Prayer for teachers and students returning to school during COVID

The following is a collection of prayers related to the start of school. As both a professor of worship and a parent of two school-age children, I tried to imagine the sorts of things that parents and kids, teachers, school administrators, and community leaders might be feeling in light of the unpredictable realities that face them this fall.

My hope is that, in praying these prayers, they will sense in palpable and deeply personal ways the care-filled love of the Good Shepherd who knows them by name. In the end, the goal is simply to pray as one can and when one can, trusting always that the Spirit prays in and for us when we can no longer find the right words or even the will to pray.

A prayer for a new day.

O God, you who make things new, again and again, enliven the thoughts of my mind, revitalize the cells of my body, and cause a fresh outburst of praise to surge in my heart so that I might taste the Life that is truly life this day. In the name of the one whose face is like the shining sun. Amen.

A prayer for children going to school.

Dear Jesus, you who promise to be with me always, I pray that you would be with me today as I go to school. Bless my going and my coming. Bless my learning and my playing. Please protect my heart from fear. Please keep me safe. Please give me good friends. Give me joy this day, and thank you for loving me from head to toe. In your name. Amen.

A prayer for children schooling at home.

Dear Jesus, you who promise to be with me always, I pray that you would be with me at home today as I do my schoolwork. Please help me to do my best, help me not to feel alone, and help me to be with patient with my family. Give me joy this day, and thank you for loving me from head to toe. In your name. Amen.

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Jesus, I ask you to be with students as they return to school this year. Some will return to the physical classroom, others to online classes and some will do both. All need your protection and your guidance.

Bless day care and pre-school children who find it hard to understand why they can’t hug their friends nor share their crayons with one another. Help their teachers find ways to explain to their precious little minds why masks and hand-washing are necessary. Embrace these children and teachers with your love.

Bless elementary school children who are so eager to see their friends again, to play together at recess, to share stories of a different kind of summer. Help their teachers find creative ways of teaching these children whose minds are so open to learning. Embrace these children and teachers with your love.

Bless middle and junior high school students as they transition into their teen years. Jesus, this time is awkward enough, even without a pandemic! Allow them to hold on to the joys of childhood as they explore new ideas and meet greater challenges. Help their teachers find the right words for the right moment.

Embrace these students and their teachers with your love.

Jesus, bless high school students who rely so much on relationships with friends. And who now wonder what this year will bring. Band? Football? Debate team? Will these teenagers benefit fully from all that high school years usually offer? And, what of their fears and anxiety they so often hold inside? Please give them persons who can listen to them even when their words are few.

Embrace these students and teachers with your love.

Bless college students who are aware of how Covid-19 is changing life all around them. Help them to focus on their studies while remaining vigilant to what this time requires of them to keep themselves and others safe. The world awaits them. Help them O God, to remain hopeful about the future. Bless their professors with wisdom and understanding and embrace these students and professors with your love.

Jesus, bless all students with special needs. What a difficult time it is for them, for their parents and their teachers. Give them patience, that they may not become discouraged.

Embrace these students, their parents and their teachers with your love.

Amen. Amen.