NORTH VERNON — Thus far, St. Mary’s School in Jennings County has earned high marks in the fight against COVID-19.
The school, which has 222 students in grades K-8, hasn’t needed to move all students to eLearning once since the start of the school year.
Following the scheduled winter break, in-person classes resumed at St. Mary’s this week.
“So far, It has gone very, very well,” St. Mary’s Principal Lisa Vogel said. “We have had fewer absences due to illness this year than last year.”
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Vogel explained that while there haven’t been any serious cases of COVID-19 among students or staff members, there have been absences due to contact tracing.
“We have been fortunate that no student has become ill while attending classes. One student did test positive for COVID during the Thanksgiving break, but other students were not exposed,” Vogel said.
Students in quarantine have still been able to stay engaged with their classmates. Classrooms have integrated in-person and online learning for those needing to stay home as a precaution.
“Recently, we did have a student quarantined who was involved with other students in a group project. We just moved a computer into the group,” Vogel said. “The quarantined student appeared on the computer screen and continued their participation in the project.”
According to Vogel, she and other members of the school staff are careful to follow the Indiana State Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control’s COVID-19 guidelines. The school also stays in contact with the Jennings County Health Department, Vogel said.
“There are many reasons why it is better for students to be in school and our staff is very devoted to keeping our doors open,” she said. “Our janitor works extra hard to keep everything sanitary and the staff also works hard to help with that.”
Vogel attributed the wearing of masks by students and staff with the success in keeping St. Mary’s school open for in-school learning. All students wear masks throughout the entire school-day.
“We have a pre-school program here and even the 3- and 4-year-olds wear their masks all day long,” Vogel said. “It is remarkable to see how the students have adapted to the situation.”
While she knows it will continue to be a challenge, Vogel is hopeful the second half of the year will mirror the first.
“If anyone would have told me we would be conducting school like this, I would not have believed them. But it is working,” Vogel said. “I can’t say the kids are always thrilled about just being in school, but I do think they are now more appreciative of being able to be in school. And, I know our staff, it is a source of pride that we have been able to keep our doors open.”
