City high schools moving to quarterly schedule

Most Edmonton public and Catholic high schools are moving to a quarterly school year in the fall to help cope with COVID-19.

The Edmonton Public School Board and Edmonton Catholic School division announced in a Monday news release they will move to four quarters from two semesters for the 2020-21 school year.

The move will mean students will take fewer subjects at a time and will allow for schools to adapt to changes brought on by the ongoing pandemic.

“It will allow our high schools to be nimble and adapt quickly if the situation with COVID -19 changes during the year. Students can focus on fewer subjects at a time to make the transition to at-home learning easier, if needed,” said Edmonton Public Schools superintendent Darrel Robertson in the release.

The school boards said the students will take one class in the morning and one in the afternoon, with each period lasting 150 minutes. The move will not change the amount of time students spend on each subject, the release said.

Diploma exams will be offered in November, January, April and June.

Robert Martin, chief superintendent for ECS, said the quarterly schedule has already been in place for a number of years at Cardinal Collins Catholic High School Academic Centre.

“The students there have reported that quarter semesters have worked extremely well for them,” said Martin in the joint release.

J.H. Picard School as well as public schools with specialized programming will not switch to the new schedule.