Principal's Message
It is hard to believe we are breaking for two weeks! What a first four months it has been at school. Thinking back to August in preparation for what was ahead, I am proud of our staff, students, and parents for all the hard work, support, and determination shown to ensure learning is moving ahead at the school. We have learned in-person, online, and at-home. What a whirlwind! I hope that you can take some time in the weeks ahead to relax, get some rest, and prepare for the year to come. I don't know about you, but I am happy to start writing 2021 when dating things.
A couple of notes for us as we look ahead to January.
1. Weekly Learning Plans - January 4th - 8th
Some teachers may decide to share their learning plans for the first week of January prior to departing on the 18th. A reminder that students are not expected to work over the break and this learning plan would be for when they return in January.
Something we have asked staff to consider is that learning at-home in January will look different for many of our families and teachers. With K-6 students also being at-home that week, technology may need to be shared, older students may be providing supervision or child care for younger at-home siblings, and teachers may be joined at-home by their own kids. We have asked our staff to be flexible to emerging student needs that week due to the change and we would ask some flexibility with our staff as they navigate multiple roles as well.
2. Transitioning to in-person learning - January 11th, 2021
We know things can change with one government announcement, but we are planning to return to regularly scheduled, in-person classes on Monday, January 11th. The same public health measures will be followed by students upon return, including directional flow in hallways, assigned entrances, masking in doors, and sanitizing hands when entering/exiting.
A reminder that students will now be back in regularly scheduled classes for the weeks of January 11th - 15th and January 18th - 22nd. The week of January 25th - 29th will be spent on targeted intervention for students who need it to successfully complete semester 1 courses. Traditional final exams will not be administered this year and diploma exams are optional for students.
3. Online/In-Person Transition
We will be working as an office and student services team to transition our students switching learning methods in the first week of January. This will include potential staffing and timetable changes when looking at our numbers. We appreciate your patience with this process as we work through the details. A reminder that students will be transitioning for semester 2 and will finish semester 1 in their current learning method.
Thank you for taking the time to read this message. We wish you all a wonderful holiday season and look forward to connecting in 2021!
Ryan
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