Bishop Manogue has announced that virtual learning will be extended through next week and some classes will be relocated due to classroom damages caused by the flood in the academic wing last Sunday, August 28. A break in a main waterline on the south end of campus caused severe damage to the math and science classrooms. These damages will require extensive repairs over the next semester. Until classrooms are deemed usable again, many classes will be relocated to different spaces around campus.

Many students are upset about the new virtual learning announcement due to their experiences with online school during the COVID-19 pandemic. A junior at Bishop Manogue said, “I like that we don’t have school but I don’t like virtual school” when asked what she thought about the recent changes to the school schedule. The school acknowledged student complaints like this in their most recent update about the flood via email, saying, ”We recognize that additional virtual learning time is not ideal, however this is the fastest and most feasible option to get students back on campus for in-person learning as soon as possible, and in the safest manner.”

The school has announced that students will return to campus on Monday, September 12 for in-person learning, but all other events such as Mass, sports practices and games will continue on campus as long as they are not occurring in the academic wing. The school has contacted a damage restoration company, general contractor, and insurance company to begin repairing the damaged classrooms, so administration officials hope the damages will be repaired by December. Fortunately, some classrooms might be restored sooner, so classes may return to their original location before the end of the semester.

To accommodate for the new locations of some classrooms, school administrators have decided to extend passing periods and cancel breaks to give students more time to get to their new class locations. Also, Monday will be changed to a regular block day because all eight classes and the extended passing periods can’t fit into the schedule for these days. Students can check to see where their classes have been moved to in the email with the subject line “BMCHS Flood Update + Info” in their inboxes. A flood update section will also be included in the weekly wire to keep students and their families informed about restoration progress and updated timelines for repairs.