OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Catholic School Board has announced several changes to its back to school plan for elementary and secondary students, following updated guidelines from the Ontario government last week.

Top changes include staggered start times for students, changes to online learning for elementary school students, and a revised schedule for high school students.

The OCSB says 24 per cent of all students K-12 will be learning remotely to start the school year.

STAGGERED STARTS

The OCSB's revised schedule for the start of the school year now includes staggered start dates.

  • Year 1 Kindergarten students will start school on either Sept. 3 or Sept. 4, depending on their cohort. The board says families will be contacted about their child's start date.
  • Year 2 Kindergarten students and students in grades 1 to 3 will start school on Sept. 8.
  • Students in grades 4 to 6 will start school on Sept. 9
  • Students in Grade 7 will start school on Sept. 3
  • Students in Grade 8 will start school on Sept. 8
  • Students in Cohort A of grades 9 to 12 will start school on Sept. 8
  • Students in Cohort B of grades 9 to 12 will start school on Sept. 9

**NOTE: The OCSB revised these start dates on Aug. 26. They remain in this story for reference purposes. To see the latest information, click here.

ONLINE LEARNING

The OCSB says there will be an online teacher assigned to each online elementary class. 

  • If your child is in Kindergarten, this teacher will be available for real-time online instruction for 180 minutes each day. 
  • If your child is in grades 1 to 8, this teacher will be available for real-time online instruction for 225 minutes each day.

HIGH SCHOOL SCHEDULE

Students in grades 9 to 12 will now attend school in person all day, every other day.

A sample schedule shows students in Cohort A attending school Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in person, and learning online from home on Tuesday and Wednesday.

When in class, students would have a 150-minute period to start the day, followed by lunch, followed by another 150-minute period in class before going home.

CAN I CHANGE MY MIND?

The OCSB says families can change their minds based on this new information. You are asked to fill out a "change of preference form" on the board's website by Friday, Aug. 21 if you wish to reverse the decision made at the end of last week.