With strict health and safety measures put in place, George Brown College is welcoming back small groups of students for a "return-to-campus" pilot project this summer.

A select group of students returned to class last month as per the Ontario government's announcement in June regarding colleges being allowed to offer limited in-class instruction over the summer to students who were in their final semester when the college closed due to COVID-19 and were unable to complete hands-on clinical or lab work required to graduate.

These students will be welcomed back to the school's Casa Loma Campus.

The project is a test-run to see what it's like for students to go back to on-campus learning and as a way to prepare for more opportunities like it, especially in the fall when the semester starts.

"This small group is part of a summer pilot program to prepare for the potential of more on-campus learning opportunities in the fall, as public health authorities permit," Joyann Callender who is the manager for media and student communications at George Brown, told blogTO.

As of July 15, students from the college's Mechanical Technician - CNC and Precision Machining program returned to school to complete in-person shop components for two courses required for them to graduate.

So wonderful to see students again on our @GBCollege campus today.

Over the next weeks, we are welcoming ~300 students back to campus to finish their programs, apprenticeships

...following strict health and safety policies and guidelines, of course. #WearAMask #myGBC pic.twitter.com/4JI3z8u8cJ

— Rick Huijbregts (@DrRickH) July 16, 2020

All students and faculty on campus must wear masks and practice physical distancing and according to an article on the college’s website, small groups of students from other programs at the Centre for Construction and Engineering Technologies will also return over the summer as well as some students from the School of Dental Health who will be welcomed back to the Waterfront Campus starting in August.

According to the article, Adel Esayed, the Dean of the Centre for Construction and Engineering Technologies program, says the faculty and staff feel the pilot is a good way to test their capabilities to deliver the shop/lab portion of any course while also following physical distancing restrictions.

As of now George Brown's fall semester will still take place predominantly through remote learning in order to maximize safety and reduce the spread of COVID-19.