January 6th, 2022 Dear Parents, Guardians and Students: By now you should have received information from our Superintendent Dave Eberwein, if not please review the SD63 Saanich Website. His information is extremely valuable as it describes how the District and our schools will prepare for the next week and beyond. Starting Monday, January 10th and carrying through until the remainder of Semester 1 (Fri, Jan 28th), all students and staff at Claremont will experience a change similar to the schedule we used in the 2020/21 school year, a “Copernican” or “long block” schedule. This is in response to enhanced safety protocols requested by the Ministry of Education while providing in-person learning for all students. Please see a reworked schedule of days/blocks as well as an altered bell schedule on the front page of the website. What you will notice in the new bell schedule is “two long blocks per day” (each with a designated 15min break) along with a shortened 35min lunch period with the understanding that students will eat lunch in designated areas (classrooms) and not be permitted to congregate in large groups in our hallways. We will also encourage those students with spare blocks to be off the property during this time rather than waiting for their next class unless transportation is an issue. The rationale for this schedule shift is to reduce the number of times students potentially cross paths and come together during transitions. It is our best attempt at minimizing contact in a school of our population without reducing the density, while at the same time keeping as much instructional and learning time as possible. Guidelines for best practice within this new schedule: Students and staff are required to wear a mask while inside the school or on buses. Everyone should do their best to remain socially distanced from one another. Perform a daily health check before arriving at school. Click HERE to find BC’s K-12 health check. Practice good hand hygiene with consistent hand washing and sanitizing throughout the day. Students need to enter the school by using the outer door that is closest to their classroom. If you are on a spare and it is possible to stay home, please do so. For students who ride our Transit Buses, please ensure that you DO NOT gather in large groups in front of the school before boarding the buses and you stay as distanced as possible from one another. Keep in mind that the transit buses may be very crowded. School bus transportation will run at regular times before and after school with increased protocols for mask-wearing and keeping spaced with seating. Students congregating in large groups within hallways will be discouraged. Students will be required to eat lunch in their morning classrooms. A reminder that parents/guardians notify the school office if a student will be absent due to any illness. Schedules for AM/PM classes will be communicated to students by those respective teachers. Functional School Closure: In the event that a significant percentage of staff are away sick and we are unable to maintain a safe and productive learning environment for students, a school closure may be initiated. This closure would be temporary, likely lasting 7 days during which time teachers would transition their teaching to an online format. Please refer to the SD63 Saanich Website for more details regarding this type of temporary closure. Current COVID-19 Statistics: For more information on COVID-19 and vaccination rates in BC and in our community, please visit the BCCDC COVID Dashboard. Literacy 10 & 12 / Numeracy 10: Fast approaching is our January session of the provincial literacy and numeracy assessments. All three assessments will be running with a focus on literacy 10 for students currently in English 10 as well as grade 11 & 12 students who are missing any one or several of the assessments or who wish to rewrite. A Reminder of Fund-Raising Events Still Running this Weekend: both of the events listed below will run out of our student parking lot, and parents will be encouraged to pull in with their cars and have school volunteers help take the bottles and/or trees right out/off of cars without people having to leave their vehicles. Thank you in advance for your support! Key Club Tree Chipping (By Donation) Fundraiser: Saturday (10am-4 pm) & Sunday (10 am - 2 pm) Grad Parent No-Sort Bottle Drive: Sunday (9 am-4 pm) Sincerely, Peter Westhaver Meaghan O’Brien Aaron Buckham pwesthaver@saanichschools.ca mobrien@saanichschools.ca abuckham@saanichschools.ca
Important News
Message to Families - January 6, 2022
Message to Families - January 6, 2022