A look at back-to-school administration during the pandemic

Managing more than 700 students returning to school during COVID-19 isn’t an easy job.

That’s exactly what Chantie Champigny-Lucyk, the vice-principal of Ecole Palliser Heights School in Moose Jaw, has to do.

In order to minimize contact between students in the largest school in the city, she has had to work on many different strategies.

The K-8 French immersion school will look quite different compared to any other year.

For one, all students are split up into three separate groups.

“We use green, yellow and purple, because those are the colours of highlighter (principal) Jonathan (McLean) had on his desk,” she said with a laugh.

“We have a lot of diagrams, little pieces of paper and colour coding all over our desks.”

The daily schedule for each group is completely different.

“It means three different schedules for supervision, three different schedules for bathroom breaks and wash stations … we have staggered starts, staggered recesses and staggered noon hours,” she explained.

Students will also be confined to their specific classes.

“We had to do a map of our entire playground and green space and assign a spot to every classroom. That’s where they will meet every morning. Instead of 250 kids coming in one door when the bell rings, we have to wait one classroom at a time,” she said.

While it’s been a challenge to put together, she’s optimistic they can make it work.

“We hope once we get them into the routine, it will speed up a little bit,” she said.

“Still … it gives me a headache by the end of the day, for sure.”