Private Schools Not Exempt From COVID Crisis

 While public schools have struggled with how to maintain safety and educational efficiency in the age of coronavirus, private high schools in the Valley region have faced the same questions.

At Crespi Carmelite High School, an all-male Catholic school in Encino, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about challenges, to say the least. 

Still, said President Kenneth Foersch, the school has done what it can to create a sense of normality on the campus. This included setting up tents so that students could attend dances with sister school, the all-female Louisville High School in Woodland Hills. 

“We were able to bring back the social aspect to campus that was missing toward the end of 2020,” Foersch said.

Crespi landed at the No. 11 spot on the Business Journal’s Private High Schools list ranked by students enrolled in the current school year. 

Coming in at No. 28 on the list is La Reina High School, whose President Tony Guevara said was proud of being able to respond to the needs of the students and their families during the pandemic. 

Because of the size of the 11-acre campus and its enrollment, La Reina was able to keep its student body socially distanced and did not have to go to an alternate educational schedule, such as alternating days or having some students on campus mornings and others in the afternoon, Guevara said. 

“We were able to do full-time and more normal days for all the kids and we were happy and privileged to do that,” he added. 

La Reina, which also includes a middle school, found itself in a unique position at the start of the pandemic. In the months leading up to the March 2020 stay-at-home order from Gov. Gavin Newsom, the school had invested in technology.

All of the girls had devices and the teachers were trained in delivering content in a variety of ways, Guevara said. So when it came time to send the students home, the faculty and staff never missed a beat, he said 

“We were completely virtual from the get-go,” Guevara added.

Technology plus

At Crespi, the student body all has Apple devices and has undergone one-on-one instruction for several years, Foersch explained. 

Still, at the start of the pandemic putting together a meeting via software from Zoom Video Communications Inc. caused a lot of headaches. Now, it is second nature, Foersch said, as the faculty has been able to expand and stretch its technological muscles. 

“I think to be able add on that is a big benefit for us,” he added. 

Since the start of the current school year, Crespi has been doing in-person instruction but has the option of using technology to teach students who are in quarantine or otherwise not able to make it to campus.

“We have the ability to be a bit more dynamic than before,” Foersch said. 

Also going the Zoom route is St. Genevieve Parish Schools, which includes a high school in Panorama City, No. 13 on the list.

In a letter posted at the school’s website, Executive Director Amanda Allen wrote that because of the increase in COVID cases from the omicron variant, the school would switch to remote learning from Jan. 5 to Jan. 14. 

Great care was taken in making the decision, Allen said in the letter, and that several other Catholic schools have had to make the same difficult decision.

“I am proud of our school for being one of the few innovative schools that took great care to offer two Zoom learning days in the fall to prepare for a potential surge and switch to remote learning,” Allen wrote. “We are ready!”

On the other hand, La Reina prepared for when in-person classes could resume again in the fall of 2020. 

Although Newson kept schools closed for the opening day, in October Ventura County allow waivers for Pre-K through 6th grades to open back up, Guevara said.

Having already done the paperwork to get a waiver, the school was fast-tracked and was able to open for 6th graders, he said. 

“So the 6th graders returned the very first day they were able to return,” Guevara added. 

About a month later, the same opportunity was extended to the rest of the student body. Because it had already done all the necessary paperwork, La Reina didn’t miss a beat and was able to resume with socially distanced and safe education from the very first opportunity, he continued. 

“Other schools just at that point had begun to file the paperwork and go through the bureaucracy but we had already done that,” Guevara said. “It really played out well for us.”