It's been a couple of weeks since schools began offering limited access to students to come in for in-person meetings with teachers to wrap up the school year.

"I think it's gone well overall, and we were quite impressed with everyone's efforts to get back to regular school and make the best of the remainder of the school year, " says Western School Division Superintendent Stephen Ross. "There was nervousness from both staff and students on what that might look like coming back."

However, on their first day, Ross says there was a lot of joy and smiling faces from staff and students alike, and this experience has been overly positive.

These in-person meetings are instrumental in assessing where students are academically and reporting clear information to parents on where their kids were at before in-classroom schooling was closed and where the students are now.

"What those deficits that kids may have are, and what their strengths are as they go into next year," says Ross.

Ross believes a majority of parents are appreciative of having the chance for their kids to reconnect with some of their teachers and peers face to face.

"Parents, students themselves, and some of the staff have been experiencing remote learning fatigue. Many of our staff had taken on the digitized approach to the remote learning where they were meeting through video conferencing with students."

As things wind towards the end of the school year, Ross says the division has encouraged staff to wrap up new learning, and to focus more on one-on-one learning to help those who need to catch up for next fall.

Transition activities will also be taking place.