Dear Families,

Here is some information for this week:

Covid-19 Update

I hope you are all doing well and staying safe.

·         We currently have ONE active case of Covid-19 in our school

Red Zone Designation

Starting on Monday October 19^th, the following new measures will be in place at school:

·         Students are required to wear masks at all times in the classroom

·         They may remove their masks briefly to eat/drink

·         If students are brought outside for Physical Education (or another class), students can remove their masks if they are all separated by 2m

·         Teachers must remain masked unless they can maintain a 2m distance from all students

·         Grade 10 & 11 students will move to a Hybrid Learning Model

·         Please refer to the attached letter from the WQSB

Report Card Modifications

·         The Ministry has announced that they have made changes to the Basic School Regulations regarding reporting procedures for this year

·         Instead of 3 terms, we now are expected to only have 2 terms

·         Each term is weighted equally at 50%

·         There will NOT be a report card in November

·         This has significant impacts on how we gather evidence of student learning and how we structure our evaluations and data collection

·         We are working on finalizing our plan and will provide information soon on when the report cards will be issued for term 1

·         Please refer to the attached letter from the WQSB

Cafeteria Services

·         We continue to experience difficulties with our cafeteria services provider

·         We understand that the website link did not work for some of you and there were other glitches as well

·         Please know that we are doing our absolute best to work with our provider to solve these problems

·         The website link remains: https://sachis.wavenet.ca/

·         We strongly recommend that you send your child to school with a lunch until we are able to sort through these issues

·         Thank you for your patience

PRIDE!

·         The Pride group is meeting again·   

      We welcome students who are queer or who are allies to come and join the weekly virtual hangouts

·         Please have your child email Ms. Jepson (djepson@wqsb.qc.ca) or Ms. Speevak (kspeevak@wqsb.qc.ca) if they would like details on how to join or if they have any questions

·         We are also happy to organize a meeting just for parents if we receive requests

·         This information/support for parents would be scheduled and run by the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Take care,

Tara Laine

Principal

Symmes Junior High School/D’Arcy McGee High School

819-684-7472 x 437001

Gatineau’s ‘Butterfly Girl’ nominated for 2020 Nature Inspiration Award | Capital Current

Dear Families,

I hope you are all doing well.

Here is some information for this week:

Covid-19 Update

·         We currently have TWO active cases of Covid-19 in our school

·         Both the individuals and their classmates have been isolating for many days

Student Absences

·         If your child is absent from school, they are expected to stay up-to-date with all school work posted on the teacher’s online platforms

·         They can make up missed evaluations when they return to school

New Website

·         We have transitioned to a new website platform

·         Please visit https://symmesdarcy.westernquebec.ca/ for information and news about our school

Progress Reports

·         Student progress reports will be available on the Parent Portal on October 15^th

·         Instructions to sign up for the Parent Portal are attached to this email

Ministry of Education Announcement Regarding Reporting

·         It was announced in the media yesterday that schools are to change their reporting periods and there will not be a report card in November  

·         We were NOT made aware of these changes prior to it being released to the general public

·         We are in the process of gathering more information and then we will develop our new reporting plan

·         We will communicate with you as soon as we can

Cafeteria Services

·         Our cafeteria provider has decided to try to shift their delivery to an advanced ordering model

·         If you would like to pre-order lunch for your child, please do the following:

1- go to the link sachi.wavenet.ca
2- at the bottom of the page click to register an account
3- fill the form and register kids into their grades
4- after signing up, sign in with email and password created

5-choose the day in the schedule in which you wish to receive your order
6- review your order, pick your payment method

7- orders will be delivered to the classrooms during lunch break

8- orders must be in by 8:30am for same day delivery

·         Lunch is NOT available for purchase on Wednesdays

Photo Make-Up Day

·         Students who were ABSENT for photo day, can have their picture taken on October 20^th

·         Please sign up for a time slot here:

·         I have attached the instructions for ordering photos to this email

Police Presence at Schools

·         We were informed by the Gatineau Police that officers will begin patrolling secondary school properties and neighbouring areas next week

