4 Western Pa. Catholic schools shift to remote learning

With omicron variant cases on the rise in Western Pennsylvania, four Catholic elementary schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh will begin or extend remote learning into next week.

The schools include Sacred Heart Elementary in Shadyside; St. Therese School in Munhall; Mary of Nazareth School in White Oak and Butler Catholic School in Butler County. St. Therese was already remote, but extended its at-home learning period to align with the other schools.

All of the schools are scheduled to return to in-person learning on Jan. 18 except for Mary of Nazareth which plans to have students back on Jan. 19. Time away from classrooms was limited because the schools were already scheduled to be closed for Monday’s Martin Luther King holiday and two of the schools had previously scheduled in-service days on Friday or Tuesday when students would be off.

The principals have emailed parents details on procedures for working from home.

“The members of our school communities have shown great patience, creativity and care as we all strive to protect students, staff and their families from the covid virus,” said Michelle Peduto, director of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. “Their health is our priority.”

The schools are also temporarily stopping extracurricular activities.

A science fair scheduled for next week at Butler Catholic will become a virtual event, with videos released on Facebook on January 21.