Students in Prince George and throughout School District No. 57 (SD57) were back in class during the first week of the province’s gradual return to school instruction.
However, school now looks a little different under the province’s new COVID-19 health and safety guidelines.
At Duchess Park Secondary School for example, when students arrived they had to wait in a line, physically distanced from each other, and then answer questions about how they were feeling. Once cleared to enter, they went directly to a washing station. Only then could they head to their classrooms. In hallways, common areas and rooms that were busier, physical distancing was in full effect.
“It’s been very positive,” said Duchess Park principal Sid Jawanda, in a story on the district’s SD57 stories website.
“I think everybody was a little bit tentative coming into Monday, not knowing what it was going to be like, not knowing how many students were going to arrive. We’d written out a pretty good plan but it was all on paper and we hadn’t seen it in action. But Monday morning we all got here early, and the plan worked,” Jawanda added.
“I even had staff who said they were a little uneasy but watching the front-entry folks assess every student as they came in, and getting everyone prepped for what they were walking into, it was reassuring to the teachers. It just made everybody in the building feel at ease. And for the students, it is a different process. We’re obviously in an area where safety’s first so we have to do things a little differently but we’ve made it as friendly and unimposing as we can for the students.”
One of the students who returned to in-class learning was Cameron Moore, whose first day was Thursday.
“It’s good but it’s kind of lonely,” said the Grade 10 Moore, who made his own decision to return but was the only student in teacher Patrice LaPointe’s classroom.
“It’s not the same (learning) online,” Moore said of his reason for wanting to come back to class. “It’s not the same as being here.”
Close to 70 students were in Duchess Park’s classrooms on Thursday and handwashing was a constant from the beginning of the day to the end.
Throughout the province, more than 157,000 kindergarten to Grade 12 students, representing nearly 30 per cent of B.C.'s total school population, were back in classrooms this week.
"B.C. is fortunate to be in a position where we can welcome students and staff back to schools in greater numbers under the guidance of public health experts who have put in stringent and thorough health and safety measures that make it safe to do so," said Rob Fleming, Minister of Education, in a news release.
As of June 1, all kindergarten to Grade 5 students have the option to attend school half-time, while students in grades 6 to 12 can attend school the equivalent of one day a week. Students attending schools are limited to current density targets of 50 per cent for kindergarten to Grade 5, and 20 per cent for grades 6 to 12. Children of essential service workers and students who need additional support are still welcome to attend schools full-time this month.
"Boards of education have made extraordinary efforts in every district to ensure a smooth return to in-class learning," said Stephanie Higginson, president, BC School Trustees Association in the release "The stories from students who attended school last week are overwhelmingly positive with expressions of joy at being able to see friends and teachers.”
Jawanda said staff members at Duchess Park are continuing to provide students with good-quality remote and online learning experiences. In the classrooms, things may look a little different but effective teaching and learning is still happening.
“The student arrives, we assess what the student needs at that particular time for that course, and really, because of the low numbers, we’re able to offer a lot of personalized assistance and instruction.”
