Saint Paul Begins Inaugural Year Under Hybrid Learning Model

Over the past 10 months, our world has experienced a pandemic unlike anything that has ever occurred since the Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1918. According to the City of Worcester’s COVID-19 Update published on November 25, there have been 9,115 reported cases in Worcester and 304 deaths of Worcester Residents alone. In recent weeks, there has been a large increase in the number of positive tests. At one point, the City of Worcester was in the “red zone” (meaning >8 cases per 100k residents) but it is currently in the “yellow zone.” While our school resides in Worcester, the Saint Paul community contains students and staff from multiple surrounding towns and even other counties. While Worcester has become part of the yellow zone, many surrounding cities and towns remain in the red. All of these numbers are recorded before the Thanksgiving holiday and with the Holiday season coming to its start in late November, the numbers are sure to see an increase.

While the pandemic goes on in the world around us, Saint Paul has been adjusting to ensure that the students, staff, and administration all stay safe. The summer before the 2020-2021 school year began, a notice came out to Saint Paul families detailing the plans for reopening the school in the Fall.

It was announced that students would follow a hybrid model in two cohorts with the alpha students attending school in person on Mondays and Tuesdays and the bravo students attending school in person on Thursdays and Fridays. On Wednesdays, the students would have synchronous learning through zoom from 7:30am-2:30pm and on the days when one cohort was in school, the other cohort would complete assignments asynchronously through the student LMS.

While all of these changes were going on to ensure safety within Saint Paul itself, the Saint Paul community was being established. In December of 2019, it was announced that St. Peter-Marian and Holy Name would be merging to create one Jr/Sr Catholic High School in Worcester, Massachusetts. With new teachers and more classmates, the school was sure to look different in the fall. When the merger was announced, no one could have predicted that the world would be how it currently is, yet here we are. Following the discovery of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, Saint Paul students, teachers, administration, and families faced additional roadblocks in addition to the merger. Students would be learning under a new model. Teachers would have to adjust to a new learning model. Furthermore, the student body would have to be split in half-- into two separate cohorts-- to abide by. COVID-19 protocols.

As the first quarter came to a close, many students found themselves reviewing their performance with the new learning style and trying to make changes to improve their grades for the next quarter. The teachers have been very helpful, helping students to adjust to the new learning styles and giving students advice on how to “stay with it” through hybrid learning. This advice has been very helpful to the students and the teachers deserve recognition for all of the hard work they have put in to ensure that their students receive the education that they deserve.

The city of Worcester has once again been placed in the red zone after the Christmas holiday. To date: 14,534 residents of Worcester have tested positive, an increase of 772 positive tests since Christmas Eve. Due to the rising Covid cases and the effect that the holidays may have on the

number of positive tests within the school community, Saint Paul has gone fully remote until January 25th with the hope of brining the positive case numbers down. The week before students left for the fully remote period saw multiple staff members and students out of school due to precautionary quarantines.

In a letter to families sent on January 8th, Mr. Clark (Head of School) stated, "With a marked rise in COVID-19 positivity statewide, it is with caution that we must proceed. To that end, and in consultation with WDPH, the Catholic Schools Office has decided to extend virtual learning at Saint Paul for two additional weeks. It is our intention to return to in-person learning and school athletics on January 25, 2021."