Some were looking extra-forward to Halloween this year because it falls on a Saturday, with a monthly blue moon to boot.
With many school plans failing to promise smaller class sizes and epidemiologists noting less infection risk outdoors, an ardent movement of teachers, parents and sympathetic principals are urgently pursuing ambitious outdoor learning plans they hope can be incorporated into the curriculum.
Provinces have different guidelines when it comes to students wearing face masks.
Gone, for now, are the days when retirees Bill and Mary Hill could do whatever they please.
Vonny Sweetland has yet to decide if he will be sending his 12-year-old sister Josephine back to class in September, but just in case he does, he's been stocking up on supplies for months.
With her baby brother in her arms, Kara Apuzzo tried to follow along in an online class as he squirmed or slept. Other times, the 18-year-old rushed to get ready for work at a front-line job at Target as her virtual high school lessons were still wrapping up.