A full return to the classroom in September is being met with lots of excitement from School District 57 and the PG District Teachers Association (PGDTA).
Teachers Association President, Joanne Hapke is pleased high school students and staff will be returning to the semester system.
“That has been in the works for the last little while now as the majority of teachers prefer the semester system. The quarter system worked well for some students in some courses but not for all for coursework.”
SD 57 Acting Superintendent Cindy Heitman is equally as enthusiastic about its return.
“We know that our students learn best when they are in front of a teacher so having our students back in the classroom learning with the teachers is the greatest news and we look forward to supporting them through this new transition again.”
Both education groups are also pleased online learning programs will remain available for students – especially those who are immunocompromised or live in more rural or remote settings.
“Students are deserving of options for their education and online learning has to be part of that because we do recognize not everyone will receive vaccinations due to health concerns or auto-immune disorders,” said Hapke.
“We will continue to do what we have throughout this past year utilizing some of our homebound supports and online learning options,” added Heitman.
The PGDTA also gave its endorsement towards the province’s decision to defer a further decision on mask guidance until later this summer.
“We do have to recognize that not all students will be vaccinated when they return to schools. We have no idea where students and their families will be travelling over the summer whether they are leaving the country for international travel, going to place with high incidence rates of the variants.”
“Should we in the first month of September maintain a mask mandate until we get back into our routines and everybody is back in our home locals.”
Heitman on the other hand is looking forward to the return of athletics as it’s anticipated the restrictions on gatherings, extracurricular activities will no longer be required once the academic year kicks off.
“That’s been a tremendous loss not only for our schools but for our communities so I am looking forward to rebuilding that culture in our buildings where we can be together, learn together, and have sports together.”
Heitman as well as the rest of the school staff are looking forward to the summer and reflecting on what has been a tough year for local education.
“As a district, we know our response has been extremely positive in that we have learned a lot about instruction and we have learned about our systems that can even make things better post-pandemic.”