parents cannot afford to miss employment or miss the opportunity to gain employment, nor can they afford childcare. Over the course of the summer Michelle Galuszka, president, and Mariella Robles, principal, designed plans A, B, C and D, as state and local requirements fluctuated, as the rate of infection fluctuated and as Heads of other schools modified their plans.

The 2020-2021 budget also fluctuated. The board had projected that there would be 220 students, but 205 students enrolled. As a result of all the uncertainties, the school had to shelve plans to hire an assistant principal. Salaries were frozen and building improvements were postponed. All available scholarship funds were disbursed. Escuela was awarded $2,500 from Loretto’s Hunger Fund to help families who were uneasy about going to food banks because of their immigration status.

Michelle stayed in close contact with ACIS (Association of Colorado Independent Schools). Escuela began the accreditation process in 2019-2020, but given the situation, the process will be on hold until the pandemic subsides. Michelle also stayed in close contact with St. Mary’s Academy. Bill Barrett, SMA president, serves on Escuela’s board.

All things considered, Escuela is doing as well as, or even better than, expected. All the safety protections are in place and are honored. No one has gotten sick. The ventilation system is working well. Students are happy. However, because students are eating lunch in their classrooms, teachers do not have any down time.

If any experienced Denverites are up to volunteering to preside at lunch or on the playground, contact Michelle or Mariella.

Havern School Opens

By Annie Slothower, Havern Director of Advancement

After five months away from campus, Havern School was thrilled to welcome students and staff back to school for 100 percent in-person learning on Aug. 17. Things have been a little different this year as we each adjust to our “next normal.” However, we could not be more proud of our students as they arrive each morning wearing face masks, willingly cooperate when getting their temperatures checked, increase the frequency of their hand washing and work to maintain a safe distance from one another both in and out of the classroom.

Throughout the summer, the Healthy Havern Advisory Committee, involving key members of Havern’s School Leadership as well as members of the board of trustees and parents, met and closely monitored the recommendations of local, state and federal agencies. Serving children with diagnosed learning disabilities, we at Havern School are fortunate for many reasons that our model and mission mandates small class sizes. The purchase of the Loretto Center in May 2018 has allowed us the ability to use the space within our 90,000 square-foot building and on our 13 acres of grounds to safely spread out without major changes to class schedules and routines. Teachers have been creative in their classrooms with the spacing of the students’ desks and visual spatial reminders throughout the hallways. Our occupational therapists and speech pathologists also have been innovative in how they have adapted their therapies to incorporate proper safety measures.

As part of our community agreement, our families and faculty acknowledge that in our behaviors we are all responsible for one another and want to be together as a school community healthy and ready to learn. Requirements and recommendations remain fluid and will change throughout the school year: Some will relax as the public health landscape allows; others will tighten, should that prove necessary. But as for now, we are so very grateful to have our students back in-person for the start of the 2020-2021 school year.

Loretto Academy Reopens for the 2020-2021 School Year

By Katie Martinez, Loretto Academy Advancement Director

The 2020-2021 school year began on Monday, August 10, 2020. Buffy Boesen, president, along with Jane German, elementary school principal, Homero Silva, middle and high school principal, and Mary Ann Olivas, Middle and high school assistant principal, welcomed students with the traditional Back to School Blessing on the chapel steps. Students and faculty viewed the blessing on Facebook and through Zoom and Google Classroom. Classes promptly began following the blessing.

All Loretto Academy students received online instruction from Aug. 10 through Sept. 4, 2020. Classes were on Google Classroom for the upper grades and Zoom for the lower grades. Faculty members were innovative with their lesson plans and adapted as each new challenge arose. During this time Administration and staff were on campus preparing for in-person learning to resume. Prior to the beginning of school students received books and supplies through welcome parades.

El Paso County had issued guidelines regarding the reopening of schools in July. This included that schools should remain virtual until Sept. 8. After surveying parents throughout the summer, it was clear that parents wanted the option for 100 percent online learning, a hybrid schedule of in-person and online learning, and 100 percent in-person learning. Traditional classroom schedules were changed to best fit our new normal.

Loretto Academy Elementary School is offering 100 percent in-person learning and 100 percent virtual learning. Around 35 percent of students and families have chosen to remain at home and attend classes online. Middle and High School students were offered 100 percent virtual learning and a hybrid option of two days on campus and three days at home. Around 39 percent of middle school students and 42 percent of high school students elected to remain at home and attend classes online.

All teachers had proper PPE, including face masks, face shields, a disinfectant cleaner for the classroom and a clear plastic sneeze guard for their desks. Classroom desks spacing allows for social distancing, and there are walking paths marked in the hallways. Stair wells have one-way traffic. Temperature scanners and hand sanitizing stations are at all building entrances. Every person on campus is also required to fill out a COVID prescreening form each week. The safety of faculty, students and staff is of the upmost importance.

Buffy says, “The 2020-2021 school year is a year of innovation, adaptability, safety and care. This is a school year unlike any other I have seen in my 20 years in El Paso. Loretto Academy’s faculty, staff, students and their families have been extremely patient with all the changes we have experienced and the challenges we face daily. Loretto Academy is truly unstoppable.”

