Claremont Secondary School

Friday, October 2, 2020

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students, 

Here are a few topics to be aware of in preparation for next week, Mon Oct 5th - Fri Oct 9th:  

• Grade 12 and Grad 2021 Information Night:  For those parents/guardians of Grade 12 students, please mark Tues, Oct 6th at 7:00pm & 7:30pm in your calendars.  At 7:00pm, we will hold a TEAMs meeting for parents who would like to learn more about what to expect as their child moves through Grade 12.  At 7:30pm, there will be an opportunity for the Grad 2021 ‘After Grad’ Committee to meet for those who wish to participate.  Please see the following link for instructions on how to join these meetings.  If you plan on attending please RSVP Mr. Westhaver by email, pwesthaver@saanichschools.ca 

• Early Closure Day - Thursday Oct 8th:  The purpose of this ‘one hour earlier’ closure is to prepare for Parent Teacher phone calls that will occur from 6:00pm - 7:00pm for Block 1 classes and from 7:00pm - 8:00pm for Block 2 classes.

• Parent Teacher Night - Telephone Calls:  Parent teacher interviews will look different this year; due to Health and Safety regulations our regular face to face meetings are not possible.  Instead, parent/guardians will have the option to book appointments online through our school website for Thursday, Oct. 8th from 6:00pm - 8:00pm.  Each appointment booked will correlate to an eight minute phone call with their child’s teacher, with Block 1 phone calls occurring between 6:00pm-7:00pm and Block 2 phone calls occurring between 7:00pm - 8:00pm.  The online sign up will officially open at 7:00 pm, Friday, Oct 2nd.

• Bussing - 2nd Half of the Quarter:  As of Oct 13th, the timeframe of our two school blocks will change such that Blk 1 will have students attending ‘every other day’ while Blk 2 will see full attendance for the rest of the Quarter.  All students who require bussing from home to school in the middle of the day need to inform their Blk 1 teacher so that a District Plan can be created.

• Athletics Update:  Currently all secondary schools in B.C. are in ‘Stage 2’ of the Return to School Sports plan.  Within this Stage 2, schools can engage in some activities within a small group of student-athletes and or within cohorts with strict adherence to safety protocol and physical distance.  At the moment, only some volleyball activities have begun.  It is possible we may see cross-country operate in a time-trial format within Claremont.  Unfortunately there will be no rowing season this fall at the high school level.  Once, and if, we  move to ‘Stage 3,” some inter-school activities and games with modification and restrictions will begin.  If you have any questions about athletics in general, our Athletic Director Darren Reisig is a great resource.  dreisig@saanichschool.ca

• Daily Health Check Form:  Parents are reminded to reference/use the latest Daily Health Check Form that is now posted at the top right corner of the main page of our school website, especially when your child is showcasing symptoms of illness.  Please ensure that you communicate with your student’s teacher(s) to let them know if your child needs to stay home due to illness.

• Health and Safety:  Students must always have a mask on hand for hallway travel and anytime physical distancing is not possible.  When outside we have noticed some students gathering in larger groups without adhering to physical distancing and masks not being worn. This is concerning and is an area where we can be better as physical distance between friends needs to be respected.  It is really important we all keep our distance & wear masks where necessary.  

• Group A/B Schedule:  Please note that on Tues Oct 13th we move to the ‘second five weeks’ of Quarter 1, with Blk 1 occurring every other day on an A/B schedule  and Blk 2 at full attendance each day. Parents should be receiving an email by the middle of next week indicating which group students are a part of for Blk 1.  Some classes with smaller numbers and a larger space to work (where physical distancing is possible) have been approved to continue with all students present and masked. The Group A/B schedule for the next two weeks is listed below: