Back to school for St. Vincent High students

St. Vincent de Paul High School plans to open for in-classroom learning on Aug. 12|

St. Vincent de Paul High School plans to open classrooms on Aug. 12.

According to St. Vincent High School Principal Patrick Daly, the school will offer an online option for parents who are concerned about having their children attend on-campus classes.

School staff will be on campus Aug. 10 to prepare for the reopening of the campus and student registration. Classroom instruction begins Aug. 12 with class size limited to 12 to 15 students.

“We are going to follow all protocols,” Daly said. That includes staggering school opening and release times, so not all students are on the campus at the same time, sanitizing classrooms after each class and wearing masks.

A statement from the school board of regents on the school website read, in part,: “The St. Vincent de Paul High School administration recognizes that quality education, an engaging high school experience and a return to some sense of normalcy are essential to the academic progress, social development and emotional well-being of students. St. Vincent is ready to meet this challenge following the direction of the California Department of Education’s guidebook to reopen schools released June 15.”

“We are confident that with our student enrollment (around 200) and the safety precautions we have in place we can safely reopen the campus,” Daly said.

The principal said he felt “absolutely” that the school was doing the right thing even in light of the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the country and the county.

He stressed the importance of classroom teaching as opposed to online education. “Online education is very content based,” he said. “Classroom education is more personal and skill based. “Students need the interaction with the teachers and their classmates.”

Daly said most of the school’s faculty and staff are as anxious to return to the classroom. “For the most part they (school staff) want to come back ,” he said.

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