Few hiccups as 3 Charlottetown high schools went back online, says Public School Branch

The head of the P.E.I. Public Schools Branch says the recent transition back to online learning for the three English language high schools in the Charlottetown region went smoothly.

A lot of groundwork was laid in the spring, smoothing the wayfor the change from in-person classes to virtual ones in the face of alocal COVID-19 outbreak, said Norbert Carpenter.

"Chromebooks were available and delivered," he said.

"Teachers were prepared as well, most of the groundwork was done, so students knew the platform, knew where to look for work and videos and such."

All four public high schools in the capital area, including the French-languagecoleFranois-Buote,moved to virtual learning as part of the COVID-19 circuit breaker public healthprotocols introduced earlier this week.

Carpenter said 20 students with exceptional learning needs are still going tothe three English language schools in the Charlottetown area every day. They are being taught in libraries or other large rooms, well separated from each other.

Ensuringphysical distancing is much easier right nowbecause the majority of students are learning virtually, Carpenter said.

Any students with poor internetat home are also welcome to come use the schools'Wi-Fi but Carpenter said he knows of only one student who has chosen to do that.

"We had very few come back to us and say they had poor internet," he said.

Hopefor in-person classes

Some concerns were raised by students worried they mightnot get the same qualityof education through virtual learning that they would be receivingin person.

Carpenter agrees online learning is not as good as in-class learning.

"Our goal is to keep schools as safe as possible, working with [the Chief Public Health Office],so we can have in-person learning" down the road,he said.

Things such asscience labs andautomotive classes can't be done online, Carpenter noted.

"We're hoping that after the circuit breaker, [if] we seem to be doing well here, that we can get back to in-person learning," he said.

The next step is to look into the operational plans of each school to see if they are "strong enough" to ensure student safety when the schools are ready to reopen, Carpenter added.

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