·         The purpose of the increased police presence is to ensure that young people are complying with the Public Health guidelines

·         Please remind your child to socially distance and to wear a mask when they cannot socially distance

·         Remind your child that masks are mandatory on school property unless they are with their homogeneous group and directly supervised by their teacher

Symmes Students – Lunch Time

·         After careful evaluation and communication with our community, Symmes students will no longer be allowed to travel off campus at lunch time

·         This decision was made with the health and safety of our students and our community in mind

·         Grade 7 & 8 students will remain in their classrooms for the first 25 minutes of lunch and will then travel outside with their supervisor for the second 25 minutes

·         Please remind your child to dress appropriately for the weather

·         If there is heavy rainfall, they will remain in their classroom for the duration of lunch

·         We recommend that you send your child to school with a lunch and snacks or pre-order from our cafeteria provider for classroom delivery

Virtual Extra-Curricular Activities

Choir

Does your child enjoy singing? Miss Ball would love to have them join a new singing club open to all students who love sharing music and singing. There will be a Junior Group for Grade 7-8s on Mondays from 4:30-5:30pm and a Senior Group for Grade 9-11 on Thursdays from 4:30-5:30pm. These rehearsals will be held on Zoom so they can enjoy singing from the comfort of their bedroom or living room! All levels of experience are welcome. This is a great way to come together, connect through music and perform! Please have your child contact  Miss Ball via email (cball@wqsb.qc.ca) if they are interested in joining or have any questions. 

Announcement Club

Does your child want to help out with filming video announcements for our school?  Please have them get in touch with Ms. Kevan at akevan@wqsb.qc.ca if they are interested.

Upcoming Dates

·         Monday October 12^th – Thanksgiving – no school

·         Thursday October 15^th – PD day – no school

·         Friday October 16^th – PD day – no school

On behalf of my entire staff, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Although we aren’t able to celebrate in the ways that we traditionally do, there is still so much to be thankful for. 

Please stay safe this weekend.

Take care,

Tara Laine

Principal

Symmes Junior High School/D’Arcy McGee High School

819-684-7472 x 437001

Dear Families,

It’s hard to believe that it’s October!  I hope you are all able to get outside safely this weekend to see the fall colours.

Here are a few updates for this week:

Covid-19 Update

·         We currently have ONE active case of Covid-19 in our school population

·         The student has not been at school and has been isolating as per the directives by Public Health

·         Close contacts have also not been at school and have been self-isolating  

·         Public Health has deemed our school to be safe and not at-risk

Medical Forms and Consent for Publication Forms

·         Students received these forms today and will be bringing them home to you

·         Please complete the forms and send them back to school with your child

·         Now more than ever, it is important that we receive updated medical forms

·         The Consent for Publication form has details and information directly on it

Cafeteria Services

·         Unfortunately, the provider that has been running our cafeteria has abruptly decided to stop their services

·         Please make sure that you send you child to school with lunch and snacks

·         We are looking at new options and will send out details if we are able to secure a new vendor

Bike Path

·         Due to ongoing construction, the bike path between our school and the local plaza has been disrupted and can no longer be accessed

·         We were not given any warning that this was going to happen

·         We have communicated with the City about the need for a safe detour for our students and community members to access

Inclement Weather

·         Please remind your child to dress appropriately for the weather

·         We are unable to supervise students inside prior to 8:40am so they will be waiting outdoors until then

·         Due to the rain today, we did not send students who stayed on campus for lunch outside – they remained in their classrooms for the duration of lunch

·         At lunchtime, if students choose to leave campus, they will not be allowed back inside and will remain outside for the full 55 minutes

·         We are encouraging our students to make wise choices and remain in their classrooms to eat lunch when the weather is bad

Staff Shortages

·         We are experiencing higher than usual staff absences

·         Staff members are required to follow the guidelines of Public Health if they are experiencing any symptoms and must stay home

·         This is causing an increased number of supply teachers in our classrooms

·         Please understand that we are doing everything we can to recruit and retain high quality supply teachers and long term replacement teachers

·         The reality is, there is a shortage of teachers available to work in schools in our area

·         Thank you for your patience and understanding while we navigate these challenges

Social Media Detox Kit

·         As you are aware, navigating social media is difficult for adolescents

·         Here is a link to some resources to help you and your child:

Online Help For Parents

·         When you child is absent from school, they can access their teacher’s online platform

·         In order to support your child, I have attached instructions for parents to access online tutorials for both Office 365 and Google

·         There is also a help-line number and email highlighted in each document

I hope you all have a safe and restful weekend.

