Good Shepherd Catholic School, 1300 Newport Ave., Northampton, plans to hold live classroom sessions this fall, starting Aug. 31, following an approved health and safety plan by the Diocese of Allentown. Prekindergarten to eighth-grade students will return for their normal 8 a.m.-2:15 p.m. days - under new normal circumstances.

Principal Susan Parker, of Northampton, discussed a new routine set up for the school amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and it begins upon morning arrival. Traffic will be controlled both outside and inside the school with two separate entrances for those who arrive by car versus the bus, as well as two separate stairwells used for going up and down levels.

Every student will have his or her temperature screened and a health and safety survey completed once greeted by school officials. The survey is the same survey used by any person who works within the Diocese of Allentown; its checklist includes a series of yes and no questions regarding symptoms, possible exposure and travel. The school is in the works of developing an app for the survey - that way parents can complete it at home before heading to school in the morning.

Classrooms, with an average size of 14, will follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on social distancing in relation to desk placement and mask coverings. Each desk will come with an individual three-sided 24-inch tall plexiglass divider.

The preschool teacher will still conduct classes using a large shared table, as opposed to individual desks, to better accommodate the younger children. However, customized dividers will be inserted into the table to create a separation between the children.

Bathroom times will also be regulated per grade, with exception to emergencies.

Families who feel uncomfortable sending their children to live classroom sessions will be provided with a virtual school option. Per the 2020-21 academic school year, every student will be equipped with a Chromebook, whether they are virtual or not. The live classroom and live Zoom classroom will be designed to coincide by utilizing the Chromebook, workbooks and textbooks. Lessons will be scheduled by the hour, so students at home can tune in at appropriate times for lectures.

Parker has acknowledged the very real reality that planning things minute by minute is very difficult with children, especially during a health pandemic, but “as of right now, this is our plan.”

Her first concern is the safety of her students, but next is their comfortability. She anticipates creating a safe atmosphere that shows “this new normal is OK for all of us.”

The parishes that comprise Good Shepherd Catholic School enrollment are Queenship of Mary Catholic Church, Northampton; Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Northampton; Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, Egypt; St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Stiles; St. Peter Roman Catholic Church, Coplay; and St. John Fisher Church, North Catasauqua.