Richmond magazine - August 2020

Desireé Dabney, a theater teacher at Richmond Public Schools' Thomas C. Boushall Middle School, pivoted to online instruction this spring.

AUGUST

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THE REOPENING DILEMMA

JAY PAUL

As area officials prepare for the coming school year, parents and teachers share their experiences with online schooling and their concerns about what going back to school will mean in the midst of a pandemic

By Rodrigo Arriaza

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BEST & WORST

Though some would call this the “worst” year ever, there’s still plenty to love about Richmond. Readers share the best — and worst — aspects of the coronavirus pandemic, their favorite restaurants, shops, activities and more in this 33rd annual survey.

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LOCAL

NATURE

SLITHERY BUSINESS Debunking the snake myths that infest our region James and Appomattox rivers in the Hopewell area. Others live south and east of that spot.

Venomous snakes kill one or two people per decade in Virginia. Victims were often trying to handle the snake or otherwise engage it. By contrast, lightning kills one person per year on average in Virginia. Cars kill about 800.

Moccasins in the James

As the story goes, a water skier fell into a cottonmouth nest and got bitten to death.

Or, more generally, snake nests threaten local swimmers.

Again, there are no cottonmouths in the city. And there is no such thing as a nest of snakes, says J.D. Kleopfer, Virginia’s state herpetologist, or reptile expert.

Finally, snakes don’t swarm people, Kleopfer says. “In fact, it’s just the opposite. They would rather flee than have a confrontation with a human.”

Water moccasins, properly called northern cottonmouths, are venomous denizens of Southern swamps. They inhabit southeastern Virginia — but not the city of Richmond.

If you are wading at James River Park and a serpent swims by, it is most likely a northern water snake, a harmless creature. Many people mistake them for cottonmouths and kill them.

It’s illegal to kill a snake in Virginia unless it poses an immediate threat to you or livestock. For example, you can kill a copperhead in your garage, but not along a park trail.

The closest cottonmouths to Richmond live near the confluence of the

Those Nasty Nests

Richmond’s Rattlers

Rattlesnakes inhabit the mountains and the far corner of southeastern Virginia.

Those areas don’t include Richmond.

Some people say rattlesnakes washed down to Richmond in floods or hitched rides on cars or coal trains. But when it comes to proof, Richmond’s rattlers are more elusive than Bigfoot.

Snakes Chasing People

Nancy Baker of Richmond was walking in Richmond’s Bryan Park not long ago when a black snake zipped toward her. It went either by or through her legs.

Baker said the snake spooked her a little but passed peacefully. “It didn’t stop to ask if I was Eve or tell me to eat an apple,” she says.

Snakes don’t chase people, experts say.

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But a startled snake will usually head for the nearest hiding spot — sometimes away from you, sometimes right at you.

Mean as a Snake

No snake in Richmond or Virginia is aggressive, experts say. That includes venomous snakes. But most of them will bite to defend themselves when threatened.

“They are literally scared to death” of much bigger humans, says Kory Steele, past president of the Virginia Herpetological Society, a scientific and educational group. “They think they are going to die at any moment.”

Honorable Mentions

Snakes don’t smell like cucumbers. (And what do cucumbers smell like, anyway?)

Black snakes don’t breed with rattlers.

And baby venomous snakes are not more dangerous than adults.

What should you do if you encounter a snake, venomous or otherwise?

“Follow four simple words: Just leave them alone,” Kleopfer says. “Walk away, and they will go their own way as well.”

—Rex Springston

ILLUSTRATIONS BY EM ROBERTS

D

i d yo u h e a r a b o u t the venomous water moccasins that prowl the James River Park System? Or about the dangerous snake nests that dot the Richmond area? Don’t believe it. These are snake tales, experts say, myths born of fear and ignorance. Here is some of the misinformation that infests our region.

