Watching students arriving in cars that lined up behind St. Bartholomew Catholic School in Bethesda, Maryland, on Sept. 7, 2021 for the first day of the new school year there, Father Mark Knestout, the parish’s pastor, smiled.

“I’m a traditionalist. I like the day after Labor Day reopening (of school),” he said. “I grew up with it. I like it myself. It’s fun to see everybody back.”

A mom greeted him from one of the cars, saying, “Hi Father Mark!” Soon he was helping carry a bag for a small child walking into school.

In accord with COVID-19 safety measures, St. Bartholomew faculty and staff members went from car to car, taking students’ temperatures before the children, all wearing face masks, walked to their classrooms, with teachers sometimes holding the hands of small children and leading them there.

“The students recognize the love and caring that is exhibited here every day,” said Chris Davison, St. Bartholomew’s assistant principal who has served at the school for 21 years, including as a teacher and librarian. She was among the school’s staff members taking the temperatures of students as they arrived.

Welcoming a girl to school, she said, “Numero uno, you are my first. So glad you’re here! Welcome!”

What may have unfolded as a frenetic and stressful morning of staff members darting from car to car for temperature checks actually unfolded smoothly, as they happily greeted students and parents on that first morning. 

And the St. Bartholomew School community had a special reason to celebrate, because in January 2020, the school had faced the prospect of closing due to declining enrollment and a financial shortfall, but the school and parish community raised more than $872,000 by that date and received pledges from parents to sustain and increase the school’s enrollment, which since then has grown dramatically. That effort enabled the school to continue for the next school year and beyond.

Father Knestout noted that St. Bartholomew School had an enrollment of 137 students in January 2020 that grew by about 20 students for the 2020-21 school year that began that fall, and now the school has 186 students enrolled, an increase of nearly 50 students since the community rallied to save the school. Now some classes there have a waiting list.

“I’m thrilled, knowing what we went through. It was a painful experience. The rally of the people helped to set the momentum,” the priest said, also praising the work of the school’s staff and its teachers. 

St. Bartholomew’s principal, Frank English, added, “People prayed a lot, and God heard our prayers. It was God’s will this place would be open.”

Then in March 2020, St. Bartholomew School like other Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Washington initially had to close its campus and pivot to online learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We were small, we were adaptable. When the COVID shutdown occurred, we went from Friday closing to Monday opening,” Father Knestout said. 

He then pointed out, “The pandemic helped awaken people’s awareness of the importance of a Catholic education.”

That point was echoed by Neda Ghassabeh, St. Bartholomew School’s admissions and development director, who said, “In a time of crisis, you do return to faith. We have more students from the parish (now).”

Ghassabeh, a 1999 graduate of the school, said St. Bartholomew School has a special spirit, reflected by the teachers, the parents and the students. “Everyone is known, everyone is cared for,” she said.

She has two children attending there, a daughter in first grade and a son in third grade, and also has nieces in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. St. Bartholomew’s Pre-K4 class includes triplets Tommy, Jack and Hunter Grant, whose dad, uncle and twin aunts also graduated from St. Bartholomew School.

“I’m very excited to see the number of alumni children,” Ghassabeh said. “They had a great experience here, and they want the same for their children.”

New St. Bartholomew faculty member Jennifer Bautista, who is now a Pre-K3 assistant teacher there, is a veteran teacher returning to the classroom after being a substitute teacher at the school in recent years, when she also served as the president of its Home and School Association. Two of her children are attending there now, a fifth and seventh grader, and two of her older children graduated from the school, with one now in college and the other in high school.

Reflecting on how St. Bartholomew families rallied for the school, she said, “You know, it’s kind of amazing… The community all came together. They all fought for the school.” She said they felt a special connection to the school and a sense of belonging there. 

Bautista, who said she was “super excited” to be asked to be a teacher there, was among the teachers leading or taking the hands of younger children, shepherding them to their classrooms. At one point, Jonathan Schnurr, St. Bartholomew’s new computer and technology teacher, gently carried a small crying boy to the school.

That same spirit could be seen as faculty members moved up and down the carpool line taking students’ temperatures and then helping open car doors for them. Frank English, St. Bartholomew’s principal, was joking and laughing with students and parents, saying things like, “How are you kid? Good to see your face!” He encouraged another student, “Tell your mom you love her!” Students could be heard happily yelling “hi” to each other as they headed to the school.

“I try to do that all the time,” the principal said, explaining that he likes that back-and-forth conversation with students and parents in the morning and again at departure time in the afternoon.

As the school day started, Germania Rebaudengo, a middle school religion teacher and eighth grade homeroom teacher there, was leading the eighth graders in an ice-breaking exercise, with students taking turns standing in lines across from each other and saying something about themselves.

English, noting that faculty members had also done ice-breaking the week before to get to know each other, said of the school’s eighth graders, “I want these guys ready to go, to do their best, to be prepared for high school. More importantly, I want them to be good, kind people. In our world today, we need kindness.”

That need for kindness, he said, extends to him and his teachers, who, while pushing high academic standards, understand the need for flexibility and understanding for students experiencing any personal challenges.

“I’ve got really good teachers. The foundation of a good school is the teachers, and I’ve got good teachers, great educators with good hearts who care about the kids,” the principal said.

After the coronavirus shutdown in the spring of 2020, St. Bartholomew’s teachers completed that school year with virtual classes. Then the 2020-21 school year began with the school adopting a hybrid teaching model, with in-person classes for academic subjects in the morning, then students returning home in the afternoon for online classes in subjects like computer, music and art. By the spring of 2021, a large tent was erected behind the school, helping facilitate a return to full day in-person learning after Easter.

“By the end of the year, the whole school was on campus,” English said.

Reflecting on how St. Bartholomew School and its community have weathered those recent challenges, he said, “The last two years we’ve been playing behind the 8-ball. We’ve done our best.”

As the joyful first day at his growing school was beginning, English said, “My wish would be these kids go through the school year and experience a regular school year.”