Education

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B.C. expands mandatory mask rules in schools, rolls out ‘rapid response teams’

Masks will be mandatory for middle and high school students except for a few scenarios

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FILE – A physical distancing sign is seen during a media tour of Hastings Elementary school in Vancouver on September 2, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

34% of teachers say they’d look to an early career exit over COVID response: BCTF survey

Pandemic has increased workload for the majority of teachers

FILE – A physical distancing sign is seen during a media tour of Hastings Elementary school in Vancouver on September 2, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
From left, Ed Campbell with Unitech, and Janet Carroll and Brooke Haller with Imagine High, stand in the gym of the new arts and technology school on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021 which is currently under construction. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

Chilliwack’s new arts and tech school taking shape at old UFV site

Light, large rooms, state of the art equipment all support student learning at Imagine High

From left, Ed Campbell with Unitech, and Janet Carroll and Brooke Haller with Imagine High, stand in the gym of the new arts and technology school on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021 which is currently under construction. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)
B.C.’s Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training announced funding to train community mental health workers at four B.C. post-secondary institutions. (Stock photo)

B.C. funding training of mental health workers at four post-secondary institutions

Provincial government says pandemic has intensified need for mental health supports

B.C.’s Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training announced funding to train community mental health workers at four B.C. post-secondary institutions. (Stock photo)
Students from another school board a bus outside Thorncliffe Park Public School in Toronto on Friday December 4, 2020. Toronto Public Health closed the school due to a COVID19 outbreak. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Experts call for community sacrifices to ensure COVID-19 safety in schools

Kids in British Columbia returned to public school after a two-week winter break last week

Students from another school board a bus outside Thorncliffe Park Public School in Toronto on Friday December 4, 2020. Toronto Public Health closed the school due to a COVID19 outbreak. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
FILE – Children walk with their parents to Sherwood Park Elementary in North Vancouver for the first day back-to-school Thursday, September 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

BCTF blasts ‘one size fits all’ school COVID plan, calls for transparency from Henry, Dix

Most students returned from the winter holiday break on Jan. 4

FILE – Children walk with their parents to Sherwood Park Elementary in North Vancouver for the first day back-to-school Thursday, September 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Chilliwack students will soon be taking the Foundational Skills Assessment (FSA), an annual test required by the B.C. Ministry of Education. (Black Press file photo)

Chilliwack Teachers’ Association says Foundational Skills Assessment should be scrapped

The CTA objects to the test in general, but even moreso as students struggle with the pandemic

Chilliwack students will soon be taking the Foundational Skills Assessment (FSA), an annual test required by the B.C. Ministry of Education. (Black Press file photo)
Students outside Chilliwack Secondary School on Sept. 15, 2020. (Jessica Peters/ Chilliwack Progress)

TOP STORIES 2020: Parents spent 2020 worrying about school transmission

OPINION: Chilliwack schools saw a drop in enrolment as case numbers and fears rose in the fall

Students outside Chilliwack Secondary School on Sept. 15, 2020. (Jessica Peters/ Chilliwack Progress)
Olivia Meleta, a high school math teacher, is photographed near her Thornhill, Ont., home on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2020. From texting friends on the sly to downloading apps that spit out answers, educators say the pandemic-induced move to an online classroom has offered up a wealth of tech-driven workarounds to actually doing the work. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Cheating a ‘free-for-all’ at virtual high schools, Canadian teachers say

Stress from the pandemic has collided with the pressure to get good grades

Olivia Meleta, a high school math teacher, is photographed near her Thornhill, Ont., home on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2020. From texting friends on the sly to downloading apps that spit out answers, educators say the pandemic-induced move to an online classroom has offered up a wealth of tech-driven workarounds to actually doing the work. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Chilliwack school district’s Learn at Home program will be extended to March 12, following a parent survey that showed support for the learning option. (Submitted/ Jessica Browne)

Learning from home option continues to March for Chilliwack students

More than 600 students currently connecting to school from home

Chilliwack school district’s Learn at Home program will be extended to March 12, following a parent survey that showed support for the learning option. (Submitted/ Jessica Browne)
The Walking Curriculum gets students outside and connecting with nature. (Amanda Peterson/Special to S.F. Examiner)

