ROCKY VIEW COUNTY— Rocky View Schools is continuing to take steps and explore the best way to support students as they study from home for the foreseeable future.
Superintendent Greg Luterbach said at-home learning will continue across the province through to the end of June at the Rocky View School Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday (May 7). The focus of school divisions will be to support this reality.
“We’ve talked a lot with staff about the need for flexibility and understanding that it is not business as usual,” Luterbach said.
On Friday (May 1) Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange informed jurisdictions that at-home learning will continue until to the end of June. Luterbach said the provincial government is currently working on a re-entry plan for the fall of 2020/21 and details on the strategy are expected soon.
Luterbach said Rocky View Schools continues to focus on building relationships and connections with students and families while addressing key learning outcomes during the transition to online learning.
“We have to be realistic we have 1,500 teachers out there, we’ve all pivoted, most of us have pivoted to a new delivery model,” Luterbach said. “We’ve been delivering in that other model for 150 years and in two months we’ve changed— Necessity breeds innovation.”
It was disappointing to confirm that in-school learning would be delayed until September at the earliest, Rocky View Schools Board chair Fiona Gilbert said, adding that she appreciates how the decision from the provincial government was able to provide certainty to school divisions.
“The safety of students and staff come first,” Gilbert said. “We know that we are in this until the end of June and we can turn our thoughts to what re-entry looks like when it does happen hopefully in September.”
Gilbert noted that this will be an on-going conversation in the lead up to September to ensure the division knows what learning options need to be put in place.
Luterbach said the division is continuing to explore how to support systems in the new delivery model and are rolling out additional professional learning and resources for teachers.
“Mostly those are focussed around students and families about supporting at-home learning,” Luterbach said. “Our focus continues to be about relationships and connections while at the same time delivering key outcomes that we have not yet covered."
Rocky Views Schools has been corresponding with families to understand how learning continuity plans are taking place in households.
At the time of the meeting, Luterbach noted that the division had seen just under 3,000 responses from families who filled out an online survey.
Luterbach said 75 per cent of families indicated the weekly learning plans are fitting and in line with the government's expectation for hours of work for students. He added that 90 per cent of survey participates said the leaning plans clearly identify what students need to do each week for school and to demonstrate what they accomplished with their learning. Luterbach said 84 per cent of parents indicated they are moderate to extremely confident in helping their children complete the learning plan.
The data accumulated from the survey was shared with schools on Friday to aid in them in understanding how to better support their students, Gilbert said.
“I think we have lots of wondering and lots of questions,” Gilbert said. “Unfortunately we don’t have all the answers but there’s lots of things to think about.”
Learning plans will be tweaked and adjusted moving forward to meet the needs of students and their families, Luterbach said, adding the province is working on an in-class school re-entry plan using a multi-pronged approach.
The division is seeing anywhere between 85 to 95 per cent of students engaging in learning, Luterbach said, adding this comes in varying forms and levels of engagement.
Ward 3 Trustee Jim Forrest said the division needs to consider the possibility that some students will not want to return to school in September because families may be scared of exposure to COVID-19.
He noted that online learning could also serve as a way to help reduce the number of students in a class.
“For those students whose parents decide for them it is not an option at this point in September, say before a vaccine or whatever happens, to come back into the schools and are wishing to remain online because of medical fragility or whatever reasons, concern or anxiety might be about going back and I’m wondering if it will become a bigger concern in September,” Forrest said. He added the division should be prepared to run a more robust online component for students in the future.
Rocky View Schools Ward 2 Trustee Patty Sproule said online classes should be considered in the future because there may an interest in continuing online classes for some students because it has proven to be an option that helps them find success. A hybrid approach could prove beneficial for those that choose to pursue online learning.
During the Board of Trustees meeting, Rocky View Schools showcased the success of students by honouring those that achieved 100 per cent on their diploma exams in January. Luterbach noted that they will be the only group acknowledged this year as exams have been cancelled in June.
The Rocky View Students who achieved 100 per cent on their January 2020 diploma exam were Cynthia Do (Science 30), Onaya Fluker (Biology 30), Jack Fraser (Social Studies 30-2), Minghao Li (Physics 30), JT Luterbach (Physics 30), Kendra O’Hearn (Physics 30) and Samantha Schiesser (Physics 30).
Luterbach said that Rocky View Schools made the difficult decision to cancel all graduation ceremonies and celebrations to ensure the health of students and their families.
All schools in the division are beginning to work on alternate plans and will be expected to celebrate their students. Luterbach that this will look unique to each location.
“Lots of disappointment in our community around this just sadly though we just looked at it and based on what the provincial medical officer of health has said with no gathering of 15 or more people we can’t pull off traditional graduation ceremonies,” Luterbach said. “health and safety continue to be our main priority but we do want to find an innovative way to celebrate those [graduating].”
