Most students in the Langley School District have returned to the classroom, according to figures released after the first full week of instruction.
“We have had a majority of our students return to in-class learning,” said superintendent Gord Stewart.
Great to see Mr Angell and his choir students back at it and in a safe and appropriate way! Go Gators Go pic.twitter.com/xuEElu3Gnm
— WGSS (@sd35wgss) September 22, 2020
In an update for families and students, Stewart thanked them for their trust, patience and cooperation.
“It is evident our students, staff and families are all working together to ensure we continue to meet health and safety guidelines,” he said. “We realize the situation is not perfect, but we are always striving to improve. We could not have had such a successful week without your support.”
The week was made tougher by the air quality advisory due to heavy smoke in the region from wildfires along the U.S. west coast.
“We hope students had a positive start to the school year despite the poor air quality – as if managing our way through a pandemic is not enough,” he commented.
• 91 per cent enrolled into in-class instruction
• 5 per cent enrolled in the transition support model
• 3 per cent enrolled in distributed learning
• 1 per cent enrolled in homeschooling
The district has expected 20,879 students and 20, 894 are registered in the Sept. 16 head count. But more families opted for home schooling.
In September 2019’s head count, the district had 17 students home schooling. This year’s count is 130.
The district will be communicating plans for the Transition Support Model directly with the families that enrolled prior to Monday which is when learning begins for that program.
“Our intention is for all students in the Transition Support Model (TSM) to return to their enrolled school in January,” Stewart explained. “District and school staff will make every effort to have your child placed in their enrolled school. Our commitment will be to update TSM families by Nov. 30 on what they can expect in January.”
The district is expanding its kindergarten to Grade 7 distributed learning at U-Connect. There is a full-time online learning program developed for students in Graded 1 to 9.
“Those families who have expressed interest in a distributed learning option can expect communication from their schools next week,” he added.
• READ MORE: Langley heads back to class
The pandemic caused the cancellation of StrongStart programs for preschoolers in local schools. But the district has announced it will resume StrongStart on Sept. 28 with a new registration system, fewer children, and strict health and safety guidelines.
“It has been a busy and challenging week for everyone adjusting to all the changes,” Stewart said.
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