BARRIE, ONT. -- Students returning to school with the Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) will have a staggered start, the board confirmed.
The school board says the pre-registration survey shows that the majority of students will be back in the classroom, while about 15 per cent have opted for remote learning.
Dawn Stephens, SCDSB's Superintendent of Education, said those choosing online learning would not begin until Sept. 21 to allow the board time to develop the distance learning program.
"We will be clustering students from multiple schools if they have opted to remote learning," Stephens explains. "How we do that, in the background, we are still determining."
The board said teachers would contact students in the remote-learning program in the first two weeks of school.
Elementary students will gradually return to school based on surnames:
- Tues., Sept. 8 - students with surnames A to G will attend
- Wed., Sept. 9 - students with surnames H to O will join the A to G group
- Thurs., Sept. 10 - all elementary students will attend
Junior Kindergarten students will return on Thurs., Sept. 10, regardless of surname.
Students in grades 7 and 8 at Elmvale District High School and Stayner Collegiate Institute will stagger entry based on the elementary school dates above.
All students in county class programs, such as social skills, developmental skills, life skills and autism spectrum disorder, will begin on Tues., Sept. 8, and will attend every day.
And for secondary students the staggered start is based on grade:
- Tues., Sept. 8 - grade 9 (includes orientation)
- Wed., Sept. 9 - grade 10 will join the grade nine students
- Thurs., Sept. 10 - all grades will attend school
The board said this method allows families with multiple children to start school together and achieve physical distancing and familiarity with the new health and safety protocols.
A back-to-school fact sheet is available and will be updated by the SCDSB as more details become available.
