Winnipeg school transitioning high school students to remote learning

Winnipeg private school going to remote learning St. Mary's Academy said its high school students will be transitioning to online learning.

WINNIPEG — St. Mary's Academy (SMA), an all-girls private school in Winnipeg, is getting ready to transition high school students to online learning.

In a letter sent home to parents on Monday, the school said starting on Oct. 26, all students in grades nine to 12 will be doing remote learning from home.

Students in grades seven and eight will continue to remain at school in the transition.

"SMA will monitor public health data and assess this Remote Learning phase at regular intervals," the school said in the letter. "We will provide families with as much notice as possible when we shift our grades 9 to 12 students back to in-class learning, or if we must move our grades 7 and 8 students to remote learning."

The school said the provincial government told schools last week that they were "advised to prepare for remote learning." St. Mary's said the province is not putting it into the orange or restricted level, but the school is doing so on its own.

When then students move to remote learning, they will follow their regular timetable from Monday to Thursday, and learning will happen in real-time with teachers.

On Fridays, teachers will be made available for consultation with students whether that be virtually or in person at the school. Otherwise, kids are told to work on homework, assignments, and projects.

If students are looking to go to the school during the remote learning process, they must make arrangements with the teacher and make an appointment. Teachers can also request small in-school learning groups for specific projects, such as in-lab work in Science.

Class will still be mandatory for students in grades seven and eight unless they are sick and cohorts based on homerooms will continue.

Parents are being asked to monitors their kids every day before school and students are asked to self-monitor throughout the day.

If they become symptomatic, they are told to advise their teachers right away and they will be isolated and parents will be called to pick them up.