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CHARGER CONNECTS
Friday, Sep 11, 2020
From the Principal's Desk
by Ryan Reed

 
 

Hi Everyone,

I hope this email finds you doing well and you've had a good week. We have had a busy first week with all our in-person students returning to school. I can say from observing our students how impressed I have been with their attitudes towards the new rules we have had to put in place. The phrase 'we are all in this together' has been used a lot, but it is true. This has shown in the students both out of class and in their classrooms all week. Thank you for your continued support of the re-opening of Bert Church High School. Please see below for a couple of reminders.

1. Daily Health Check

The health measures we have in place will not keep sick students out of the school. They are meant to limit the spread of germs and viruses once kids are in the school. The best thing we can all be doing to keep illness out of Bert Church is to do the daily health check.

Daily Health Check

As it states in the health check: If an individual answers YES to any of the questions, they must not be allowed to attend school. Children and youth will need a parent to assist them to complete this screening tool.

Thank you for using this daily prior to sending your child to school.

2. Alberta Government Isolation Requirements

In the event of illness or close contact with individuals who have tested positive for Covid-19, the Alberta Government has laid out strict procedures we must all follow. We have received some phone calls about what to do and often we reply with "please follow Alberta Health guidelines for your family". To better assist you with these guidelines, please follow the link below for Isolation requirements

Isolation Requirements

Some highlights for mandatory isolation include:

Albertans with symptoms:

  • You are legally required to isolate for a minimum of 10 days if you have a cough, fever, shortness of breath, runny nose, or sore throat that is not related to a pre-existing illness or health conditions
  • The mandatory isolation period is 10 days from the start of symptoms, or until symptoms resolve, whichever takes longer.

Have symptoms but tested negative for Covid-19

  • If you tested negative and have known exposure to COVID-19, you are legally required to isolate for 14 days.
  • If you tested negative and have no known exposure to the virus, you are not legally required to isolate. However, it is important to stay home until your symptoms resolve so that you do not infect others.

Tested positive for Covid-19

  • You are legally required to isolate for a minimum of 10 days if you have tested positive for COVID-19.
  • Isolation period is for 10 days from the start of symptoms, or until symptoms resolve, whichever takes longer.
Close Contact of confirmed cases
  • You are legally required to isolate for 14 days and monitor for symptoms if you are a close contact of a person who tested positive for COVID-19 (provides care, lives with or has close physical contact without appropriate use of personal protective equipment, or comes into direct contact with infectious body fluids)
  • If you become sick with cough, fever, shortness of breath, runny nose or sore throat during this time, you must isolate for an additional 10 days from the beginning of symptoms or until you are feeling well, whichever takes longer.

Travellers

  • You are legally required to isolate for 14 days if you return to or enter Alberta from outside Canada.
  • If you become sick with cough, fever, shortness of breath, runny nose or sore throat during this time, you must isolate for an additional 10 days from the beginning of symptoms or until you are feeling well, whichever takes longer.
As someone who has kids in school and is navigating this all myself, I know it can be confusing. I would encourage you to take some time to read more information about this over the weekend to inform yourself in the event one of the options above applies to you in the coming weeks.

Our office staff is wonderful but are not health experts. If you have questions regarding whether your child should attend school, the notes above or a phone call to 811 are the best guide for you to follow.

3. Online Student Support

We spent time this week getting our online students the resources they need for their courses. Through this process, we realized there are some questions our online students have about navigating their learning environment. In response to this, we have created two days of online student support with our learning coordinator, Mrs. Rendall. These sessions can be booked on Conference Manager and are for those students who need help navigating Moodle and other online learning resources. For online students, please visit Conference Manager to sign up for your time slot.

In closing, we are grateful to be back in person learning. Walking through the school and seeing so many kids engaged in their learning in all different environments is so encouraging. We know how hard it is to get everyone together when we're doing at-home learning. Our goal continues to be to stay in-person with our classes. One way we can help to do that is by following the above recommendations from Alberta Health Services as adults and students. I'm proud of our kids and staff thus far and encourage everyone to continue on with your best practices.

Have a great weekend and see you next Friday!

Ryan
School Council Meeting Feb 28, 12 noon | École Rocky Elementary

Want to be part of School Council at BCHS? We are hosting our first meeting on Thursday, Sep 17th at 6:30 PM via Zoom. The details for the meeting are below. We welcome any parents who would like to participate to join us online!

Topic: Bert Church School Council AGM
Time: Sep 17, 2020 06:30 PM Airdrie

Join Zoom Meeting
https://rockyview.zoom.us/j/93379877583

Meeting ID: 933 7987 7583
Passcode: 300869




 
What a beautiful setting for students to do physical education. Fitness Friday in the field with Mr. Ferguson! Thanks for sharing.
Ms. Brandford getting to know her students with an ideal media shelve activity. Thanks for sharing Ms. Brandford!

Welcome to our New Staff Members!

With a new year, we have some new faces at BCHS. We are grateful to welcome the following staff:


Mr. Grant Hoe: Mr. Hoe joins us as a Social Studies teacher after a long career at Bow Valley High School where he was the Social Studies department head. We are excited to have Mr. Hoe on our Social Studies team.
Ms. Whitney Gagnon: Ms. Gagnon joins our Math department from Chestermere High School where she was the Math department head. Welcome Ms. Gagnon!
Ms. Shealeigh Brandford: Ms. Brandford returns to south central Alberta from Spruce Grove to join our English department. A fun fact about Ms. Brandford is she was taught high school English by our very own Mr. Bonner. Welcome Ms. Brandford!
Ms. Kirsten Medd: Ms. Medd joins the Charger staff from Springbank High School, where she taugh Science for her entire career. Ms. Medd has joined the ranks of our online teachers this year so she does not have any in-person classes.
Ms. Dawn Deering: Filling in for Ms. Anderson in student services, Ms. Deering joins our staff as a school counsellor. Welcome Ms. Deering!
Ms. Karolina Norton: After a two year leave, Ms. Norton is back in the Bert Church hallways teaching Math and Physics. Welcome back Ms. Norton!
Ms. Chelsea Erion: Completing her third teaching practicum in mathematics, Ms. Erion will be working with Ms. Minion's classes this semester. Welcome Ms. Erion.
Mr. Matthew Bahniuk: A common presence in the hallways at BCHS for a few years, Mr. Bahniuk joins our staff full time this fall teaching Science and Health. Welcome Mr. Bahniuk!
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