‘Walking Curriculum’ crafted by SFU professor surges in popularity

The outdoor curriculum encourages students to connect with the natural world

The Walking Curriculum gets students outside and connecting with nature. (Amanda Peterson/Special to S.F. Examiner)
Mirandy Tracy, left, and Tara Kurtz are two Langley mothers who are organizing a "sick out" for Tuesday, Dec. 1 to protest COVID conditions in schools. They're calling for masks and smaller class sizes, among other things. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)

Politician, labour leader throw support behind student Sick Out day

Langley parents started the movement to keep kids home on Dec. 1 as a protest

Mirandy Tracy, left, and Tara Kurtz are two Langley mothers who are organizing a "sick out" for Tuesday, Dec. 1 to protest COVID conditions in schools. They're calling for masks and smaller class sizes, among other things. (Matthew Claxton/Langley Advance Times)
Langley School District's board office. (Langley Advance Times files)

‘Sick Out’ aims to pressure B.C. schools over masks, class sizes

Parents from Langley and Surrey are worried about COVID safety in classrooms

Langley School District's board office. (Langley Advance Times files)
Cambridge Elementary School, which was ordered closed for two weeks by Fraser Health due to a COVID-19 outbreak, is seen in Surrey, B.C., on Sunday, November 15, 2020. (Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Surrey school that shut down due to COVID-19 outbreak set to reopen next week

District, Fraser Health has assessment team going through the school

Cambridge Elementary School, which was ordered closed for two weeks by Fraser Health due to a COVID-19 outbreak, is seen in Surrey, B.C., on Sunday, November 15, 2020. (Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
A sign encouraging students to wear a mask in classrooms released Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. (BCTF)

BCTF asks parents to ‘create a culture of mask wearing’ as schools excluded from new rules

New indoor mask mandate does not include schools

A sign encouraging students to wear a mask in classrooms released Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. (BCTF)
B.C. Education Minister and MLA-Elect Kelli Paddon join a chorus of voices calling for the resignation of Chilliwack school trustee Barry Neufeld. (File photo)

B.C. Education minister, Chilliwack-Kent MLA-elect call for Neufeld to step down

Kelli Paddon, Rob Fleming condemn Neufeld’s latest derogatory rant comments

B.C. Education Minister and MLA-Elect Kelli Paddon join a chorus of voices calling for the resignation of Chilliwack school trustee Barry Neufeld. (File photo)
A physical distancing sign is seen during a media tour of Hastings Elementary school in Vancouver, Wednesday, September 2, 2020. British Columbia’s education minister hopes the government will be able to entirely avoid school closures under any scenario but it would defer to advice from public health officials should COVID-19 cases worsen. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. education minister wants to avoid school closures completely

Four out of 643 schools in the Fraser Health district have been closed

A physical distancing sign is seen during a media tour of Hastings Elementary school in Vancouver, Wednesday, September 2, 2020. British Columbia’s education minister hopes the government will be able to entirely avoid school closures under any scenario but it would defer to advice from public health officials should COVID-19 cases worsen. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Surrey teachers demonstrate what classrooms look like in their school district amid the COVID-19 pandemic in November 2020. (BCTF)

B.C. teachers’ union calls on Horgan to limit Fraser Health class sizes to 15 students

Three schools have temporarily shut down in Fraser Health due to COVID-19 outbreaks

Surrey teachers demonstrate what classrooms look like in their school district amid the COVID-19 pandemic in November 2020. (BCTF)
President of the BC Teacher’s Federation (BCTF) Teri Mooring is interviewed outside the Victoria Convention Centre in Victoria, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. British Columbia’s Labour Relations Board says it will provide neutral third-party “troubleshooters” to help iron out challenges arising from COVID-19 and related protocols in schools. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

B.C. labour board to provide neutral ‘troubleshooters’ for COVID-19 school plans

The BC Teachers’ Federation filed an application to the board in September asking for help

President of the BC Teacher’s Federation (BCTF) Teri Mooring is interviewed outside the Victoria Convention Centre in Victoria, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. British Columbia’s Labour Relations Board says it will provide neutral third-party “troubleshooters” to help iron out challenges arising from COVID-19 and related protocols in schools. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
The B.C. Teacher Regulation Branch has issued a decision about the actions of an elementary school teacher in Langley. (Langley Advance Times files)

Langley elementary teacher suspended for grabbing, shoving, yelling at kids

Roxann Rojas will lose her legal authority to teach for two weeks from Oct. 25 to Nov. 7, 2020

The B.C. Teacher Regulation Branch has issued a decision about the actions of an elementary school teacher in Langley. (Langley Advance Times files)