Photo Provided Justin Zimmerman, headmaster of The Linsly School, stands by The Aviator statue at Banes Hall on the school’s Leatherwood campus.

WHEELING — Students at The Linsly School are back to school five days a week — even when it snows.

Catholic schools in Ohio County also have resumed in-person education Monday through Friday, though these students were learning remotely on Monday due to the weather.

At both The Linsly School and schools within the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, students in grades 5-8 are back at school five days a week after the COVID-19 pandemic altered those plans. High school students still must adhere to dictates of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services COVID alert map.

Since Ohio County is designated “orange” on the map, the high school students can be back in the classroom.

Linsly boasts a large number of international students, many of whom remained on campus or in the Wheeling area while the school was closed due to COVID, according to school communications director Stacey Creeley.

“The dorms were closed over break. But one of the things we did was to make sure that any student who didn’t go home had a safe place to stay — and sometimes that was with another family,” she said.

At present, there are 43 international students residing in the dorms at The Linsly School, while another 30 who returned to their home countries are still enrolled but learning remotely, she said.

“We also have some students — and some local families — who are choosing to be remote learners,” Creeley said. “We are accommodating those families as well.”

During warmer weather in the fall, Linsly utilized outdoor areas for socially-distanced classroom space. While that is not possible during the winter, Creeley said having all the students inside hasn’t been an issue.

“In general, our class sizes are smaller, so we have been able to social distance desks and maintain the mask wearing at all times,” she said.

“Any time we can be creative with our spaces — whether using bigger gym areas, the library or the Stamp Presentation Room — we make use of those spaces,” she added. “For the most part, we are lucky because we are able to keep our class sizes relatively small.”

Students at schools within the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston had planned to celebrate Catholic Schools Week this week, but the snow interfered on Monday, according to Tim Bishop, spokesman for the Diocese.

“It (the return) has been smooth as silk — except for the weather,” Bishop said. “It never fails that Catholic Schools Week is celebrated, and we get snow days.

“But all is going great, and all our schools are doing fantastic. We are really proud of what we were able to do to keep students and staff safe — with all their protocols they have worked through with health departments across the state. They are really doing a fantastic job.”

School administrators are taking extra steps to make sure school facilities are safe, and these go beyond requiring students and staff wear masks, according to Bishop.

He said he recently walked through the cafeteria at Wheeling Central Catholic High School, and saw that plexiglass safety barriers had been placed on the tables to separate and protect students as they ate lunch.

“All of our school administrators have gone to great lengths to see our kids maintain social distancing,” Bishop said.