Changes in store for some high school students in return to classrooms

As students, teachers and staff prepare to return to bricks and mortar classrooms Thursday for the beginning of the 2021-22 school year - keeping COVID-19 precautions in mind - one big change lies in store at the Algoma District School Board (ADSB) secondary level.

High school students in that board will return to class on a ‘modified semester model.’

Under that model, ADSB high school students will attend up to four different courses - two in each week.

In Week 1, students will attend a 150-minute period class (Course 1) in the morning followed by lunch and a 150-minute period class (Course 2) in the afternoon each day.

In Week 2, students will attend a 150-minute period class (Course 3) in the morning followed by lunch and a 150-minute period class (Course 4) in the afternoon each day.

“The modified semester model was one of the models suggested by the Ministry of Education in its re-opening guidance and has been approved by many health units across the province, including Algoma Public Health,” the ADSB states.

Several other English language boards in Ontario are going with the modified semester model after some concerns were raised over the quadmester system being too condensed for students.

Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board (H-SCDSB) high school students will return to class on the quadmester model.

The quadmester system involves high school students taking two courses at a time for a period of approximately nine weeks.

The quadmester system was put in place for the 2020-21 school year to keep students, placed in cohorts, from mixing with too many of their fellow students out of fear that would spread COVID-19.

The ADSB and other boards feel the modified semester model will provide a gradual transition back to a regular, pre-COVID semester model in February 2022.

Regardless of which system various school boards in Ontario have chosen, all boards have been instructed by the provincial government to offer remote learning options for students, giving parents a choice if they feel it isn’t safe to send their teens (and/or elementary school level children) back to the classroom due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.

The ADSB, for its part, is strongly recommending immunization and has been informed that the majority of youth have already received at least one dose. The Huron-Superior board is likewise urging staff, teachers and eligible students (age 12 and over) to get vaccinated.

Of major note this September is a return to extra-curricular and inter-school sport activities both in the Sault and Algoma district and across Ontario.

Use of gyms, swimming pools, change rooms, weight rooms, indoor physical education equipment and shared outdoor equipment will be permitted while observing social distancing. 

Specific information regarding sports such as football, volleyball or hockey will be given to participating students and coaches prior to the start of each season.    

“The Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board is both eager and prepared to welcome students to our elementary and secondary schools. We are very grateful to the many employees who worked diligently over the past few months so that both in-person and virtual instruction can begin safely and smoothly this fall...we want to assure everyone that our board remains committed to communicating any additional guidance that we receive from the province and/or our public health units,” wrote Rose Burton Spohn, H-SCDSB director of education in an email to SooToday.

“We look forward to supporting our students as they return to purely in-person and purely virtual classrooms and we journey together in faith and learning,” Burton Spohn wrote. 

Parents in need of any information regarding the beginning of the 2021-22 school year are encouraged to contact their school’s principal or respective school board.