LAKELAND - This month marks the one-year anniversary for Lakeland schools — and much of North America — since the first measures were implemented in reaction to the initial coronavirus outbreak. Appropriately, it's been a year of lessons learned for area school officials and the communities they serve.
"It's been a year since we first started talking about COVID restrictions in our schools ... we continue to review our practices and make improvements when they are identified. " says Northern Lights Public Schools spokesperson Nicole Garner, adding that through challenging and often frustrating times, the community support has been constant. "We know many people are getting tired of dealing with the restrictions and not being able to socialize and participate in certain activities. We appreciate the support everyone has shown to our schools and staff."
On March 15 last year, provincial officials announced that all Alberta schools would revert to online learning as cases of the global pandemic increased. The move created many challenges for students, staff and community members. The at-home learning lasted for the remainder of the school year. Final exams were cancelled, grades were estimated and grad ceremonies were postponed or re-invented as virtual or drive-by event. By the start of the 2020-21 school year, some restrictions had changed, but the province was still under a public health state of emergency. In class teaching began in September, but by November provincial officials again opted for a hybrid virtual plan that saw students from Grades 7-12 learn from home while younger students remained in school settings. On December 18 of last year, as classes across the province broke for the Christmas break, provincial officials announced they would push back in-class teaching for all students until the second week of January. In the weeks since the start of the year, provincial infection rates of the virus have decreased and despite some sporadic cases, schools have remained with in-class learning.
Even as active cases and hospitalizations continue to decrease and vaccines are administered to Albertans, Garner is pleased to see community members continue to take active roles to keep students safe and healthy.
"We especially appreciate the co-operation from parents in identifying when their children have symptoms and keeping them at home, taking children for testing when recommended, and letting us know when students have tested positive for COVID," said Garner. "We believe this has contributed to preventing in-school transmission of COVID, and has allowed us to continue to have as many students as possible attending in-person classes in our schools."
It has been a year of upheaval, says Garner — but also one that has shown the strength and understanding of all stakeholders.
'Our staff, students and parents (and) guardians have done a great job of implementing and complying with the procedures that are in place," she says, adding that when the pandemic measures are eased enough to allow it, one of the first big school gatherings will likely be some sort of appreciation event. "We are all looking forward to the time when we can host events at our schools and thank our parents and community members in person for everything they have done to support us over the last year."
St. Paul Education
During the March 10 St. Paul Education school board meeting, the topic of the one-year aniversary since classes were initially cancelled due to COVID also came up.
