School buses and hallways will once again be bustling with activity today.

After one week of online school for all students across the province, and six weeks of remote learning for junior high and high school students, in-person learning resumes today.

Along with students returning to their classrooms this week, parents of Rocky View Schools students in Grades one through eight also need to make a decision in regards to their child's current learning mode.

Families have until this Friday, January 15 to decide whether they would like to stick to their current learning mode or switch to another for the remainder of the school year.

Superintendent of Rocky View Schools, Greg Luterbach says that there has been a change of date, and the new mode will go into effect one week later than previously planned.

"We ran out of time and we couldn't get them to cutover on February 1st so the grade one through eight/nine cutover date for online and face-to-face is going to be February 8th," says Luterbach. "Now in high school, because of the semestering, it was important that it was February 1st.  At that elementary/middle level, because they're not semesterized, February 1st, February 8th, that's not a significant issue one way or the other."

Luterbach goes on to say that families will be committed to that decision until the end of the school year. 

"We cannot flip back and forth," he says.  "If vaccines become available quicker than maybe currently anticipated, we're not suddenly going to be able to take 3,000 online students and put them all back face-to-face on say May 16th.  That is not practical and that is not going to happen.  We've been upfront with families right from the get-go."

Luterbach says that the school division realizes the weight of this decision for many families. Families can access additional information to help make a well-informed decision on the RVS website.  

Intentions forms are now available online and the selections can be made through the SchoolEngage system on PowerSchool until Friday.

You can log in to access the online form here.