YK1 releases school-by-school reopening plans

Yellowknife’s YK1 school district has published short reopening plans for six of the city’s schools.

Students are set to return to YK1 classrooms on August 31. Almost all students will be returning to full-time, in-person education, the plans state.

Grades 10 to 12 at Sir John Franklin High School are the exception. They will receive a “compressed schedule” whereby half the day is spent at school and half involves working elsewhere.

Those grades will use the high school’s side entrance, next to the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, while grades 8-9 will use the main entrance.

More: Read plans for each YK1 school

Students must wear masks in Sir John Franklin’s hallways at all times, while lockers can’t be used. “Students and staff will wipe down all work areas at the end of each period,” the high school’s plan states.

At YK1’s other schools, students are only required to use masks in hallways if staff ask them to do so (though students using buses must wear masks while on board).

In general, “classroom bubbles” will see students remain with their group at all times to minimize contact with others and the risk of Covid-19 transmission.

All schools warned parents that visits to each campus by adults will be minimized, meaning parents should contact schools ahead of time and may only be given access in “exceptional circumstances” other than for pick-up and drop-off. Precise details vary by school.

The publication of school-by-school plans follows YK1’s distribution of its broader, district-wide plan earlier in the week.