Fayette County is nearing four months of virtual learning for the 2020-2021 school year, but private schools in Lexington have been open since August, even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I like in-person more than online,” Lexington Catholic freshman Evelyn Dugan said. “In school, I have to listen and be engaged. When I’m online, I get distracted.”

Lexington Catholic is currently in a hybrid model, and while the students prefer the two days they get to spend in-person over the three days online, many students say that it is not all good. Kate Boardman, a 6th grader at The Lexington School, is in-person all day, five days a week. She is glad she is going in person but Boardman feels like she is missing out on some of the benefits of being online.

“I don’t get to go to friends’ houses[during the day],” Boardman said. “ I feel left out.”

There are also many safety measures in place. Private schools look different now to cooperate with CDC guidelines. This includes smaller class sizes, constant hand washing, and even eating lunch at desks that are six feet apart in the cafeteria.

“As feasible, children eat meals outdoors or in classrooms, while maintaining social distance as much as possible, instead of in a communal dining hall or cafeteria,” the CDC stated.

Many students at Lexington Catholic really enjoy the social aspect of being in-person that many of the public school students lack due to being online. 

“At lunch we are allowed to be on our phones, so I like to text my friend that sits across the room from me,” Lexington Catholic freshman Maysie Hulihan said.

While many of the students feel like there are large benefits to going to school in person there are some downfalls. Lexington Catholics’ school had moved to virtual for two weeks at the beginning of the school year.

“We all had to quarantine and it was because Seniors went to a party and everybody else had to stay home,” Dugan said.

While Fayette County students continue online learning and wait for the announcement of when they are going back to school, Lexington private schools continue to learn and adapt in a strange time.