The K-6 draft curriculum implementation and in-class learning were discussed during the first regular RVS trustee meeting of the year, Jan. 6. 

Lori Meyer, the Associate Superintendent of Learning for RVS said that some aspects of the K-6 new draft curriculum will be implemented in the fall.

"As soon as we can, [we will] start bringing teachers in and start dissecting that new curriculum and talking about how it's going to apply in their classrooms, we've got plans in the works for the data collection behaviour, so that goes along with PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports)," Meyer said. "We have to understand where the challenges are happening in order to intervene and pre-empt those challenges."

In a Dec. 13 press release with regards to feedback on the K-6 curriculum, Alberta Education officials stated the new curriculum in English Language Arts and Literature, Mathematics, and Physical Education and Wellness will be implemented in September 2022.

"To help set the course for successful implementation, Alberta Education will seek advice from an advisory group of education and curriculum implementation experts early in 2022," states the release. "The group will also provide recommendations on implementation strategies for the remaining K-6 subjects."

Meyer also discussed the provincial learning instruction assessment and the subsequent funding that came from that.

"Fifteen out of the eligible 31 schools, [which is] eligible schools with students in grades 1-3," she said. "We did grade 2 and 3 assessments in the fall, submitted the results and we received right around a million dollars that went to those individual schools that had done the assessments."

Funding is helping to implement targeted interventions for students who showed lagging skills in reading writing or math.

"Most of the funding went towards increasing a staff position."

During his update, Superintendent Luterbach did reiterate that RVS would be welcoming kids back to in-person learning starting Jan. 10. He made a point of saying the December 30 announcement of an extended winter break was not communicated to school boards. 

"I think important nuggets that we learned at that time is that there'd be no funding changes in school divisions as a result of this extended break," Luterbach said. "School divisions would not be expected to make up the lost instructional time from this past week. They also clarified that the enhanced masks and rapid tests were voluntary for individuals to use."

Luterbach expressed a hope that there would be more information to share with parents and staff by the end of this week, saying a letter to parents had been circulated regarding the return to school. 

"[I hope there will be] information around cases notifications and how that process is going to change given the testing strategies in the province have changed," Luterbach said. "We expect that the notification process may change or not."

Up until now, Luterbach said that the 3-5-10 model that has been used for COVID cases, meant if there were three different COVID-19 cases in a classroom within five calendar days, everybody went online for 10 calendar days.

"We're eagerly anticipating what that process might be, to be able to inform our families, and then we'll see if there's any other change to guidance to school divisions on operational matters," he said. "As we have done throughout the pandemic, we'll continue to communicate with families and staff as the situation evolves."