Chicago Private Schools Pivot in Response to the Pandemic

Education is still a major point of stress and contention in our nation’s ongoing battle with coronavirus. With plans constantly at the behest of the pandemic, we reached out to Chicago-area private schools to learn how they plan to handle the new school year.

The Cove School

 

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How has your school pivoted in response to Covid-19?

“In response to Covid-19, Cove has provided services for students with special needs. It was important that we provided the live instruction and clinical services our students need through a remote platform. Every day, our students and staff met live over Zoom. Classes were recorded for students to access on their own time if they were unavailable to attend the live Zoom meeting and assignments were made available through Google Classroom.”

How does your school plan to conduct teaching in the fall? Are there any contingency plans for the spring?

For the fall, we plan to provide both in-person and synchronous remote instruction to our students attending from home. To handle both in-person and online instruction, all of our classrooms have been equipped with Padcasters to broadcast the live classroom instruction and interactive displays to bring students attending from home into the classroom group. In addition, to reduce exposure of our students and staff attending in-person, we have implemented a ‘pod’ model of smaller student and staff teams, installed a school-wide bipolar ionization air filtration system, equipped our bathrooms with antimicrobial countertops, increased cleaning and disinfecting procedures, and implemented protocols for symptom checks and screening.”

What will your school be offering to make its curriculum/educational experience unique?

“Our program in the fall will focus on supporting the social/emotional and academic needs of our students. We will continue to offer a daily two-hour literacy block and one-hour math block across all units, elementary through high school. Additionally, we will be focusing on trauma-informed instruction to integrate social/emotional support directly into our curriculum, recognizing the profound impact COVID has had on our students and families.”

Is there anything else you would like current/potential families to know?

“The health and safety of our students, families, and staff remain our top priority. Whether looking at Cove’s investment in new technology to provide high-quality remote instruction or focusing on our facility upgrades that promote health and safety for in-person learning, Cove is prepared to provide the best education to those with special needs under any circumstances. For more information, please contact Mark Ditthardt at mditthardt@coveschool.org.”

Our Lady of Perpetual Help School

 

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How has your school pivoted in response to Covid-19?

On Friday, March 13, we went from in-person learning to remote learning which began the following Monday, March 16. We had remote learning through the end of the 2019-2020 school year. For the 2020-2021 school year, the Archdiocese of Chicago has stated that all their schools, of which OLPH School is one, will open for in-person learning. We plan to have a staggered start, calling it our Warrior Warm Up for K-8 beginning on August 24. All students (and staff) will have a wellness check before they enter the buildings. Everyone must wear a mask. Social Distancing will be followed. Students will be grouped in cohorts and stay together. Teachers will come to them instead of students traveling to other subjects. Preschool will begin and be included in our staggered start on Sept. 1. We will be providing Before & After Care in a larger area to accommodate for social distancing. More details on OLPH School’s Reopening Plans can be found on the Covid-19 page on our website.”

 How does your school plan to conduct teaching in the fall? Are there any contingency plans for the spring?

“Our contingency plan is to go to Remote Learning, which we are able to do easily and are planning for in case of exposure in a cohort or closing of school. We do not plan to provide Remote and in-person learning side by side. It is too much to ask of our teachers to create two concurrent curriculums.”

What will your school be offering to make its curriculum/educational experience unique?

“We are doing in-person learning when most schools are doing remote or a hybrid. We are prepared for remote learning if a cohort has to quarantine or school has to close. The bigger factor that makes us stand out is our faith community and the strength we have together to support one another spiritually, academically and emotionally.”

Is there anything else you would like current/potential families to know?

“There is a reason we won the NS Choice awards as Best Private K-8 School and Best Preschool. Our preschool also just won ‘Best Preschool’ in Better’s Best of Education 2020!”

Sacred Heart Schools

How has your school pivoted in response to Covid-19?

In the spring we moved incredibly quickly — in a matter of days — to bring our emergency remote learning program to fruition. Over the course of the next few months, our teachers worked tirelessly to provide a meaningful and manageable remote learning experience that nurtured strong, positive connections between students and teachers and emphasized the most essential learning targets in each grade level or subject area. This summer, we have focused on technology, teaching, and learning so that we can support the continued academic and personal growth of our students, regardless of the venue in which learning takes place.”

How does your school plan to conduct teaching in the fall? Are there any contingency plans for the spring?

Of course, the emotional and physical health and well-being of all members of our community is always a top priority. Our school’s Opening of School Task Force members partnered with experts in various fields to establish new health and safety practices to mitigate the transmission of Covid-19. Our Academic Team has reimagined how in-person teaching and learning can flourish and how remote learning can be more robust, should that be necessary. Our current plan is to return to campus for in-person teaching and learning for PK-5, and a hybrid program for our middle schoolers. Families will have an option for Remote Access Learning, should they choose. If we need to pivot to completely remote learning, we are prepared to do so smoothly so we can nurture students’ growth both cognitively and socially, as well as prioritize the emotional and physical health and well-being of all members of our community, including students, parents, and teachers.”

What will your school be offering to make its curriculum/educational experience unique?

“Sacred Heart provides a challenging, modern and remarkable curriculum within a nurturing environment that inspires students to find their own voice and grow in self-confidence. Students enjoy a rigorous, well-rounded educational experience—one that nourishes mind and heart. Our students develop intelligent and compassionate world views and are motivated to leave an indelible, positive mark on the world. Students at Sacred Heart develop an awareness that the world is bigger than their own needs. Our deep belief in the pursuit of respect, generosity, empathy, justice and hope guides our community and shapes our culture. We offer many and varied opportunities to serve, which enables students to engage the community and the world with a sense of gratitude and a desire to learn from others’ experiences. Our purposeful blend of single-gender and co-educational learning experiences encourages engagement, dispels gender stereotypes, and builds our students’ confidence.”

