Ms Berry made the comments on Wednesday afternoon as she announced the nine public schools which will remain open to students during the mass migration to online learning next term.

Acknowledging the widespread anxiety and uncertainty about the arrangements for next term, she assured school communities that "we are all in this together".

"This is an uncertain and anxious time for everyone," she said.

"For parents, this is really hard. Take it easy on yourself and your kids. Your child's well-being comes first, learning will follow."

Ms Berry said the nine school sites, which are split between the city's north and south, were chosen because of their convenience for the 2630 students which had registered as needing supervision.

About 1900 of those students were expected to attend a school campus each day.

The nine schools are: Amaroo, Caroline Chisholm, Charles Weston. Gordon, Kingsford Smith, Majura, Mawson, Maribyrnong and Red Hill.

The ACT's four specialist public schools will also remain open.

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Ms Berry said the government was prepared to open up extra campuses if more students required supervision. No student would be turned away, she said.

All students, regardless of whether they are at home or at one of the nine sites, will be taught online when school returns next week.

Ms Berry reiterated that the territory's public schools were ready to deliver online classes for the whole of Term 2.

But she said the public system school was also prepared to start the transition back to face-to-face learning sooner than previously expected.

Ms Berry and Chief Minister Andrew Barr last week opened the door to the possibility of an early transition back to classroom learning. Ms Berry seemingly ruled out a Term 2 return earlier this week, but her comments on Wednesday indicated that was very much a live option.

She said the efforts of the Canberra community to slow the spread of COVID-19 had given schools and the education directorate time to carefully plan the reopening of schools.

Asked at a media conference on Wednesday why the ACT wasn't following the NSW approach and reopening schools early next term, Ms Berry said schools wanted to take the time to plan for a "really smooth transition" back to classroom learning.

"We want to try and lessen the complications as best as we can," she said.

Infectious diseases expert Peter Collignon this week called for Canberra's schools to be reopened as soon as possible, in particular for students under the age of 15.

Just two of the 104 cases of coronavirus recorded in the ACT have been aged under 20. None have been aged under 10.

Responding to those comments on Wednesday, Ms Berry said the health of teachers and staff - some one whom might be in the high-risk category for COVID-19 - also had to be taken into account when deciding whether or not to keep schools open.

She pointed to the inherent contradiction of a government on the one hand imploring people to adhere to social distancing rules, while also allowing hundreds of students, teachers and staff to mingle on a campus.

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