CHARLOTTE — Thousands of Catholic school students have been taking classes and completing assignments online since mid-March, when the Diocese of Charlotte’s 19 schools switched to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In-school classes were suspended and extracurricular activities were canceled when Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order March 14 closing public schools across the state.
Online instruction continued until April 8, when schools closed as originally scheduled for the Easter holiday and spring break. After classes resume April 20, school leaders expect to continue online learning but will “monitor the evolving situation and consider the opportunity to resume normal classroom operations if public health restrictions are lifted or relaxed,” Interim Superintendent Debbie Mixer said.
The near-overnight conversion from in-school to virtual learning has gone well, school leaders say.
“We are a work in progress, but are very happy to report that teaching and learning have continued at Charlotte Catholic,” said Charlotte Catholic High School’s principal, Kurt Telford. “Our environment is very collaborative to begin with, and now even more so as we receive valuable feedback from faculty, staff, parents and our students. One parent recently commented that her students ‘haven’t missed a beat.’”
“Departments are working together to solve any issues that arise, collaborating as we go along to best serve our students so that they can continue to learn,” Telford added.
Schools have used online discussion boards, closed YouTube live classes, Google Meets, and their websites and social media to keep everyone connected.
Sacred Heart School in Salisbury has been sharing its morning assembly online via Facebook for staff, students and families. Each weekday assembly broadcast from the school gymnasium has included a Scripture reading, prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, song and announcements.
Father John Eckert, pastor of Sacred Heart Church, launched the school’s first remote morning assembly March 30.
“I am so glad to be with you all. I wish I could see you in person. A virtual ‘high five’ to you all,” Father Eckert said. He then reminded the students of the virtue they were last learning about at school: docility.
“Remember, ‘docility’ means you are willing to be taught, that you are willing to learn. We are in a new circumstance. We all have to be docile and continue to learn in new circumstances,” he told them.
Father Eckert also encouraged students to practice their favorite virtue of the year, magnanimity, saying: “It means ‘big soul, ready to do great things.’ Today when you are learning at home, be ready to practice some ‘magnanimity.’ Do some great things for your parents, your brothers, your sisters. Have a great day at home!”
On April 5, Sacred Heart parent Tanya Restar shared on the school’s Facebook page that her daughter, in participating in her first-grade online Zoom class, had “incorporated her lesson on learning time with ‘only 5 more minutes’! Thank you, she loves this time to see her friends and the best teachers!”
“Our students, teachers and families are doing a phenomenal job of adjusting to the remote learning platform and are finding new and creative ways to facilitate daily learning. This is a challenging time for us all, but our faith will sustain us!” Mixer said.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
SALISBURY — The entire Sacred Heart School community recently participated in a STREAM spring project to build a playhouse for the younger elementary students’ playground.
Students were divided into design and creative teams and, through the project, learned real-life math, science and engineering applications.
— Photo via Facebook
