September 4th, 2020
Hello and welcome back to the entire Wilson Avenue Community,
First and foremost thank you for your care and concern for the wellbeing of our students and all of the members of the community during this pandemic. We are all experiencing this time in different ways, and can only successfully support our students through care and compassion. Thank you also for your understanding, patience, and support amidst all of the uncertainty throughout the school closure period, and now the reopening.
We completely understand how difficult it is to plan, make decisions, prepare, and coach our students for school reopening with limited information. We are grateful for the Board and the Communications Department on their ongoing updates and general information that applies to the School Board, and we encourage you to continue to follow those updates, as it’s likely things will continue to evolve.
This communication is meant to answer some of the questions you may have about Wilson specifically, to help you better prepare your student for school reopening, and to begin to put your mind at ease about some of these technical considerations that we’ll need to follow to make our day safe, and as smooth as possible. Teachers returned to schools yesterday to go over our Board and school-specific plans, so it is now appropriate to flow this information to the community. We will continue to get you the information you need just as soon as it is available and appropriate to do so. That being said, thank you for understanding that perhaps not all of your questions will be answered at this time, and that some things can and likely will change, so please continue to follow our usual channels for updates. Also rest assured that if your student finds themselves not knowing, or having conflicting information, that we will support them with care and compassion to coach and build their understanding of these new expectations – there won’t be any “gotcha” moments.
Perhaps your most pressing questions:
How do we know if it’s ok to come to school?
Parents and caregivers are required to self-screen their student(s) daily for any of the COVID19 symptoms. If students have any one or more symptom(s) they are not to attend school that day. If a student becomes symptomatic throughout the school day, we will support them in a caring and compassionate way, not making any assumptions about the root of those symptoms as we are not health care providers or able to diagnose. We will call parents or caregivers right away to pick up their symptomatic student from school and provide further direction on when it would be appropriate for them to return depending on the circumstances, following our board protocols.
What class is my student in/ who is their teacher?
Parents/ Caregivers will be informed through SchoolDay of their student’s class/teacher as in previous years. As we work through those families who have elected distance or in-person learning, class lists are being finalized presently and are being entered into our databases and will be posted to SchoolDay as soon as possible, before the first day of school. We will have staff available on your first day to assist you if there’s still any uncertainty when you arrive.
What does my student need for the first day of school?
Please bring a water bottle clearly labeled with your student’s name, as drinking fountains are closed at this time. There are some water bottle filling stations and they will be touch-free.
Please bring lunch/ snacks for nutrition break times. If possible, we are encouraging hard containers that can be easily cleaned (at home) over soft/fabric containers. We will not have plastic/metal recycling or green bins available, so we are encouraging lunches to be “boomerang” style meaning that recycling/ green bin materials go back home for that purpose.
Students may, but are not required, to bring “indoor” shoes. There is no need for “gym clothes.”
Some students (younger or at a developmental stage where needed) may require “just in case” clothing (e.g. back up underwear, socks, pants). These may come, preferably in a labeled resealable plastic bag, and will stay at the student’s bin/hook.
Backpacks and outer clothing (e.g. raincoat/ fall jacket) will stay at hooks – we are using hooks to reduce the number of items coming into the classroom.
Students may, but are not required, to bring personal learning items to school (e.g pencil, colouring pencils, etc.) The school will provide all that is needed to engage the curriculum. Also please remember that students will have limited personal storage space (e.g. a bin or in a desk) for all of these things.
In general, our goal is to limit the number of items coming from home to school, wherever possible, to prevent disease transmission, so students are encouraged to leave these personal learning items at school in their designated space/ container.
Where does my student go on the first day of school?
Once you know what classroom/ who your student’s teacher is, they will meet their teacher on the back tarmac on their first day of school. Please see the board website for the staggered first week of school plan.
What is the first day of school for my child?
For Junior Kindergarten students ONLY, surname A-L attend ALL DAY (8:50-3:10) September 10, and surname M-Z attend ALL DAY (8:50-3:10) September 11 for their orientation. All other students will stay at home and be contacted by phone or email by their teacher.
