OTTAWA -- After more than five months out of the classroom due to COVID-19, students are set to return to school over the next two weeks.

CTV News Ottawa outlines the back to school plans, the first day of classes and face mask requirements for school boards in Ottawa and eastern Ontario.

JUMP AHEAD:

Ottawa Carleton District School Board

First day of class: Tuesday, Sept. 8. The start of the school year will be staggered between Sept. 8 and 18.

Sept. 8: Orientation for Grades 9-12

Sept. 9: Orientation for Grades 9-12

Sept. 10: First day of school fo Grade 9-12 Cohort A.

Sept. 11: First day of school for Grade 9-12 Cohort B.

Sept. 14: First day for elementary students in in specialized classes, Grades 1-3.

Sept. 15: First day for year-one kindergarten (JK), year-two kindergarten (SK) in Extended Day Programs (EDP), Grades 4-6.

Sept. 16: First day for SK students not enrolled in EDP, Grades 7-8.

Face mask requirements: Students in Grades 4 to 12 are required to wear a cloth mask while at school.  Students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 are "encouraged" to wear masks.

Elementary Schools

Students attend classes in-person five days a week. Students will remain in one classroom with the same group of students all day.

Secondary Schools

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board will use a quadmester model for in-person learning, with students taking two courses at a time. Students will be divided into two cohorts (A and B).

Students will take one class every day for one week and then take their other class every day the following week.

Remote Learning

Students attend a "virtual school" with other students in the same grade and program from across the board.

Students in Grades 1 to 12 will be required to be in synchronous learning for 225 minutes a day.

Ottawa Catholic School Board

First day of class: Tuesday, Sept 8. The first day of class will be staggered between Sept. 8 and Sept 15.

Orientation for first-year Kindergarten - Sept. 3 and Sept. 4. 

Sept. 8: Kindergarten, Grades 1-3, Grades 7

Sept. 9: Grades 4-6, Grade 8

Sept 14: Grades 9-12 Cohort A

Sept. 15: Grades 9-12, Cohort B

Face mask requirements: Students in Grades 4 to 12 are required to wear a cloth mask while at school.  The board "strongly recommends" students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 wear masks.

Elementary Schools

Students attend in person five days a week.

The board says 90 per cent of all Grade 1-3 classes will have 20 students or less, the average class size for Grades 4-8 is 24.5 students.

Secondary Schools

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

Students will be divided into two cohorts, and take two courses per quadmester.

Remote Learning

Kindergarten students will have synchronous learning with a teacher 180 minutes a day.

Grade 1 to 8 students will have synchronous learning for 225 minutes a day.

Students in Grades 9 to 12 will take one course at a time over a 5-6 week period, then move on to the next course. Their teacher will be available for synchronous learning for 225 minutes a day.

Conseil des ecoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario

First day of class: Classes in CEPEO schools will resume between Sept. 3 and 9. The child's school will inform you of the date of the first day of class.

Face mask requirements:  Masks are required for all students in Grade 4 to 12. Masks are mandatory for Grade 3 students registered in a split Grades 3 and 4 class.

Masks are strongly recommended for students in Kindergarten to Grade 3.

Elementary School

Students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 will be in class full-time in the fall. Each school will provide the detailed daily schedule and information about classroom routines.

Secondary School

Students at the following schools will be in class full-time:

  • L’Équinoxe elementary/secondary school
  • Académie de la Seigneurie secondary school
  • Barrhaven secondary school
  • L’Alternative secondary school
  • L’Héritage secondary school
  • Le Sommet secondary school
  • Mille-Îles secondary school
  • Marc-Garneau secondary schoo

Students at the following five schools will do a mix of in-school and virtual learning

  • Gisèle-Lalonde secondary school
  • De La Salle secondary school
  • Louis-Riel secondary school
  • Maurice-Lapointe secondary school
  • Omer-Deslauriers secondary school

Virtual Learning

Students enrolled in the Virtual Learning Program will receive both synchronous and asynchronous learning this fall.

For secondary school students, the school year will be divided into quadmesters, with students taking two courses for each semester.

Conseil des ecoles catholiques du Centre-Est

First day of class: The first day of class for in-person learning for Kindergarten to Grade 8 students is Thursday, Sept 3.   The first day of secondary school will be Sept 3 for French Catholic schools in Brockville, Kingston, Kemptville and Pembroke. The first day for high schools in Ottawa is Sept. 8.

