The order to close schools through at least April 6 - which has now been extended - resulted in an unexpected spring break for many students. For young learners at Saint Leo the Great Catholic School (SLTG), however, classes resumed almost immediately ... online.
Principal Christine McLean reported that all students in grades one through eight were able to begin their studies in their respective homes at 9 a.m. on March 16, the first school day after the order, which was given on March 13. McLean credited Daniel Breen, superintendent of the Diocese of Harrisburg, who sought state approval for Flexible Instructional Days this past October. Additionally, SLTG has a 1-to-1 Chromebook program for students in grades four to eight, and electronic devices were lent to first-, second-, and third-graders on March 13.
Most grades are using the flipped classroom approach to instruction. In other words, students are given assignments through their Google Classroom accounts, and after learning the material on their own, they gather as a class in a Zoom meeting to review questions and misconceptions. Early elementary students have received direct instruction from teachers, who prerecord phonics and math instruction, supplemented with document cameras, and upload links to the recordings to Google Classroom.
"Yes, our first-, second-, and third-graders are using Google Classrooms," McLean said. "We are thankful to our parents who have helped their students log onto their school email accounts. Our amazing elementary teachers also monitor their students' reading progress through Raz-Kids and math drills progress through Rocket Math."
McLean noted that SLTG staff members are seeking more than academic progress during the extended school closure. Teachers are holding weekly class meetings, where social and emotional skills continue to be built. Students' birthdays are being celebrated, show-and-tell presentations are still being offered to classmates, and silly knock-knock jokes are being shared.
"What is most important to our school community is our Catholic identity," McLean said, noting that she and the teachers meet online every Monday and Thursday to pray and plan. The students also log in for religious studies. "Parochial vicar Father Stephen Logue is answering questions about our faith submitted by our students twice a week, and, of course, we are attending our regularly scheduled school Mass every Friday morning via our parish's YouTube channel."
SLTG is located in the Hempfield School District at 2427 Marietta Ave., Lancaster. It serves 350 prekindergarten through eighth-grade students of all faiths from two counties. Saint Leo is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The institution strives to be a place where education, service, and faith combine to provide each student with a foundation of high standards in knowledge and ethics.
For more information, readers may contact McLean at principal@stleoschool.org or 717-394-1742, ext. 3.
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