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Diocese of Scranton Catholic schools prepare for return September 8

Not many districts are going back to school five days a week, but students at catholic schools in our area will be.

LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — In a couple of weeks, students will be walking back through the doors of Catholic schools.

Officials at the Diocese of Scranton say they've worked diligently since March to come up with a plan, even with the constant changes from the CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health.

"The classroom is our most preferred option for learning, but in order to do that, a lot of work has gone into making sure that we are providing a safe environment in the classroom," said Diocese of Scranton Catholic Schools Superintendent Kristen Donohue.

Despite already having smaller class sizes, the classrooms look different.

Holy Cross High School has removed many of the desks to accommodate proper social distancing for the students and the teachers. Students will be wearing masks and remain in the same classroom all day, except for breaks and lunch.

"We feel comfortable and confident that our students will come back with the plans we put in place, that the diocese and schools' offices put in place for us, as well as our team here at the school," said Holy Cross High School Principal Ben Tolerico.

Many school districts in our area have chosen not to go back to in-class learning, and that could be one reason that the diocese has seen an increase in enrollment.

"Some of our schools and some of our classes are at capacity. Some of the schools across the diocese as well have waitlists for students to even be considered to be enrolled in some of our schools," said Donohue.

"Some of our families had to be put on a waiting list because with cohorting these classrooms it would be counterproductive if they became too large. We do have somewhat of a waiting list right now as well," said Tolerico.

The Diocese of Scranton is also prepared to transition to other forms of learning if that's needed.

The first day back for catholic schools is September 8.

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