Face mask requirements: Face masks are mandatory for students in Grades 4 to 12, and recommended for Kindergarten to Grade 3 students.

Elementary School

Students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 will attend schools five days a week.

Secondary School

The school year for Grades 9 to 12 will be divided into quadmesters. Students will take two courses per quadmester.

Students will be divided into two cohorts, and will alternate. One group will attend classes on Mondays and Wednesdays and every other Friday. The other group on Tuesdays, Thursdays and every other Friday.

Remote Learning

Elementary school students will be offered a mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning.

For secondary school, the online learning program will run on a semester schedule, with students taking four courses from Sept. to January.

Renfrew County District School Board

First day of class: Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Face mask requirements: Students in Grades 4 to 12 are required to wear a cloth mask while at school.

Elementary Schools:

Elementary schools will follow a regular five day cycle during the 2020-21 school year. All areas of the provincial curriculum will be taught.

Secondary Schools:

Secondary schools will follow a quadmester model for the first half of the 2020-21 school year. Decisions in regards to the second half of the school year will be made at a later date.

A quadmester approach means students will engage in two courses from Sept. 8 to Nov. 11, and then two new courses from Nov. 12 to Jan. 29.

Students will attend five days a week with 300 minutes of class time per day.  Regular class sizes will be running, with the largest class maximum being 34 students.

Online learning

Students participating in remote learning will receive instruction and details from their teacher/school by Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Students learning from home will be part of an online classroom, with other online students in their grade or multiple grades from schools across the district.

Renfrew County Catholic District School Board

First day of class: Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Face mask requirements: Students in Grades 4 to 12 are required to wear a cloth mask while at school.

Elementary Schools

All elementary schools will open for conventional in-person teaching for Kindergarten to Grade 8

Secondary Schools

Secondary schools will operate on a quadmester approach to learning.

Students will take two courses all day long from Sept. 8 to Nov. 12, and then switch to two near courses from Nov. 16 to Jan. 29.

Virtual School

The board will deliver full remote learning for students who have selected Virtual School for the fall.

Full remote learning will be five days a week, and students will need to engage with the online learning platform and meet curriculum expectations as they would in a face-to-face environment.

Each virtual classroom will have a designated teacher for synchronous and asynchronous learning.

Upper Canada District School Board

First day of class: The first day of class for all students will be staggered between Sept. 11 and Sept. 15.

In elementary schools, students with surnames A-G will start on Sept 11 and continue, surnames H-P will start on Sept 14 and continue, and surnames Q-Z will start on Sept 15 and continue.

For secondary schools, Grade 9 students will start on Sept. 11, Grade 10 students will start Sept. 14, and Grade 11 and 12 students will start Sept. 15.

Face mask requirements: All students and staff in Grades 4 to 12 must wear a mask while inside the school. It is strongly encouraged students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 wear masks.

Elementary Schools:

Elementary schools will be open full days for in-person learning, five days a week.

Secondary Schools:  

Secondary schools will be open for in-person learning, five days a week.

Students in Grades 9 to 12 will follow a quadmester model, with students taking two courses for the first nine weeks of the year.

Remote Learning

Remote learning is available for all students. Students will do a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous learning.

Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario

First day of school: The first day of school will be staggered between Sept. 8 and 10.  The first day of school for remote learning is Sept. 14

Sept. 8 will be the first day for JK/SK students and Grade 7 students in secondary schools.

Sept. 9 will be the first day for Grade 1-3 students, Grade 8 students in secondary schools and Grade 9 students

Sept. 10 will be the first day for Grade 4-6 students, Grade 7-8 students in elementary schools and Grade 10-12 students.

Face Mask requirement: Face masks are mandatory for students in Grades 4 to 12. Students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 will be strongly encouraged to wear a mask.

Elementary Schools

Students will return to school five days a week, with a regular day for elementary students. The day will be shortened for Grades 7 and 8 students in secondary schools.

Secondary schools

Students enrolled in in-person learning will take part in a quadmester school year, with two courses each period.

The school day will be shortened for high school students.

Remote learning

Elementary and secondary students will be offered both synchronous learning opportunities and asynchronous learning while online.