WINDSOR, ONT. -- Schools across Windsor-Essex are bustling this week, with the end-of-the-year cleanout.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the work the students would normally do has been left to teachers.

“A lot of students left on March 13, not realizing how many items they left here at the school. So we wanted to make sure they were in possession of their things,” says Mark Vitella, principal at Hugh Beaton elementary in Windsor.

“I put out a call for any volunteers that would help and setup a schedule of which classrooms we would be emptying out and their lockers.”School pickup

Vitella says the work was completed last week, so on Monday and Tuesday of this week, parents were given a time slot to stop by the school to collect their childs’ things.

Each school has different times and days set up for parents, so local school boards recommend parents check their school website for more details, if they haven’t been contacted by their principal.

Vitella and other Windsor area principals say if you can’t get to the school on the designated day, they are hoping to have more pickup days later in the month.

Otherwise, the items will be stored until September.