EASTERN PASSAGE, N.S. — Dedicated lanes in hallways, spacing between desks, assigned spots for phys ed and individual Chromebooks for every child are just some of the pandemic measures a junior high school in Eastern Passage showed to the Chronicle Herald on Thursday.
Dorothy Hart, principal of Eastern Passage Eduction Centre, said it was “definitely a different kind of preparation this year.
“Instead of solely looking at how your room is set up and looking at who your students are and their learning needs, you're also looking at a whole new level of procedures and routines and skills that students are going to have to be explicitly taught.”
Signage and decals are everywhere, reminding people to maintain social distancing, to wash their hands, and to wear their masks.
“If you teach them something (kids) are pretty good at taking on something new,” Hart said. “They learn faster than we do as adults, but we kind of have to be consistent and everybody teaching the same thing.”
There will be no changing classrooms between periods. The teachers will come to the students, instead, except for phys ed, family studies or tech ed, like wood shop.
Hart said a side benefit of that will be increasing actual learning time since they won't spend time going between classrooms.
Most classrooms have been set up with two metres between desks but there are a couple where that full spacing was not possible due to enrollment sizes. Still, they have been spaced as much as they can be.
Students will have to wear masks all the time except when they are actually sitting at their desks, socially distanced, facing the teacher, or when they are outside.
There are more than 420 students at the school, in both English and French immersion.
“We've repurposed some rooms,” Hart said. “Some of our rooms have dividers that can be moved over. And we've made some rooms bigger depending on class size, and kind of prioritized bigger classes moving to bigger spaces.”
As well as distance reminders on the floors inside, they are also on the pavement outside.
The school has also mapped out zones outside the school that teachers can reserve for outdoor learning. Some members of the community have even donated wood stumps for rustic seating.
“We're definitely encouraging more time outside. And breaks, more frequent breaks, even if you're still doing something in regards to learning but you're getting up and going outside,” Hart said.
“We're very lucky because we have a huge amount of space here,”
The school is also assigning entrances to each grade cohort and taking steps to reduce the traditional crowded start to the day.
“We usually use our front doors for everybody entering, that's now for Grade 8, our side doors are for Grade 6 and our back doors are for Grade 7s,” Hart said.
“We've gotten rid of bells, because bells signal crowds, so in the morning we kind of have a 20 minute window when teachers are on duty and class starts where homeroom teachers will be in their rooms and as students arrive – because some buses arrive earlier than others, some students arrive earlier than others – we will gradually be outside at all three doors with staff on duty allowing people to come in and head up to their home room.”
Lockers in the school are zip-tied. The only ones that aren't sealed that way are used for storing hand sanitizer, and only staff have the keys. Storage for students' kit will be in the classrooms.
“Teachers have been Pinteresting heavily, buying baskets at the Dollarama and zip-tying it under the chair, but just below the chair so you can slide duotangs and things in there, and pencils, so really being creative and doing things that can be removed, can be sanitized, things like that.”
The gymnasium has one door designated an entrance and another an exit. Every class must follow its own line and spots for individual students are marked on the floor, each angled to face the instruction boards. There are also activity systems that students can use interactively, such as hitting a ball toward a wall and the system tracking the motion.
“Food is something that's (also) changed,” Hart said. “We generally have a cafeteria the kids at lunchtime go down to, and they order their food. Some kids order online, some kids go pick what they want. So that has all changed. Our cafeteria provider's new this year and they are doing pre-packaged meals so that they are safely prepared and individualized, and they will be getting those ready, and we will be delivering those to classrooms.”
The breakfast program is also changing. Bins will be taken to every class with items that can be passed out to those who want them.
Every student will also have their own dedicated Chromebook that no one else will use and will be frequently sanitized.
Hart said she's been sending out information to families for about two weeks now.
“Some parents are really excited, like 'we need our kids to go to school,' because kids like school. Even the ones that don't like 'school,' like school because it's a schedule, it's return to normalcy, to see people you know. So I think any parents that were feeling a bit apprehensive or nervous, sending emails about the things we've been doing, some of the imagery and pictures and sharing it on social media and letting them know what's happening at their children's school.”
“And today, we had people coming by for masks. I said today and tomorrow, if you don't have masks, every child is getting two masks, so they can come in and pick them up.”
She estimated between 25 and 30 kids picked up masks on Thursday.
“I think teachers are excited to be back to work. The masks – people are getting used to that. But I think everybody's already used to it from like heading to Costco, heading to any store, public places, so people are getting used to that.”
