Great news to share from Bishop Maginn High School. Since the school opened for in-person teaching in September,  there has not been a single case of COVID-19. Only two or three Catholic schools in the region can say that.

School officials say the Army Of Good safety supplies were a big reason.

Enrollment is way up, says Mike Toland, as parents and children in the public schools struggle with virtual-only education and come to Bishop Maginn.

“We’re doing well. The students and families are co-operating, everyone is following the rules. If any student isn’t feeling well, they just stay home,” he added.

“Every day, there’s a new face here,” says Sue Silverstein, the theology and art teacher.

The school’s success dealing with the pandemic is nothing short of a miracle and many thanks to the Army Of Good for helping to make this miracle happen.

I had a long talk with Principal Tolan this morning, we are planning for emergency food support, a Christmas Amazon Wish List for a difficult Christmas, some tuition help for struggling students, and my return to the school next week for interviews and stories about the students.

I’m also seeking Wal-Mart and Price Chopper Gift cards to help families have a decent Thanksgiving. Sue Silverstein thinks we’ll need to help for that holiday, things are tough.

Under the state’s Covid-19 restrictions we can’t give the families turkeys, only gift cards for grocery stores. If you buy gift cards, please send them to me, Jon Katz, 2502 State Route 22, Cambridge, N.Y.,12816. If you would rather I buy them, send a contribution to that address or to P.O. Box 205. Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Thanks, the Christmas Amazon Wish List will go up in mid-November.

I haven’t been able to visit the school for months, and Mike and I talked about ways for me to meet the students, photograph them and interview them beginning next week.

I’ll be coming during off-hours, or meeting the students outside.

Zinnia will come along. My doctors remind me that I need to be cautious and take every precaution – I’m high risk- and I will do that. Most of my interviews will be conducted after school or outside.

Zinnia can go inside, accompanied by Sue Silverstein, her godmother.

Mike Tolan attributes much of the school’s extraordinary virus avoidance to the help provided by the Army of Good this summer. “We had everything we needed – masks, signs, plexiglass windows, testing equipment” thanks to the Army Of Good.

He and the school administrative staff worked very hard all summer getting ready. The Army Of Good made sure they had everything they needed, including an easy-to-use disinfectant fogger.

“I think we may have been the best-prepared school in the area,” he said. “there are a lot of Covid-19 cases popping up and many schools have had to close. We worked very hard to get ready, and we are grateful for the help.”

I remember visiting the school in the summer, and saw Mike and Sue Silverstein and School Secretary Chris Coiffe on their hands and knees, pasting signs and markers, and setting up screens to separate students.

Next week, I want to talk to one new Bishop Maginn student who was beaten so savagely in a public school that she was hospitalized. I want to ask about her experience at her new school. I hope to get another very deserving senior some tuition support.

We aren’t asking for the full tuition, just something to support the school and keep it solvent. Mike has never kicked a student out of Bishop Maginn for financial reasons.

He is almost surely the only private school principal in the region who can say that.

I am thrilled to be going back to Bishop Maginn regularly, I miss them quite a bit. My next trip is planned for next  Wednesday.  I’ll be with Zinnia. And I congratulate them and you for keeping this awful virus at bay.