Fort McMurray students find normalcy on first day of school

For families uprooted by a massive wildfire just months ago, the first day of school was a big step towards a return to normalcy.

"It's good to be back into a routine because when we left it was abrupt," Candice Pilgrim said as she walked her two sons to school on Tuesday.

As many as 10,000 students returned to FortMcMurray schools on Tuesday, but the doors remain closed at four of city's 26 public and Catholic schools.

Three of those schools sit in FortMcMurray'swildfire disaster zonesand couldn't be cleaned in time. The other school is still under construction.

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Fort McMurray's Francophone school, L'cole Boral, also remains closed after a section of the building's wallcaught fire.

Almost 500 workers have raced to get schools ready over the last few months, saidDougNicholls,Superintendent of FortMcMurray'sPublic Schools.

"It's really a sign of the community's rebuild and re-entry," Nicholls said."People have been waiting for this day just as they were when they were re-entering Wood Buffalo.

"To have the kids back in school means the town is working again through another step of recovery."

Schools and teachers took to social media to mark the occasion.

Most of the posts captured ordinary scenes from the day.

Some students and staff took firstday selfies.

Minister of Education David Eggen said hevisited four Fort McMurray schools to understand what teachers and schools need in the long term as they continue to recover after the wildfire.

Eggen said his ministry has been partnering with school boards to ensure all teachers are trained to spot the warning signs that students are having a hard time coping in the aftermath of the fire.

It has also worked to place counsellors in schools.

Beyond that, Eggen said he's listening to teachers and principals to determine what the next steps are.

"Now the work just begins," he said.

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