The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board has announced it is staggering the beginning of the school year over a two-week period, with students returning to class beginning on Monday, September 14th.
Director of education Jennifer Leclerc issued a statement on Monday afternoon (August 24) on behalf of the board, which has 87 public elementary and secondary schools in Peterborough, Northumberland, and Clarington.
The school year was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, September 8th, but the board will instead use that first week to give schools additional time to prepare for the return of students to the classroom.
Students will begin returning to school on Monday, September 14th, but with student and class groups scheduled to attend school on different days throughout the week. All students will be in attendance full-time on Friday, September 18th.
“This two-week period will provide all our staff and students the additional time we believe will be crucial for everyone to prepare learning spaces, and to finalize, understand and be comfortable with, the many new routines that will be a part of the normal school day,” Leclerc states. “Finalized schedules will be shared with parents through their local school as soon as possible.”
From September 8th to 11th, schools will remain closed to students so principals and school staff can become familiar with new pandemic-related school practices, realign elementary classroom sizes and staff assignments based on changes resulting from students learning at home, confirm and adjust secondary school student timetables, and organize classrooms in safe layouts — which includes moving and storage furnishings, desks, and other equipment throughout the schools.
The board will also use this time with teaching and administrative staff to organize its “Learn At Home” online school for over 5,300 students who have opted for remote learning — representing 16 per cent of the board’s 33,300 students.
The board also announced that secondary school students will alternate their two subjects every week, instead of every day as originally planned.
From September to November, students will take their first period class every day for one week, and then take their second period class every day the following week. From November to the end of January, students will take their third period class every day for one week, and then take their fourth period class every day the following week. Final assessments will occur at the end of each course in mid-November and mid-January, respectively.
“We realize this is an extended amount of time for students on each subject,” Leclerc states. “The safety improvements of this model, however, are significant.”
Leclerc says this change means students can remain in a defined classroom for the entire week without travelling to another classroom, limits the number of contacts and touch points for students and staff throughout the day, and allows schools to implement staggered breaks and lunches for students during the day so that they can have a break from their classroom (the previous plan called for students to remain in their first period classrooms to have lunch).
“While our intent with the original school plan was to structure the school day safely for everyone through organized timetabling and limited movement, we feel this plan is a safer and better alternative,” Leclerc states. “Any parents or students who feel that this change may affect their interest in participating in our online Learn At Home program should contact us at kpr_info@kprdsb.ca.”
The Trillium Lakelands District School Board — which has 48 public elementary and secondary schools in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton County, and the District Municipality of Muskoka — has already released its return-to-school plan, which will see a staggered start to the school year for the first two weeks for elementary students and the first week for secondary students.
In Kindergarten to Grade 8, students attending in-school will attend one day during the week of September 8th to September 11th, and three days during the week of September 14th to September 18th. For secondary students attending in-school, only Grade 9 students will return on Tuesday, September 8th. On Wednesday, September 9th, half of Grade 9 to 12 students will attend. On Thursday, September 10th, the second half of Grade 9 to 12 students will attend, and from Friday, September 11th onwards, all secondary school students will attend.
A similar staggered schedule will be in place for at-home remote learning. For details, visit Return to School Plan 2020 for Families on the school board’s website.
The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board — which has 36 Catholic elementary and secondary schools in Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Clarington — released its return-to-school plan on August 13th, and also intends to use a staggered start to the school year.
“Final details are being worked out and will be communicated to parents early in the week of August 24,” according to the school board’s website.
