Parents welcome chance to access class

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This article was published 22/11/2021 (1783 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While many schools are strictly hosting virtual student progress conferences out of an abundance of caution this year, some parents are welcoming the opportunity to see the inside of their kids’ classrooms after months of being barred from entry.

“I haven’t actually been able to go into the school since he started. It’s really strange because you don’t really know what their classroom looks like or how it’s structured with COVID,” said Krystyn Zaretski, a mother of a Grade 1 student at École Ste. Anne Immersion.

Zaretski jumped at the opportunity to book an in-person appointment with her elementary schooler’s teacher to talk about how the 2021-22 school year is unfolding.

Above all, she is excited for her six-year-old — who has yet to experience an academic year without pandemic-related disruptions — to be able to point his parents to where he sits during the day and show off some of his school projects.

The Seine River School Division, in which the K-8 school is located, is offering in-person and virtual conferences for families this fall.

Wendy Bloomfield, chairwoman of the board of trustees, said the division is encouraging parents to come into classrooms with safety protocols, including physical distancing and sanitizing, in effect.

Although there is some apprehension about extra visitors in schools, the overall response has been positive, said Bloomfield, who indicated the principal of École Ste. Anne Immersion has reported 100 per cent uptake of in-person meetings that have been booked to date.

“The online stuff is good, interesting, convenient — you don’t have to get dressed up and go out in the cold, but I think people are craving that person-to-person contact. You can see facial expressions better, you can hear voices, you’re not cutting out on a Zoom call, because that happens sometimes. It’s just a little more personal,” said the chairwoman.

Schools will not be offering coffee in libraries or child-care arrangements as they have done in years past, but she said parents can at least meet their children’s teachers face-to-face to ask questions.

Schools in Seven Oaks and Louis Riel divisions are offering a mix of virtual and in-person student progress meetings; the latter is going beyond public health orders to require immunization proof for parents to visit.

In contrast, the majority of conferences in River-East Transcona, St. James-Assiniboia and Winnipeg divisions are being held via videoconference because of COVID-19 concerns.

Last week, thousands of families in Manitoba’s largest school division partook in “tri-conferences,” a term that nods to the fact teachers, parents and students are involved in these annual discussions.

“We’re now going on the third school year where you’re being separated from regular (in-person) contact with the classrooms — it’s difficult,” said Lisa Wilson, a mother of a Grade 5 student at École Laura Secord School.

Wilson said she understands the cautious approach, but she misses both the accountability piece and sense of community that come with parent visits. A typical year would see families mingling on the Wolseley playground before and after meetings.

Given the rollout of vaccines for children is imminent, the Winnipeg mother is hopeful parents will be allowed inside the building by the spring.

Meantime, Sunrise superintendent Cathy Tymko said her division is using autumn conferences as a safe and controlled way to re-introduce parents into buildings. The Oakbank division has padded the time allotted between appointment slots and set-up screening and sanitizing for parents who want to visit in-person, but it is not requiring visitors show vaccination cards to attend in order to remain inclusive.

“What we’ve tried to do here is offer a solution that allows everybody access to what suits them,” said Tymko, adding that “parents having access to teachers is a necessary or essential service.”

With conferences fast approaching in Ste. Anne, mother Jennifer Pacaud is weighing her options. Pacaud, who has a son in Grade 8, said the choice brought about by the pandemic is important, particularly in a school community like hers, where many families live in rural towns located nearly an hour commute from École Ste. Anne Immersion.

“Choice gives them the option of attending versus not attending at all,” she said, adding that these annual meetings are key — no matter what form they take — because they show students both teachers and parents are rooting for their success.

 

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie