An Okotoks father had to wait a few days for his son’s first day of school when Meadow Ridge School postponed its 2020-21 opening due to a staff member testing positive for COVID-19.
However, Zachary Chorney was all smiles as he waited to pick up his Grade 1 son Alexander from school that first day on Sept. 4.
“I was surprised but happy that they postponed it – that they said: ‘Hey let’s wait,’” Zachary said. “Zander was devastated (Sept. 1) but he was so excited today.”
Meadow Ridge School postponed its first day of school on Sept. 1 when one staff member tested positive for COVID-19 the day before.
A thorough cleaning of the school was done the evening of Aug. 31 and although Alberta Health Services said the kindergarten to Grade 9 school could open, Meadow Ridge School administration and the Foothills School Division executive opted to wait until Sept. 2 to officially open its doors to students.
A notice to all Meadow Ridge School parents was sent by email on Aug. 31 informing parents of the situation.
The first day of classes on Sept. 2 went relatively smoothly, said Meadow Ridge principal Rebecca Forchuk.
“Some parents wondered why we were still at the school and other parents wondered why did we close the school for the day,” Forchuk said after school was out on Sept. 4. “Everyone just wanted to know why and understand how the decision was made.
“People were very understanding.”
She said some parents chose to have their child stay at home for the first week.
Like all the schools in the division, Meadow Ridge School had a staggered start for students, with approximately 200 of its 600 students attending each of the first three days. The students scheduled for Sept. 1, like Chorney, had their first day on Sept. 4.
“That allowed us to have that really soft start,” Forchuk said. “We were able to see what it looks like on a small scale… It was so great to have the kids in the building, and things went really well. We have great structures in place from staggering our lockers, our recesses, keeping kids in their classroom and teachers are moving to them, rather than having kids in the hall at the same time.”
There was no school for students on Sept. 8, as staff and administration fine tuned all of its COVID-19 protocols. All of the students are scheduled to attend on Sept. 9.
“Our big word is ‘flexibility’” Forchuk said. “Just going with it. Does this work? If not, we are going to change it.”’
Sarah Curtis was picking up her Grade 8 son Josiah from Meadow Ridge on Sept. 4.
“I was really upset on Tuesday (Sept. 1) when they couldn’t go back, so I packed up the kids and went camping,” Sarah said. “None of this scares me at all. I am very happy they are back at school.
“They (Meadow Ridge) are handling it as well as they can. They are not being lackadaisical, but not being too over the top. You can’t please everybody.”
Josiah said he was pleased with his first day of school being postponed until Sept. 4.
“It was fine today,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zachary Chorney said having his son back at school, after three months of school at home due to in-class learning being stopped across the province in mid-March, is a relief.
“It was brutal – I am not going to lie,” Zachary said. “You have a totally different appreciation and respect for teachers because it was absolutely brutal.”
For more information go to www.fsd38.ab.ca
