Looking Forward-Oct. 25th-29th

Good afternoon Ryerson Families,

A few updates for next week:

Halloween:

• Students may wear costumes to school on Friday, October 29^th (e.g., no cultural appropriation, no offensive and insensitive costumes, no weapons, no masks permitted as face coverings are required, no inappropriate images, etc.)
• Students choosing to wear a costume should come to the school already wearing the costume and keep the costume on for the duration of the day.
•  Student costumes must be able to accommodate a face covering as per COVID requirements.
•  Activities may take place in individual homerooms (no mixing of cohorts).
•  Students may choose to bring treats to eat at Nutrition Breaks as usual (no sharing of treats)
• Please know that all students do not have to participate in Halloween activities.
• Cultural Appropriation and Costumes: Cultural appropriation means taking or borrowing a look or trait from a culture that is not your own.  Costumes that are based on people’s culture are offensive, harmful and insensitive. The following are suggested questions, to reflect on when choosing a costume to avoid being disrespectful:

• Is my costume making fun of a group of people, their culture, religion and/or belief systems?
• Does my costume reinforce jokes and stereotypes about certain groups, cultures, religions and/or belief systems?
• Am I altering my skin color, facial/body features to make it like a particular race, ethnicity, or cultural group?
• Am I dressing up as a culture or borrowing from a religion that is not my own or is not part of my background?

Communication:

We will continue to use School Messenger occasionally (direct to your email); however, the main mode of communication will be done through posts on our school website https://www.hwdsb.on.ca/ryerson/

The Ryerson school website is extremely helpful as it allows parents/caregivers/students to select the language that best meets their needs.

Please take the time to subscribe to our school website and you will receive an email stating that there has been an update.  You will also receive a direct link to the update.

To subscribe please follow this link:

https://www.hwdsb.on.ca/ryerson/subscribe/

Extra-Curricular & Athletics:

We are slowly beginning to add extra-curricular activities/clubs at Ryerson.  Please know these activities are voluntary activities that staff initiate.  We decided to not participate in the HWDSB Cross Country Meet as we did not have the required number of supervisors/volunteers.  If you are interested in being a volunteer, please contact the office.  I am thankful that we have been creative in our approach, under Mr. Galassi’s leadership.  Regular practices are taking place after school with diligent contact tracing in place.  We will be having our own Cross Country Meet in the near future on the HAAA track.  We will also be adopting this model for volleyball to encourage participation, improve activity, enhance school spirit and wellness for a greater number of students.

Please know that we value all extra-curricular activities and we will continue to problem solve ways to ensure safety and equitable opportunities for all.  My apologies for the lateness in this communication, I will strive to ensure that our school community is informed with as much notice as possible.

As always, if you have any concerns or questions, please don’t hesitate to call our school at 905-528-7975 or email at [email protected]

Take care and have a super weekend,

Mr. M. Hopkins