Many of Airdrie's schools are looking emptier than usual, after a temporary transition back to at-home learning for students in grades 7 to 12 began Nov. 30.
Premier Jason Kenney announced the new directive for schools, along with a slate of other restrictions to help curb the ongoing spike in COVID-19 cases, during a Nov. 24 press conference. He said students in older grades are more likely to spread COVID-19 than their younger counterparts.
“Teenagers are much more likely to transmit the virus than younger children, and a longer period away from school for older students will help to reduce broader community transmission,” he said.
In Airdrie, all four high schools – Bert Church, W.H. Croxford, George McDougall and St. Martin de Porres – are now fully cleared out of students, while attendance at the city’s middle schools and kindergarten to Grade 8 schools is limited to students below Grade 7. Schools with kindergarten to Grade 12 programs, such as École francophone d’Airdrie and Airdrie Christian Academy, are also impacted.
Bert Church High School principal Ryan Reed said his staff were prepared to return to at-home teaching.
“Ever since last June, we’ve talked about this and said we needed to be prepared for this as a possibility,” he said. “It’s always a little surprising when it happens – you’re never fully prepared for it to happen in the middle of the week. The announcement was a little like, ‘OK, here we go!’ but I think over the last couple of days, we’ve been able to work out our processes and set up some expectations for students. I think staff are feeling good about it.”
Reed said teachers will have the option of either teaching from home or using their empty classrooms to broadcast their lessons.
As of Nov. 30, nine schools in Airdrie were listed on the Alberta government’s COVID-19 status map, including all four local high schools. George McDougall and Bert Church are currently experiencing outbreaks of five or more active cases, while W.H. Croxford and St. Martin de Porres have between two and four active cases.
While Airdrie schools haven’t been immune to COVID-19 outbreaks, Reed said staff and students have responded appropriately when those outbreaks occurred.
“We had prepared for that, so staff were ready for that and they knew it was certainly a possibility, in a school of our size, that that was going to happen,” he said.
“Our students have been awesome this year. They’ve been awesome following the public health protocols we asked of them at school. I’ve had numerous conversations with them over the last few days since this announcement and I’m always impressed with how optimistic and resilient they are.”
Rocky View Schools (RVS) Superintendent Greg Luterbach said he encourages families to talk to their kids about the need to stay focused while temporarily learning at home.
“These four weeks are an important learning time,” he said. “We want and need our students to be actively engaged, to continue strong attendance and to work through the tasks and assessments their teachers are giving them because we don’t want to lose out on these four weeks of learning.”
Students seemed to react with mixed feelings to the new directive. Dylan Ellingson, a Grade 12 student at George McDougall, said he and his friends were upset when they learned they would have to finish the term at home.
“No one wanted to do the switch, so it was pretty unfortunate,” he said. “As high school students, we really rely on in-person connections to keep our heads on straight. We need our friends, teachers and mentors to keep our sanity in check, and it’s a lot more difficult to do it with the online platforms.”
RVS' alternative learning programs were also impacted by the shift, including The Farm and Building Futures programs. Grade 10 student Kiera MacDonald, who is in Building Futures, said there are challenges to learning from home.
“Asking questions is a lot more difficult and so is understanding the material you’re learning,” she said. “It’s a lot more upbeat and cheerful when you’re in person with students around you.”
She added the house-building component of Building Futures will have to wait until the students are able to return.
Impacted students will learn online until Dec. 18. After the Christmas break, students will continue to learn at home from Jan. 4 to 8, and will then return to their schools the following week, pending the status of COVID-19 in the province.
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
