A more typical return to Alberta classrooms

Many Edmonton students return to school on Wednesday, and this year will be a more typical return to class for the first time since 2019.

For elementary school student Norah Fikowski, it’s exciting to get back to hang out with friends, and also not have to worry about wearing a mask.

“I didn’t like having my face covered — my face got really sweaty especially around here, and then my mask got wet every time I would breathe,” Norah said.

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Sarah Reid’s daughter Mackenzie is also returning to school, and while it’s going to be a more “normal” year, she is still being cautious.

“She still washes her hands, she still knows if she is sick she can’t go to school and things like that, but it’s kind of nice to be back to normal,” Reid said.

“As soon as they go back to school there is going to be sickness out there, but she has been in camps and stuff all summer and exposed to a lot of kids, so I feel that it shouldn’t be too bad.”

The hope is for this year to come with more consistency and allow students to learn at school the whole year instead of switching to at-home learning. University of Alberta education psychology professor Jacqueline Leighton said structured routine is important for children.

“We shouldn’t downplay ever having our daily routine disrupted by something major and that it can actually have a significant impact on children,” Leighton said.

She added that if parents are anxious about kids returning to school, their kids will likely also feel that.

“To constantly be in a state of vigilance is actually unhealthy for children.”

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“Depending on what parents are feeling, kids might be feeling much more nervous where they don’t want to catch anything, they don’t want to give anything to anyone.”

She said it’s important to talk to kids about what could happen, but also acknowledge we are in a much different place than we were in 2020.

“A lot of anxiety for kids is not knowing what is going to happen and not sure you are prepared to deal with it,” Leighton said.

“I think it’s fair given everything we know that it’s highly unlikely that we are going to go back to what we were experiencing two-and-a-half-years ago, in part because we know so much more.”

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Edmonton Public schools said it’s going to be a more typical year than it has been, but there will still be measures like making sure kids know about proper hand hygiene, continuing to clean and disinfect often and encouraging staff and students to stay home when they are sick.

5:31 Getting back to school in style

The province said in an email to Global News, school authorities will continue to assess whether or not certain schools or grades in their districts should be moved online, if necessary. Decisions to shift entire schools or school authorities to at-home learning will remain with the Alberta government, with input from school authorities.