St. Joseph High School students return to campus

ORCUTT, Calif. - It was the first day back to school for students at St. Joseph High School in Orcutt with student orientation for sophomores, juniors and seniors.

School staff provided students with necessary classroom and teacher information and, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, assigned individual student lockers.

SJHS students we spoke with were thrilled to be back in the classroom and not at home behind a computer.

"I'm very excited, to see my friends and teachers and just to be back on campus," said SJHS sophomore Emma Sheldon. "Even though it was still difficult with the whole masking and social distancing, it's so much better than on Zoom."

"Online, it was just different," added SJHS sophomore Noah San Juan. "I didn't get to socialize with my friends, and there's a lot more distractions at home."

"I think learning at home is much harder because it gives you more room to slack off and be distracted by other things at home," said SJHS sophomore Sayuri Bryan.

The private Catholic high school reopened last year for optional in-person learning despite the COVID-19 public health restrictions.

School administration says there were no cases of COVID transmission last year on campus among students, faculty or staff.

"This year we don't have the distance learning option," said SJHS Principal Erinn Dougherty. "It really wasn't ideal for students and teachers, that lack of continuity to be in and out of school, and so this year we are on campus and we're offering traditional on-campus learning."

The school continues to follow current state and county public health guidelines including mandatory masking for everyone on campus when indoors.

"There's been a lot of planning when looking at what are the best ways to sanitize high frequency areas, what are the best protocols," Dougherty added.

Students we spoke with don't seem to mind the mask mandate.

"Wearing the mask, I don't have a problem with it, I feel safer wearing one actually," said SJHS sophomore Sayuri Bryan.

St. Joseph High School is located at 4120 S. Bradley Rd. in Orcutt. For more information about the school, click here.