Yellowknife students went back to school virtually and remotely on Tuesday, the first day of the continuation of education after schools closed their doors in March.
All school boards across the NWT agreed on March 25 with a recommendation from the Minister of Education to close schools for the rest of the 2019-2020 year as a safety measure during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Yellowknife Catholic Schools' (YCS) Learn From Home remote program went well on its first day, Simone Gessler, superintendent of YCS said.
"All students were provided their learning packets, either digitally or with a physical package," she said.
About 70 per cent of the families of YCS' three schools connected to the classes online through Google Classroom and other portals, Gessler said. The school board is trying to increase the number of students connecting online.
"Those (who) do not have access to the internet will be provided hard copy packets of the learning outcomes and will then submit those through drop-boxes located at the three schools," she said.
"Teachers of upper grades are connecting with students through Google Meet classes, office hours, and videotaping their lessons and tutorials. We will evolve with lessons, plans, and online/hard copy assignments as we continue to navigate what remote learning entails and how to best meet the needs of our students."
The upper grades are being taught like regular classes.
"The younger grades are check-ins and literacy, numeracy and health and wellness activities that parents and students can complete and then 'hand-in'. Some are tech-related, some are non-tech," Gessler said.
The physical learning packets can be submitted either by parents taking photos of the completed activities and emailing them to teachers, or by dropping off the finished packets in the drop boxes.
They don't have to be dropped off at the same school the child attends, Gessler said in a letter to parents.
The first digital and physical packets are due next Wednesday.
Yellowknife Education District No. 1
NNSL Media has inquired with Metro Huculak, superintendent of Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk 1) about the progress of its continued education since it began on Tuesday, but did not receive a response by press time.
However, the district has worked to assess the technology needs of its families and in the first half of April had sent out surveys seeking feedback on the computing technologies that families had available. YCS also sent out questionnaires asking about families technological readiness for online learning.
For students who don't have computers or internet access, Yk 1 has made available Google Chromebook laptops and iPads that students can borrow and use at home, as explained by Ed Lippert, assistant superintendent, during Yk 1's teleconference meeting of trustees on Tuesday.
Several Chromebooks were ready to be picked up on Thursday in the gymnasium of J.H. Sissons school. Principal Graham Arts said between 20 and 25 of the laptops had been initially set out.