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Catholic School Board Working On Grad/Pick-Up Plan

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The Northwest Catholic District School Board is now working on plans to close out the school year.

Director of Education Brendan Hyatt says “We are actually working with our local Northwestern Health Unit and we should have a plan out sometime next week with regards to getting students back into the schools to get their things. We just want to make sure that we do it in the safest possible way and we’ll figure out the best plan to go forward with that in all of our schools.”

Hyatt adds staff at individuals schools are also working on graduation plans.

“All the students. They deserve certainly to be celebrated, their successes and achievements over the years. I know that our principles and our staff at all of our schools are certainly working diligently on various plans. Obviously they will mostly be virtual but we will continue to celebrate and their will be some form of graduation.”

He adds at-home learning will continue despite schools being closed.

 

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Local Catholic Board Adjusting To Learning At Home

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The Northwest District Catholic School Board has launched phase two of its Learning at Home program.

Schools remain closed due to COVID-19.

Director of Education Brendan Hyatt says they have transitioned to online, teacher-led learning.

Hyatt notes they are following Ministry of Education expectations.

That includes:

-Five hours of work, per student, per week, Kindergarten to Grade 3 with a specific focus on Literacy and Math.
-Five hours of work, per student, per week, Grades 4-6 with a specific focus on Literacy, Math, Science and Social Studies.
-Ten hours of work, per student, per week, Grades 7-8

Hyatt adds the expectation of the board is another half hour lesson of Catholic and Christian living values.

He notes “We will leave it up to the families to gauge how much, when and what time their students or children can do the learning. I taught Kindergarten for five years, so an hour at a time or five hours at a time, that’s certainly a long time and really it has to be gauged to the age of the learner.”

Hyatt says they have been reaching out to parents to determine what they need to support online learning, understanding that some people don’t have the necessary technology.

“We are encouraging our teachers and school principals to work with the school board to determine the best, and really the safest way, to provide those families with learning materials. Whether that’s print material or some other form they can use.”

Hyatt notes the board is leveraging all of the knowledge of their Information Technology team to identify different ways of connecting to students.

He adds “Obviously it’s a work in progress. It’s a steep learning curve for all of us. We are going to learn along with our families and do the best we can to support their learning.”