ATHABASCA - Nothing seems familiar during a pandemic, but Aspen View Public Schools (AVPS) has now welcomed students back to class twice in this school year, and each has proven to be a smooth transition, said board of trustees chair Candy Nikipelo.
The only difference from September, she said, was that the entire student body came back on the same day (Jan. 11) after an extended holiday break as opposed to the staggered start in the fall. Also, teachers were able to use the practical experience they gained in September to make it even easier for everyone this time around.
"We were very hopeful that everybody would be going back and that's why the extra push for the week of online learning for everybody was just to get over the Christmas season,” said Nikipelo. “I thought that was positive right from the start; I was happy with that extra week.”
AVPS communications officer Ross Hunter said in an e-mail Jan. 15 some schools implemented schedule changes to maintain in-school cohorts for staff and students and the division is happy with how everyone has come together to prevent outbreaks.
"We are very pleased and grateful that staff and students have diligently observed COVID protocols. We believe that has helped minimize the number of COVID-19 cases associated with schools, as well as minimize school-based transmission," he said. "Connection and relationship building with students and families is paramount in all learning environments and we continue to develop methods to ensure meaningful engagement."
Supt. Neil O'Shea also commented staff, students and parents have dealt with the uncertainty of the pandemic very well.
“Our staff have done an excellent job adapting to the changes to programming and meeting government protocols in our schools," he said. "We sincerely thank parents and other stakeholders for their continued support and understanding in these uncertain times.”
Nikipelo added the division has also received a lot of good feedback from parents and the students.
“The teachers were told prior to Christmas break, just to be ready so that you're not using your Christmas break preparing for that week of online,” Nikipelo said. “So, I think all the teachers were good and prepared for that.”
She went on to note these are unprecedented times and they do weigh heavily on people, so any good news is positive, like the fact Alberta Education recently sent out more personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies.
"We just got a report (Jan. 13) that we got some more things like PPE today. So, the government is committing to give us more things, which was good because they were getting low on masks and we got some more hand sanitizers … some cleaning stuff,” she said. “So, as supplies were depleted at least they're thinking about us and getting it out to the school division.”
The next thing is to consider what school will look like in the future and if online learning will remain an option even after the pandemic.
“Some of our talk that we had at our meeting (Jan. 13) is we've got to make some big decisions about online learning for next year. Aspen View had a pretty large uptake of the online learning, it was like its own other school; we had to declare a principal,” Nikipelo said. “So, that's some conversations that have to be had with the families that are currently doing the online and whether or not they are going to be considering it for next year, because then that's part of our decision-making when we're thinking around spring budget.”
This semester change was an opportunity for parents to send students back to the brick-and-mortar school or switch them to online learning, but Nikipelo said there was not a lot of change, which reflects how well the online learning is meeting the needs of students and families.
“Lots of the parents that did choose it … they're very happy with the way things have gone, which is good,” she said. “So, that could be the new wave of the future, that every school division in Alberta will offer an online option.”
