Aug 11, 2020 3 min read

Like their public school counterparts, the schools overseen by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh are looking toward reopening in a couple of weeks, with a host of precautionary measures designed to keep students and staff healthy even as the coronavirus pandemic lingers.

Two of those schools are in Washington County: John F. Kennedy Catholic School in Washington, and Madonna Catholic Regional School in Monongahela. Both schools serve students in pre-kindergarten programs through the eighth grade. Both schools will be fully reopening to faculty and students on Aug. 27, though a virtual option will be available for students and their families who cannot or are reluctant to attend in-person classes.

“It’s going to be a new normal, I guess,” said Kimberly Stevenson, the principal of John F. Kennedy Catholic School.

Each of the 32 elementary schools and seven high schools within the ambit of the diocese devised a reopening plan, and those plans are posted on each school’s website. Opening plans for schools vary based on enrollment and capacity. Some schools will be adopting a hybrid model, mixing in-person and online education, while the schools in Washington and Monongahela will reopen fully.

Masks or other kinds of face coverings will be required at all schools, and social distancing measures will be implemented. The plan for reopening was hatched after consultations with students, administrators, school boards and teachers.

“We asked for feedback from everyone,” said Michelle Peduto, the director of schools for the diocese.

She also emphasized that the plans are subject to change.

“This is a very fluid situation,” Peduto said.

There are a little more than 200 students enrolled at John F. Kennedy Catholic School, Stevenson said, and “very few” have opted for the online-only option. Nevertheless, the school experience won’t be business as usual, she explained.

“It’s just going to be different – not as much group work, no assemblies, things like that. No large group gatherings.”

The reopening plan for John F. Kennedy Catholic School specifies that, among other things, students should bring their own bottles of water, as drinking fountains will not be available for use, but hand sanitizer will be available in hallways and classrooms.

At Madonna Catholic Regional School, students will largely be staying put in classrooms throughout the day, and that includes lunchtime, when food will be brought to students, according to Kathy Miller, the school’s principal. Students who walk to the school or are dropped off by their parents or guardians will enter the school through one door, and students who are dropped off by buses will enter through another. Students will be subject to temperature checks, and an isolation room will be set up for students with temperatures or displaying symptoms of illness.

Madonna Catholic Regional School has about 100 students enrolled in the 2020-21 school year.

“It’s just going to be different,” Miller said.

A third Catholic school in Washington County, St. Patrick School in Canonsburg, closed in June after years of falling enrollment and a loss of income brought on by the pandemic. All told, about 9,000 students are enrolled in schools operated by the diocese.