When the COVID-19 pandemic started, some Black Gold parents and families were not comfortable sending their children to in-person classes. Parents and guardians wanted their children to be taught by a teacher and continue their education. In response, the Division set up a temporary Distance Learning (DL) program and it served its purpose well.

In the 2020-2021 school year over 1700 students in K-12 were enrolled. In the 2021-2022 school year this number was less than 300, with several combined or split classes.

Given the current situation with minimal health restrictions in place throughout the province, Black Gold, like most school divisions, has determined that it is time for this temporary program to end so effective June 30, 2022, the Distance Learning program will stop operating.

Alternate Learning at Black Gold School Division
The Division has a long history of providing alternate education programs to students in grades 1-12, and we believe these can meet the needs of parents and families who decide that they do not want to return to in-school classes.

For students in Grades 1-9, our Home-based Program gives parents two options:

• Parent-directed learning – allows parents to choose curriculum, supervise student studies, choose instructional strategies and evaluate learning.
• Teacher-directed learning – allows students to complete course work at any time of the day, from any location while working with teachers from BGSD.

We also provide a limited number of spaces for Grades 7-9 students in our attendance-based Outreach programs:

• Students attend one of the Outreach schools (Beaumont or Leduc) for a half-day of in-person instruction each day.

Students in grades 10-12 can enroll full-time in one of our Outreach schools (Beaumont or Leduc) or can contact their school principals to discuss options for taking part in their programs through In-reach (at the school) or Inter-Ed (through Outreach).

More information about Alternate Programming in Black Gold is available on our website at https://www.blackgold.ca/schools/alternative-schools/. Please contact your local school principal to discuss programming needs for your child(ren) for the 2022-2023 school year.