Elementary students and staff will have their temperature taken by a hand held thermometer before starting classes at Little Chiefs Primary School near Williams Lake.
The school is one of more than 100 First Nation-operated schools in B.C. that will be welcoming students back in the classroom amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We need to make it as comfortable, soothing and welcoming as possible,” said lead teacher JoAnne Moiese who has worked tirelessly with other staff to ensure they and the school are ready to safely open.
“I don’t want to scare students and I don’t want to frighten the parents, but I need them to also realize that this is serious — that we have to take it seriously.”
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Following B.C.’s back to school principles established by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, the Kindergarten to Grade 4 school is looking to open on Sept. 10.
Before entering the classrooms, students and staff are expected to apply hand sanitizer from one of the bottle pumps placed near the entrance which Moiese said will eventually be replaced with a motion sensor automatic dispenser.
Inside the upper floor classroom where 15 students will receive lessons, the desks have been spaced apart and one-way directional arrows have been applied to the ground where carpet once was.
Downstairs where there will be 11 students, Moiese said she was grateful for School District 27 that has provided students with individual desks until an order arrives from Sandtronic.
“We’re limited with space,” she added, noting there are 26 students rerolled and five on their waiting list. “Our dream list is to have a larger school.”
Parents won’t be able to access the school, and are required to provide an emergency contact to immediately take their child home should they be feeling unwell.
Although students will not be required to wear a mask in the classroom, the bus driver for Little Chiefs Primary School will be using a face shield as they had previously in May and June.
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The school which closed earlier this spring, had reopened at the end of May and held a summer school that wrapped up in July.
“I think that was our trial basis,” Moiese said, noting she had received support in ensuring the appropriate guidelines were met from the First Nations Education Steering Committee and Emergency Management BC as well as Williams Lake First Nation senior education manager Norma Sure and chief administrative officer Aaron Mannella.
Before the school year officially begins, Moiese will be providing parents an opportunity to tour Little Chiefs Primary School and see the safety precautions that have been put in place.
“I feel good but a lot of that I have to give to my staff because if I didn’t have them returning, if I didn’t have their support in getting everything set up then I would probably feel pretty stressed,” she said, noting she will be wearing a t-shirt that says ‘be healthy, be happy, be kind’ on their first day of classes.
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