An electrifying atmosphere reigned in Elena Ruest’s freshman class on Tuesday morning. Are you happy to go back to school? “Yeesssssssssssssss! » Did you have a good holiday? “Yeesssssssssssssss! » Did you like the storm yesterday? “Yeesssssssssssssss! »
“We feel that it’s the full moon,” laughs the teacher, met in her class at Saint-Romain elementary school in Longueuil.
Elena Ruest was delighted to find her 25 students. It’s the first time she’s seen them in person in nearly a month. The school year has started online because of the surge in cases of the Omicron variant. The return to class, scheduled for Monday, was postponed by a day because of the snowstorm.
More than 1.4 million students from 3,097 schools (public and private) returned to class on Tuesday. Like every full moon day, the students were feverish. Or in a foul mood, depending. In Elena Ruest’s class, a boy is fidgeting in his chair. He takes off his mask. He grumbles.
Put on your mask, Etienne. ” No. “Did you play in the snow yesterday? ” No. “Did you have a great vacation? ” No. »
“There are days like that,” says the teacher, still calm. Elena Ruest is excited to be back in class. She is confident that it will go well despite the dragging pandemic. The carbon dioxide meter mounted on the wall of the room indicates 1024 parts per million (ppm) of CO2 in the air. Less than the critical threshold of 1500 ppm. “I will open the windows during recess to circulate the air,” she explains.
A tasty return
A little further on, in Geneviève Bourbeau’s sixth-grade class, the students are rather quiet this morning back to school. Their eyes are “in the fat of bine”, as if they got out of bed. “It’s the first morning we’ve gotten up early in a month,” explains a student.
When asked if they prefer online or in-class courses, opinions are divided. At this age, young people appreciate the extra minutes of sleep made possible by distance learning. Their teacher has nevertheless worked hard to make them savor the return to class: she distributes muffins to celebrate two students’ birthdays.
Geneviève Bourbeau is also happy to be back at school. She feels safe despite the Omicron wave. “I’m not anxious by nature. We open the windows when it smells like sixth grade in the room,” she says, smiling.
A pandemic routine
Good humor reigned everywhere at the Saint-Romain school. “We all want to be in school. The place of children is here,” says Marie-France Labelle, director of this school of 625 students.
Very few students were absent Tuesday morning. The final count had not been made, but the day was shaping up to be “normal”. Two of the 95 staff members (a teacher and a student supervisor) were being held in isolation at home due to COVID-19. They have been replaced.
“For us, it’s routine: we’ve been living with the virus for two years. We just have to maintain the same vigilance as before,” explains Marie-France Labelle.
The duty had visited this school in May 2020, when the return to class was preparing after the first wave of the pandemic. The anxiety was at its height. The virus was still unknown. People were on their guard.
Almost two years later, the decor is the same. Plexiglas panels stand all over the building. The smiles remain hidden behind a mask. We come across a disinfectant soap station every 10 meters. Distancing is always in order, as much as possible. But the anxiety gave way to a certain confidence in this primary school.
Informed parents
About 25 coronavirus infections have occurred at Saint-Romain school since the start of the pandemic, according to the director. However, only half of the building (the most recent wing) has a mechanical ventilation system. Sanitary measures play their role, believes Marie-France Labelle.
Nothing is left to chance. At the time of our visit, employees were disinfecting with wet wipes 200 laptops that had been loaned to students for distance learning.
“Communication with parents is crucial. They understand that they have to keep their children at home if they have symptoms of COVID,” says the director. A “united” team, which works closely together, also contributes to cohesion within the school.
Parents have rapid screening tests at home. The school also has them, to send home students who develop symptoms during the day.
Elsewhere in the school network, school principals crossed their fingers to have enough staff for this start of the school year, which occurs in the midst of a rise in hospitalizations due to the Omicron variant.