It’s that time of year again where kids are breaking in those shiny new backpacks for the first day of school, and students at Tweedsmuir Public School in London, Ont., are expressing mixed feelings.
For the first time in two years, masks are not mandatory as students return to class in person with a more definite promise of field trips and extracurriculars on the horizon.
Both the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) and the London District Catholic School Board (LCDSB) began classes on Wednesday.
“I’m excited to learn new stuff and make new friends,” said Anna-George Ronsha, a new Grade 4 student at Tweedsmuir.
Having recently moved to the school districts area with her family, Ronsha’s mother, Ronsha Robin, said she’s happy the year is starting off on a more normal note for her daughter.
“It’s nice to get back to a normal routine after two months but it’s also stressful,” she said. “But I’m excited for her.”
Pnar Acar, a mother of two students in grades 4 and 7 at Tweedsmuir, also said that making the transition back to solely in-person has almost been nerve-wracking.
“I hope to see that learning from home will not be coming back,” Acar said. “They’re learning better when they’re in person.
“I also hope there’s going to be more activities for school than we’ve seen in the last two years,” she added.
Students at Tweedsmuir are also welcoming new friends into their recently renovated and updated school.
“The project was approved several years ago to move forward,” said Ann-Marie Parsons, principal of Tweedsmuir Public School.
“Start to finish, it took almost two years.
“Our spaces are bright and inviting for learning,” she continued. “Our play area has also seen some upgrades and we were also fortunate to get some play equipment from Fairmont when they closed so there’ll be some familiar structures and pieces for the students who are joining us.”
More than 100 students are attending Tweedsmuir from the now-closed Fairmont Public School on Hamilton Road.
Brenton Thomas is one of those students and his mother, Jenny Butler, said they’re ready to “turn over a new leaf.”
“I think that this is wonderful,” she started. “He’s in a new school now that has air conditioning, and the mask mandate has been lifted, so everyone can see each other smiling and laughing and having a good time.
“I’m just hoping for a positive new beginning for them because they’ve had a long couple of years.”
Oni Young, an eighth-grade student leader, couldn’t agree more and told Global News that she can’t believe that after two unpredictable years, she’s able to finish her last year in elementary school strong and away from virtual classrooms.
“I’m hoping that it’s going to be the most exciting year I’ve ever had because it’s my last year,” she said.
Mark Fisher, director of Education for TVDSB, said on Wednesday that roughly 98 per cent of students are back in person. However, he said that some challenges still remain.
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“There are challenges around well-being for staff and students,” he said. “People’s experiences have been so variable over the last two years that we can’t make any assumptions about how people are feeling, their readiness to learn, and some of the potential learning recovery areas that we’re going to need to focus in on this year.
“I think we’re going to try to have as typical a year as possible, you know, laughing with friends, connecting in person with teachers. But we have to be really cognizant of the fact that kids are coming from different spaces.”
Parsons added that, in connecting Tweedsmuir and former Fairmont students, her hope is to see “strong relationships form.”
“That’s when real learning can happen,” she concluded.
On Tuesday, Ontario’s education minister, Steven Lecce, “guaranteed” that classrooms and schools will remain open over the duration of the year, regardless of potential provincial spikes in infections.
“I am fully committed to a stable return to class without disruption through to the end of June,” he wrote in a statement. “By working together, we can help Ontario students continue to learn in-person for the entire school year, catch up on their studies, and enjoy the normal school experience that students deserve.”
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