High Marks for Safety, Education as School Year Begins

As students and families in communities throughout Connecticut approach the start of the school year with trepidation, the determined efforts of Mercy High School in Middletown, a parochial girls school attended by students from 49 towns across the state, is gaining appreciative notice.

Mercy High, with more than 350 students, begins classes on Wednesday, September 2, and has spent much of the summer carefully developing a detailed, multi-faceted plan to maintain their reputation for high caliber education while assuring the safety of students, faculty and staff. That plan is now being implementing.

Students and their families have been provided with a detailed 15-page guide explaining new requirements for the school year. The plan provides students and teachers with flexibility to attend class in-person or learn/teach remotely in this continuing time of caution due to the pandemic, and assures the continuity of coursework and emphasizes a safe in-school environment.

Students will arrive on campus to find one-way hallways and stairways, live streaming classes, hands-free water bottle filling stations, ventilation and exhaust in every classroom and bathroom, plexiglass in the main office and other high traffic areas, face masks worn at all times, and hand sanitizer throughout the school.

Those coming into the high school building will be asked each morning to verify their wellness through a web form that is to be completed at home. The forms will be received immediately by school administrators. Staff members will conduct temperature checks for anyone who has not submitted a temperate check through the online program, before they can walk through the school building.

Activities to start the 2020–2021 school year are underway this week. Professional days for faculty begin on August 26. Student orientations begin August 28 for transfer students, on August 31 for Freshwomen and Juniors, and on September 1 for Seniors and Sophomores. The first full day of classes is September 2. All faculty and staff have been given training in COVID-19 procedures (i.e. proper mask wearing/cleaning/storing, how to disinfect, and understanding symptoms) during faculty meetings prior to student orientation.

“We take the safety of our students, and everyone on campus, very seriously. For us, education and safety go hand-in-hand,” explained Mercy High School President Alissa DeJonge. “Working collaboratively, we have cautiously and thoughtfully implemented changes to our building and our classes that will foster learning, and do so safely. The tremendous input we’ve received from students, faculty and staff has been very helpful, and we’re pleased with the initial response across our school community. We will stay vigilant, should the situation change in Connecticut which would necessitate additional revisions to our health and safety procedures.”

The school has constructed an innovative, flexible set of school day options for the new school year. They include in-person with virtual accommodations (Level 1), a hybrid (Level 2) or a fully online option (Level 3), if public health circumstances make it necessary. In addition, the daily class schedule includes a 40-minute activity period at the end of each day, so that students can meet with teachers, for tutoring, and for students to pursue their interests in the many clubs - on subjects from robotics to business to journalism - where “our community can build upon the personal connections that we care about so much,” DeJonge added.

According to the policy, Mercy officials plan to monitor the number of COVID-19 cases in Connecticut by town, and if there is a spike in a particular town, the school may request that the students who reside in that town remain home for learning.

Also among the many safety-driven changes this September:

• the school will follow a block schedule, with fewer classes having longer class period lengths to reduce the number of students traveling through the hallways;
• students’ desks face in one direction and are spaced to be socially distant;
• socially distanced assemblies will be held, with a lower capacity of students in the auditorium and additional students watching the event through live streaming in their classrooms or remotely.

In addition, disinfectant wipes and non-latex gloves will be provided throughout the school for student use. Each person – students, faculty and staff – has been encouraged to bring their own personal hand sanitizer to use throughout the day, and there will be sanitizing stations throughout the school building.

All rooms will be cleaned, desks disinfected, all touch points and restrooms cleaned and disinfected, every evening. Student lockers are not being assigned; instead, students will carry backpacks, which can include hand sanitizer or wipes.

In response to student surveys, steps were taken to strengthen remote learning, and significant investments were made to upgrade technology.

Mercy High School is an AP Capstone Diploma, Catholic diocesan college preparatory high school for young women, where each student is encouraged to recognize the abilities and strengths that will enable her to achieve her potential. Students are inspired to respect the dignity of others and to provide leadership and service that foster community, understanding and compassion in local and global environments. Students attend from across Connecticut, from communities in Hartford, Middlesex, New Haven, and New London counties.