With the pandemic still raging and no vaccines in sight, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia had faith in a plan that put students back in the classroom.
Area Catholic schools reopened in the September for the start of the academic year, and today many have waiting lists of families seeking to enroll.
For the first time in decades, educators will celebrate National Catholic Schools Week at a time of rising admissions and with students now in classrooms that previously sat dormant. The unused space at many schools long in decline now allows for the social distancing recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Our phones were ringing off the hook and they’re still ringing off the hook,” said Stephen D. DiCicco, principal of Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic School in Tullytown.
“Many parents want to have their kids in a school building,” DiCicco said. “They didn’t feel virtual would work for them. We have a building that is huge and held 1,000 kids at one time. So, we can space out."
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The addition of three dozen students might not seem like a big deal, but St. Michael's had just 187 students in the 2019-20 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. An enrollment of 219 students represents 17% increase in admissions in a single year.
In a massive hall beneath the St. Michael the Archangel Church, cafeteria tables are now positioned with chairs six feet apart. Floor stickers remind students to social distance and some windows remain open — even in the cold of January — to improve airflow.
DiCicco, a principal for 22 years, served with the team that designed the school reopening plan for the archdiocese. The team laid out an overall plan, but principals have to design plans that work for their buildings and student populations.
For example, some high schools operate with a hybrid plan that puts students in the classroom two or three days per week. Other days, they attend classes virtually.
At Archbishop Wood in Warminster, all students and staff complete a daily health survey prior to arriving at the building.
The school's operating plan requires students to wipe down their desks with hand sanitizer between classes and use an antibacterial cleaner after meals in the cafeteria. Students are monitored by temperature check and sent home with a body temperate that exceeds 100.3 degrees.
“It has been our goal to provide our students with as many in-person learning experiences as possible,” said Sister Maureen L. McDermott, superintendent of secondary schools for the archdiocese.
“COVID safety precautions within the school day have kept teachers and students safe from any wide-spread outbreaks,” McDermott said. “Our greatest challenge, is social gatherings outside of school hosted by families who may not require masks or social distancing. In one or two cases, a well-intentioned family hosted a sleepover of students, causing a number of students to catch the virus and an entire athletic team to quarantine.”
The archdiocese did not respond to questions about overall enrollment across the system, though documents on the church’s website show parish schools in Bucks County losing students between 2014 and 2018.
Enrollment dropped 12%, from 3,814 to 3,340 students, across central and upper Bucks County.
At parish schools located in Lower Bucks and northeast Philadelphia, enrollment dropped 14%, from 7,573 to 6,518 across four years.
In the 1960s, Catholic schools fostered an education for more than 5.2 million American children and teens, according to the National Catholic Educational Association.
Enrollment started to drop in the 1970s, and by 1990, just 2.5 million kids were getting a Catholic education, according to the NCEA figures.
In 2020, Catholic school enrollment stood at just 1.7 million students, and 98 schools nationwide were either consolidated or closed, according to the NCEA.
While enrollment may be up in some schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, others will close in 2021.
John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School, located in Philadelphia's Fairmount section, Bishop McDevitt High School in Cheltenham, and St. Gabriel Catholic School in South Philadelphia are all scheduled to close in June.
In Jenkintown, Saint Basil Academy is also slated to close this summer. It operates independent of the church through the Ukrainian Catholic Sisters of Saint Basil the Great.
Back at St. Michael's, DiCicco leads a morning prayer for those affected by the coronavirus.
“The stress of this is tremendous,” he said. “The teachers are heroes. They are in the building every day in their masks and following the guidance. The courage there to come in and trust in the plan for these kids is just incredible.”
Contact reporter James McGinnis at [email protected]
What is Catholic Schools Week?
National Catholic Schools Week began in 1974 as a way of celebrating, promoting and thanking those in the private system of Catholic education. Running Jan. 31 to February 6, the week will feature religious celebrations, in-school activities, virtual events, and outreach campaigns in support of religious education.
Bucks is home to more than a dozen parish schools, two Archdiocesan high schools and some Catholic institutions that operate independent of the Archdiocese.
The list includes Archbishop Wood, Conwell-Egan, Holy Ghost Preparatory, Holy Family Regional, Holy Trinity, Nativity of Our Lord, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Our Lady of Grace, St. Andrew, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Ephrem, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Isidore, St. Mark, St. Joseph/St. Robert, St. Jude, St. Michael the Archangel, St Katharine Drexel Regional, and Villa Joseph Marie High School.