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Kitchener-Waterloo

2-week staggered start to school for elementary students in Waterloo region's public board

The Waterloo Region District School Board will be doing a two-week staggered start to school, with students being separated into two groups based on their last names.

There are no changes to WRDSB high school start dates

CBC News ·
Students are pictured being welcomed back to school with physical distancing protocols in place at Lynn Valley Elementary in North Vancouver, B.C., on June 1.
Students with the Waterloo Region District School Board who opted for in-class learning will only attend classes on certain days for the first two weeks after the board made the move to a staggered start to the school year. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

There will be a two-week staggered start for students who attend elementary schools in Waterloo region's public board.

The Waterloo Region District School Board says the two week start will "provide students and staff with more focused time for the necessary teaching, learning and practicing of the health and safety protocols, in smaller groups of students." The measures are meant to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Students will alternate which days they attend school between Tuesday, Sept. 8 and Thursday, Sept. 17. All students who opted for in-person learning will be in class from Friday, Sept. 18 onward.

"The staggered start will mean that half of every class, from kindergarten to Grade 8, will attend on alternate days," the board said on its website.

Students will be separated into two groups based on the first letter of their last name.

The Waterloo Region District School Board released this graphic to illustrate which days students will attend class as part of a two-week staggered start to in-class learning this fall. (Waterloo Region District School Board)

Students who are in the extended day program will be allowed to start attending on Wednesday, Sept. 16.

The board says there is no staggered start for high school students.

Trustees voted last week to make masks mandatory for all students in the public school board.

Listen: Waterloo Region District School Board trustee vice chair Joanne Weston and Thames Valley District School Board trustee Corrine Rahman discuss if younger students should have to wear masks.

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