Marian Middle School Starts Year Virtually

By Barbara Roche

On Aug. 19, Marian girls started the 2020-21 school year much as they had ended in June … online. Marian made the decision to begin the year with distance learning in late July because of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the St. Louis area. When we surveyed families during the summer, we found that more than two-thirds of the students either have underlying conditions themselves and/or live with family members who have underlying conditions, so the safety of students, their families and teachers was top of mind. A few things are new this year.

Marian received a generous grant to purchase a Chromebook for each student, plus Internet hotspots (a portable device for Internet connection) for those families that need it. And teachers and students are following a typical school schedule, with each student expected to join each of her classes online each day. Teachers can teach from home or from their classrooms at school — each classroom is now equipped with a web camera to make this easier. The students even have enrichment (co-curricular) activities Monday through Thursday afternoons, including Spanish Club, French Club, cooking, yoga, step dance, sewing and fashion design and intro to theater.

So far, things are going well. I sat in on the 5th grade class one morning and was impressed that each student was paying attention and participating actively. When they first sign on, they’re directed to Google Classroom for a 10-minute warm-up exercise and all were quietly working. The teacher gives the same gentle reminders she would be giving in a classroom “… remember to put your phones away,” “both your hands should be on your computer for this writing exercise.” Then, they moved on to their math lesson and hands were up all around, volunteering answers.

We’re all hoping that we can see each other in person soon. However, the girls have been very positive about the start of school. When asked what they thought, they said

• “School is awesome!”
• “It’s nice to see all of my friends smiling, even through this hard time.”
• “You help students a lot.”
• “I’m glad people are being safe.”
• “I love the teachers!”
• “It’s really, really fun. It’s soooo different from my old school. I love it a lot!”
• “Teachers are really helping very well with things.”

Back to School — Nerinx Hall Style

By Jennifer Staed, Nerinx English Department Chair

Members of the class of 2021 celebrated the first day of school at Nerinx, not once, but twice! We returned to school on Aug. 10 for orientation, but the “real” start to the school year happened on Aug. 17 and Aug. 23. This start is the annual tradition of the senior class gathering on the Nerinx back lot, dressed in a theme (Cheetah Girls this year) to welcome faculty, returning students and especially the new students to the Nerinx Hall community. Because we are following a hybrid learning model with half of the students on campus at a time, the seniors danced and cheered on two different days to give every student a warm Nerinx welcome.

Sydney Smith, a member of the Senior Stuco who met over the summer to plan the event, explains, “Our Cheetah Girls theme shows what our class truly values. And that is sisterhood. The Cheetah Girls represent what it is like to be part of a group of girls that support each other no matter what!” Students wore leopard print sweatshirts and blasted Cheetah Girls songs to sing and dance to as they welcomed everyone. Smith continues, “I think it was a great positive way to start the school year off and show the freshmen the sisterhood they are now a part of!”

Nerinx social studies teacher and Senior Stuco Moderator Kathleen Coursault reflects the sentiments of many: “The excitement and dancing that the seniors showed to everyone, especially freshmen, walking into the unknowns of a new school year, especially during a pandemic, brought a sense of comfort and normalcy to the start of school. Watching the freshman parents dropping off their daughters for their first day of high school was sentimental and also reminded me of the magnitude of these events during the student’s time with us at Nerinx. It was a wonderful way to start the school year, and I’m so proud of our students for putting together this safe welcome!”

St. Mary’s Academy

By Regina Drey, St. Mary’s Academy Director of Loretto Projects

“I am so grateful we can be here! I missed my friends,” was heard over and over again when St. Mary’s Academy (SMA) students, pre-kindergarten through seniors, returned to campus full time, five days a week, on Sept. 1.

Now in our second week, the sentiment remains strong even with wellness protocols and classroom dynamics reworked to ensure safety. We are far from our usual reality of hugs and high fives. Students are masked, distanced, and sitting at small desks rather than in seminar seating or collaborating together at circular tables. Lower and Middle School students work in cohorts to reduce contact. Even so, what we value most about SMA shines forth — community, generosity of spirit, resilience.

Following the success of distance learning last spring, small numbers of students in Lower, Middle and High School are continuing to learn from home. To provide the most authentic SMA experience possible, teachers use SWIVL, a device using robotics and an IPad camera to livestream the class, engaging the students at home almost as fully as those actually in the room.

Summer was a flurry of hard work to get buildings ready for opening. New this year are a needlepoint bipolar ionization system, an app for daily wellness checks, wall-mounted infrared thermometers, hand sanitizer dispensers everywhere, a designated Health Hub area, plexiglass screens in offices and for one-on-one teaching situations and friendly posters with health tips. SMA is doing everything institutionally and individually to honor the privilege of being on campus.

Similar to last spring, we are embracing our Loretto and SMA founders’ pioneering spirit in this uncertain time, and I feel the wise, gentle spirits of Helen Sanders and Mary Ann Coyle strengthening us. “We are together at heart as never before,” wrote Iswari Natarajan, our High School Principal. I truly believe we are.