Martin Academy preparing for adjustments with quint schedule

Staff members at Martin Academy are going to find new ways to ensure their athletes still receive the training they would in a normal year.

Jason Coleman, the superintendent of achievement for Regina Public Schools, said like all other public high schools in the city, Martin will be moving to a quint schedule. That will divvy up the school year into five semesters with two classes in each term.

“They follow a regular high school timetable just like any other school; it’s the programming that will be different,” Coleman said.

“The sport specific training may not fit in every single quint, however, they will get the same amount of time. What will occur is we will have a period that is 160 minutes in the morning that they will stay in the morning and get that (for) the entirety of the quint.”

Martin Academy offers students the opportunity to earn high school credits while training for sports. Students need to apply to attend the academy and there is a fee associated with attending it.

That money goes to providing ice time and time at the AffinityPlex for baseball and softball. It also goes to bringing in experts and community members to help the development of the athletes.

Hockey, baseball, softball and premier — an academy for top-tier athletes — are available sports at the academy.

While the programming might be different, Coleman says the price of being a part of it isn’t changing.

“We’re not changing the amount of time they’re going to have on the ice, we’re just changing the times they will be on the ice,” Coleman said.

When it comes to playing games against other schools, that is still up in the air.

“It’s kind of a wait and see. With the opening (after COVID-19 shutdowns), we see that practices have started in the community so it is going to be very similar to that,” Coleman said.

Martin will be implementing all the restrictions and guidelines put in place by the province and Regina Public Schools.

Coleman says all students will be wearing masks. There are just over 700 students enrolled at Martin Academy.

Students are set to return to school on Sept. 8.