As Calgary parents prepare to send their kids back to school for the fall semester, inquiries about homeschooling programs are on the rise.
On Tuesday, Alberta’s provincial government confirmed that students would resume in-person classes in the fall, with strict health measures in place amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, the Phoenix Foundation in Calgary has been inundated with calls from concerned parents looking for a spot for their child.
With just over a month before the first bell of the school year, the Phoenix Foundation has reached its capacity.
The school has an enrolment between 250 and 300 students per year, and offers online, at-home and in-school learning with class sizes ranging between 10 and 12 students.
“Parents are definitely worried about putting students back into overcrowded, busy places,” Stinn said. “But by the same token, they want their children to have some interaction, some socialization; they’re worried about their mental health.”
Stinn admits this year’s programming would look a little different due to rigorous cleaning protocols and health measures to help eliminate the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“It allows for all those components to work together to have some social interaction, but to limit that in a controlled way,” she said.
The province ultimately chose Scenario 1 for when students return to class in September.
The scenario’s re-entry plan calls on schools to implement several health measures, including frequent cleaning of surfaces, placing hand sanitizers throughout the schools at entrances and classrooms, grouping students in cohorts and planning the school day to allow for physical distancing, which could include staggering start times for classes, recesses and lunches.
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said schools would be provided with detailed guidance on how to enhance physical distancing but there would not be a limit on class sizes.
The measures aren’t enough for Nancy Gallinger, who is considering enrolling her 10-year-old son in homeschooling programs for the upcoming year.
Gallinger noted the steadily increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Alberta in recent weeks; there are currently more than 1,300 active coronavirus cases across the province.
“The fact nothing is changing other than frequent handwashing and cohorting classes, but there’s no limits on class sizes, so how are they going to keep them safe?”
Both the Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Catholic School District confirmed to Global News on Thursday that they are working on online-learning programs for the school year, and that details would be released in the coming weeks.
As for Gallinger, her family’s decision on homeschooling hinges on the trend of infections.
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