Colleen Hroncich
While most children attend school in person Monday through Friday, recent EdChoice polling found that only half of parents would choose that if they had other options. Around 43 percent would prefer a hybrid model where their children learn in person some days and at home other days. With results like this, it’s no wonder hybrid schooling models are gaining popularity.
While hybrid schooling has become more well-known since COVID-19, it’s been around for decades. Regina Caeli Academy, for example, was founded in Georgia in 2003 to provide homeschooling support based on the Catholic tradition. There are now 23 campuses in 16 states around the country.
I was fortunate to tour Regina Caeli Boston recently, which was founded by Christen Fitts, a former public school educator trying to meet the needs of her own family. She was homeschooled herself and loved the freedom it gave her to build her curiosity and love of learning. Her husband, on the other hand, attended public and private schools and liked their community nature. She knew from her teaching experience that public schools weren’t going to be a good fit because she saw things happening that went against her Catholic faith.
When Christen learned about Regina Caeli from a sibling, “I just felt this peace in my heart and I knew this was exactly what we needed,” she recalls. “Not only did it answer my prayer for the ability to be with my kids the majority of the week, it answered my prayer for community for me and my kids, and it also answered a desire that I had to teach. At that time. I think I was expecting my third, and I still really longed to be able to be in the education community and to be able to teach.”
Regina Caeli Academy meets in person on Mondays and Thursdays, and the children follow their lesson plans from home the other days. It utilizes a classical curriculum that covers all core academic subjects from pre‑K through 12th grade. The Boston campus includes a nursery, which is free for teachers and helps ensure a supportive, family-centered atmosphere.
Christen says her family’s experience with Regina Caeli has lived up to her hopes and expectations. “We hop in my minivan in the morning on Mondays and Thursdays. I get to go teach and be in a community,” she says. “I drop off my little one at our in-school nursery, and she gets to be with little buddies during the day. My preschooler, first grader, and fourth grader get to be in their classrooms with their friends. It’s a whole family affair. And then we all pile back in the minivan at the end of the day with really full hearts.”
The kids love their school days—Christen says she hears from parents that their children are bummed when there’s a snow day. But they also appreciate the at-home days when they can stay in their PJs longer and have a more relaxed schedule. Echoing what other hybrid school families have told me, for Christen and the other teachers I talked to in Boston, it’s the best of both worlds.
Opening its doors to a hybrid school has also benefited the parish community according to the pastor of the host church, Father Wayne Belschner. And he says it hasn’t added to his workload because the families are joining in with things the parish was already doing. “It hasn’t hindered anything that we’ve done here, it’s only enhanced it,” he says.
Fr. Wayne particularly enjoys having the students and teachers attend the church’s daily Mass on school days. “The families that are here have contributed so much,” he says. “They participate in Mass—the students read, they serve, they sing. So really it adds to the beauty of the Mass and the depth of it.”
Before Christen approached Fr. Wayne about Regina Caeli, the classroom spaces were sitting empty all week other than religious education classes on Sundays. Now the church receives rent for that space and also benefits from having the parents and teachers work to beautify the space as they use it. Christen really appreciates how supportive Fr. Wayne is of the program and how welcoming the parish community is.
“Fr. Wayne is very special in that he sees the value in this, so he’s willing to invest in it beyond just what’s on paper,” Christen explains. “He’ll support us in our fundraisers. He’ll make the hall available to us if we need it for special events. He’ll announce things at church to let families know that we’re there and make us visible. He makes us just feel so welcome there. But, again, the benefits are mutual.”
“Though it may sound logistically daunting to maybe invite a hybrid school or a homeschool co-op or something of that sort into your parish, I encourage pastors to take the lead in that because I think they’re going to see so much benefit from it and it’s going to invigorate them, too,” Christen says. “I think we all need to see that we are not alone here and there are lots of people who are seeking those same things that we are seeking. And to have young families and older families of all walks to just see we are here and we are on this adventure for Christ, too. It just can be really uplifting.”