SPIRIT Saint Columbkille Alumni News 25 Arlington Street Brighton, MA 02135 www.stcps.org/alumni
Saint Columbkille Perseveres through covid-19 pandemic Saint Columbkille Partnership School closed its doors to students on Thursday, March 12 as a precaution in the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers, staff and the administration immediately sprang into action to assemble a remote learning plan for all students, some as young as three years old all the way up to grade 8. Laptops were distributed to those in need of access to technology, at-home learning packets were sent home to parents for printing, and a pop-up food pantry provided much-needed groceries to local families. Within three days, students were participating in Zoom video calls with their teachers and classmates, completing Google Classroom assignments and watching daily prayers sent by members of the school administration. The entire school community rallied to ensure that students continued learning and connecting with their classmates and teachers. Saint Columbkille continues to be the strong and connected community the alumni remember. Placing a strong value on developing the whole child, teachers have continued this important work from their homes. They offer office hours, provide small group video instruction, and give timely feedback on assignments, lessons and student inquiries. In addition to typical subjects, such as Math, English, Social Studies and
Photo: Teacher Margaret Betts hosts a baseball-themed video call with grade 2 students and Head of School Dr. Gartside
Science, students continue to receive instruction in exploratory subjects as well. Ongoing lessons from expert teachers provide guidance in Spanish, Physical Education, Art and Music to keep students’ education well-rounded and consistent with what they learned while they were in the school building. Though nothing can replace in-person connection and the importance of true classroom learning, Saint Cols students and their families are certainly persevering through this current challenge.
10th Annual BC Race to Educate goes Virtual
Saint Cols hosted the 10th annual BC Race to Educate as a virtual race on Saturday, May 2, 2020. More than 860 participants registered and the event raised more than $102,000 for the school’s financial aid program. See the opening ceremony and race results at www.bcracetoeducate.com. Donate today at stcps.org/donate