COVID-19 has been no match for Franklin County's private schools

While most of the nearly 1,500 private-school students in Franklin County have spent all but a few days in their classrooms in the 2020-21 school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, almost half of the more than 22,000 public-school students either just returned to school this week or are still in full-time distance learning. 

The rest of them learned exclusively online for a month or more. 

Students have been on campus all year at Corpus Christi Catholic School, while Shalom Christian Academy, Cumberland Valley Christian School and St. Andrew Catholic School closed for a few days, according to school officials or information on school websites. At Montessori Academy of Chambersburg, toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners have been coming to their classrooms all year, although grades one through eight returned over the past month after several weeks of distance learning. 

Most of the county's public school districts started out the year with at least part-time in-person learning, but transitioned to full-time distance learning immediately or soon after Thanksgiving break and returned by mid-January. 

Students in two other districts, however, remained at home well into February. Shippensburg brought back students on Feb. 22. Chambersburg, which has about 9,000 students and is two times larger than the next-biggest district, could bring students back on March 1, pending a school board vote on Feb. 23.

Fewer students are easier to manage

"In-person learning is much easier to manage in a school of 500 students as compared to larger districts which manage several thousand students," said Angie Petersheim, the administrator at Shalom Christian Academy in Chambersburg. "We are fortunate."

With class sizes ranging from single digits to no more than 20, private schools had the room to implement social-distancing guidelines. Corpus Christi was even able to spread out its students to classrooms unused due to enrollment being half of what it was at the peak, according to Principal Loretta Witkowski. 

Unlike traditional classrooms, students at Montessori direct their own learning with hands-on activities and social interaction. That may fly in the face of COVID-19 precautions, but the classes only have nine to 14 students and they largely stay within their own cohort. 

"Each classroom functions as its own bubble," said Heather Edmond, the school's director of education. 

More:COVID-19 cases, deaths & hospitalizations are back around pre-spike levels in Franklin County

Edmond said COVID-19 has reinforced a key component of the "Montessori method": empowering students to be independent and take care of their environments. Students know to use hand sanitizer between every activity, and they use sanitizing wipes to clean their work areas every day. 

She said she's been impressed at how students, even the youngest ones, have adapted to the precautionary efforts put in place to keep the coronavirus out. For example, even though many parents shared concerns about their children having to wear masks all the time at school, there have been few issues. 

"Students have just been absolutely spectacular at learning those new routines and helping each other to remember those routines," Edmond said. 

Witkowski attributed Corpus Christi's success in keeping the virus out to its strict prescreening program for staff and students. She sends out a reminder to employees every day, and families are required to fill out a symptom checklist and send it to school as their child’s “entry ticket.”

“We have not sent any students home for COVID-related illnesses,” Witkowski said.

Shalom moved to distance learning for five days in November after five people at the school tested positive for the coronavirus, Petersheim said. Overall, the school had 30 cases, but no confirmed transmission in the building. 

"I believe that a significant reason is that the transmission between children is less frequent than among adults. We have been fortunate to have low exposures, and to be able to continue in-person," Shalom's Petersheim said. 

It is of note that these private schools do not use the hybrid instructional model that has been heavily used by local public schools. By splitting the student body into two groups that attend school in-person and online on alternating days of the week, the hybrid model allows cramped schools to practice social distancing.

More:Chambersburg schools are staying closed for now. Will students go back this year?

Different oversight

Private or public, schools have generally implemented the same cleaning and other measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Plexiglass between desks, lunches in classrooms instead of the cafeteria, face coverings and extra cleaning and sanitizing have become largely universal following guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Department of Health. 

Every district and private school has a health and safety plan explaining the procedures they will follow to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but only public schools have to submit them to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. (Private schools may have to follow a framework from another oversight organization; for example, Corpus Christi followed a guide from the Diocese of Harrisburg.)

As such, private schools also didn't have to take a special step to continue in-person instruction in January while Franklin County remained in the "substantial" transmission category.  

Private schools also don't have taxpayer-elected school boards. They do have boards of directors or advisory boards, but they don't always have the same authority that public school boards have over their districts. At Shalom, for example, the parent association has the highest rank in the organization, followed by the board. 

Private-school administrators worked with their boards to develop their health and reopening plans and to make other important decisions. Edmond said two members on Montessori's board who are professionals in a local health care system were integral in the development of the school's COVID-19 plan. 

More:COVID vaccine distribution in Franklin County: What you need to know

COVID-19 drives up enrollment

Facebook groups for families in the Chambersburg Area School District were full of posts and comments last summer from parents saying they were moving their children to private school so that they could attend school in-person.  

It led to an increase in enrollment at the local private schools. 

Corpus Christi's enrollment this school year is the highest it's been in years, and even more students are enrolled for 2021-22, Witkowski said. 

In recent years, the enrollment has fluctuated between 130 and 150. This year, 196 students are enrolled. There are 210 students signed up for next year, and more are on a waitlist. 

"We had constant calls from March on," and many new enrollees came aboard in August and September, Witkowski said. 

All but five of the new students came from Chambersburg school district, she added. The others had been in Shippensburg and Greencastle schools.

At Shalom, 22 more students are enrolled now compared to last year. Petersheim said she believes the increase is due to the school offering in-person instruction. 

Montessori saw its enrollment drop by 36% by the end of last school year; Edmond chalked it up to families seeking out fully virtual options and homeschooling as uncertainty around the new coronavirus grew, as well as some families being under increased pressure to pay the tuition as the pandemic affected their employment. 

But the nonprofit school's enrollment went back up, and then some. Since July 2020, the student body has grown by 38%, Edmond said. That number includes new students who will start on March 1 and those in a new toddler classroom that just opened this month. Montessori received a number of enrollment inquiries once the COVID-19 holiday surge subsided, she said. 

"I have been very, very, busy with tours and enrollment throughout the year," Edmond said. "A lot of the families coming for tours, they're looking for in-person education for their children and looking for a way to do it safely." 

Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.