The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board says it will&nbsp;combine&nbsp;elementary students learning virtually with those learning&nbsp;in-person,&nbsp;rather than continue&nbsp;with&nbsp;online classrooms that exist separately from their own school communities.&nbsp;

The reorganization&nbsp;comes as more parents&nbsp;move their children to virtual learning&nbsp;following weeks of surging novel coronavirus cases in the Toronto area. It follows a similar move announced Wednesday by the York Region Catholic District School Board, which said it will begin combining online and in-person classes Oct. 13.

All elementary students in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic board attending classes online will continue to learn remotely, but will rejoin their peers studying in-person under the same home-school umbrella, the board announced in a letter to parents Friday.&nbsp;The adjustments will begin on Nov. 2, the board said in the notice.&nbsp;

"Students who have chosen to attend school face-to-face will now be learning with their face-to-face

 classmates and with the students who are at home learning remotely," said&nbsp;Marianne Mazzorato, director of education for the board, in the letter.&nbsp;

Children learning online will&nbsp;be placed in classes with students and teachers from their home school, she said.

York Catholic board to combine in-person, remote elementary classes due to staffing problems

The York Catholic District School Board says it is reorganizing elementary school classes due to staffing problems and will merge students learning virtually with those learning in person into one classroom starting next week.

Vice Principal Vanessa McFarquhar leads a tour of Blessed Sacrament Catholic School on Sept. 4, 2020.

Back to Catholic school

In a letter to parents on Wednesday, Mary Battista, the board's interim director of education, said this new 'hybrid model' will begin on Oct. 14. The model will allow all elementary students to be a part of their home school, the letter says.

Virtual schools have faced a steep learning curve, but parents still want in as COVID-19 cases rise

Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases, a growing number of families are looking to switch from in-class to virtual learning where it's offered. But with school boards still working out the kinks with online schools, a fresh wave of remote students is expected to spark yet another major reorganization of classes this fall. 'There's no right way to do this right now,' says parent on wait list for virtual school

They are among some 60, 000 elementary school students who have signed up for online classes, according to the Toronto District School Board, amid rising COVID-19 case numbers.

1st day Online learning

A growing number of parents are looking to switch their children from in-class to virtual learning where it's offered as the coronavirus pandemic worsens. But a fresh wave of remote students is expected to spark another reorganization of classes at school boards this fall.

"This change is necessary to ensure all students have access to the programs offered in the DPCDSB and to provide flexibility regarding learning modes&nbsp;in this time of uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic," she said.&nbsp;

As a result of the new classrooms, parents can transition their child from in-person to remote learning at anytime, instead of waiting for prescribed dates the board had outlined previously, Mazzorato&nbsp;explained.&nbsp;

The&nbsp;need to create more flexibility for parents to decide to switch learning environments comes as "a significant number" of families&nbsp;continue to opt for online learning as the school year goes on, she said.&nbsp;

She conceded that classrooms would have to be reorganized&nbsp;regardless to keep up with the amount of parents who want to place their children in virtual schooling and to match overall "staffing ratios" within the board.&nbsp;

Parents should expect their child may be assigned to another class or teacher when the changes occur, Mazzorato&nbsp;said.&nbsp;

The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board will start combining in-person and virtual classes next month as more parents enrol their children in online classes due to a surge in novel coronavirus cases in the GTA.

Dufferin-Peel Catholic board second in GTA to merge online, in-person elementary classes

More Stories Like This