After a year and a half of remote learning, Six Nations students will be heading back to the classroom on Sept. 7.
Masks will be worn throughout the day, plastic partitions separate student desks and students must be screened for Covid symptoms every day before heading to school.
They will also go to school on alternating days in what educators are calling ‘cohorts’ to allow for physical distancing and there will be no extracurricular activities or assemblies as well as increased cleaning throughout the day of high-touch areas.
Before school starts, parents sign a ‘wellness agreement’ for their child to attend. There will be a maximum of 15 students per class. Parents and students must complete daily screenings for Covid symptoms and are advised to keep kids home if they exhibit any symptoms.
Masks must be worn at recess. Only essential staff will be allowed at school.
There will be mask breaks throughout the day.
The plan will be re-assessed in December.

Carol Tobicoe, the first woman elected to the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Elected Council, has been honoured with an Eagle Award for her lifelong dedication to volunteer work in the community.
She joins activist Joanne Webb and historian Jane Beecroft as the three recipients of the 2021 Eagle Awards, created by MCFN Council in 2020 to honour community members and friends of MCFN.
Tobicoe was also the recipient of the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Volunteerism. Joanne Webb has received the Trailblazer Award for her activism in human rights, women’s rights and Indigenous rights.
Jane Beecroft received the Friends of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Award in recognition of her work to preserve MCFN history.
A celebration is planned for September at the MCFN Community Centre. Last year’s celebration was halted due to Covid-19. This year’s celebration plans to honour last year’s recipients as well. Those recipients were Justice Harry LaForme, the late Karl King (who was a teacher at Lloyd S. King Elementary School), and Ontario Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell.

Ohsweken Public Health says there are 11 active COVID-19 cases reported this week and one confirmed strain of the Delta variant in a Six Nations resident.
The community now has the seventh highest per capita Covid case rate in Ontario out of 35 public health units reporting case counts.
Six Nations has experienced a 66 per cent increase in Covid cases from last week.
The spike in cases comes just as Six Nations officials plan a safe return to in-person learning for local students this fall.
There are currently 53 people in isolation on the territory. One person is currently hospitalized.
To date, there have been 11 Covid-related deaths on Six Nations.
It’s not known what is driving the recent surge on Six Nations or if Six Nations will increase its Covid alert level in light of the recent spike in cases.

The Alberta government says a prominent landmark in the Rocky Mountains has been renamed in the spirit of reconciliation.
The offensive name for the feature on Mount Charles Stewart combines a derogatory term for an Indigenous woman and slang for a woman’s breast. The name had been used since the 1920s and many considered it to be racist and misogynistic.
The formation, visible from the mountain town of Canmore, will now be known by its original name Anu Katha Ipa, or Bald Eagle Peak. It is the traditional name used by the Stoney Nakoda Nation. Elders had already revealed the name change last September.
In a statement, Chiniki First Nation Chief Aaron Young said the Stoney Nakoda people have a “deep and lasting respect” for women in their community and are happy the racist term has been cast aside.