The school does have to comply with the Solano County Office of Education

DIXON, CA (MPG) - As schools faced reopening across the state, Dixon public schools finally opted for a hybrid model yet right here in the same town, private schools are keeping their doors open just as they have since last fall. Two private schools and one tuition-free public school that is governed by its own board, offered students more on-campus learning during the COVID pandemic with two keeping near “normal,” on-campus learning.

Valley of the Sacred Heart Catholic School held at 105 South Second St at St. Peter's Church in Dixon has been in session since September. The school uses a Montessori, classical, and Catholic style of educating from transitional Kindergarten through 12th grade. They have 48 full-time students Monday through Friday in addition to hosting their co-operative Home School Program with 35 students on Fridays.

“Because we were low in numbers, we had permission from the diocese and from the state as it was more like a tutoring situation,” said Director Chris Simpson. “We’ve been wearing masks, doing a lot of temperature taking, and doing a lot of cleaning according to COVID protocol and got through Christmas. We saw that we could do this safely.”

She reported that no one at the school got COVID although there was one teacher who got it from an outside source and with “excellent contact tracing,” never brought it in.

“We have done a really good job and what we were doing was working,” Simpson said about working with Solano County and the Diocese of Sacramento. “Parents and teachers agree.”

Neighborhood Christian School at 655 South First Street and sharing the Dixon Mayfair grounds, started September 1, on Zoom with distance learning but was back in person on October 6, where they had “concentrated learning” five days a week and students were out at 12:30 pm. In February, students returned to their regular, in-person classes, 8:30 am to 2:45 pm.

Neighborhood Christian School was founded in 1979 under the leadership of Deryl Radder, an educator and man of faith, who planted Neighborhood Christian in the community of Dixon with a heart for missions. There are currently about 60 students in Kindergarten through 8th grade and 24 in the preschool program.

“We’ve been doing double duty with hand sanitizer and cleaning everything,” reported long-time school secretary Janet McNeil. “There have been no cases of Covid.”

Dixon Montessori Charter School has 400 students and started recently with a hybrid learning program which includes distance learning and on-campus instruction but they plan to be back to full session learning on campus. There are 15 to 20 percent who chose to continue distance learning.

“The effects of COVID-19 have caused all of us to be innovative in our approach to educating our students. As we prepare to reopen our campus we want our students and staff to be as safe as possible,” wrote Executive Director Ben Ernest in a message to parents.

He presented a 30-page Reopening Plan that broke up location of students--whether on campus or on their computers--in conjunction with the various colored tiers determined by the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

According to the booklet, on March 31, all students and teachers were to be back on campus Monday through Thursday with Fridays being “Remote Days” which include a morning meeting and “asynchronous” work which means on your own or without the teacher.

“All students were divided into two different groups with students going either in the morning or afternoon for 2.5 to 3 hours depending on their age group with teachers focusing on math and English Language Arts while in person. Students are continuing to do music, science, physical education and enrichment activities from home,” explained teacher Jamie Myers.

This school has its own governing board and they created the back to school plan in July of last year using the tier system, Blueprint for a Safer Economy, to determine who would return and how they would return depending on which tier the County was in. The school does have to comply with the Solano County Office of Education.

It is located at the former Silveyville Elementary school location, 355 North Almond Street. DMCS phone is (707) 678-8953. For more information on the Catholic school, call (530) 574-0804 and for more information on Neighborhood Christian School, call (707) 678-9336.