Students within the St. Clair Catholic District School Board will be faced with several new enhanced health and safety measures as they return to their classrooms in September.
The Catholic board released its plan for students returning to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic on Friday, which included staggered start dates for all elementary and secondary schools. Official start dates for students will be finalized and communicated to parents next week, the board said.
Catholic elementary schools will reopen as normal with an in-person teaching model, however, several health and safety protocols will be in place.
As well, elementary students will be grouped together in a cohort for the full day in the same classroom for 300 minutes of face to face instructional time. Elementary schools will begin and end at regular times.
The Catholic board will be using a "quadmester" approach for secondary school students, which will have them taking two courses at a time for a 10 week period, in an alternating week schedule. The timetable has been designed to limit direct and indirect student contacts to around 100 students per week, the school board said.
Secondary students will also be limited to a single cohort per week.
Families will also have the option to have their children learn from home remotely. Families who wish to do so will need to inform the board of its choice by August 28 by participating in a survey that has already been sent out.
Students in all schools will be required to practice physical distancing, hand hygiene, and respiratory etiquette at all times. As well, all students in Grades 4 to 12 will be required to wear non-medical or cloth masks when indoors and on school buses. Students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 are encouraged but not required to wear masks.
Many enhanced cleaning protocols will also be added to the regular cleaning routines at every school.
For more information about the St. Clair Catholic District School Board's back to school plan, click here.