Private schools return to classrooms
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By Shannon Ballew
and Ryan Kolakowski
sballew@mdjonline.com,
rkolakowski@mdjonline.com
Several private schools in
Cobb County started the
2020-201 school year with students
returning to in-person
instruction, and administrators
and parents said it was a
successful homecoming.
Each private school developed
plans for following
public health guidelines and
keeping students safe during
the pandemic, including measures
to space out students
during class.
The Walker School opened
operating under an “orange
phase,” meaning primary and
lower school students attended
in-person classes five days a
week while middle and upper
school students follow a hybrid
schedule with a combination
of virtual and in-person
instruction.
Ira Dawson, The Walker
School’s head of middle
school, said the Marietta
private school has stressed
what they call the three W’s —
washing your hands, wearing
your face coverings and
watching your distance.
“Throughout the day you can
hear teachers, administrators,
staff, faculty all emphasizing to
students to continuously follow
the three W’s,” Dawson said.
“Because our thing is that we
want to keep school spread as
minimal as possible, and, more
importantly, we want to have
consistent behaviors for the
students.”
Dawson, whose own child
started school in Walker’s early
learners program, said an
important part of the return
to school has been Walker’s
relationship with families.
“I think the families have
really worked with us to create
a unique experience out of this
very rare opportunity,” he said.
St. Joseph Catholic School
in Marietta also reopened for
classes in August. Spokesperson
Ann Frazer said the
school required students and
staff to wear masks on campus,
and children have their
temperature checked for a
fever before exiting their cars.
The Catholic school took
an innovative approach to
keeping students physically
distanced, she said.
“The kids are happy and we
are thrilled to see them and
hear their laughter in the hallways,”
Frazer said. “The only
real challenge in reopening
was reconfiguring our middle
school since the classes are
full, and we wanted to physically
distance the desks. So, we
divided the gym and cafeteria
into classrooms and it is working
out very well.”
At North Cobb Christian
School in Kennesaw, Head of
School Todd Clingman said
staff and students followed the
road map to start the academic
year without an outbreak of
COVID-19.
“I can attribute our successful
start to the year to our
teachers and support staff,”
Clingman said. “We are giving
parents the option of on-campus
or virtual learning, and
our teachers have navigated
providing both options to our
students amazingly well.”
Clingman said his school
wants to meet the needs of
students and families while
keeping them healthy and safe.
Audrey Jane Leftwich, a seventh
grade student at NCCS,
was excited to return to the
classroom. She said she could
tolerate the virus mitigation
strategies if it meant seeing her
teachers and peers in person.
“It’s just been so great to be
back,” she said. “Even with all
the mask rules and everything,
it still just feels like we’re there.
We’re not virtual, and I love
that. ... We’re together.”
Students are socially distanced at North Cobb Christian School in Kennesaw. -
Courtesy of NCCS/Caroline Clark
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