LYNN — Sports and extracurricular activities will take place, the dining commons will be open, and students will learn and worship together at St. Mary’s High School this fall.
Following closure during the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Mary’s will reopen for in-person learning for the coming school year. The Catholic school’s reopening plan, dubbed “Care for All,” will ensure the “entire community may return to campus,” said Dr. John Dolan, head of school.
“We do few things better than when we worship with one another, and we do few things better than when we learn from each other in a community,” Dolan said. “This is an important time and these are important decisions for all of us.”
Dolan said the school has focused on three goals to make reopening a success. They are creating a “Spartan Community” — a sense of community in which students will worship and learn together; providing “Excellence in Teaching and Learning,” and, perhaps most importantly, he said, making sure St. Mary’s is “Safe and Secure” for its nearly 1,000 students, faculty, and staff.
David Angeramo, associate head of school, said “one of the most important things” about St. Mary’s is its community “pride,” which can only truly be sustained through in-person learning and activities.
“We will be together on campus this fall. All students will be back on campus,” Angeramo said.
Angeramo said the “details of classroom opening will be forthcoming” this summer, as more guidelines from local, state, and federal officials become available. The school’s updated dining commons will be open, Angeramo said, and in-person worship will be done in “small group masses,”
Sports and extracurricular activities “are on,” Angeramo said, and they will “continue to be a vibrant part” of St. Mary’s.
Angeramo said the school’s longtime priority of providing “excellence” in teaching and learning will continue this fall, and staff will have upgraded technology, including new laptops and interactive whiteboards in every classroom. Also, the school’s 30,000-square-feet STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) building will open this fall.
“We will continue to be a one-to-one digital school,” Angeramo said. “At St. Mary’s one-to-one digital learning has been a foundation of the academic experience for the last seven years.”
While many of the health and safety details are yet to be fleshed out, St. Mary’s will have a new student health center and nurses’ office this school year, as well as additional staff, enhanced cleaning systems, and staff training to keep people at St. Mary’s safe.
“Our faculty and staff will be trained in any new safety protocol and procedures, again, to make sure all people are safe,” Angeramo said.
Angeramo also said staff will wear “personal protective equipment,” as the school reopens, and such equipment will also be made available for students.
Dolan said all of St. Mary’s plans are, of course, “conditional,” and the community should look for updates at www.stmaryslynn.com.
“We want you here. We want you here on our campus and we’re going to do everything we can to make that possible,” Dolan said. “I want you and your family to know we are doing everything we can to have St. Mary’s here for you next fall.”
David McLellan can be reached at [email protected].
