Mary of Nazareth students, faculty embrace online school

By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
Mary of Nazareth Catholic School educators, students and their parents are adjusting well to remote learning that has come as a result of state-mandated COVID-19 school closures.
Principal Lynda McFarland said students haven’t been in class at the White Oak school since March 13.
“The teachers spent the next week in hours of intensive training for online learning,” she said, adding the school began delivering live instruction on March 23 for all students from preschool to eighth grade.
“We haven’t missed a day since we started,” McFarland said.
Students at Mary of Nazareth, a private elementary/middle school that is part of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, are learning via the internet. McFarland confirmed every child in the school has an internet connection accessible via a home computer, iPad or a one-to-one device issued by the school computer lab. She said all students in grades five through eight have school-issued laptops or Google Chromebooks for daily use.
One-to-one computing refers to academic institutions, such as schools or colleges, that allow each enrolled student to use an electronic device to access the internet, digital course materials and digital textbooks.
Many of the students were familiar with remote learning and assignments prior to school closures ordered by Gov. Tom Wolf in light of the coronavirus.
“We have had one-to-one capability for quite some time,” McFarland said. “Our fifth- through eighth-grade students use their devices on a daily basis for all their classes. Even homework is done on their device, turned in digitally and returned digitally.”
The principal said all students have live instruction delivered every day through the use of the Zoom video platform.

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