2020 08 28 Intro letter to families
Friday, August 28, 2020
Dear Kanaka families,
The start of the school year is fast approaching and we look forward to welcoming students back for the 2020/21 school year.
As follow up to the communication that you’ve received from the school district and the conversations that Ms. Bikic and I have had with individual parents, you will be receiving a survey from the school district later today to further help us with our planning. The survey will be open until Tuesday, September 1, 2020 at 4:00 pm. I appreciate you taking the time to complete this important survey.
At this time, I’d like to provide you with some additional information regarding school procedures for in-school instruction.
Cohorts/Learning Groups:
While Provincial Health Officer guidelines state that learning groups in elementary schools can be up to a total of 60 students/staff, SD42elementary schools will begin the school year with learning cohorts organized as single division groups. The groups will consist of students from a single class, their classroom teacher and, where appropriate, other support staff to a maximum of 30 people. No students will interact outside of their class inside the building unless they maintain physical distancing. Thus, large assemblies will not happen and student movement within the building will be restricted.
Students will continue to be provided with the support services they need. District and school staff not part of the student’s learning group but providing this necessary support will use physical distancing, a transparent physical barrier, or a non-medical mask (or non-medical mask and face-shield) as appropriate to the situation.
Staff interactions with students will be guided by these Ministry of Education procedures:
School Day and Entry/Exit Procedures:
Starting September 14, the school day at Kanaka will run as usual from 8:30 am to 2:20 pm for grades 1 – 7. Note: Kindergarten students will have a different schedule. We will implement tightly controlled entry and exit procedures at daily school start and dismissal as we did in June and July.
Every day at 8:30 am, teachers will greet their class at their designated location and supervise controlled entry into the school and their classroom. For most teachers, this will be outside their classroom. For Ms. Russell’s and Ms. Bishop’s class, it will be outside the main entrance by the flags. The same daily procedure will be followed at 2:20 pm for dismissal, when teachers will supervise their class group outdoors to the same location to be greeted by parents/guardians. Entry into the school building by individuals other than staff and students will be restricted. Visitor and parent entry into the school will require authorization by office staff following COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Recess/Lunch and Hand Hygiene:
Play time during recess and lunch breaks will be outdoors as recommended by our Provincial Health Officer. Supervision procedures for morning start, recess, lunch, and dismissal will be the same to ensure orderly entry and exit.
Teachers will supervise hand washing before/after meals and before/after breaks to ensure proper hand hygiene. Teachers will also supervise eating times with their students to ensure no sharing of food occurs.
Recess and lunch break times for all class/division groups will be staggered so that about half of the classes/divisions are on the grounds outside at any given time. This measure is due to our student enrolment, building design, and the play space on our grounds. I will provide you with the start/end schedule for breaks in my next notice.
Schedule for the week of September 8-11:
- 8 and 9: students will not attend school on these days as staff complete health and safety training and prepare for the return of students
- 9: each family will be advised of each child’s class/division placement and will be advised of the line-up area for each class/division group. This notice will also include the September 10 and 11 attendance schedules
- 10 and 11:
- These days will be dedicated to orienting students to their class group and Stage 2 health and safety procedures
- To best ensure a positive return and orientation to procedures, half of the classes/divisions will attend in the morning on these two days, and the other half will attend in the afternoon; class/division groupings will be identified as Group A and Group B
- Group A classes/divisions will attend Thursday and Friday from 8:30 to 10:30 am
- Group B classes/divisions will attend Thursday and Friday from 12:20 to 2:20 pm
- 14: regular daily attendance for grades 1 – 7 class/division groups from 8:30 am to 2:20 pm will begin on September 14.
I hope that this additional information will be helpful to you and that it will give you a better sense of what our school procedures will look like in Stage 2 before you complete the district survey.
As you can imagine, the summary I have provided here captures only some of the very detailed health and safety procedures that will be implemented across our schools. All procedures are implemented in alignment with the direction set by the Provincial Health Officer, Ministry of Education, and WorksafeBC. Please click hereto see a detailed version of the school district’s restart plan.
Please do not hesitate to contact me at chad_raible@sd42.caor 604 – 467 – 9050 if you would like to discuss programming needs and learning options for your child(ren). I will be following up with further details next week.
Regards,
Chad Raible
Principal
Kanaka Creek Elementary