January 5th Update for Families

Happy New Year everyone! We hope the holidays have been enjoyed safely by all and many happy memories were created with those most dear to you. Though we are not returning to in person learning just yet, we hope students are excited about re-connecting with educators and classmates remotely beginning today. Tomorrow, Thursday January 6th will be a full day of Remote Learning. Please note, that we recognize that spending 300 minutes a day in front of a screen is not ideal for anyone, and that while educators will be available throughout the instructional day, there will be times for students to work asynchronously. Should they require support from their educator they can rejoin a meeting or email them directly for assistance. We will continue to follow our regular schedule so students will have PE time, music, French etc. We also encourage everyone to take screen breaks – spend time outdoors being active every day.

We have been busy deploying devices for those who require them for this Remote Learning period. Please note, the LTE enabled devices are not a school resource and will come from the HWDSB for those without Internet access only. We expect to have these next week and will contact those families directly to arrange pick up. In the meantime, classroom educators may be able to support offline learning with emailed assignments. Please contact your child’s educator if this will work for your family. If families are looking for additional learning tasks the following have been created by the HWDSB Program Department and are available for those who would like them:

January At Home Learning Week #1 Kindergarten

January At Home Learning Week #1-Primary (1)

January At Home Learning Week #1 Junior

January At Home Learning Week #1 Intermediate

Additionally, this site may be of assistance for any families looking for activities to support students with additional learning needs. https://learning4success.commons.hwdsb.on.ca/

While we are learning remotely, attendance is being taken daily beginning at 9:45 a.m. and 2:25 p.m. ( these times are 30 mins after the start of Period 1 and 5, in case anyone is having trouble joining a meeting). Parents/caregivers are asked to please continue to report absences using School Messenger each day a child will be absent, late or excused early. In the event your child will be offline, but completing (and submitting) work that has been assigned by their educators, they will be marked as present for the purpose of attendance. We do need to know this is the case however so please be sure to stay in touch with your child’s educator to ensure our records are accurate.

Should you require any assistance and need to contact our school offices, please email [email protected]. This mailbox will be monitored throughout each day.

Thank you all for your continued support and understanding. Look after yourself and one another, and we will get through this challenging time.