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LOCAL

NEWS

HOLDING POLICE ACCOUNTABLE Richmond commits to policy change, but local organizers say more is needed for true reform in policing By Rodrigo Arriaza

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require mental health professionals On June 2, the day press time, though Stoney said after Richmond to respond to mental health crises Police tear-gassed the group’s meetings and recombefore police, and the formation of a crowd of demon- mendations will be made public. strators before Its 24 members include Richa civilian review board to investicurfew, a group marched from City mond Commonwealth’s Attorney gate acts of police misconduct.

Hall to the Robert As Stoney explained, the review Colette McEachin, councilmembers E. Lee statue to protest the act. board would generally be charged Michael Jones and Ellen Robertson, with examining complaints against RPD Sgt. Carol Adams, and Richmond Transparency and Accountability police and making recommendations for disciplinary actions; it would operate indeProject (RTAP) member Keisha Cummings. pendently of the police department. SimThough plans to enact these reforms are just now gaining traction, local orgailar investigatory bodies exist in Fairfax County, Virginia Beach and Charlottesville. nizers say they’ve petitioned lawmakers to Henrico County is also in the early stages support such changes for years. Yohance of gauging community interest in a citiWhitaker, a member of RTAP, says the zen-led police review board. organization has rallied for a civilian-led Stoney also committed to forming police investigatory body since his group’s a Task Force for Reimagining Public formation in 2017, and he stresses that the Safety that will recommend policy city will need to gather community input changes within 45 days of its first meetbefore the review board’s formation. ing. No meeting date had been set as of “The danger with rushing community

JAY PAUL

R

ichmond leaders are taking steps to reform police practices in the wake of sustained Black Lives Matter protests, but as those policy changes take shape, some local organizers say they don’t go far enough.

In late June, Mayor Levar Stoney revealed a slate of reform efforts called the “roadmap for reimagining public safety,” with the goal of addressing entrenched racial inequities by modifying existing police protocols and adding new public safety strategies.

“These issues are complex and have a deeply rooted and dark history,” he said during the plan’s unveiling at an informal meeting of Richmond City Council. “It’s going to take some compassion; it’s going to take a lot of conversation and a great amount of teamwork to create meaningful change in our city moving forward.”

The announcement came days after former Richmond Police Chief William Smith was ousted following weeks of clashes between police and protesters that resulted in officers tear-gassing local elected officials and members of the media, as well as demonstrators gathered at the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue before a state-imposed curfew.

After Smith’s departure, RPD Maj. William Jody Blackwell took over the role on an interim basis for 10 days before resigning.

He was replaced quickly by current Chief Gerald Smith.

Alongside changes to RPD practices that include updating a ban on chokeholds, the Stoney initiative also backs programs that demonstrators have demanded, including implementing a new system called the Marcus Alert, which would

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SPOTLIGHT

MAKING CONNECTIONS Richmond artists look to foster empathy with Mending Walls RVA

By Catherine Brown

W

e need to talk.”

That is the simple but powerful message Richmond muralist Hamilton Glass wants to convey to the community. He has responded to calls for racial justice with Mending Walls RVA, a public art project he hopes will foster empathy, connection and conversation.

On Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, Hamilton and a diverse group of Richmond artists kicked things off by spray-painting stencils of the message “We need to talk” on the plywood of boarded-up storefronts throughout the city.

Mending Walls’ initial spray-painting

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event was a compelling and meaningful introduction to an endeavor focused on creating a new space for dialogue. “We’re all a bit in love with the micro and macro dynamic of that phrase,” says participating artist Alfonso Perez. “It works as a phrase someone might say to a friend or partner, but it functions on a macro level in terms of important conversations around race.”

Perez, who came to Richmond from Colombia and works with Latino youth for whom language is a barrier, sees art as a language that can open up healing and productive dialogue. “When we speak through drawing or murals, everybody is using a foreign language,” Perez says. Art, in other words, can serve as neutral territory for deep conversation.

