International students heading to private secondary schools across the south Island are starting their mandatory two-week quarantine ahead of class in September, a complex undertaking that involves meals delivered to their doors, around-the-clock chaperones and solitary walks outdoors.
Glenlyon Norfolk does not have a boarding school for international students, who live with the parents of other GNS students, said head of school Chad Holtum.
Before moving in with the local families, 21 students coming from other countries will be quarantined in a boarding house in Victoria. The school educates children from kindergarten to Grade 12, but Holtum said the students in quarantine are in high school.
Students will be met at the airport by GNS staff and taken to the boarding house, which will be supervised around the clock by support staff. Students will be given three meals a day and can participate in online orientation programs to keep them busy.
Holtum said the school is following guidelines from the federal government, which lay out how food is delivered, what programs can take place and when students can leave their rooms to get some fresh air.
Staff will also be checking in to make sure students are not feeling isolated.
“There is a piece where we have to talk to kids about mental health and what they’re going through and we want to support every element of that,” Holtum said. “When everyone is safe and healthy, we will introduce the international students to their host family.”
International students make up 12 per cent of Glenlyon Norfolk’s student population of about 700, he said. About 15 or 16 international students were not able to get visas to study in Canada due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, he said.
Brookes Westshore, an international baccalaureate boarding school in Colwood, has about 20 students currently in quarantine on campus, said head of school Jerry Salvador. There are separate quarantine floors for boys and girls, monitored by a house parent.
When students want to get some exercise and fresh air, they walk around the courtyard with the house parent six feet away.
Salvador admits it’s a bit sad seeing the students do their solitary laps around the courtyard.
“They isolated but they’re not alone,” he said. “The kids have been fabulous at respecting [the quarantine rules]. They know this is serious. They appreciate that this is what they have to do to be safe.”
The school serves 300 students, 150 of whom are boarding students. Of those, about 120 are typically from outside Canada. This year, only about 60 to 70 international students are expected, Salvador said.
“The fact that we just can’t get study permits for new students has really affected us,” he said. Salvador also said some students have had trouble finding flights from their home country to Canada. The school has had to layoff three positions as a result of the loss in revenue.
“This has definitely been a challenging year — but it’s a challenging year for everybody,” Salvador said.
Brentwood College expects its international students will be arriving by Monday to start their two-week quarantine in a downton Victoria hotel.
At a cost of $2,000, students can stay in a room at the Hilton’s DoubleTree hotel in downtown Victoria, where they will be chaperoned at all times.
According to the college’s quarantine plan, students will be greeted at the airport by Brentwood staff and transported to their quarantine residence. They will be provided three meals a day, undergo daily health checks, have daily visits from staff and have the option for daily physical activities or online orientation meetings.
Private school students can expect in-person classes to operate under the same protocols set for public schools by the Ministry of Education: physical distancing, regular cleaning, hand washing and the use of masks when physical distancing isn’t possible. Like public schools, private schools will operate cohorts of up to 60 students for elementary and middle school students and up to 120 students in high school.
At St. Michaels University School, boarding houses will be arranged as separate cohorts of students who will be allowed to be in close contact. Visitors won’t be allowed in boarding houses during the first few weeks of school.
SMUS says boarding rooms are laid out to allow maximum distancing between roommates and each room has its own bathroom. Meal times in the dining hall will be staggered and students in cohorts will eat together.
Any boarding student who exhibits COVID-19 symptoms will be placed in an isolation ward which is physically separated from the rest of the boarding house until their test results determine whether they’re healthy enough to return to the school community.
If rising case numbers prompt public health officials to recommend that schools suspend in-person classes and switch to online learning, SMUS said boarding school students will remain isolated together on campus.
