For the first time in months, live school board meetings have resumed at Living Sky School Division.
The board held their first meeting back on Wednesday afternoon, after months of closed virtual meetings. But like most things affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, things were a little different.
The actual board meeting was moved to a larger room where the trustees could be better socially-distanced from each other. Meanwhile, a feed was piped back into the boardroom where school administration officials were gathered.
As expected, changes within the division to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic were a prime focus, with the board and School Division officials spending a lot of time on one aspect that had gained a lot of attention lately: virtual learning.
Curriculum superintendents made a presentation to the board outlining the division’s online learning programming. Students had been doing online learning at the end of the last school year, but the need was identified to expand virtual programming during the return-to-school phase and provide that option for those in grades K-12.
The “virtual school” is designed for families who want or require an online at-home educational experience for students enrolled, and is particularly needed for students who have health issues or are immuno-compromised.
Numbers presented at the meeting indicate about 400 students are enrolled in the virtual school, making it a fairly sizeable “school” in the division. The students enrolled come from communities throughout the division.
The expectation is that enrolment numbers will fluctuate, and decrease as provincial restrictions change and as kids go back to their bricks-and-mortar school.
According to the Living Sky School Division director’s report, some information about the program is as follows:
The online program is developed and delivered at no cost to families by Living Sky teachers
The kindergarten to grade 9 instruction will focus around English language arts and mathematics, while science, social science, health, education, arts and physical education will be addressed through project-based learning.
Students in grades 10 to 12 are able to choose among a selection of courses to achieve their high school diploma.
Students who enrol full-time in the virtual school will still be registered through their physical school but their primary contact will be their virtual teachers. Report cards will also be issued through LSSD Virtual.
Virtual classrooms will be comparable in size and composition to other elementary classes in the division and will include students from a variety of schools.
