Amy Ward’s two daughters, 10-year-old Codie and five-year-old Rhea, will be returning to in-person learning at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School next month.
The Sudbury family decided to keep the girls home and take part in online learning for the first quarter of the school year as a precaution in case the area’s COVID-19 numbers spiked.
But seeing that local infection numbers are still low, and after discussing the matter with the girls’ grandparents and other family members, they’ve contacted St. Francis and informed the school that Codie and Rhea will return to school next month.
Local parents who are considering switching their kids from online distance learning to in-person learning — or vice-versa — have a decision coming up.
Most local school boards told Sudbury.com that families who wish to switch their kids' learning modality need to inform their schools sometime this month, with a November return date.
Ward said her kids’ online teachers have been great, but the issue for her family is that both girls are in French Immersion, which means a language barrier for her and her husband in trying to help them with school work.
Ward’s younger daughter, who is in Grade 1, especially needs hands-on support from her parents with online school.
Ward said she’s also concerned about the kids missing the social aspect of school, which is one of the main reasons she decided to send them back.
“They are definitely missing the social aspect of going to school, especially my older one,” she said.
“She has the friends she’s had since she’s started school, so she definitely misses that day-to-day interaction with them. The little one, she only just finished SK when all of this came about, so she hadn’t really established a solid group of friends. I’m a little bit concerned about her socialization.”
Cut-off dates for moving between online and in-person learning vary depending on school boards.
Sudbury Catholic District School Board schools have posted a letter on their Facebook sites, saying pivoting from one learning modality (face to face or remote) will be restricted to key periods such as after mid-term after Christmas holidays and after March break for the elementary panel. At the secondary level, pivoting will take place after each quadmester.
The soonest Sudbury Catholic elementary students can move from one method of learning to another is Nov. 16. The deadline for families to indicate their intent to switch modalities is Oct. 29.
The cut-off date for switching learning modalities has already come and gone for families whose kids are being educated by the local French Catholic board.
Families were required to inform Conseil scolaire catholique Nouvelon of their intent by Oct. 16. The transition date for all of the boards’ elementary and secondary schools is Nov. 9, with the exception of Collège Notre-Dame, which has a transition date of Nov. 30.
At the local French public board, Conseil scolaire publique du Grand Nord de l’Ontario, the cut-off date for switching between in-person and online learning is Oct. 26, with a transition date in November after report cards are handed out.
Rainbow District School Board released information on switching between learning modalities Oct. 21.
The board is asking parents to fill out online forms to confirm their kids' status by Oct. 28. No changes will be considered after the deadline, as the board requires time to re-organize classes.
Kids will be able to transfer from one learning modality to another Nov. 12. The next opportunity for such a transfer will be Feb. 8.
We also asked local school boards what kind of impact students migrating between in-person and online learning might have on staffing needs.
Sudbury Catholic director of education Joanne Bénard said the board is not certain at this time, as they don’t know how many requests there will be.
“That being said, if staffing adjustments are required, these will be made carefully and thoughtfully as all of our changes have been since September,” she said in an email to Sudbury.com. “We do recognize that these changes might impact classrooms and staffing.”
Bénard also said it is important to note that the movement from one learning modality to the other may need to be delayed in certain situations due to the impact it may have on staffing.
Both French boards also acknowledged that student switching may also have some impact on staffing.
Lynn Farmer said she plans on sending her 17-year-old son, Kyle, back to in-person learning at Chelmsford Valley District Composite School in November.
She said her son has some mental health concerns, and the circumstances caused by the pandemic have caused him anxiety.
Farmer said Kyle was unable to take part in the emergency distance learning this spring when the pandemic hit for this reason.
He went back to his high school in September, but didn’t last a week because all of the changes there due to COVID-19 caused his anxiety to spike.
Online learning also hasn’t worked out, so Farmer plans to send him back to his high school again next month, hoping that staff will be able to work something out so he can stay in school. As it is, Farmer figures he’s going to have to repeat Grade 11.
“Fingers crossed,” she said. “He’s going to give it a try. We’re not going to stress out about it, because his mental health is more important than school.”
The woman also has a younger son, 14-year-old Kayden. The boy has autism, and normally attends an ASD class at Jean Hanson Public School (which serves students with disabilities), but has been taking part in online learning this fall.
In Kayden’s case, online learning has worked out, and he’ll continue to receive his schooling this way for now.
“He caught onto it,” she said, adding that Kayden found his classroom at Jean Hanson school a bit chaotic for his liking. “He knows what to do and listens more. There’s a lot less anxiety, a lot less acting out.”
