Sharon Murphy, a veteran educator based in Toronto who specializes in language, literacy and assessment, is keeping an eye on school re-openings across Canada and in other countries. Whether it's staggered attendance to boosted cleaning to masks and Plexiglas dividers, variety in approach has been the common thread — and that's a good thing, she said.

How schools reopen has to be considered from a local perspective both in terms of public health and the facilities at hand, said Murphy, who takes over as interim dean of York University's Faculty of Education on July 1.