High school students in the Thames Valley District School Board will soon start attending class on alternating days.
At its meeting on Tuesday night, the board announced that it is changing its schedule for high school students as of the beginning of the second quadmester on November 17. Currently, high school students who opt for in-person learning are on a rotation of being in class for two days and at home for three, and then in class for three days and at home for two days.
As of November 17, they will go to class every other day.
"In conversations with our schools, it has been challenging in particular for students to be at home for three consecutive days, learning content on their own without those face to face opportunities," said Associate Director of Education Riley Culhane. "And so, by changing to an every other day model, it really allows more frequent face to face time between students and teachers. The change will allow for students to be in class when they are learning new content with their teacher and then on the off day when they are at home, that's the day when they may do some practice, may consolidate some of the learning and then prepare for the next day. So, they're not at home on consecutive days in a row and expected to learn new content on their own."
Culhane told trustees that more information about the changes will be sent to parents and students in the coming days.
Changes are also being made to the daily schedule at high schools. Beginning on November 17, classes will still begin at 8:30 a.m., but breaks will be staggered in an effort to reduce exposure among students.
For students in Grades 9 and 10, the morning break will be from 9:30 a.m. to 9:40 a.m.. Class will then run from 9:40 a.m. until 10:40 a.m., at which point students will have another break until 10:50 a.m. Students will then be in class from 10:50 a.m. until 12:50 p.m.
Lunch is scheduled to begin at 12:50 p.m. and run until 1:40 p.m. It will be followed by the optional study hall period.
For students in Grades 11 and 12, they'll be in class from 8:30 p.m. until 10:30 a.m., then on break from 10:30 a.m. until 10:40 a.m., and back in class from 10:40 a.m. until 11:40 a.m. Their second break will run from 11:40 a.m. until 11:50 a.m., at which time they will return to class until their lunch period at 12:50 p.m. The study hall period begins at 1:40 p.m.
The board said students will still have the option of going home instead of study hall.
"During that lunch hour, students do not need to stay at school. Students are free to leave and go home at lunchtime, which will reduce the number of contacts that students may have in re-entering the school," Culhane said. "Those students who choose to stay for lunch and then attend study hall and take the bus home will still be able to do that."