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September 10, 2020Social emotional learning has come to the forefront of education in recent years with the realization that children’s social and emotional health drive academic successes in even the youngest of learners. When the work began this summer to make decisions about how best to reopen school, the faculty and staff at Holy Family knew that providing a safe environment started with a specific, intentional focus on supporting emotional health. Math and science are important. Reading is foundational. Hope that God will guide you through an uncertain and scary time in history is crucial.
When a survey was sent out to staff asking for volunteers to serve on the Joy Committee, over half the staff signed up. Our first virtual meeting was filled with excitement, joyful ideas, and for the first time in months- hope. The meeting opened in prayer with a heartfelt request that God lead our hearts to find ways to lift our students and their families. Teachers are wonderful, creative creatures, and if you ask them to let their imaginations run free to create joyful experiences for children, they do not disappoint.
Like most schools, Holy Family planned to reopen the school year in phases with about forty percent of the students returning to campus and about sixty percent remaining at home to learn virtually. There are many challenges to phasing in students back to campus, and one of the most important challenges is making sure the school community still feels connected. In years past, our Orientation Night had been a time when families came together, crowded into the school gym, listened to plans for the new year, and met their teachers. There was usually a snow cone truck involved and lots of tables where parents could volunteer for committees or purchase spirit wear for the popular non-uniform days to come. But, most importantly, it was a time for school families and friends to catch up and feel connected within a community of their shared faith. The Joy Committee’s first task was to reimagine Orientation in a way that still allowed students, parents, and teachers to feel connected as they started a new year. Live-streaming Orientation from the gym to families’ homes was the easy part. The Joy Committee took on the tough part of connecting with families. They rallied all of the teachers and staff to create short clips about themselves by choosing questions to answer. The clips were put together in groups of four and five that ran on Holy Family’s Facebook page the week of Orientation. The short clips showed teachers playing instruments, introducing pets, and even revealing superpowers (prayer, of course!).
The last two days before school reopened, grade level teaching partners staked out different parts of our twenty-acre campus and set up tents and tables so families could drive by and pick up laptops, textbooks, school supplies or just come by to say hello. Teachers tucked small notes, prayer cards, and surprises into the packets that went home. They created cardboard picture frames so they could take children’s “First Day of School” pictures from the backseat of their car to send to parents. They played music and danced in the parking lot with smiles that could be seen even under face masks. They dedicated those two days to their new students because that’s what Catholic school teachers do- we serve God’s children knowing that our lives are touched just as much as theirs. And, when you serve others you allow the joy of Christ to be seen in everyone you meet. What a great school year this is going to be!
