HIGHLIGHTS & HAPPENINGS
St . Ursula Villa teachers and staff rose to the extraordinary circumstances of educating students in a pandemic : enforcing safety guidelines ; ensuring mask-wearing , temperaturechecks , and socialdistancing ; modifying classroom procedures ; and helping children adjust to all their new routines .
Villa teachers delivered personal hands-on instruction while following mask and distancing safety guidelines .
Prospective parents viewed St . Ursula Villa ’ s in-person instruction as a highly attractive alternative to the virtual learning approach at many local public schools . Admissions procedures were modified to limited Open House attendance , after school tours and student interviews , Zoom sessions , and website virtual tours . Ultimately , prospective parents learned about St . Ursula Villa through a customized , personalized admissions experience .
Thanks to Main School renovations in St . Ursula Villa ' s 2015 Foundation for Lifetime capital campaign , classrooms could accommodate 16-18 desks , appropriately spaced and six feet from the teacher ’ s “ instructional area .” As interest in the Villa grew and new families decided to switch from their current schools , desks were added within the sixfoot parameters . Twenty-eight students joined St . Ursula Villa in the first five months of the school year , as one parent described , “ I watched my child lose interest in learning through a screen and fall behind academically . We came to St . Ursula Villa to get back to a regular education setting where children learn in a classroom with their friends .” The vast majority of students joining mid-year have re-enrolled for the 2021-22 school year , affirming their positive experience at the Villa .
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