The Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) will return to Level 4 remote learning, starting on Thursday. In a letter sent on Wednesday, South East Cornerstone Public School Division director of . . .
“I had been in a French Immersion program since kindergarten myself, and I’m also from a small community like Estevan,” said Cooper, who hails from Dauphin, Man. “So it just seemed like a really good fit to start a program that I love so much and that I believe in so much.” Cooper is currently finishing her final practicum. She completed a bachelor’s degree at Brandon University with a major in music and a minor in French, and she is wrapping up her bachelor in education in early years at the university. Her parents put her in French Immersion when she was in kindergarten, and it has opened so many opportunities for her.
The co-ordinator of that four-member SECPSD team, Jeff Walters, provided some insights into the responses that were implemented in 2020 and have since rolled out into 2021. There was a need to keep educating 8,300 students in the public school system in southeast Saskatchewan amidst an evolving environment that included school lockdowns, a partial return to classrooms, more shutdowns, a full return to classes and a continual demand to maintain a strong system of providing education materials. This all had to be delivered by education professionals and school administration teams. Walters provided background information to the SECPSD board members who were once again meeting in an online manner on Wednesday for their monthly open business session. The one-hour presentation included video highlights as well as his verbal and written submissions.
Spruce Ridge School in Estevan has remained at remote learning this week, due to limited staff availability. The kindergarten-Grade 8 school will return to Level 2 on May 3. Cornerstone director of education Lynn Little said Spruce Ridge remains at remote learning because a number of staff members have been adversely affected by COVID-19. She knows of two who tested positive, while others are close contacts. “We just do not have the staffing required to operate the school next week. So we’ll be able to operate it remotely and then hopefully bring it safely back on the 3rd.” The Estevan Comprehensive School and Grades 9-12 at the Weyburn Comprehensive School will move to Level 3 effective April 26, with a planned return to Level 2 on May 10th. Those two schools were at Level 3 for the final few weeks of 2020 and the first couple of months of this year.
The board also welcomed the online presence of Desirée Fisher, who was making a bus transportation appeal that would allow her son transportation to attend Arcola school following the family’s move that would otherwise place him in the Lampman School attendance area. The board retreated to an in-camera session following the general public meeting to consider the application, promising Fisher she would receive word of their ruling in a timely manner. On another issue, Director of Education Lynn Little noted during a round table discussion that a media release had been issued regarding the return to school schedules that had been posted for both SECPSD and the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School system.