Latest details from your local school boards: Lakeland area schools talk next steps

Here are the latest details regarding school boards in the area addressing often-asked questions following the cancellation of K-12 classes.

Northern Lights Public Schools

Today our division office leadership team participated in a conference call with Alberta Education where we received a bit more direction on how we are to proceed in the coming weeks.

Tomorrow we will be speaking to jurisdictional leaders throughout the province to discuss options for providing programming to students.

Our goal is to create a plan that will offer learning opportunities for our students and will be consistent with other jurisdictions in the province.

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Parents will still have the opportunity to discuss their child’s progress with their child’s teacher(s) this week, but it will not be in the format that had been planned. Instead of in-person meetings or student-led conferences, your child’s school or teacher will contact you to set up a time to talk over the phone or via videoconference.

Please note that these meetings will focus on discussing your child’s progress to date this year, and not on what programming may be provided to them moving forward.

Those details will be shared at a later date.

Student Belongings

Many parents and students have asked when they can come to school to collect personal items and other things they have at school.

Please do not drop by the school to pick things up as we are unable to provide access to our schools to parents at this time.

We are working on a process that will allow people to retrieve belongings and your child’s school will share details with you about the procedure to follow once they have been confirmed.

If there are items that are needed urgently (medically related, etc.) please contact your child’s school to make arrangements.

Report Cards

Report cards will be shared with parents this week.

Our schools are working on plans to distribute them and will share those plans with parents.

Programming for Students

We can assure you that every student in every grade will receive a final mark for the classes they were enrolled in before classes were cancelled.

As mentioned above, we are working with Alberta Education and other school jurisdictions in the province to determine what continuity of programming for students will look like and what the possible methods of delivery may be.

It may take some time to determine how this will work for Northern Lights students.

We want to ensure that we are able to provide students with opportunities that are valuable for them and that we will be able to provide on a consistent basis, while also dealing with the potential impact of COVID-19 on our operations, including staff who need to self-isolate or may become ill.

Once we have a plan developed, we will share details with all of our parents and students.

Provincial Assessments

Provincial Achievement Tests for Grade 6 and 9 students have been cancelled.

Provincial Diploma Exams are still going ahead, but there may be changes made to what students will be required to write them and how they are delivered.

Alberta Education is working on clarifying this for school divisions and we will update you on this when information is available.

Grade 12 Students and Graduation

As was mentioned by the Education Minister, every student who was on track to graduate will graduate.

As discussed above, we will have information in the coming days about how we will be delivering content for students so they can meet course requirements and complete graduation requirements.

At this time we are unsure of what graduation ceremonies will look like and when they might be hosted.

We will be working with schools, students and parents to determine what alternatives may be available.

Our focus at this time is on ensuring students have what they need academically, so it may take some time for us to determine how to address graduation ceremonies.

Refunds for Field Trips, Pre-Purchased Items, and Fees

As we only learned of classes being cancelled at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, we have not yet had an opportunity to determine what the process will be for refunding fees that parents have paid for field trips that have been cancelled, hot lunches that aren’t going ahead, and our out of school care and preschool programs which have been closed.

We hope to have an answer for you before the end of the month.

Services to Students

Our school administrators, mental health consultants, and school counsellors will be working closely with Alberta Health Services to ensure that students who were receiving mental health and counselling services will continue to be able to get the assistance they need.

For students accessing inclusive education services, we are also working with our partners at Alberta Health Services on accessing assistance for families and students.

If you have specific concerns, please do not hesitate to call your child’s school for assistance with meeting students’ needs.

We will provide further updates as they become available. Please take care during these challenging times.

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St. Paul School Division

As you may be aware, the Province of Alberta has closed all K-12 schools as part of aggressive measures to ensure public safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, all St. Paul Education schools are closed to students and buses are not operating.

This is a rapidly evolving situation and we know school families have many questions.

St. Paul Education is working diligently with Alberta Education, Alberta Health Services and other agencies, and we are committed to maintaining communication with school families as issues are addressed.

Personal Items/Textbooks

Please contact the school prior to coming to collect any items.

As per Alberta Health Services’ recommendations to limit the transmission of the Coronavirus, our schools now have a zero-tolerance for any illness.

If students or parents are exhibiting any symptoms, they will not be allowed in school to pick up items.

We ask that all visitors please check in at the main office.

Standardized Testing

Grade 6 & 9 Provincial Achievement Tests are cancelled.

Diploma exams are going ahead as scheduled at this time, however, they are under review.

The Government of Alberta has expressed confidence that every student who is eligible to graduate from Grade 12 this year will do so.

Additionally, we were informed students will progress to their next grade level next school year.

Educational Program Delivery

Programming and support for students will be determined in the very near future.

St. Paul Education is committed to working with families through these unprecedented times. Teachers are right now developing lessons to support your child’s learning.

Lesson delivery options will be provided that allow all students to continue with their courses, regardless of their access to technology.

These delivery methods may include posting lessons online or lessons on paper that may be picked up from the school.

Our first priority will be lesson delivery to students enrolled in grade 12 courses with diploma exams.

Shortly thereafter, our focus will turn to all high school core courses to be followed by grade K-9 support.

As far as timelines when lessons will be posted, school divisions across the province are working together to ensure all students have equitable access.

Rest assured, our teachers are ready to provide instruction and we are awaiting final direction.

When finalized, we will immediately be providing students and parents with instructions as to how their children can access the lessons.

Off-Campus Education

Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAP) and Work Experience placements are currently on hold.

Schools are in the process of contacting student employers to discuss a plan during the coming weeks.

Dual Credit courses will continue according to the decisions of the post-secondary institution with which the student is registered.

We will be sharing more information as it becomes available and we encourage you to check back to this website for the latest updates.

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Lakeland Catholic School District

We request that parents and students wait for further instructions before coming to the school to pick up students’ belongings, books and materials.

Lakeland Catholic School Division senior administration will be meeting with principals and staff through the course of this week and into next week to make decisions regarding the delivery of academic programs in the foreseeable future.

Parents will be informed in the next week as to how Lakeland Catholic Schools and their specific school will move forward to deliver academic programing to students during the time when school is cancelled.

Updates will be available through the social media feeds of individual schools.

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Conseil scolaire Centre-Est

Update 10:00pm on Monday evening.