Corona Virus and the Education System

Last week the province I live in got its first confirmed case of COVID19 and immediately things started happening.

There was an announcement with the morning announcements about social distancing, staying home if you are unwell, and washing your hands (I was in a middle years school).  Kids started talking about it more often - will they get it (or their parents or their grandparents), will they die if they get it, and of course, when will the school close?  The vice principal even came around at the end of the day to see if anyone had questions or concerns about it.

I've updated this a couple of times since originally writing this post on Thursday, March 12th but the latest news is that schools in my province will be closed for the week before and after spring break (so a 3 week break total). This means that schools will be closed from March 23 - April 13.  Glad it's going to be the weeks surrounding spring break as it's only 3.5 days that I'll be missing out on for work (that I already have booked - it could have been more).  Unfortunately, all meetings, professional developments, and extra curricular activities are also all cancelled leading up to the school closures which means days are being cancelled for next week as well still.

Other provinces have made similar decisions.  In Ontario spring break is this week and schools will remain closed for 2 weeks after spring break - which I get... better to do this now than regret not doing it later.  Quebec is also closing schools for 2 weeks starting this week.  I know a lot of places in the USA have also closed their schools for the time being.  

My friend told me about one school that she heard of and how they were encouraging students to wash their hands.  They gave each student a stamp on their hands at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day they checked their hands - if the stamp was gone it meant they had done a good job washing their hands throughout the day and got some kind of treat for it.  

Naturally, as I learn more I'll keep you all informed... but I'm curious, what's your school district/division doing to help ensure their students remain safe and healthy during this time?