Central Public School in Kingston was a hub of activity and young voices for the first time in weeks since the winter holiday break and suspension of in-class schooling until Jan. 25.
Grade 3 student Leah Patterson says she was excited to see her school friends and say goodbye to remote learning.
“It’s actually really hard because you can’t find stuff that you need to do, like, I can’t even write on my one assignment,” said Patterson.
Grade 6 student Kale Clark says he won’t miss spending hours at a time in front of the computer.
“Online learning is, like, crazy because it’s also hard to learn things when you’re just on a computer for like six hours a day,” said Clark.
Clark’s mother Christina Avery says she has mixed feelings about the return to school because the province is still in lockdown.
“We’ve been told that it’s not safe to associate with anyone outside our household and then we’re pushing our kids out the door to associate with 30-plus other unknown households,” said Avery.
In an open letter to parents posted Jan. 20 on the Limestone District School Board website, director of education Krishna Burra reminded parents and students of the safety measures currently in effect at all the board’s schools.
Burra also called on parents to screen their children before they return to class.
“Families need to ensure they are screening students daily for symptoms. If students experience any signs or symptoms this week, they should be tested for COVID-19 at an assessment centre 24 to 48 hours before returning to school,” Burra wrote.
Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington joins six other regions in southern Ontario for in-class learning.
Toronto, Peel, York, Hamilton and Windsor-Essex are continuing with remote learning as the only option for their students because of the continued high number of COVID-19 cases in those areas.
The province of Ontario says those regions won’t return to in-class learning until Feb. 10 at the earliest.