Is there anything else you would like current/potential families to know?

“Our ‘Back to the Heart’ webpage contains additional information that families might find helpful.”

Wolcott College Prep

Walcott School
Photo courtesy of Wolcott College Prep

How has your school pivoted in response to Covid-19?

We are in a unique situation in that we always use technology to help our students learn. Our students are provided a MacBook Air laptop computer and are taught how to use technology to their advantage. Our students are actively engaged in their learning and participate in classroom discussion whether it’s in-person or remote.”

How does your school plan to conduct teaching in the fall? Are there any contingency plans for the spring?

“The majority of our students have opted to attend school each day of the week or in a hybrid manner choosing which day to learn in-person. We also have a community of learners who have opted to learn remotely full time. We have invested in technology so that students learning remotely are still able to participate fully in synchronous LIVE learning.”

What will your school be offering to make its curriculum/educational experience unique?

“At the conclusion of each day of school, Wolcott College Prep will host Community Enrichment for our students. Participation in a variety of extracurricular activities including student clubs and sports is offered. Academic Coaching is available to all students at the end of the day. Students receive homework support and help with organization and planning.”

Is there anything else you would like current/potential families to know?

“Wolcott College Prep is an exemplary college preparatory high school for students with learning differences, tailored to the strengths and aspirations of each student. Employing best practices, our expert faculty is committed to helping each student achieve academically, communicate effectively, and grow socially as well as develop the self-awareness, confidence, and resilience to thrive in college and beyond. Wolcott College Prep serves students from the surrounding Chicagoland area. Our students attend from the northern, southern and western suburbs as well as throughout the city of Chicago. 100% of our graduates are admitted into college. Generous tuition assistance is available.”

Chicago City Day School

 

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How has your school pivoted in response to Covid-19?

The Chicago City Day School community has demonstrated great ingenuity and resilience throughout this experience with Covid-19. Last spring, teachers created a rich online learning program for students that kept our unique academic program moving forward, even with our campus closed. This summer, the school’s leadership team, with assistance from a group of parents, worked tirelessly on a reopening plan that will restore in-person learning while taking every possible precaution to ensure safety for students and staff. We look forward to seeing our students again in September, even though this year will be unlike any other in the school’s history.”

How does your school plan to conduct teaching in the fall? Are there any contingency plans for the spring?

“As mentioned earlier, we plan to be open for in-person learning this fall. City Day is fortunate to have a campus that features numerous indoor and outdoor learning spaces. We will be able to safely distance students and control flow inside our main building to minimize contact between classes. As we prepare for reopening, we also continue to monitor state and federal health guidelines regarding Covid-19. If conditions require us to go back to remote learning, we have a robust online program ready to go.”

What will your school be offering to make its curriculum/educational experience unique?

“The implementation of remote learning last spring reminded us just how unique the educational experience already is here at City Day. Our program has long been built on differentiation — preparing students to achieve academically at a level that is commensurate with their abilities through small-group learning. We’ve seen that approach engage and inspire students in the classroom, and in the spring we saw it work just as well when applied to an online model. We’re confident that our approach will be particularly effective this fall, when a strong relationship between teacher and student, one built on respect and trust, will be paramount.”

Is there anything else you would like current/potential families to know?

“Chicago City Day School challenges students with a rigorous academic program, and it does so within a culture of kindness. Our curriculum, which combines engaging classroom work with real-world experiential learning, encourages students to stretch themselves and take risks. Our students compose poems, build rockets, cast a critical eye to the past, and design solutions for the future. They run an on-campus business, and they research wildlife habitats in the waters of the Bahamas. City Day prepares students to be active, confident, and knowledgeable citizens of the world.”

Baker Demonstration School

 

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How has your school pivoted in response to Covid-19?

“Our mission is our strong guide—to champion an exemplary progressive education — and every small and large change has been guided by this mission and the health and safety guidelines from the CDC and IDPH.”

How does your school plan to conduct teaching in the fall? Are there any contingency plans for the spring?

“We have created plans that best support the health and safety of our community during an unprecedented time. We have planned a gradual opening of school this fall with many options for our families. Many of our early childhood learners are on campus and some are joining at home via e-learning. Our first through eighth grade have begun in e-learning, and each grade is coming to campus once a week to connect with their classmates and teachers.”

What will your school be offering to make its curriculum/educational experience unique?

“One of the unique aspects of Baker is the way that the teachers are in partnership with students—and the beginning of the year provides so many opportunities for this — even in these circumstances. One unique program is our @Baker program, which invites each class to campus for a safe and fun outdoor gathering. Our early childhood — preschool and kindergarten — have set up beautiful, Reggio-inspired classroom spaces outdoors. Our learning kits for students learning from home are filled with practical supports as well as fun reminders of their school community.”

Is there anything else you would like current/potential families to know?

“The pandemic and its effects on children and the racial reckonings of this summer remind us that both are intertwined. As we think about our youngest citizens, educators have much work to do to ensure that schools are spaces for healthy dialogue about race and identity and sites of equitable practice. Our youngest learners require our deep commitment to systemic change.”


You can find our full Private School Guide here.


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