For the next phase of the project, Glass has partnered with the Community Foundation to fund murals by Mending Walls artists on permanent exterior walls. With support from the Community Foundation and permission from building owners throughout the city, the artists can collaborate to create impactful, thought-provoking murals aligned with the organization’s mission to foster empathy and connection.

Glass has brought together many artists who have never worked together or engaged in conversation with each other; for the most part, they have existed in parallel universes. For each wall, Glass will pair two artists with dissimilar backgrounds. “It’s about conversation and being different from the other person,” he says. “It’s about understanding what that person has experienced and trying to learn something.”

In addition to the collaborative murals, plans call for events where the artists and the community can engage in dialogue about the images and the issues being addressed.

Project artists are optimistic about the collaborations and their potential

COURTESY MENDING WALLS RVA

A&E

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LIVING

At the Ready Virginia Medical Reserve Corps volunteers step up to serve in times of crisis By Tharon Giddens

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Ralph Northam issued a call for more oshua David isn’t on the front lines in the battle against volunteers for the corps to help with the COVID-19, but he’s not on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. sidelines, either.

David signed up as a corps volunteer while working on his undergraduate The Mechanicsville native, who was set to begin medical degree in chemistry at VCU, joining with school in July at Virginia Commona friend. His early reserve experiences wealth University, is helping nurses, included a vaccination drive in which 500 doctors and other health care providers people were helped over a few hours.

When the pandemic hit, he was in as a volunteer with the Virginia Medical Reserve Corps.

Boston working as a technical associate The auxiliary service was formed in in biochemistry research on Parkinson’s the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. disease at the Massachusetts Institute 11, 2001, as a backup to professionals in of Technology; he returned to Mechandealing with emergencies such as natural icsville to live with his family and also returned to the reserve corps disasters or terrorist actions, or to Medical Reserve to help out. “I wanted to be help with everyday concerns such Corps volunteer Joshua David helps involved,” he says. “This is the as vaccination drives, biking surwith COVID-19 conperfect opportunity.” veys or health fairs. In April Gov. tact tracing.

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He’s been working with a COVID-19 hotline and helping with testing drives.

He’s also part of contact-tracing efforts.

Working with the hotline has entailed fielding calls on everything from providing details on testing events to alleviating fears of people who worried they had been exposed to the coronavirus. There are also frustrated souls who just call and yell. “They just want to be heard,” he says.

The corps provides training sessions, but much of the learning comes in the doing, David says. “Every day, I learn something new. We’re all learning something new.”

Statewide, corps volunteer rolls increased from 10,000 in January to 18,060 as of June 2, according to Jennifer Freeland, state volunteer coordinator for the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Emergency Preparedness. “They are definitely out in the community doing great work,” she says. “That is the ultimate reason why our program was created, and it’s really rewarding to see that we are doing kind of what we were built to do.”

In metro Richmond, volunteers in the city doubled to more than 1,000, with volunteer ranks tripling in Henrico to almost 1,000 since late February. About 60% of volunteers are in medical professions, including doctors and nurses.

Barbara Curtis is a registered nurse who has been working with the reserve corps’ Henrico and Chickahominy unit for more than a year. During the pandemic, her duties have included working an information hotline service in Hanover County, helping allay fears, providing guidance and moral support, and drawing on her professional, clinical skills to supply accurate, helpful information.

She joined the reserve corps after she retired. “I’ve always wanted to do volunteer work when the time came, and I just wanted to give back to the community,” she says. “It’s really enriching to me to give that kind of advice to people.” R

JAY PAUL

HEALTH

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into two cohorts to limit class sizes.

Students in grades 1-8 can choose to spend four days in the classroom. All schools will be closed on Wednesdays for deep cleaning.

Reopening strategies take into account the guidelines released by Gov. Northam and Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. James Lane in June, which recommend daily health screenings for students and staff, the use of face coverings wherever possible, spacing out classroom and bus seating by at least 3 feet, and closing or staggering access to communal spaces such as cafeterias.

