Education

A.J. Elliott Elementary School in Sointula. (SD85.bc.ca photo)

Parents nearly empty small B.C. school of kids over teacher’s mask exemption

Majority of students are not attending class in Sointula, off northern Vancouver Island

A.J. Elliott Elementary School in Sointula. (SD85.bc.ca photo)
French immersion students make up roughly 9.4 per cent of the B.C. student body. (Canadian Parents for French BC & YK photo)

B.C. parents demand better access to online French education

Enrolment in French immersion fell for the first time in 20 years

French immersion students make up roughly 9.4 per cent of the B.C. student body. (Canadian Parents for French BC & YK photo)
Désirée Bouchat, a survivor of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, looks at photos of those who perished, in a display at the 9/11 Tribute Museum, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in New York. While Sept. 11 was a day of carnage, it also was a story of survival: Nearly 3,000 people were killed, but an estimated 33,000 or more people evacuated the World Trade Center and Pentagon. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Learning about 9/11: Attacks part of identity, racism lesson in Canadian classrooms

Dialogue continues among students of varied backgrounds about how they see the larger world

Désirée Bouchat, a survivor of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, looks at photos of those who perished, in a display at the 9/11 Tribute Museum, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in New York. While Sept. 11 was a day of carnage, it also was a story of survival: Nearly 3,000 people were killed, but an estimated 33,000 or more people evacuated the World Trade Center and Pentagon. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Classrooms will soon be busy as children across B.C. go back to school, again with pandemic procedures in place. (Black Press Media files)

Back to school: Children with special needs are being put in harm’s way, says Autism BC

‘How can my child on the spectrum be safe if the protocols are not in place,’ asks worried parent

Classrooms will soon be busy as children across B.C. go back to school, again with pandemic procedures in place. (Black Press Media files)
Annie Ohana, a teacher at L.A. Matheson Secondary, teaches a Grade 8 class on Friday, March 12, 2021. Ohana is one of many teachers calling for another mask mandate in schools before the 2021-22 school year starts. (Photo: Lauren Collins)

‘Almost no protection’: B.C. teachers concerned about returning to school as Delta ramps up

Safe Schools Coalition hosting Vancouver rally Aug. 14 for COVID-safe measures in B.C. schools

Annie Ohana, a teacher at L.A. Matheson Secondary, teaches a Grade 8 class on Friday, March 12, 2021. Ohana is one of many teachers calling for another mask mandate in schools before the 2021-22 school year starts. (Photo: Lauren Collins)
A classroom is shown at Hunter’s Glen Junior Public School in Scarborough, Ont., on Monday, September 14, 2020. An advocacy group is calling for Canada to fully integrate child-care and early childhood education into its school systems THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Group calls for integration of early childhood education and school systems

People for Education says there are clear benefits to early childhood education

A classroom is shown at Hunter’s Glen Junior Public School in Scarborough, Ont., on Monday, September 14, 2020. An advocacy group is calling for Canada to fully integrate child-care and early childhood education into its school systems THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Children walk with their parents to Sherwood Park Elementary in North Vancouver for the first day back to school on Sept. 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Study reassures parents, teachers that COVID-19 infrequently shared at school

Federally funded study in Vancouver finds risk in the classroom and in the community identical

Children walk with their parents to Sherwood Park Elementary in North Vancouver for the first day back to school on Sept. 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
The Kamloops Residential School is photographed using a drone in Kamloops, B.C., Monday, June, 14, 2021. Responding to complaints from an Indigenous girl and her mother, the Nova Scotia government has deleted a section from a high school correspondence course that asks students to list the positive attributes of the residential school system. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Nova Scotia drops course that asked pupils to list benefits of residential schools

Education Minister calls family Thursday to apologize for the hurtful content

The Kamloops Residential School is photographed using a drone in Kamloops, B.C., Monday, June, 14, 2021. Responding to complaints from an Indigenous girl and her mother, the Nova Scotia government has deleted a section from a high school correspondence course that asks students to list the positive attributes of the residential school system. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
FILE – A science class at L.A. Matheson Secondary in Surrey, B.C. on March 12, 2021. (Lauren Collins/Surrey Now Leader)

Teachers’ union wants more COVID transmission data as B.C. prepares for back-to-school

BCTF says that details will be important as province works on plan for September

FILE – A science class at L.A. Matheson Secondary in Surrey, B.C. on March 12, 2021. (Lauren Collins/Surrey Now Leader)
FILE – Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry listens as B.C. Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside describes new mask wearing policy for public schools, Feb. 4, 2021. (B.C. government)

COVID-19: No cohorts as B.C. schools expected to return to ‘near normal’ this fall

Guidance on masking to come at a later date

FILE – Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry listens as B.C. Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside describes new mask wearing policy for public schools, Feb. 4, 2021. (B.C. government)
Eleonore Alamillo-Laberge, 6, reads a book in Ottawa on Monday, June 12, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Parents will need to fight ‘COVID learning slump’ over summer: B.C. literacy experts

Parents who play an active role in educating their children this summer can reverse the slump by nearly 80%, says Janet Mort

Eleonore Alamillo-Laberge, 6, reads a book in Ottawa on Monday, June 12, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre has embarked on a fundraising campaign, seeking to raise $1 million for establishment of an independent urban Indigenous school. Pictured here, Tsawalk Learning Centre students at an Orange Shirt Day event in September. (Submitted photo)

Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre looks to raise $1 million for urban Indigenous school

Centre says independent school would be first of its kind in B.C.

Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre has embarked on a fundraising campaign, seeking to raise $1 million for establishment of an independent urban Indigenous school. Pictured here, Tsawalk Learning Centre students at an Orange Shirt Day event in September. (Submitted photo)
A protester swings a hammer in an attempt to remove the head of the Egerton Ryerson statue in Toronto on Sunday June 6, 2021. A much-maligned statue of Egerton Ryerson was toppled in Toronto on Sunday. The statue, prominently displayed on the campus of Ryerson University, has come under renewed scrutiny after the discovery in Kamloops, B.C., of what are believed to be the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Beheaded statue of Egerton Ryerson, toppled Sunday in Toronto, won’t be replaced

Ryerson is credited as one of the architects of Canada’s residential school system

A protester swings a hammer in an attempt to remove the head of the Egerton Ryerson statue in Toronto on Sunday June 6, 2021. A much-maligned statue of Egerton Ryerson was toppled in Toronto on Sunday. The statue, prominently displayed on the campus of Ryerson University, has come under renewed scrutiny after the discovery in Kamloops, B.C., of what are believed to be the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Sweatin’ for Science participants have collectively clocked 90,000+ kilometres during the fundraiser – the equivalent of more than one lap around the perimeter of BC and Yukon.

Sweatin’ for Science group collectively travels the distance of one lap around the perimeter of BC and Yukon

Funds will make science fairs more accessible for those who might not otherwise be able to take part

  • May 31, 2021
Sweatin’ for Science participants have collectively clocked 90,000+ kilometres during the fundraiser – the equivalent of more than one lap around the perimeter of BC and Yukon.
FILE – The fence of Erickson Elementary School was lined with 22 orange shirts on Sept. 30 in honour of Orange Shirt Day. (Aaron Hemens - Creston Valley Advance)

B.C. teachers to wear orange shirts to honour children found dead at residential school

Discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children was confirmed by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation

FILE – The fence of Erickson Elementary School was lined with 22 orange shirts on Sept. 30 in honour of Orange Shirt Day. (Aaron Hemens - Creston Valley Advance)
Erik Christian Oun, who worked for the Coquitlam school district, has had his teaching licence suspended for half a year. (Pixabay)

B.C. teacher suspended after calling students ‘cutie’ and ‘sweetheart’ in online messages

Erik Oun’s licence has been suspended for half a year, a decision made by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation

Erik Christian Oun, who worked for the Coquitlam school district, has had his teaching licence suspended for half a year. (Pixabay)
Children walk back to their classroom while wearing masks and physical distancing at St. Barnabas Catholic School in Scarborough, Ont., in October, 2020. A group of B.C. teachers has issued an open letter calling for the relaxation of non-pharmaceutical interventions for children in B.C. schools. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

Group of B.C. teachers calls for easing of pandemic measures for students

Teacher group says ‘response to COVID is out of balance to the cost our youth are paying’

Children walk back to their classroom while wearing masks and physical distancing at St. Barnabas Catholic School in Scarborough, Ont., in October, 2020. A group of B.C. teachers has issued an open letter calling for the relaxation of non-pharmaceutical interventions for children in B.C. schools. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
West Coasters can learn about the rich marine environment every Friday in May from 5-8 p.m. on Zoom. (Raincoast Education Society photo)

Registration for West Coast Ambassador Program is open

Free educational training sessions for Tofino and Ucluelet workers run April to June

West Coasters can learn about the rich marine environment every Friday in May from 5-8 p.m. on Zoom. (Raincoast Education Society photo)
A physical distancing sign is seen during a media tour of Hastings Elementary school in Vancouver on Sept. 2, 2020. Uniformed police officers will no longer be assigned to Vancouver public schools after trustees voted to end its school liaison officer program. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Trustees vote to end program assigning uniformed police officers to Vancouver schools

Trustees voted eight to one Monday in favour of a motion to halt the program at the end of June.

A physical distancing sign is seen during a media tour of Hastings Elementary school in Vancouver on Sept. 2, 2020. Uniformed police officers will no longer be assigned to Vancouver public schools after trustees voted to end its school liaison officer program. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
A teacher-librarian in Nanaimo was fired in 2019 for checking out an age-inappropriate graphic novel to a student. The discipline agreement was published Wednesday, April 21. (News Bulletin file photo)

B.C. teacher-librarian fired for checking out too-graphic graphic novel to student

Teacher had been previously disciplined and suspended on two occasions

A teacher-librarian in Nanaimo was fired in 2019 for checking out an age-inappropriate graphic novel to a student. The discipline agreement was published Wednesday, April 21. (News Bulletin file photo)
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