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Kids are back in elementary and secondary schools.
Classes resumed on Tuesday.
Nicole Kurtz is the director of education for the Kenora Catholic District School Board and says one of the changes this year is aimed at parents with the processing of electronic documents.
“Families have been asking us for quite a long time, instead of writing cheques, which are a thing of the past, we are really excited to have that for our families, they can make online payments, fill out forms,” enthuses Kurtz.
“We had a slow build up last year, but this is the first year we are going to go, as much as possible, digital. Especially permission forms, which ended up scrunched up in backpacks and now parents get a notification, ‘can you fill out this form digitally’.”
For her part, Christy Radbourne, the director of education of the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board says they are aiming to keep better track of attendance.
“Attendance was named by staff as the number one impediment to learning and growth of students,” explains Radbourne.
“You will see our board focus heavily on helping students being engaged…feel included in our schools. Parents will hear from teachers far sooner when students are away from school. We know that if a student misses 10 percent of a school year through absences, and our school year, that’s only 19 days, once they have missed more than 10 percent, they are at risk of not passing a grade.”
Also new this school year, students will be required make sure cellphones are left at home or turned off in the classroom this year, unless specified by a teacher, and there will be no vaping on school grounds.