Before reopening, school districts across the state will be required to submit their plans to the Virginia Department of Education for approval.

To fund in-person or virtual reopening plans, area districts will seek to supplement local funding with federal dollars through the CARES Act, which total nearly $30 million across the five localities.

‘Survival Mode’ While local parents agree that the stopgap remote learning programs implemented by schools this spring weren’t always ideal, they say their children adapted to the shift with varying degrees of success.

Margaret Cooke, a nurse practitioner at Veritas Collaborative, understands schools did their best to implement the programs on short notice, but she says they fell short for her daughter Cassady, a rising second grader at Mary Munford Elementary School.

Cooke has worked from home since the pandemic’s onset and has another daughter in preschool and a newborn.

After trying out Richmond’s suite of educational modules, called RPS@ Home, Cooke quickly realized that ongoing job responsibilities restricted her and her husband, a firefighter in Petersburg, from keeping up, and says Cassady, 7, couldn’t manage the classes on her own. The family eventually gave up on the remote offerings, she says, instead prioritizing Cassady’s mental well-being during the lockdown with trips to swimming camps and YMCA day care.

“We’ve just been in survival mode,” she says. “I’m trying to do my work and parent the kids, but I can’t also be a teacher. It’s just not possible [while also trying to] take care of myself.”

Henrico County mother Karen Whitacre, meanwhile, says her parttime work schedule allowed her to ensure her three HCPS students completed their work, though Joseph, her rising eighth grader with ADHD, had

difficulties adjusting to the time away from his teachers. Although all her children are eager to see their classmates, Whitacre says that so long as asymptomatic COVID-19 transmission remains a threat, virtual learning will remain the safest option for her family.

“I felt like HCPS did a tremendous job in stepping up and transitioning [to remote learning],” she says. “It wasn’t perfect, but I thought they did a great job in adapting to a really ridiculous, extreme and unusual circumstance.”

Other parents, like Wendy Rufrano, were unable to work from home and had to upend their lives to secure child care once schools were shut down. She worked full-time at C&J Auto Sales but cut her hours to just one day per week to stay home with her 7-year-old twins, Cooper and Connor, and their younger brother, Carson, 4.

She’s also faced difficulties in getting weekly speech therapy sessions for Cooper, who was diagnosed with autism in early March. He receives the treatment through his individualized education program (IEP) at RPS’ E.S.H. Greene Elementary School in South Richmond, and although local school districts gave out thousands of laptops to students who needed them, Rufrano says she was unable to secure a computer because the distribution

EMOTIONAL IMPACTS OF SCHOOL CLOSURES PARENTS OFTEN POINT

to emotional distresses that their children suffered while away from classmates and teachers as one of the primary reasons to reopen classrooms this fall.

Dr. Bela Sood, a senior professor for child and mental health policy at Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU, says that traditionally,

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schools provide a valuable opportunity for children to leave their homes and learn how to develop social skills with their peers. Not everyone adapts well to social situations, however, and when school closures were announced, she expected them to benefit introverted children and teens. But as the months have gone on, she’s seen

that everyone is growing anxious as important social milestones such as proms and traditional graduation ceremonies go by the wayside.

“We see a definite world order emerging where kids just don't know what to do and how to do it,” Sood says, adding that while children and teens have continued to interact through social

media, the lack of physical interaction has been among the biggest challenges for young people throughout the pandemic.

As the lockdown stretches on and schools prepare to reopen, she says families with children should attempt to schedule safe, physically distanced opportunities for social interaction and growth. —RA

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“THIS IS A TIME WHEN WE NEED THE POLITICIANS TO LISTEN TO THE

EXPERTS: THE HEALTH EXPERTS AND THE EXPERTS WITH REGARD TO CHILDREN.” Jim Livingston, President, Virginia Education Assocation

seeing the numbers decrease to the point where it’s safe for students and teachers to go back into school buildings,” says Emma Clark, a VEU organizer and Chesterfield English teacher.

