Dear TLDSB families;
I want to start off by thanking all of you for your patience and support as we’ve welcomed your children into our schools or to learning at home. We know that this has been a stressful time for many and I want to congratulate our students on their willingness to embrace these new changes we’ve had to put in place to help keep COVID-19 away.
Our teachers and school staff have been providing students in schools with instructions and reminders throughout the day about all the ways we need to keep our school and each other safe. This includes washing hands when entering and exiting the school, staying with classroom cohorts, wearing a mask except when eating or outside, limiting the number of people in washrooms and hallways, practicing cough and sneeze etiquette, and not getting too close to each other. We will continue to remind students of all of these measures as these routines become familiar to everyone.
Wearing a mask all day can be tiresome. We are all experiencing the same thing while we are in our schools and on our school buses. While we do have behaviour expectations, our staff will be continuing to encourage and remind students about all of the safety measures mentioned above. Discussion and follow up with parents/guardians regarding not following these safety measures will be based on the age of the child and stage of learning. For example, we know that younger students may require more consistent reminding, whereas our expectations for older students will be higher with less reminders required. Your help at home to remind your child about the importance of these safety measures is especially important.
We have been working closely with our local public health units to establish communication expectations if or when a COVID-19 case affects a school. It is important that we maintain protection of individual privacy when sharing information.
Families will be informed if there is a staff member or a student at the school with a confirmed case of COVID-19. This information will be shared on the TLDSB website (with a link from the school website) and on the Ontario Health website. Once we are made aware of a confirmed case, the school will work with the health unit with contact tracing details and any further communication to families.
I want to take this opportunity to remind you about Feed All Four as our TLDSB way of being. Maintaining good sleep patterns, eating nutritious meals, getting out of doors to exercise each day are all good ways to feed our mind, body, spirit, and emotions. Our hope is for all us to stay healthy and safe.
Sincerely,
Wes Hahn
Director of Education
