Principal’s Message – January 2, 2021

Posted January 2, 2021

Happy New Year!  I hope that you all have had a great winter break and have made many memories as a family.  On behalf of the staff, we wish you a happy and healthy 2021.

Thank you to all the parents who have emailed me to welcome me to the community.  It has meant a lot.

As you know, the government has asked all public schools in Ontario to pivot to remote learning for the week of January 4 to 8, with the hope of students being back in the building on January 11th.  Teachers have been working hard over the holidays to prepare for this switch.  On Monday, January 4th teachers will be posting materials in their Google Classrooms.  This work is “asynchronous” meaning that the teacher will not be online to walk students through it.  Teachers will be reaching out to families on Monday through a Google Meet or phone calls to check in.  Teachers will also be having refresh training on Covid 19 protocols that day.  

On Tuesday, using Google Classroom and Google Meet, teachers will be offering both asynchronous and “synchronous” learning opportunities.  This means that teachers may be holding whole class meetings or lessons, pulling a group of students together for small group instruction, or being online and available to answer questions that students have as they complete their assigned work.  Please be aware that for some staff, just like many of you working from home, there can be challenges with internet and/or they may be trying to support their own children while supporting yours.  We respect that you may also have challenges and we encourage you to let your child’s teacher know.  This may not be perfect, but everyone(student, parent, and staff) is doing their best to support learning.

A reminder that if you do not have technology in your house to support your child with remote learning please fill in the attached form to request to borrow a school Chromebook.  We have limited numbers so we ask that this is used only by those families without technology https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfslnGeKmQKaqAOE3zBf80ueWcvQQ78nwY0zQNSvB2oC2Jbeg/viewform?usp=sf_link.  We will be arranging for the pick up of technology on Monday between 9am and 11am.

For those families who have emailed me or let teachers know  that they do not have reliable internet and/or for cultural reasons they cannot access the online platforms, we will be preparing paper packages.  These can be picked up on Tuesday afternoon between 12pm and 2:30pm.

Do you have a child that will be ready to join kindergarten in September?  Kindergarten registration will begin virtually on Tuesday.  Please visit Kindergarten Registration to learn more.

On a personal note, I am scheduled to have virtual visits with each of the classes next week to introduce myself to the students.  I look forward to seeing their faces as I get to know them.  It is definitely an interesting time to be joining the Spencer Ave community.  

Wishing each of you all the best for 2021.

Categories: News