Class is in Session at St. Michaels Catholic Elementary School in Woodstock

Thursday, 25 March 2021 12:33

Students are learning inside the classroom today for the first time in two weeks at St. Michaels Catholic Elementary School in Woodstock.

WOODSTOCK - Classes have resumed today at St. Michael's Catholic Elementary School in Woodstock.

The school first closed on March 10th after 3 people at the school tested positive for COVID-19. After the school was closed another two people tested positive with variants of concern.

Every staff member and student was under quarantine for 14 days because one of the people who tested positive had access to every classroom, and just about every student was potentially exposed.

The entire school community has been deemed high risk, which means they must quarantine for 14 days. Manager of School explains why all students and staff were considered at risk.

"The school has faced the rare occurrence of having some cases in individuals that have access to multiple classrooms. This left no classroom unaffected and thus every child was deemed high risk and under current protocols all need to self-isolate for 14 days. We understand this is a very difficult and stressful time for parents and families. It has also been a rare occurrence for a school to make the decision to close but it was done with safety in mind."

Classes have resumed today, however another school in Woodstock remains closed. St. Patrick's Elementary School in Woodstock is closed after 7 people tested positive for COVID-19. The school was closed last Thursday March 18th and is expected to open next week.

Local Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joyce Lock says they understand the last couple of weeks have been really hard on both school communities.

"We recognize that this is a difficult time for families, we all want children in classrooms learning, but we must balance this wish against further community transmission, particularly now with the variants of concern that spread very rapidly."

The first case at St. Pats was discovered on March 12th and the last one was on March 18th and 7 positive cases have been identified in that time.