Students and teachers return to class in Northeast after nearly 6 months

Robert Phillips has been home with his two teenagers for months at their homein Hanmer, in Greater Sudbury. He's seen how much they've missed their friends, and the structure of school.

Now, after nearly six months, they're getting ready to go back to class. And despite lingering concerns about safety, Phillips says everyone in his household is happy schoolis back in session.

"For my daughter, I mean she's always been big on school, so it's no surprise, but even my son who's usually more interested in recess and sports and stuff like that, he's excited," Phillips said.

Tuesday marks the first day of a gradual return to class for students in Ontario with parents either sending their children off to school for the first time in nearly half a year, or keeping them home to continue with distance learning.

For Melissa Lamontagne in the Garson area of Sudbury, the decision was "very difficult." In the end, she decided to keep one of her three children home, because of health concerns, while sending her other two children back.

It was hard, because it was like a weekend every day. Logan Lashuk, age 14

She's glad they'll soon have more structure. Her "biggest concern though, is how long is this actually going to function" and whether schools will soon be shut down again.

Rainbow board 'very confident' in health measures

School boards are doing what they can with limited resources to make the return to school as safe as possible for students and staff.

There has been no reduction in class size regulations set by the provincial government. However Sudbury's Rainbow District School Board has hired an additional 30 elementary schoolteachers to keep class sizes small in the younger grades. Other board in the region have also hired additional staff.

The Rainbow District School Board's director of education, Norm Blaseg, acknowledges that a full meter of physical distancing will not always be possible in schools, and so, he says, the primary focus will be on hygiene practices, students wearing masks, and personal protective equipment for teachers along with other precautionary measures.

"This is not a normal school year by any stretch of the imagination," Blaseg said.

Blaseg says he feels "very confident" in the board's health measures, and is hopeful it will be able to avoid any COVID-19 outbreaks in schools. In the case of suspected or confirmed cases, the local public health unit will step in to do contact tracing, and determine ifclasses of students or even entire schools need to be sent home to self-isolate.

Teachers making adjustments

High school teacher StphaneOstrander says returning to school is "bittersweet." The Sudbury Secondary School teacher ishappy to welcome his students back, but he also is thinking about the things he won't be able to do this year. He says he's preparing to "think outside the box" in how he'll teach his vocal music and media arts classes.

Ostrander says he'll be teaching his music classes outdoors allowing his students to spread out and sing before moving indoors to a large auditorium when the weather requires it. New safety protocols also mean he'll be relying more on technology than ever.

"We were notified any paper, anything that's done on paper will have to sit for four days before we can touch it," Ostrander said.

Teacher Shea Henderson in Cochranehasbeen planning how he'll restructure his social studies courses, to teach students effectively during longer class periods.

He's been thinkingof ways to keep students engaged such as going outside, or having virtual guest speakers.

While he's thinking about course content, Henderson says a big focus for him will also be on overall student well being.

Despite the new measures and restrictions, he wants to make school"somewhere students want to come every day, because if it just feels like an institution, that's not a place that you know, 14, 15, 16 year olds are going to want to walk in every day."

'I missed my friends'

At Melissa Lamontagne's house, her two children who are heading back to in-person classes 10-year-old Sam and 14-year-old Logan say they're looking forward to going back.

"I missed my friends at school," Sam said. "I've never went to school with a mask and no lockers before, but I've had to keep my backpack inside the class before, so I think I'll be good."

Logan says it was difficult to adjust to learning from home when schools were closed in March.

"It was hard, because it was like a weekend every day, and I'm used to sleeping in and doing all that and staying up late. So it's hard to wake up and go right to your computer to online to do your school," Logan said.

Their sister, 11-year-old Danika, is staying home and continuing with online learning at least for the start of the school year. She says she feels more safe at home, because of her asthma, but at the same time she misses her friends.

While it may not be the perfect school year, she also knows there are certain perks to staying home.

"I can play with my cats at the same time as working online," Danika said.