November 2, 2020 Update
Dear Parents,
1. Thank you to all of you who have emailed me over the weekend with questions regarding the positive case of COVID 19 in our school. It is understandable that as a parent, your child(ren)’s health and safety is of primary concern to you, especially during times like this. When schools have a positive case of COVID 19, the school is expected to maintain the confidentiality and privacy for the individual. When a school is alerted by the health authority, the administration is not informed as to who the person is, only that there has been a positive case in the school, and which classroom it is in. The school community is sent a letter to inform them of a positive case, and the grade affected is sent a letter asking to monitor symptom. The school is not allowed to give any information at all, including questions around siblings, etc. The health authority is in regular contact with the family of the affected person, and will alert the school if there are any changes to the situation. The student may return to school once the health authority has given them permission to do so.
Many questions came up from parents about masks. I would like to review again the policy around mask wearing in schools:
In middle and high schools, masks are mandatory in all common areas. This does not apply to Grade 6 and 7 in elementary schools. There is not mandate in elementary schools to wear masks, unless a student or staff member cannot maintain a 2m distance with someone outside of their cohort.
In elementary schools, students and teachers can be encouraged to wear masks, however it cannot be mandated, except in cases where a student or staff member comes within 2m of someone outside of their cohort.
Please know that our school has and will continue to take every precaution necessary to keep all of our students and staff healthy and safe. Our school is cleaned every lunch hour (high touch surfaces) and deep cleaned every night, using the best equipment and supplies available to ensure that all surfaces are disinfected thoroughly. With the rising number in cases, we have seen several schools with positive cases, and we anticipate that this will continue to be the case. We ask that you please encourage your child to wear a mask to school if they are comfortable doing so.
2. Today marked the first day of Missions Week, “We Can for Burkina Faso Canada”. It was wonderful to see all of the students who came dressed ini their saint costumes! Primary students are asked to bring bottles and cans to school on Wednesday and Thursday, with all proceeds going to Burkina Faso Canada. Intermediate students will be making rosary bracelets this week to sell next week, and we will end the week building towers with coins! We look forward to seeing how much money we can collect to put towards the building of the new school in Burkina Faso. Thank you in advance for your support of this initiative.
3. October slideshow will be sent home later this week for you to enjoy!
4. We are now using a different email provider to send out emails in a more efficient and reliable manner. Please check your junk mail folder periodically to ensure that you are receiving the emails. If it is in your junk box, please move it to your inbox to avoid this from happening in the future.
With gratitude for your support,
God bless,
C. Heah
Principal