The COVID pandemic has forced the St. Clair Catholic District School Board to utilize technology in ways it never thought possible.
That's according to the board's incoming director of education, Scott Johnson, who takes over for the retiring Deb Crawford October 1.
Johnson said from a staffing standpoint, the pandemic has forced the board to use technology to develop staff capacity in ways it hadn't capitalized on before the pandemic.
"Going forward, we see leveraging technology to build staff capacity as something that we really want to explore further," he said. "We [also] hope to leverage this technology and the learning that we've experienced in new and innovative ways so that we can continue to really leverage technology to provide students with rich, complex tasks."
Johnson, who's been the board’s superintendent of education for the past six years, said there are three significant challenges or opportunities to begin the new school year.
"The first one is working with our public health units and our coterminous boards to clarify exact protocols upon the return of school. Second, we need to make sure that we can confirm that every student in our system has access to technology. And I think the third is to continue to understand and support those families and students who were most impacted by the disruptions during the last year."
Johnson said the board wants to ensure that its system embraces the opportunity of leaving the pandemic to continue towards its mission.
"Which is 'learning together today so that our students can transform tomorrow'. And while our goal hasn't changed, I think how we achieve success has to be revisited based on our learning over the past 18 months."
Johnson said the board's focus is to ensure the wellness of students, both in face-to-face learning and in the virtual environment.
"For most students, face-to-face learning and the opportunity to socialize with their peers and their staff is extremely important to students, our staff and our families. We really look forward to the return of activities outside of the traditional classrooms, such as our clubs, sports, the arts, social justice and other experiential learning opportunities."
Johnson was announced as the board's new director of education in July.
-With files from Stephanie Chaves