Bishop Canevin High School plan includes 5-day, in-person learning and a virtual option

Bishop Canevin High School families can chose to either send their students back to school or opt for online learning this coming school year during the covid-19 pandemic.

Principal Michael Joyce said the school will offer in-person instruction five days a week as well as “a synchronous virtual option” for families.

The back-to-school plan was approved by the board of directors and the Superintendent of the Diocese of Pittsburgh at the end of last month.

“I feel very strongly about our plan,” Joyce said via email Wednesday. “We are blessed to have a campus that promotes social distancing. We also have a school mission that encourages and supports our students being a ‘Person for Others’ in this unprecedented situation. That includes wearing a mask, practicing good hygiene and making socially responsible decisions.”

Plans include having all classrooms with hand sanitizers, a sanitation kit and desks set 6 feet apart.

Teachers and students will be required to have face coverings. Students must also wear them on buses and are subject to temperature checks at the school’s main entrance.

Electrostatic sprayers will be used daily in classrooms, hallways and restrooms.

The cafeteria will offer grab-and-go meals and its tables will be sprayed following each lunch period.

Plans also call for Plexiglass to be installed at the office receptionist desk and the cafeteria serving line.

Lockers will be labeled with student names and spaced out by grade.

Parents/guardians are to screen their children for symptoms prior to them leaving for school.

Virtual instruction rules

Students learning online will be provided an attendance link to sign in by 8 a.m.

They must have their camera turned on in order to be considered present and should be prepared to be active participants in class for the duration of the school day, school documents read.

They would have the same nine period schedules as their peers in school.

Families choosing in-person learning and need to stay home would have to contact the attendance office and indicate their child would be virtually attending classes.

English Department Chairwoman Charlotte Smith said it will be great to see students in the classroom again.

“Our safety committee worked hard to create the best possible plan for in-person learning, keeping the protection of our students, faculty and staff paramount in all decisions,” Smith said. “I am excited to return and see everyone as we start the fall semester.”

Projected enrollment for the 2020-21 school year is 210 students in grades 9-12.

Joyce said the plan was communicated to families via grade level virtual Zoom meetings and posted on the school’s website, bishopcanevin.org.

The principal also included a message in the plan documents explaining how some of the decisions were made, and commending staff and families for rising to challenges during the pandemic.

“The size of our campus and classrooms is a major asset that allows us to reopen for in-person instruction,” Joyce wrote. “Our greatest asset, however, is our outstanding faculty and student body whose buy-in is paramount to any effective and sustained reopening of school.

”The necessary inconvenience of face masks, socially distant classrooms, and hallway restrictions is insignificant when weighed against the benefits of in-person instruction and the opportunity to experience our environment together.”