Our school is not a building! It is a community. We are the school– our students, teachers, faculty, staff, volunteers, parents, grandparents, community collaborators, alumni– the list is long. When the Governor issued his Stay Home, Stay Healthy order, we closed our school building. On Friday, March 13, 2020, students went home and not-so-distant learning started immediately on Monday, March 16, 2020. The lessons we all learned during that time prepared us to start our 2020-2021 academic year with remote learning as mandated by the Pierce County Health Department and transition to a hybrid model when it was safe to do so.
My son’s teachers have done an incredible job. The Seesaw platform is awesome!
Our classrooms changed but what happened in the classroom did not. The distance did not keep our teachers from teaching our students in PreK – 8th Grade. Our students were learning and thriving. Our students still prayed the Examen every Monday morning. Math, English Language Arts, Science, and Spanish classes all happened and so did PE, art, band, and music. Through distance learning, students developed valuable skills for today’s world of Zoom meetings and working remotely.
I was so impressed watching my little grandsons scanning QR codes, uploading work, and recording messages at 6 and 7 years old.
Our events and activities looked a little different, but we still celebrated Grandparents in April, crowned Mary in May, thanked our teachers during national Teacher Appreciation Week, presented end-of-school-year awards to students, celebrated the 8th-grade class of 2020 with graduation, albeit a little different and closed our the academic year with an all-school Mass on the last day– joining together in prayed via livestream rather than in person. When we could not celebrate in our traditional ways, we found new ways to celebrate. While we could not physically be together, we were certainly together in spirit– in Google classroom and on Zoom. Check out our Facebook page and our Youtube Channel for a glimpse into the excitement that happened since the school building closed in March. You will quickly see that our staff and teachers with our students and their families collaborate successfully to keep our students learning in-person, remotely, or in a hybrid model.
No distance is too great for Saint Patrick Catholic School. If you are interested in learning more click here, fill out a quick information request form. We’ll prepare a packet especially for you and connect with you on the phone, via Zoom, an in-person tour after school hours or some other way that works for your family.
I have never been prouder of our Saint Pats School community than I am now watching how gracefully our teachers and administrators have handled the Covid-19 school closures…. Saint Pats swiftly and efficiently rolled-out distanced learning throughout the whole school. While the kids are missing some face to face interaction with their peers, they are receiving daily videos from their principal, teachers and specialist with assignments and activities to keep them proficient.
253-272-2297 x4134