Similarly, Henrico County parent Annette Bates says a return to the fiveday school week would be premature.

Her family decided to stick with remote learning regardless of the school board’s decision due to lingering uncertainty around safety measures and the anxieties her children are likely to experience in a densely packed school setting.

“My biggest concern about going back [to school] full time is just having the distance between the kids,” says Bates, who teaches preschool in Powhatan. “There’s just too many unknowns, and I’m in support of keeping our kids in a safe and consistent environment, and I just feel like virtual learning will provide that for them.”

Despite concerns raised by educators, however, some parent groups have pushed for school districts to return to a full five days of in-person instruction per week, citing lower academic performance and stunted social development during the virtual instruction period.

“As long as they remind kids to wash their hands and cover their noses when they sneeze, those basic hygiene things, I feel like I'm pretty comfortable with my kids going back to school and even pretty comfortable with them being on

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a school bus,” says Chesterfield County parent Elizabeth Frankenfield. “For me, I'm more concerned about their mental health and their ability to get back into a schedule that better supports them.”

Educators’ Concerns Parents like Frankenfield aren’t alone; state Republican legislators also have pushed for reopening models that target a return to the traditional school week, and in early July, President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal aid from school districts that opt against in-person instruction this fall.

However, Virginia Education Assocation President Jim Livingston says educators and health officials should lead the way, not politicians.

"The people that we’re hearing from out of Washington, they are not scientists, they are not health care providers; they are politicians,” he says. “This is a time when we need the politicians to listen to the experts: the health experts and the experts with regard to children.

Parents clearly know what's best for their child, but when we're talking about groups of people and so forth, it is educators who are trained to work directly with them.”

In June, the statewide teachers’ union compiled a report on reopening concerns based on input from school employees gathered at sessions held throughout the state, which include worries around job security and child

care support for educators, implementing safety standards that protect high-risk students and staff members, and ensuring equitable access to online content.

“From the onset, we have always insisted that health and safety are the primary concerns, and they need to be the primary concerns moving forward,” he says. “We can always make up academic ground over time, but we're not always able to return someone's health to them.”

Despite the preventive measures laid out by the state, concerns around disease spread in school buildings raise questions for educators who are at a higher risk of contracting the virus or who live with others who are immunocompromised.

Dana Johnson, a civics teacher at Tomahawk Creek Middle School in Chesterfield, has struggled between a desire to get back into the classroom and anxiety around contracting COVID-19 because she’s over 50 years old and has an autoimmune disease and asthma.

“I hope that we will be back at school in the fall. We know that the kids need to come back, and we want the kids to come back, but there's a bit of fear for those of us who are at higher risk of complications,” she says. “I never in my life thought I'd be scared to go to work, but it could happen.”

Because of the uncertainty that teachers like Johnson face, Livingston urges that school decisions need to promote health and safety standards in classrooms proactively rather than being forced to be reactive if a second wave of infections is triggered.

“We're hopeful that the localities and the federal government really take the position that health and safety of everyone has to be the first concern,” he says. “We can't go back to business as usual when we're talking about the health and safety of our students and our staff people ... and expect everything to be OK, because it won’t be.” R

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Veritas School opened in 2000 in Crestwood Presbyterian Church on Jahnke Road and now has approximately 600 students at its North Side campus.

‘We hope that [the facilities] will be enjoyed by not only Veritas, but the neighborhood as well.’

– K E I T H N I X , V E R I TA S H E A D O F S C H O O L

19-acre plot owned by the seminary that they “would be delighted to have,” as well as Paisley Hall and two other adjacent properties.

The school’s future plans include tennis courts and athletic fields to accommodate their extensive track and field program. The master plan, developed in collaboration with architecture firm Glave & Holmes, would require relocating the four-building Laburnum House, a move that has raised eyebrows among neighbors at the Ginter Place Condominiums,

which sit in the middle of the properties in question.

