Students in Rocky View Schools (RVS) will soon find out what the remainder of their school year will look like after being interrupted by COVID-19 a week ago.  

In a letter to parents sent out onMar. 20, school board chair Fiona Gilbert said Education minister Adriana LaGrange had announced the government's expectations for student learning earlier that day.

Gilbert says details on RVS learning continuity plan will be released to families no later than this Wednesday (Mar. 25).  Gilbert says in the letter that RVS was pleased to learn that the plans RVS has been working on in the past week align very closely with the government's K to 12 learning expectations.

RVS Superintendent Greg Luterbach agrees with that assertion.

"It's good to learn that the plans we're developing are right in line with that, so that was positive, that what we saw today was kind of what we expected."

Luterbach is going into the final three months of the school year with no illusions.  He says it's going to be a challenging time.

"It's important to know that we need to give it some time, both for our staff and for families to get ready. We'll send out something telling families, 'okay, if this is what government said it's going to look like, what's it going to look like in Rocky View'."

Luterbach says he is really proud of RVS staff who have been reaching out to families with messages of empathy and encouragement as everyone goes through this time of uncertainty.  Luterbach says it's important not to overwhelm people who are already feeling pressure because of COVID-19.

There is one point that Luterbach wants everyone, teachers, administrators, parents, and students alike to keep in mind.  The next three months can't be considered, 'business as usual.'  "We will be telling teachers to really focus on those core learning outcomes.  When the (education) ministry expectations have been put out that, even in high school, students will be expected to put in about half as much time as they do in a regular week, it's not going to be business as usual."

Luterbach says when the government eliminated things like diploma exams, they were saying it was going to be a very different three months for students who'll focus on core learning outcomes.  

Spring break will go as scheduled in April.  Luterbach says aside from that, they'll be looking at the year in two-week segments 

Luterbach says the RVS website will be a valuable resource for parents going forward into the remainder of the year.  Just last week the provincial government provided a Q & A document that he explains will be very valuable for parents as it gives the answers to questions the province has been received, which Luterbach is similar to the questions RVS has gotten. 

That information can be found HERE  in the COVID-19 Continuity Plan. 

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