More than 60 students learning online in Catholic division

By MO CRANKER on September 25, 2020.

Like other school boards in the area and around the province, the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education has created online programming for students who are not back for in-person learning.

The board has more than 60 students who are learning online and has teachers working directly with students every day.

“We’ve had 66 kids registered from Kindergarten through Grade 9 for our online learning,” said deputy superintendent Chuck Hellman. “We’ve also had 11 kids who have requested to go from online learning back to face-to-face learning.

“Kids being in school is a great thing for them socially and emotionally, but we’re going to be there to support anyone who chooses online.”

Hellman says the school board is doing everything it can to make schools safe, including extra cleaning staff, physical distancing and sanitizer all around schools.

MHCBE is offering a French immersion option for kids K through Grade 6, and has teachers assigned to working with online students.

Hellman says students are welcome to return to school at any point.

“We’ve told our students and parents that kids can come back and learn face-to-face,” he said. “We want people to know that they can come back when they feel they can.”

Hellman says he thinks more and more students are getting comfortable with the idea of being in a classroom.

“In the first week of classes we added a few students to the online program, but since then we haven’t had any,” he said. “We’ve had a number of students return to be back with their friends and it’s great to see.”

Hellman says there is no decision date as of right now for families to commit fully to online or in-class lessons.