Updates For January 10-14, 2022
Good day Alma PS families! We are very excited to be planning to return to in-person learning starting Monday, January 17, 2022. There has been a lot of information coming these last few days from both the Ministry of Education and the UGDSB. There is also the potential that more information will be coming home in the next few days. To help you out, here’s the 5 things that you need to know:
1. The school staff is excited and ready for your child to return in person. We have had HEPA filters in place in every classroom all year which exceeds Ministry expectations, our staff will have access to N95 masks and a shipment of extra 3 ply student masks will be arriving later this week. These masks can be used to supplement your current supply of masks, all of which are acceptable to continue to use. More information will come out about the Rapid Antigen Tests that we will be sending home again. As well, students will be cohorting and playing with their class only outside during recess for the time being. Maps of the areas were sent to your email so your child knows where to go on the morning of their return. Yard duty staff will also be outside to help with this transition. Please continue to monitor your email and the school and UGDSB website for updates. One such update from yesterday is https://www.ugdsb.ca/blog/protective-health-and-safety-measures-during-in-person-learning/.
2. We are having our regularly scheduled School Council Meeting tonight at 6:30 PM. A link to the Google Meet has been sent out to all of our current School Council members earlier in the week. If you would like to join and be added to the list, please email the school at [email protected]. We are very blessed to have such a strong and caring parent group and we are thankful for the input and support they provide.
3. Registration for our Junior Kindergarten students for the fall continues through the month of January. If your family or others you know in the community have a child who can attend next fall, please direct them to contact the school and find more information on our School Website. As well, the UGDSB is doing a survey about Before and After School Program (BASP) needs. The survey is intended to gather information about the number of children who need before and/or after school care for September 2022 at schools that do not currently offer a BASP. Please complete the BASP survey if your child will be entering JK/SK in September 2022 or is currently registered in Kindergarten to Grade 5 and will need access to a BASP and if a Program is not already offered in your child’s school. Only parents requiring care at these schools are asked to complete the survey (one per family). The survey will close at the end of the day on January 31, 2022, and will not reopen after this point in time, so please take a moment to fill out the survey in the timeframe allotted. BASP’s within UGDSB schools are not board operated. It is important to note that the addition of a new BASP is solely reliant on the ability of a Third Party Child Care Operator to provide these services. Information from the survey about before and/or after school needs is helpful when determining the viability of a new Program and understanding the needs of families is helpful for their consideration. Please note that the completion of the survey does not guarantee that a Before and/or After School Program will be offered at your child’s school and does not register your child or put them on a wait list. You can find more information at https://www.ugdsb.ca/programs/before-andor-after-school-programs/.
4. We have been fortunate as a school to have the assistance of Davina Koerner helping us in our Grade 1/2 classroom and in our French classes. Starting Monday, January 17, Madame McDougall will be returning to support our students. Thanks to Ms. Koerner for your support during online learning. We wish you all the best and hope to have you back at our school soon.
5. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the updated Public Health screening tool. You can find a link to it on our School Website or at this link https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/. It is a Ministry of Education expectation that you screen your child daily. As a staff, we will be reminding students of the importance of screening daily and for our older ones, we will remind them of the importance of listening to how their bodies are feeling and letting parents know. The revised tool will guide you through your specific situation and will give you results about whether to send your child to school or keep them home. If you scroll down at the end of the results, it also gives advice and next steps for siblings and household members too. To date, our Alma PS parent community has been careful and cautious with this process. We thank you for that and look forward to working together to keep our families and students safe and healthy.
Thank you to students, staff, and families for working through the online transition and for planning ahead as we look forward to being together on Monday, January 17. As always, if you have questions or would like to connect, please reach out. We are here to help!
Jason Boyce
Principal Alma PS
Categories: News