In summer 2019, the school invited its neighbors, including residents of the nearby condominiums, to a presentation about the changes. Phil Nichols, the liaison between the condos and Veritas, says that the school and administrators have been “very good neighbors,” while acknowledging that he had not seen the final version of the master plan. While some other condo owners say that the relationship between the school and residents has been generally good, some

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PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Pandemic Challenges

The impact of COVID-19 created new considerations for Veritas. The school, which Nix describes as not being “super techheavy,” had to pivot to a distance-learning Head of School Keith Nix with students of Veritas School

The school’s master plan for the expanded campus includes playing fields, a performing arts center, a gymnasium, additional classrooms and a student life building.

model and complete the academic year virtually. Nix says the transition in the spring “was as good as could be expected.

We chose not to follow a model where students were in front of screens all day, every day. Instead, we tried to strike a balance so we could be more helpful for families who didn’t have multiple computers ready at home.”

While the school plans to resume in-person classes in late August, Nix says they’re working to “make sure that any students or families who don’t feel safe coming back to school can participate virtually.” These efforts include expanding bandwidth for streaming, increasing teacher training on virtual platforms and

addressing the needs of families without computers for students.

Looking to the Future

In the wake of George Floyd’s killing and the racial justice movement that it sparked, Nix explains that the school is taking a look at “how to be good at having a conversation about race in our society and community, as a classical school, and [making] sure that we are having that dialogue and helping students and parents to have that dialogue,” in light of the current climate. With a student population that is 82% white, there is some work to be done, and the school has enlisted assistance.

Arrabon, an organization led by consultant David Bailey, bills itself as “a ministry that equips churches in effective cross-cultural engagement in their specific contexts,” plans to work with faculty, staff, students and families to increase the Veritas community’s awareness of racial issues. Nix adds that a committee tasked with increasing diversity among faculty and students was also formed recently. He notes that the school has made improvements in that regard but wasn’t able to provide exact numbers.

Nix says he feels good about how Veritas is adjusting to changing times and suggests that the school’s fiscal conservatism has prepared it for any uncertainty that may lie ahead.

“We’ve tightened our belt significantly,” he says, “so that we can address new changes as they come along.”

FROM TOP: COURTESY GLAVE & HOLMES ARCHITECTURE; COURTESY VERITAS SCHOOL

misgivings remain. Some concerns stem from fears that the school could continue to grow as the seminary contracts. Asked about neighbors’ concerns surrounding the school’s growth, Nix says, “we hope that [the facilities] will be enjoyed by not only Veritas, but the neighborhood as well.”

Some Ginter Park and Bellevue residents have also expressed a fear of the neighborhood’s character changing.

According to Nix, several families with students at the school moved from the suburbs into the neighborhood. Some Ginter Park residents who asked not to be identified say they were approached

by Realtors representing Veritas families even though their houses were not on the market nor had they explored selling previously. Nix acknowledges that there are families who want to move closer to the school, but he emphasized that he would “want to know if [residents] were offended,” and that there was no school policy regarding contacting neighborhood residents about selling their homes.

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SAME SCHOOLS,

NEW

RULES: Learning during the

pandemic

BY DINA WEINSTEIN RICHMONDMAG.COM

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PRIVATE SCHOOLS

This summer,

as their public school counterparts have grappled with logistics and safety concerns, Richmond-area private school leaders are preparing to open for the 2020-21 school year. In July, private school leaders shared plans for on-site learning, adhering to the Commonwealth of Virginia’s school opening guidelines, and developing their COVID-19 mitigation plans as required by the state.

The firm plans stood in contrast to area public school systems that were still deciding how learning would take place in the coming school year. Chesterfield County Schools held a series of virtual community meetings regarding potential options for reopening schools. Henrico County Public Schools were soliciting input from their families and employees for a survey in early July with hopes to reopen in the fall. Richmond Public Schools were also surveying families and staff to weigh in on a number of opening plans, before deciding to operate virtually for the fall semester.

