Kimberly Robertson and Russell Gunanoot didn’t have to wake up their four kids Friday morning for their first day back at school.
By 6 a.m., the older girls – Melody and Hannah - were dressed and ready to go back to their classrooms at Harwin Elementary.
Their six-year-old brother Warrick slept in until 7 and he made sure he was wearing his mask before he jumped into the family the van for the ride to school.
“He was a lot less than nervous coming back than he was at the tail end (of his kindergarten year) when all the rules came out, he knows to expect some things that are different,” said Gunanoot.
“I’d say they’re handling it pretty well. I was surprised they were excited because last year when the whole pandemic thing started they were pretty anxious, they had a lot of anxiety about it. I’m really proud of how they’re doing.”
The first day of Grade 1 classes is a monumental day and Warrick and his dad were allowed to walk together right up to the door to the school. That wasn’t the case in June when he was still in kindergarten. Parents weren’t allowed on school property when schools reopened briefly for classes one or two days per week for the final month of the school year.
“I’m happy to say that safety concern isn’t there anymore because before it felt a bit too panicky when they didn’t want us to get out of our car,” said Gunanoot. “It was a lot more welcoming, which also reduced a lot of the kids’ anxiety.”
Warrick’s first day as a grade-schooler pretty much lived up to the hype.
“It was good, I liked everything,” he said. “I got to see my friend Casey but I didn’t get to see Stevie.”
While high schools are keeping students together in bubbles of 120, elementary schools are dividing student populations into cohorts of 60. From start to finish of the school day there’s no mixing allowed with kids in the other bubbles, even at recess or lunchtime, in an effort to try to prevent cross-contamination if a student gets sick with virus.
“I got to see one of my friends,” said Melody, a Grade 6 student. “We have to stay in our bubble - they call it a family - and you can only talk to the kids within the groups that we’re in. That’s easy. Usually I’m a loner.
“My least favourite part is we’re not allowed to use the bathroom whenever we want. You can’t use it if there’s someone from another cohort in there.”
All four school-aged kids in the Robertson-Gunanoot family of five children had their 90-minute orientations at the same time Friday morning. On Monday they will be in school for a full day for the first time since schools shut down in March. Eight-year-old Daniella was a bit disappointed her favourite subject was not on the schedule for her first day of Grade 3.
“It wasn’t so fun because there was no math,” she said.
Masks are optional for teachers and students in classrooms but they have to wear them in hallways or common areas of the school. With regular hand disinfecting encouraged, physical distancing stressed in the schools and custodians vigilant about cleaning, the schools are doing what they can to make classrooms safe for everybody.
“One of my concerns is they’re all in different learning cohorts so that’s quadruple the exposure for our home,” said Robertson. “It wouldn’t be plausible to divide it by family if they’re all in different grades.”
The pandemic that put a stop to in-class teaching for nearly three months in the spring forced students and parents to adapt to online learning and that was certainly not a smooth transition for most families. With four kids to teach and an infant daughter, Autumn, who turns one on Sunday, it was a stressful time for Robertson and Gunanoot.
“It was very difficult, very hectic, because it wasn’t super-organized, nobody had any plans for it,” said Robertson. “I have friends who home-school and they were like, ‘This isn’t home-schooling, this is like a crash course.’ They were all learning something different and they all needed attention for it but you could only give attention to one at a time and also coordinate all the different Zoom (sessions) on the computer.”
Amanda MacDonald was relieved to see her two boys back in school this week and despite all the new restrictions they couldn’t wait to get back to see friends they hadn’t seen since March. Fourteen-year-old Alex, her oldest, is in Grade 9 at Duchess Park Secondary, while nine-year-old Drayden, is in Grade 4 at Harwin.
“They’ve adapted so easily to all this, it doesn’t seem to faze them,” said MacDonald. “I was going to make them wait until everything calmed down and got organized but they were so excited to come back. They’re both old enough to follow the rules. Just wash your hands, don’t lick stuff, don’t cough on people, the usual.”
She knows from her experience in the spring she’s not cut out to be a teacher.
“I sucked at it, I’m such a terrible teacher, I couldn’t do it,” laughed MacDonald. “It was hard keeping them focused and keeping me focused. I already really appreciated what teachers are doing and I appreciate them even more now.”
