North Van, West Van private school students settle into classroom routine

While public schools on the North Shore are still gearing up this week to have students return to their classrooms, a number of private school students in North and West Vancouver are already back in school.

For parent Tom Wakefield, whose daughter attends Grade 1 at the private French Cousteau School in North Vancouver, the first day of school last Thursday was a significant milestone. “Of course we felt anxious. We live in a multi-generational home and we’ve kept a very tight ‘bubble,’” he said.

Wakefield said he and his wife kept their daughter home in June, but decided she should go back to school this month. “School is very important to us,” he said. Seeing his daughter react happily to being back with friends and teachers affirmed they’d made the right decision, he said.

Students at other North Shore private schools have also returned to the classroom.

Students at Mulgrave went back Aug. 20 and students at Collingwood had their first day this week, on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Teachers at private schools are not part of the BCTF contract that covers teachers at public schools and independent schools do not always follow the same school calendar as public schools.

Private schools did, however, have to submit plans for how student learning groups will be handled and which health and safety protocols will be in place to the Ministry of Education and have those approved prior to reopening.

Private schools have also had more leeway to interpret guidelines for schools issued by B.C.’s public health officer, particularly when it comes to wearing masks.

At Cousteau School, for instance, children in Grade 4 and above are expected to wear masks in hallways and common areas outside their learning group where they can’t maintain physical distance.

At Mulgrave, all students – including elementary school students – are required to wear masks when entering and leaving the building and in hallways.

In public schools, elementary school students are not required to wear masks and mask-wearing for younger children has not been recommended by the public health officer. Wakefield said he has no problem with his daughter wearing a mask, adding that and other safety measures have been reassuring. Over the course of the pandemic, “she’s become accustomed to wearing a mask in public settings,” he said. “It’s just an extra precaution.”