Hamilton Mountain Catholic elementary school moves to virtual learning amid COVID-19 outbreak

Students at a Mountain elementary school will be learning virtually once again after a COVID-19 outbreak closed their school.

Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Elementary School will be closed to in-person learning for the remainder of the outbreak" starting on Tuesday, reads an April 3 letter from the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board.

Students are expected to return to in-person learning on April 19.

The board said the decision was made out of concern for the health and safety of our students and staff, and our ability to sufficiently staff [the] school with so many staff currently in quarantine," the letter reads.

An outbreak was declared at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Elementary School on Fennell Avenue East near Upper James Street on March 30 after an epidemiological link was established between two cases at the school.

Since March 27, 13 people - 12 students and one staff member - have tested positive for the virus.

Sts. Peter and Paul is the third school to temporarily move to remote learning amid an outbreak since the Feb. 8 return to classrooms.

Dr. J.E. Davey Elementary School in central Hamilton has been closed for the last two weeks amid a variant-linked outbreak, which was declared over on April 3. The school is set to reopen on Tuesday.

On Feb. 19, St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Secondary School on the west Mountain closed to in-person learning for more than a week.

Nearly half of all Catholic schools - 21, as of April 4 - have at least one class or cohort closed.

Kate McCullough is a Hamilton-based reporter covering education at The Spectator. Her work is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Reach her via email: kmccullough@thespec.com