As a follow up to recent messages about plans for September, we wanted to provide some further clarity for secondary school students, staff and families to help answer some of the questions we have been receiving.
Regarding quadmesters, the direction we are following is from the Ministry of Education which has stated to all school boards:
“In secondary schools, school boards are to adopt secondary timetabling methods that emphasize cohorting of students as much as possible and to limit the number of student-to-student contacts. School boards will be required to limit schedules to two in-person classes (such as quadmestering) with exceptions for schools where contacts can be limited by cohorting grades or if the overall size of the school is small, making contact tracing manageable.”
We recognize that some students experienced challenges with the model, while others preferred it. We are continuing to explore ways to improve the model that was used this year, to better meet the needs of all students. We are currently planning for all in-person students to be attending school each and every day beginning in September 2021. Should the Ministry direction change, we will certainly revisit these decisions.
As a reminder, students and their families will be receiving selection forms for in-person or virtual learning in mid-August when families will have up-to-date information on the status of the pandemic and vaccinations for school staff and students, and will be in a better position to make an informed decision.
We remain hopeful that as the number of COVID cases continues to decline, with the accelerated pace of vaccinations, we will be in a much better situation in the fall with almost everyone back in in-person learning, however we must plan based on the current environment. Should there be any updates or changes, we will let you know as soon as possible.
Thank you.