To our West Prep families,
We hope that you have had a restful, fun-filled and safe summer. The TDSB and the West Prep staff have been working hard to prepare for the safe return of our students, on Thursday, September 9, 2021. We are committed to providing students with regular and meaningful learning opportunities while maintaining a safe environment for our entire school community. We will, however, remain flexible and recognize that circumstances may change over the course of the year, depending on the evolution of COVID-19. Our students, staff and community safety will always remain a top priority.
Currently our staff are setting up their new learning environments and have been engaging in professional development in the areas of equity, achievement, and well-being in advance of the new school year. We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we finalize the last pieces to getting our school year started. Please know that your child’s classroom teacher will be reaching out to welcome you and your child/ren to West Prep in the next little bit.
We are very excited to see everyone again on Thursday, September 9th! All students will meet their teachers in the schoolyard (north side of the school). Your child’s teacher will be holding a clipboard with their name and room number as well. Please remember, once you come onto school property, that all adults need to wear a mask. Please do not arrive earlier than 8:40am and please do not remain on our school grounds past the 9am bell...Thank you in advance.
Our school day ends at 3:10pm for Kindergarten children and at 3:20pm for children in Gr.1-6. Children will be brought outside by their teacher to the same location that they lined up at in the morning. Your child’s teacher will provide more details. We know that the 2021-22 return to school is not a return to normal, but it is also not new. It is our sincere hope that we can support students, families and staff as we continue to work together in navigating a safe and happy learning environment for all.
Our new TDSB Director, Colleen Russell-Rawlins sent an Update Message to parents on Thursday, August 26th providing board level information. COVID-19 continues to significantly impact how we operate, and at West Prep, we have been busy refining our procedures as we prepare to welcome our students, parents and staff back to the school on September 9th. I remain positive in knowing that we have done this successfully before! Many of the practices and procedures that were in place last year will remain in place, at least for the near future. Our direction continues to be based on guidelines from the Ministry of Health, Toronto Public Health, the Ministry of Education and the Toronto District School Board.
As you know, the Trustees of the TDSB voted unanimously to have TDSB staff develop a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination procedure which will require all TDSB staff, Trustees, and visitors to disclose and provide proof of vaccination status and to be fully vaccinated to help protect the health and safety of both staff and students. We know that families may have questions about this new procedure and we will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available. We are reassured that this new measure of protection will help keep our children, families and staff safe this year.
Our school start-up could not happen without the amazing work over the summer months from our West Prep caretaking staff. Thank you also to our office and teaching staff, who have been busy preparing for the new school year. Everything that we have put in place is in conjunction with the safety protocols that can be found in the TDSB’s Operational Guidelines, specifically for elementary schools. There are some new pieces to the safe operations of our school, but one piece that continues and is still relevant to everyone is that All Adults coming onto school property are required to wear a mask, while on our school grounds. Let’s all do our part to keep our students, staff and community safe.
August Selection Form
We would like to thank you for completing the Board Selection form that was shared earlier in August. We recognize and value the thoughts and decision-making that was part of this process for all of our families and know that it may not have been an easy decision to select in-person or remote learning for your child/ren. The TDSB has collated these results and with this information it has formulated new school organization models for in-person and remote learning. Since we have had to create a new school model based on these new numbers, we have had to adjust our school model.
Classroom Organization - As of Sept. 5th
Kindergarten Classes
K1, K2, K3, K4, Virtual K5
Primary Classes
1A, 1B, 1C
2A, 2B, 2/3A, 2/3B
3A, 3B
Junior Classes
3/4A, 4B
5A, 5B
6A, 6B, Virtual 6C
At this moment, the board has a date in February 2022, where they will allow for a switch from in-person to remote and vice-versa. Until then, any allowance for a change will be a board decision, not a local school decision.
As we head into the 2021-2022 school year, we’re doing it without some of our team members. We would like to say goodbye and wish Ms. Vali Shahinaj all the best in her new adventures as an occasional teacher. I'm sure we will see Ms. Shahinaj around, also thank you to our educational assistant, Ms. Edith Molnar. At the same time, we would like to welcome back Ms. Suh, Ms. Ustianov and Ms. Soanes back to West Prep...we’ve missed them and are happy to have them all join our team in-person.
We would also like to introduce our newest members to our West Prep team, Ms. Stephanie Lang, Mrs. Hanh To and Mrs. Amanda Perri. I know that they are excited to be here with us and I know they will feel very welcome by everyone in our community.
Lastly, we would like to congratulate Mrs. Lampropoulos who retired from the TDSB in June 2021. Mrs. Lampropoulos supported students, staff and families at West Prep for many years and developed long lasting relationships with everyone that she met. Her dedication and passion to her role, as a teacher, impacted so many within our community. Mrs. Lampropoulos will be missed but we are happy to know that she's starting a new chapter in her life.
On behalf of all of us at West Prep we want to thank you for your patience and understanding and are all excited to bring in the 2021-2022 school year together.
Sincerely,
Mr. da Luz