Take care,

Tara Laine

Principal

Symmes Junior High School/D’Arcy McGee High School

819-684-7472 x 437001

October 9^th, 2020

School photos are

now available on online! 

Simply enter your webcode at www.greenapplestudio.ca

If you missed picture day on October 2^nd, it’s still not too late to get your photo taken!  Simply visit the web site link below and add you name one to one of the time slots listed.  First come, first served. 

SCHOOL PHOTO RETAKES BY APPOINTMENT ONLY:

Will be held on Tuesday, October 20^th

Note:  This retake session is only for students who missed having their photos taken on October 2^nd.

here’s the link:

https://studiolapommeverte.datedechoix.com/main.php

Dear students, parents/guardians, and staff,

This year our school start-up was like no other. On August 10, the Minister of Education Jean François Roberge unveiled his revised plan for a return to school. The changes in school organization outlined in the minister’s plan are wide-ranging and far-reaching. Almost every aspect of school life had to be reviewed and adjusted to ensure we reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19 virus. As our schools and centres prepared for our students’ return, we also worked with our partners in Public Health to develop and refine our safety protocols, including the proper use of personal protective equipment, preventive hygiene measures, enhanced disaffecting of physical spaces, and physical distancing measures.

We have, and will continue to work tirelessly with our staff, students and health partners to mitigate the risks of the spread of the virus in our schools and centres, but we cannot detach ourselves from the realities in our wider communities. We need to be prepared for the eventuality that students or staff in our schools or centres may contract the virus. When a person is confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19 in one of our schools or centres, we rely on the medical experts at public health to direct us in our response to the situation.

It is important to know that it is Public Health that investigates each positive case of COVID-19 and determines the actions to be taken including who should isolate themselves, and if a classroom or school/centre needs to close for a determined period of time. It is also important to note that neither the school, nor Public Health are permitted to divulge the name(s) of any infected person due to confidentially obligations. The school principal is responsible for making the community aware of a case in the school or centre and is it Public Health’s responsibility to contact each person who has been in close contact with a person who has been infected with the virus.

To date we have had ten confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our school board. They include:

• September 6 – 1 employee at Wakefield Elementary School
• September 14 – 2 students at South Hull Elementary School
• September 15 – 1 student at Symmes/D’Arcy High School
• September 18 – 2 students at South Hull Elementary School
• September 22 – 1 employee at Hadley/PWHS
• September 25 – 2 students at South Hull Elementary School
• September 26 – 1 student at Pierre Elliott Elementary School

In each case, parents, students, and staff have followed the directives of Public Health. In cases where full classes needed to be in self-isolation the school has switched to on-line learning for the students.

We are all deeply concerned about the health and welfare of our students and staff. We will continue to work diligently with all of our partners to make our schools and centres as safe as possible.

In closing, I want to thank our staff for their dedication, commitment, and professionalism in working through these challenging times. I also want to thank our parents and guardians for their trust and support. Finally, I want thank our students for continuing to engage in their learning and adjusting to the new realities caused by the collective challenge to deal with this pandemic.

Please find below the Minister’s COVID-19 Back to School Plan and a Question and Answers document from Public Health.

• COVID-19 Back to School Plan >
• Public Health Q & A – Updated September 28 >

Mike Dubeau, Director General
Ruth Ahern, Assistant Director General
Western Québec School Board

For more information regarding COVID and our sanitary protocols, visit westernquebec.ca/coronavirus, where you will find this very letter, and a wealth of other resources.