Enrollment for Newtown’s private schools for the 2020-21 academic year is open, and the process is slightly different at each school this year due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Representatives from Fraser Woods Montessori School, Housatonic Valley Waldorf School, and St Rose of Lima School each spoke recently about what their schools are doing for enrollment this year, given current social distancing protocols and other safety precautions.

Fraser Woods Montessori School

Fraser Woods Montessori School Head of School Chris Robertson shared that his school moved its binding decision deadline for enrollment later by one month to allow families more time to understand what school will look like in the fall.

The typical deadline for enrolling a child at Fraser Woods is June 1, but the deadline was moved to June 30 this year. Parents can still enroll children after June 30 if spots are available.

At Fraser Woods, he added, the school is still working to “tweak” its social distance learning plan, “which was already highly effective for the upper grades.” The school has five subcommittees working for a reopening task force, according to Robertson. One aspect the task force is researching is how to design learning spaces to meet health guidelines. Teachers, parents, board members, and administrators are working on the effort.

While Robertson said he is “pretty optimistic” the school building will reopen in September, it will depend on future state guidelines. He noted that the school’s toddler and primary school programs will be able to remain open even if there is another closure for school buildings due to COVID-19.

“We are pleased we now have the ability to stay open by meeting the health guidelines of the state,” Robertson said of the toddler and primary school option to remain open.

When Fraser Woods closed its building in March, like other area schools, it developed a distance learning plan for its littlest students along with its older students. Robertson said as much as the school’s educators worked on distance learning for the younger students, it is not possible to recreate the “wonder and joy and intentional way of helping children develop a love of learning” that happens in a Montessori classroom for younger children with distance learning.

Parents of elementary school aged children and older students, Robertson said, have reacted positively to the school’s distance learning procedures.

While the school is still waiting for state guidelines, it is already working on its plans for the fall. Robertson said classroom spaces are being looked at to follow social distance guidelines and to provide safe spaces for children to congregate in a healthy and safe way.

For admissions and enrollment, Robertson said the school community tried to think about the types of experiences families would have in classroom settings. Parents, he said, fall in love with the interactions they see in Fraser Woods Montessori School classrooms, like the joy of learning they see and the respect exhibited by students. After tours, parents typically, “can’t believe how peaceful and how much they see the children enjoy learning here. It can be tough to transfer that type of experience to a virtual setting,” he reflected.

Housatonic Valley Waldorf School

A recent release from Housatonic Valley Waldorf School shared that the school will “continue to provide a rich Waldorf education to our pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students in 2020-21 and beyond, whether on campus or off.

“While we are closely monitoring emerging information, we are working toward a comprehensive operational plan to guide us through the 2020-21 academic year,” the release reads. “In our planning we are not only incorporating new standards of care for health and safety for our students and employees but looking innovatively at the Waldorf pedagogy. We expect periods of distance learning next year, and our teachers are learning from our experiences this spring and preparing to not merely replace one mode of curriculum delivery with another, but to integrate the best of in-person and distance modes of teaching to create dynamic lessons that address whatever situation we find ourselves in, come fall.”

Returning to the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School campus will require operational changes, but the release notes the school’s multi-year teacher and student relationships, small class sizes, project-based learning, and learning without testing are qualities that make the school a special learning community that will support the new circumstances.

“We understand it may be difficult to commit to an independent school for the fall with so many unanswered questions,” the release continues. “Knowing school will look different next year is the one of the things we can count on. But perhaps the more important thing we can count on is the heart, creativity, and commitment of our teachers.

“We know one thing will never change: parents want their children in a warm and nurturing environment where their child is truly known,” the release reads. “We believe the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School remains the best educational decision for your child in this uncertain time.”

The school has been conducting virtual tours, overseen by Enrollment Director Therese Lederer. The latest virtual tour was scheduled for June 19.

Housatonic Valley Waldorf school has a “rolling admissions” process and it tries to juggle the needs of all of its parents, according to Lederer.

More virtual tours are expected to be conducted this summer.

Planning will be happening all summer on how to best support the health and safety of students and employees, according to Lederer.

St Rose Of Lima School

St Rose of Lima School Director of Mission Advancement Laura Moulder said the school has created a dedicated section on its website about virtual tours, stroseschool.com/virtual-tour. Virtual open house events were held in April and May for prospective parents, and current parents also “attended.”

St Rose Admissions Director Karen Coppola has been conducting online one-on-one visits for prospective families.

The school, Moulder said recently, is working to engage prospective families.

During some virtual meetings with new families, Moulder explained, an overview of what is happening will be shared along with teachers sharing information about themselves and the school. Parents are also able to ask questions. At first Moulder said the school administration did not know if using technology to conduct the enrollment events would be awkward, but once underway it felt natural and people felt comfortable to ask questions they would normally have asked over e-mail. Coppola also said the virtual events have been going well, with parents having good responses to the events and announcements for registration.

St Rose Principal Bardhyl Gjoka has also been a part of the virtual open houses.

“They went very well,” he said recently, adding that participation levels felt similar to in-person events.

“The parents have been very supportive. I feel more than ever they have been doing a lot of research,” Moulder said, adding that choosing where to send your child is a big decision.

The St Rose community, Moulder shared, worked hard over the recent months to make sure students felt engaged during the distance learning process.

Speaking relatively, Gjoka said enrollment for new students is up compared to the same time period last year. Enrollment at St Rose is ongoing, and parents can enroll students throughout the year, although Gjoka pointed out that enrollment before the first day of school is best to allow students to adjust to the transition.

“I think word of mouth is number one,” Gjoka said. “We are the only school that practically did not lose any days during the transition.”

At St Rose, Gjoka said, there was a focus on not allowing education gaps between students and teachers in the transition to distance learning. Since it began, he added, there has been ongoing reflection and adjustment.

“I think that really put St Rose on the top of the list for people looking for new schools,” Gjoka said.

St Rose parents have been extremely supportive throughout the distance learning process, Gjoka added.

Gjoka said the St Rose community is hoping to return to school in the fall, but if that is not possible the school is preparing for other alternatives, like a “hybrid model” to incorporate distance learning.

“Based on what we did with distance learning ... I am confident that St Rose has a well-trained faculty who can continue to provide the best education in the fall,” Gjoka said.

For more information about Fraser Woods Montessori School see its website, fraserwoods.com. For more information about Housatonic Valley Waldorf School visit waldorfct.org or e-mail Lederer at tlederer@waldorfct.org. For more information about St Rose of Lima School go to stroseschool.com.