For students in Junior and Senior Kindergarten, and Grades 1-6 surname A-L will attend ALL DAY (8:50-3:10) September 14,16,18,
For students in Junior and Senior Kindergarten, and Grades 1-6 surname M-Z will attend ALL DAY (8:50-3:10) September 15,17,18.
What time will my student start and be dismissed/ What does staggered dismissal mean?
School starts at 8:50. While there is teacher supervision beginning at 8:35, we are asking students to arrive as close to 8:50 as is practical to limit the time and opportunity for students to be co-mingling at the beginning of the day. Parents and caregivers will be asked to keep back from the tarmac, and support and practice physical distancing practices, possibly seeing their student off from the field area, as we will have specific areas on the tarmac for each classroom to promote physical distancing between students in different classrooms. Teachers will be on the tarmac to greet and direct students to their areas, before our staggered entry routine begins at 8:50, allowing classes to come into the school limiting bottlenecking, and crowding inside.
Generally, Kindergarten and Grades 1-3 students will find their teacher/ classroom area on the tarmac on the East side of the gym (nearer the side parking lot). Students in Grades 4-6 will find their teachers on the tarmac behind and on the West side of the gym (nearer the portables/ bike racks). Don’t worry if it’s confusing at first, there will be plenty of staff to help you find your way.
On any day that a student is at school, the end of their school day is 3:10pm.
Staggered dismissal refers to how students will get from their classrooms to the outdoors, where they will be dismissed from, in a way that minimizes bottlenecks in hallways, and overcrowding. Some classes will exit the building a little earlier than others and finish their school day in a designated area on the tarmac (weather permitting) that promotes physical distancing from other classes. Once hallways/ stairwells/ doorways are clear, the remainder of the classrooms will make their way outside to be dismissed. Teachers from all classes will dismiss students at 3:10pm from those areas on the tarmac.
What does my student do if they’re late?
If your student’s class has already moved inside after our staggered entry routine on the tarmac, they will need to check-in using our late arrival process. Please have your student walk to the front sliding door entrance to line up using the markings on the concrete to promote physical distancing while they wait to be greeted by staff, and checked in. Parents and caregivers are welcome to wait with the student using the ground markings, but will not be able to come into the school for late check-in as has been done in previous years. If needed, a staff member will assist students getting to their classroom safely, but there may be some waiting as ensuring physical distancing and limiting travel will slow this process some. Thank you for your patience as we all work through this process.
As a parent/ caregiver, may I come into the school?
At this time, access to the school is strictly limited. Parents will not be able to come into the school to assist with morning entry, for late sign in, or to drop off things like lunches throughout the day as has occurred in previous years. While there are some circumstances (e.g. picking up a sick child, approved scheduled appointment) where a parent may enter the school – following all appropriate COVID19 protocols – all other parent and caregiver/ school business will need to be arranged or conducted through the safe entry buzzer at the main entrance or by phone.
What will happen at nutrition break?
Students will clean/sanitize their hands before and after eating/drinking. Students will eat in their classrooms. Masks can be removed while students are eating/drinking. Students at Wilson Ave will be in their classrooms for the 40 minutes of nutrition break. This time will allow for students to practice hand hygiene, and eating their lunch/snack. This flow of nutrition break will remind students of nutrition breaks on days when we have inclement weather.
To address the usual 40 minutes of total time outside that students typically have, we have found solutions in our scheduling that allow for increased time for all classes to be outdoors, while providing plenty of space to properly physically distance, and limit chances of cohorts/ classes co-mingling. This time will occur during the school day, and will be purposeful and have an instructional focus, it will include things like phys ed, daily physical activity (DPA), movement breaks, lessons, work time, and so forth. We have scheduled the opportunity for 60-90 minutes per day per classroom – with the opportunity for additional flexible options – to go outside throughout the day. This will look a little different for each class, and will depend as it always does on the weather, but rest assured that we strongly value the importance for outdoor time, physical activity/ movement, fresh air, and breaks throughout the day, and we will make this a priority for the wellbeing of our students.
Once again thank you for all you are doing to support our students. Thank you for your ongoing collaboration and support throughout this often uncertain time. We will continue to provide needed information as it becomes available, so please continue to watch for updates.
Kind regards,
E. Martz T. Ernst
Principal Vice-Principal
Wilson Avenue Public School Wilson Avenue Public School