School News

March 27, 2020

Dear Parents,

As per the mandate of the Ministry of Education classes are suspended until further notice.

School Districts have been required to provide levels of continuity of services to students and families. Planning for this will begin on Monday March 30^th as staff return to work.

Government has developed four guiding principles for us to follow as we plan our work:

1. Maintain a healthy and safe environment for all students and families and all employees.
2. Provide services to support children of essential workers.
3. Support vulnerable students who may need special assistance.
4. Provide continuity of educational opportunities for all students

It is expected that all returning teachers, admin and support staff self-isolate for 14 days in their home before venturing out to our facilities. If they have any flu like symptoms they remain at home and follow procedures outlined by the Provincial Health officer

As education staff we have a very important role to play to help community work through this pandemic. We all have a responsibility to contribute in the ways we can to support families and our students. Enabling our front-line essential workers to continue to go to work and support us is a key component and challenge to schools to finding ways to provide continuity of service. Hence, our continuity of employment. Together we can draw on our knowledge and creativity to support students while keeping ourselves and others safe.

To that end, a gradual return to work is being planned for next week. Admin will come to the Building on Monday, Teachers who are able on Tuesday and Support staff Wednesday. This will enable us to understand the new procedures we all need to follow to maintain a safe working environment. We have asked that all staff begin exploring ways we can support kids within the context of this new reality. Each of them can continue to help in some capacity-we need their ideas.

Our role is to successfully provide some degree of normalcy for our students, it will go a long way to helping ease the tremendous worry and anxiety families have. In order to accomplish this, we need to first create a safe environment for ourselves and have time to plan for the creation of educational opportunities that are meaningful and appropriate within our community context.

Staff will be reaching out to all families next week to determine the ways and means we will be able to support learning in each home, to determine how we can continue to support with our breakfast program, and to determine ways to especially support our most vulnerable students. We will be asking whether online learning is a possibility as one format to learn and other safe means we can create to support student growth. For our secondary students we will be moving most courses to an online format to ensure they can complete the last part of the school year, and for our Grade 12’s successfully graduate.

This are extraordinary times and we ask for your patience, as we try to figure out safe ways for all to carry on with some level of educational service to the children we serve. Our staff are creative, and we will find solutions.

Respectfully,

Joe Rhodes,

Superintendent of Schools