In contrast, Collegiate, Trinity Episcopal, St. Christopher’s, Richmond Waldorf School, Orchard House and Seven Hills indicated on their websites that they would open for in-person classes with contingency plans in place to respond to the unpredictable pandemic. Benedictine College Preparatory students are starting the new school term a bit later this year.

Their September opening is set to accommodate the St. Gertrude girls who are moving to the Catholic all-boys’ school’s Goochland campus. The Cadets will make room for the Gators in the monks’ Benedictine Abbey building.

Four leaders of private institutions spoke about their schools’ swivel to remote learning during the spring and their preparations for the coming year.

PIVOTING Sabot at Stony Point, St. Michael’s Episcopal School, Cristo Rey Richmond High School, St. Catherine’s School and The Steward School changed to distance learning this past March after Gov. Ralph Northam declared schools closed through

the end of the year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The length, size and scale of the pandemic caught everyone off guard,” says Tom Bendel, Sabot at Stony Point head of school.

Bendel praised his staff, whom he says rose to the challenges of remote teaching, armed with a unique approach. “We’re more focused on inquiry,” he says. “It’s a simpler, smaller community. We focused a lot on social and emotional development.”

In late January, St. Catherine’s staff discussed the possibility of the coronavirus coming to the United States. The week before spring break, Terrie Hale Scheckelhoff, head of the all-girls pre-K-12 school, called faculty and staff together to encourage them to begin thinking about how they would teach if they needed to use distance learning for a few weeks upon their return from break.

“Over a period of several days, we developed a distance learning program that I initially thought we would only need a couple of weeks,” says Scheckelhoff, commending St. Catherine’s teach-

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ers for a quick transition and creative strategies. Scheckelhoff is part of another transition at the school, as Cindy L. Trask, former science department chair at St. Catherine’s, will take over as the head of school on Aug. 1.

Steward School head Dan Frank says the transition to remote learning wasn’t difficult.

“It was hardest on parents who had to help their kids and who had to learn platforms,” says Frank, who surveyed families about their experiences along the way. “We held lessons that mimicked the school day. But we recognized kids can’t be on screens all day. To address the social and emotional needs, we moved into scenarios that backed off screen time, where students could work independently.”

Armed with a laptop, students at St. Michael’s already had access to an online program teachers used for remote instruction.

“But we found families wanted addi-

tional time for emotional connections that were missing,” says St. Michael’s Head of School Bob Gregg. “We involved the extended-day staff for more opportunities to hang out.”

Ninth grade students at the newly formed Cristo Rey Richmond High School were compelled to learn online and were prepared with Chromebooks provided by the school, which primarily caters to low-income Black and Hispanic students who work one day a week, in a job placement that pays for a portion of their tuition.

“The students were comfortable with that and able to work the devices,” says Gabe Obregon, chief of staff and assistant to the president. “Anybody with a Wi-Fi problem, we were able to provide a mobile hotspot. So there was little difficulty.”

PREPARING FOR 2020-21 St. Catherine’s formed a school opening task force in April to consider possible

scenarios and to develop detailed plans in alignment with the governor’s guidance and Centers for Disease Control recommendations to return to campus.

“We intend to open the school in August, with all girls age 3 through grade 12 on campus for in-person teaching and learning five days a week,” Scheckelhoff says. “Our team is dedicated to preparing the campus and educational program to support our students while social distancing. We are planning for anything in order to be ready for everything.”

Steward is also planning to open with classes every day for all students, but with a streaming option for students and faculty. Sabot will also offer an online program.

In July, Obregon said Cristo Rey administrators were working through their plans for the coming school year, which he said would involve some in-person instruction, while listening to guidelines and advice from health officials and the governor.

“THE LENGTH, SIZE AND SCALE OF THE PANDEMIC CAUGHT EVERYONE OFF GUARD.” -Tom Bendel, Sabot at Stony Point head of school RICHMONDMAG.COM

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