First day of classes begin for Calgary public school students

A welcome banner was hung and balloons were tied to a fence in front of Queen Elizabeth Elementary School on Thursday morning as young students walked toward its doors, many of them holding the hand of a parent or guardian.

Summer break is over.

Public school students in Calgary waved goodbye to their days off and hello to a new school year as classes got underway.

Calgary Catholic students will get a little more time away from their textbooks and begin a staggered start to their school year next week.

Kel Connelly, principal of West Ridge School in the southwest community of Wentworth, told the Calgary Eyeopener he's ready for students to be back in the classroom.

"This is the 27th first day of school for me and it's always, as I say, exciting but nervous," Connelly said.

"In the springtime, we start planning for the following year — what our vision will be, what resources we will be needing. You put a lot of time and energy and effort into that, and you hope that your best laid plans will come to fruition and that you can be setting kids up, and their families, for success."

Connelly said it's a special feeling for students to begin the school year with a mix of wonder and anxiety about which of their fellow students will be in their class, who their teacher will be, and what the new grade is going to be like. Some faces of dread will eventually give way to smiles of comfort and familiarity as the first day goes by. 

Easing into it

West Ridge School teaches grades five through nine. It held special welcome tours in the morning on the first day of school for Grade 5 students and their families, to help acclimate them to their new surroundings before students in grades six to nine come in.

For a school with more than 850 students, it's an opportunity for them to get the lay of the land before the hustle and bustle of classes start.

"We have a scavenger hunt planned for them, an opportunity for them to meet a number of staff that will be working with them, in addition to their home room teachers," Connelly said.

"Kids come in in Grade 5 and by the time they hit Grade 9, you see so much growth physically, socially and emotionally. It's a huge time of great transition."

Lisa McConnell, principal of Queen Elizabeth Elementary School in the northwest community of Hillhurst, told CBC News she is excited for the collaboration between teachers, students and parents that happens on the first day of school.

Queen Elizabeth teaches students from kindergarten to Grade 3. McConnell said teachers at the school are looking forward to piloting the new social studies curriculum.

"It does integrate in a conceptual way with the other aspects of the curriculum so that we can support that planning here at our school," McConnell said.

New cellphone rules

Connelly said when it comes to new rules around cellphones and other personal devices in the classroom, middle schools such as West Ridge already had policies in place for students to keep them tucked away for the day.

Students caught breaking the rules will be dealt with through the CBE's "progressive discipline" policy, he says.

"It's a policy based on escalating consequences, if you will. It's intended to be educational. You know, we want students to learn when, perhaps, they're not on the path we want them to be," Connelly said.

Asked about the new provincial regulations around personal devices, McConnell added cellphones are a part of everyone's lives now, and it makes sense to regulate their use in learning situations.

Stephanie Cicero, a parent of a third grader attending Queen Elizabeth and a sixth grader attending Calgary Academy, said neither of her children own a cellphone, so the new rules won't affect them.

Cicero's daughter, Natalina, said although she doesn't have a phone, she doesn't feel like she's missing out.

"Lots of the kids got Apple watches, which was cool, but I think you don't really need the phone. It's kind of like something that's just a little add-on," she said.

Alex Germain, a parent of two students attending Queen Elizabeth, said he isn't troubled with the new phone rules.

"You're in school, so you should be concentrating on what the teacher is asking of you, so, no problems there. And my kids are pretty young, they don't take cellphones to school anyway."

Students, parents ready for classes to start

Gabe Bealeaev, a 12-year-old Queen Elizabeth student entering Grade 6, told CBC News he's excited to see his friends at school again. He and his family moved to Calgary from Moldova in 2022, where he spent much of the summer break visiting. His favourite subject is art.

"I really like doing arts and crafts. Then there's math, sometimes I kind of like it when it's fun, and PE of course," he said.

Everly Harding, an incoming second grader at Queen Elizabeth, came to school excited to learn about art and social studies.

"I just like learning about the animals in social studies, and doing really cool crafts and art," she said.

Andrea Leier has two children going to Queen Elizabeth this year — her son, Jack, who is starting kindergarten, and her daughter Ava who is going into Grade 3.

"I'm really excited to get back to a normal schedule and a routine. Summer camp is chaos, so it's really difficult to manage two kids and camps and work," she said.

"We love this community and we love this school. There's really great teachers and lots of really great supports in this community, we love it."

Getting around

Const. Kevin Courchesne with the Calgary Police Service tells CBC News motorists should be especially mindful on the roads as classes begin.

"We definitely want to remind the citizens of Calgary just to slow down," he said. "Students are going to be excited, parents are excited. It's a stressful time for everybody. Take an extra moment or two."

Courchesne recommends parents and guardians consider parking a block or two away from their school and walking with them to the building, as parking and traffic in playground zones will be increased.