Vancouver Island students return for another pandemic school year
Tuesday marked the start of a new school year and just like last year we’re still in a global pandemic.
At Campus View Elementary School in Saanich, B.C., Grade 5 student Isla Reece couldn’t be happier to be heading back to class.
“I feel great,” said Isla. “Also I’m really looking forward to seeing my best friend.”
With COVID-19 still a factor, Isla’s mom is trying to be optimistic that this year will be as safe as last year.
“We lucked out,” said Salina Reece. “I know some schools have had some outbreaks but we did not, so fingers crossed for another year of that.”
The principal at the school is confident that enough measures are in place to keep everyone safe.
“There’s still protocols in the school about arrows and patterns of behaviour,” said principal Dwayne Doyle. “Lots of hand washing, masks protocols.”
Over on the West Shore, Belmont High School was welcoming Grade 9 students on Tuesday morning.
“I’m excited to start a real school year again,” said Emma Bayne. “Like a normal school year.”
Grades 10 through 12 will get their start on Wednesday.
Last year, high school students saw the biggest disruption in how they attended school.
“We would have half our students in the morning so every class full with half the population,” said Ryan Dube, vice-principal at Belmont High School. “Then at lunchtime everyone would head home and a new crew would come in and we’d have the second half.”
This year, high school students will be back to full-time learning. No cohorts, no spilt shifts.
Some things are still the same. Sanitization stations are still set up throughout the school. Directional arrows will continue to try to control the flow of traffic and masks are a must.
“We want everyone wearing masks the entire year on school property, inside or outside,” said Alana Brown, a Grade 12 student leader.
“I’m optimistic by nature and so I certainly hope by me saying this, I’m not jinxing it but I hope that we end this school year almost back to normal,” said Ravi Parmar, chair of the Sooke School District board.
Back at Campus View Elementary, everyone seems to be looking forward to what this new school year will bring.
“I’m looking forward to getting to watch them do their sports again,” said one mother of two children who attend the school.
“That will be really cool,” said her son. “That will be a highlight of my day.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.