As many schools stay closed, Catholic schools remain open – and are in high demand

WASHINGTON (SBG) — While many public schools around the country closed through the pandemic, private and Catholic schools have stayed open — and enrollment is up as a result. In the DC area, the Diocese of Arlington is trying to hire 150 teachers to keep up with demand, as prospective students are being waitlisted.

“Everyone agrees that learning takes place best done in person. And that’s simply just thinking in an academic sense,” said Dr. Joseph Vorbach, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Arlington, to The National Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat. “ The social, emotional wellness of children benefits greatly from their ability to be around one another and around adults who are helping them learn. The pursuit of that possibility is what drove us.”

Dr. Vorbach said there were “a lot of unanswered questions” initially about how to return to in-person instruction after COVID-19 lockdowns last spring.

“These plans relied a lot at the local level on the input of key stakeholders, and the key stakeholders are the teachers and the parents,” said Dr. Vorbach. “From the very beginning, the voices of the key folks were involved, and that’s how we got to where we were, with a lot of vigilance and flexibility.”

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PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Starr

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