Over 500 Fort McMurray Students Continuing Online Education During Upcoming School Year

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Over 500 students across Fort McMurray will be continuing their education online.

The 2020-21 school year officially gets underway next week with the Fort McMurray Catholic School District and Fort McMurray Public School Division conducting staggered re-entries.

Around 260 students enrolled with the FMCSD will instead be taking advantage of the Virtual Learning Academy and Sacred Heart Academy.

Superintendent George McGuigan tells Mix News they believe returning to in-class teaching is best for students, however, they know the final decision is with the parents.

“The majority of our enrollment is coming at the elementary level more so than the secondary level… and that’s understandable, with the younger grades parents are concerned for a variety of reasons.”

The program is an upgrade to the curriculum students learned when schools were forced to close earlier this year.

Meanwhile, over 250 students enrolled in the FMPSD will be taking part in their E-cademy+ program.

Just like the Catholic District, this program is step-up from the previous curriculum.

Superintendent Jennifer Turner says they’re confident students will receive a good education whether in school or at home.

“I feel like we’re offering very robust, high-quality teaching and learning experiences in both environments. In our classrooms with many, many enhanced safety processes and in addition, offering a high-quality program online.”

The FMPSD could also see their numbers rise as they’ve received around 400 expressions of interests and are currently waiting for final decisions from the families.

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