GUELPH – Most students in Wellington County will be going back to school a day late this September.
Both the Upper Grand District School Board and the Wellington Catholic District School Board have chosen to make Wednesday, Sept. 4 the first day of school for elementary and secondary students.
For both boards, the Tuesday following the Labour Day holiday will be a professional activity (PA) or professional development (PD) day.
Catholic board spokesperson Alison Lupal explained via email that the two boards work together to review the school year calendar and set dates.
“Both boards prefer to have a professional development day early in the school year in September to ensure employees have the opportunity to complete the necessary health and safety training, job-specific training, and receive updates on new curriculum that may be implemented in the school year,” Lupal wrote.
Upper Grand board spokesperson Heather Loney could not recall the last time the board opted to start the school year with a PA day, but said this is the first time it has happened in recent years.
“The reason for having a PA day on the day after Labour Day this year was to ensure that required staff training (including mandatory health and safety training) be completed prior to welcoming students for the first instructional day,” Loney told the Advertiser in an email.
In a notice on its website, the Upper Grand board has said elementary staff will focus on literacy and targeted instruction in the morning, and spend the afternoon reviewing school staff policy and procedures, student well-being, school safety and violence.
Secondary staff are expected to spend the morning focusing on literacy, STEM, and Ministry of Education course updates. In the afternoon, staff will review policies related to health, safety and student well-being.
Loney said the dates for the coming school year are determined in the winter by a committee that includes representatives from employee groups, elementary and secondary principals, student transportation services and parents.
Approval of the calendar was promoted on the board’s website and social media in February, but the board and schools will also be sharing reminders about the start day on school websites and social media this week, she said.
The next PA day for both boards will be an elementary-only PA day on Friday, Oct. 25, the week following the Oct. 14 Thanksgiving holiday.
The school year calendars are available on the board websites, ugdsb.ca and wellingtoncdsb.ca.
