Welcome back!

September 4th, 2020 

Dear families, 

We are excited about welcoming back students – in person and through remote learning – to the 2020-21 school year. The pandemic has brought many changes to our school and our families, but I know that we can rise to the occasion if we work together. 

Thank you for keeping up with the communications coming from HWDSB, and for completing important forms and surveys as required.  

We are taking many actions to prevent COVID-19 at our school. You will notice that safety is guiding our programming choices. Here are some of the important points to remember: 

Attestation
Before a student can enter a school, we require that their family completes an attestation that they have read, understood, and will abide by expectations. Find this on the Parent Portal. (Backup location for forms and translations.) 

Daily COVID-19 Screening
HWDSB COVID-19 Student Screening Checklist is to be completed daily before arriving at school. The checklist is found on the Parent Portal as well as on the HWDSB website. If you answered YES to any of the screening questions, or if you refuse to answer the questions, the student has failed the screening and must not attend school. The family should contact Public Health (905) 974-9848 or their family doctor for testing. Please contact the school using SafeArrival to report the absence. If the student is tested for COVID-19, your school would appreciate knowing the outcome of that test. 

Staggered start details 

As you know, we will be opening our school with a staggered start timeline. This means that not all students will begin on the same day. Please see the chart below, note which group your child falls into, and reach out if you have more questions: 

 

New routines and protocols 

School operations are changing significantly to ensure that we can provide a safe learning environment for students. We are finishing school-specific protocols and expect to post these to our website in the days ahead. These will cover everything from parking lots, classroom set up, nutrition breaks, mandatory masks for students and more. 

Water Bottles 

Drinking fountains in all schools will be bagged and not used. Please be sure to send your child with a reusable water bottle so they stay hydrated, in addition to their non-medical mask. 

Visiting Schools 

This year, our school must significantly limit or even prohibit visitors to school, including parents, to support a safe and healthy learning environment. We ask families to call or email our school if they need to supply information or contact a staff member. Also, it is strongly recommended that parents do not drop off items during the school day. 

Elementary reorganization 

Our staffing numbers were adjusted based on students enrolled as in person and in remote schools. As a result, we had to surplus 3.1 out of our staff allocation at this time (the following staff were impacted: Mme Daniel (1.0), M Bullard (.7), Mme MacMaster (.2) and Mme McCluskey (1.0). As well Mme Hairston is now 0.8 in Grade 8).   

New classes include:  

Gr 2/3 Mme Schilthuis 

Gr 2/3 Mme Gallacher 

Gr. 3 /4 Mme MacLean (LTO Mme Bechard) 

Gr 3 /4 Mme Thompson 

Gr. 5 Mme Amoah (LTO Mme Stojadinovic) 

Gr 5/6 Mme Denommee, and two grade straight 6 classes (Mme Martin and M. Schneiderman).  

We are working to move students into the new arrangements in the affected grades. 

Yearbook ordering has been extended! (Deadline September 8, 2020) (expected delivery is late October, awaiting further information from Edge) 

• Visit edgeimaging.ca 
• Select Online Order 
• Use school code ENP in the yearbook tab 

• Fill in information online 

CONTACT AT EDGE IMAGING 

Edge Imaging at 1-888-416-3343 or email at [email protected] 

—

I will continue to send updates as we receive added information. Thank you for understanding the challenges of planning the new school year, and for sharing our commitment to safe and successful school year. 

Learn more about COVID-19 precautions at HWDSB at www.hwdsb.on.ca/covid19. 

If you have any questions, or think your child might struggle with school, please let me know. 

Sincerely, 

Mme Moules

Principal