School Update Friday, March 20

Dear Parents / Guardians,

The last week has presented challenges for all of us that have changed all of our lives significantly. First and foremost, we hope that you and your children are healthy and well. We miss them terribly and cleaning out their lockers and seeing them off briefly was difficult for both students and staff. Our new reality has been an emotional transition for students, staff and parents these first few days, but we are confident that our school staff are ready to take up the challenge of connecting with our students and providing meaningful learning opportunities moving forward.

We would like to thank you for your patience, compassion and understanding this week as we go through this fundamental shift. We know you have lots of questions but by holding off on calls and emails, it has given us the opportunity to support our staff in this transition and begin to develop some comprehensive plans for the long term delivery of  educational programming and connecting with students in meaningful ways. As you know, this process is not the same as sending home a couple assignments when a child is away and requires planning, technology training and direction from Alberta Education on the expectations for programming. You will be receiving a common letter from the Division today outlining the dates and structure for next week.

Here are a few other information items that you have been asking about:

• Next locker pickup – Tuesday March 24 – We will be open from 12-2PM and have almost all the remaining lockers cleaned and materials waiting in our student center. We ask that you come to the front door and we will exercise proper social distancing and protocol. We would really appreciate it if you make this time. For this round, either a parent or student can come. If this does not work for you, please call us to make a time to stop by after Tuesday. Thanks for your patience. Please remember to return any library or textbooks.
• Activity, trip and option fees – We will begin processing any activity, trip, and paid term 3 option fees that require refunds next week. As you are aware from previous communication, this does not include Voyage Quebec. If you don’t see a refund by the Friday Sept. 27, please contact the office.

Thank you again for all your support. We will work together to support our children and each other through these challenging times. Take care of yourselves.

Sincerely,

Darryl Christiansen - Principal