Youngsters stepping into the classroom for the first time in five months will have a lot to adjust to in their first days.
Frequent handwashing, assigned bathrooms and staggered recesses are among the new practices at Turner Valley School as staff work to protect students from contracting the COVID-19 virus.
“We spent a lot of time planning what the layout of the school is going to be and putting measures in place,” said principal Leah Kingston. “We’ve put a multitude of layers of protection in place. Do we know all the answers? No, but I can promise parents that we’re ready to provide a safe and welcoming environment.”
Kingston said she feels confident that the Foothills School Division and Alberta Health Services provided staff with concrete strategies and systems to assist in providing a safe teaching environment for students during the pandemic.
Among them is establishing cohorts within the school where students are grouped during their day-to-day tasks from entering and exiting the building to playing outside at recess time, she said. In addition, students in Grades 4 and up are required to wear masks.
Which day each student starts school this week depends on their grade, with certain grades attending Monday, others Tuesday and the remaining on Wednesday, and all grades on Thursday, Kingston said.
“I feel really good about that opportunity to bring the kids in in small groups,” she said. “Friday, there is no school for students so we can sit down as a staff and evaluate what worked, what didn’t and what protocols to tweak. That’s putting the community at ease and certainly our teachers as well.”
Students’ desks will be spaced further apart than previous years and each class will be assigned to specific washrooms, water fountains and hand washing stations, Kingston said.
“We’re very strategic with assigning certain spaces with their cohorts,” she said. “Should there be a case, we can confidently work with Alberta Health Services to let people know who was in contact with that individual. We don’t want to close the whole school down. We will never be able to eliminate the risk but we’re mitigating it as much as possible.”
Throughout the school year, staff will gather feedback from students and parents on what’s working and what isn’t, said Kingston, but there will be some things they can’t budge on that’s mandated by the Province.
“We all want what’s best for the kids,” she said. “We want them healthy and nobody wants to return to at-home learning so we’re doing everything we surely can.”
She said staff has been in contact with many parents the past few weeks to address concerns or questions regarding the uncertainty around the new school year.
“We’re doing our best to support some of the needs we hear, whether it be parents that lost jobs or worrying about the health of elderly folks they live with,” she said. “We’re trying to guide parents to make the best decision possible. We certainly communicated with lots and answered questions as best we could.”
During Kingston’s 30-year teaching career – 25 with the Foothills School Division – she’s faced several challenges including the 2013 flood while principal at Highwood High School in High River, and this year’s pandemic is among the biggest challenges, she said.
“It has obviously been challenging but we’re figuring it out together,” she said. “We’re going to continue to provide a safe and welcoming environment as best we can. We miss the kids and we’re ready to welcome them back. We’ll tackle whatever comes our way as best as we can during this pandemic.”
Turner Valley School council chair Andrea Wionzek, who has a child attending Grade 3 this year, said she feels confident about the decisions being made at the school level, such as the staggered entry for students this week.
“The kids will be more comfortable and will get a little sense about what’s going on,” she said. “A few things will be different for storing their supplies, keeping distances from each other and directional flow down hallways. That will give them a little more comfort with that.”
In speaking with other parents, Wionzek learned that many children are excited about returning to school after the five-month hiatus.
“They’ve missed their friends and teachers,” she said. “Especially for elementary kids, they just want to play together. It’s really how they learn.”
As council chair, Wionzek said the group is working with teachers to make the transition back to school as smooth as possible, but there are still some unanswered questions.
“We usually run a hot lunch program but we’re in limbo right now figuring out the logistics of that and if it’s safe or not,” she said. “Fundraising might look different this year. We usually hold the back to school pancake breakfast which probably won’t happen. Getting the school spirit alive might be more challenging.
“I think it will be a learning-as-we-go scenario.”
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