Back to school season officially begins in Waterloo Region
Posted Sep 5, 2023 06:51:46 AM.
Last Updated Sep 6, 2023 06:16:00 AM.
It’s time for kids to pick up their pencils! Back to school week in Waterloo Region is here.
Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) students start their new year on Tuesday, Sep. 5 while Waterloo Regional District School Board (WRDSB) students wait until Wednesday for their first classes.
For post-secondary, Conestoga College classes begin Tuesday, the University of Waterloo has classes Wednesday and both Wilfrid Laurier and the University of Guelph begin Thursday.
Plenty of parents took the time over the Labour Day weekend to help their kids gear up for the school year. A couple of mothers told CityNews what they were shopping for.
“We got new shoes for indoors and maybe some outdoors and school supplies.”
We just got back to school clothes, we got the shoes that they need, their backpacks, their lunch bags.”
School zones can also be pretty busy places on the first day of school. Sgt. Kerry Schmidt of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Highway Safety Division said in a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, that drivers need to be extra alert.
“Well it’s that time of year. There is going to be students returning to class,” said Schmidt. “They’re going to be excited to be seeing their friends and meeting their teachers. They may not be thinking about traffic safety as they’re running down the sidewalks or riding their bicycles to get to school.”
Staff Sgt. Scott Griffiths of the Waterloo Regional Police Traffic Services Unit added that there will be an increased police presence in school zones during the first week back to class.
“We’ll be out every morning and afternoon for the remainder of the week showing our presence and making sure that everyone is reminded that this is a time when there is a lot of excited young people and teenagers getting back into the swing of things. So we need to reinforce safety as a priority there.”
On top of what’s already a stressful time of the year, CityNews meteorologist Jessie Uppal noted that parents also have to prepare for the heat.
“Widespread heat warnings remain in effect,” said Uppal. “For Labour Day, most cities broke temperature records, and we are on schedule for seeing a lot of those temperature records broken Tuesday as kids head back to school.”
She added that everyone should be taking plenty of breaks from the sunshine and avoiding strenuous outdoor activity. That could be significant advice for children during recess.
WRDSB stated in a release that health and safety measures have been taken over the summer to combat the heat inside the schools. HVAC filters were replaced and HEPA units were installed in all rooms that previously had poor ventilation.
The heat warning is expected to end on Thursday.
For those taking the city bus to school, Grand River Transit (GRT) has begun their new fall schedule.
