A heartfelt Hello and We Miss You to all of our West Prep students, families and extended community,
Like everyone, we wish that our circumstances were different. We wish that we were back at school, having fun, learning and continuing with our school year. However, this is not the case, as we are facing unprecedented and challenging times that are requiring all of us to find new ways to keep a sense of normality going. All of us at school hope that our students and our families are keeping well and as best as possible. Most important, and above all else, is everyone's health and well-being. Please take care yourself and your family and please follow Health Canada guidelines around COVID-19.
I cannot emphasize enough what all of the Health professionals are asking of us…
- Stay at Home
- Practice Social Distancing
- Wash your hands often
- Limit your trips to the grocery store
- Do not have friends over for dinner parties
- Do not arrange play dates for children
- Do not congregate in playgrounds or dog parks
Let’s all do our part to stay safe, but also to protect those that are helping to protect us, by staying at home.
We would like to acknowledge and say A BIG THANK YOU to all of our West Prep families that work in the healthcare field, those that continue to work at grocery stores, pharmacies and other essential businesses who are helping us to stay safe.
As we follow Ministry and Board guidelines around learning, please note that we are currently in Phase 1 of the Ministry’s Continuation of Learning Plan.
Having said that, support for student learning was launched with the Ministry of Education’s Learning at Home website. This portal provides supplementary learning materials in Math and Literacy for elementary and secondary students to continue their learning during the COVID-19 school closure period. The ministry stated that these resources do not replace what students have been learning at school, but are intended to help mitigate learning loss during the COVID-19 shutdown period.
With the recent announcement by the Ministry of Education that schools will be closed beyond April 5, the Ministry of Education will launch a second phase of Learn at Home. Those details will be shared once we have them.
The TDSB has also provided additional online resources that will support the Ministry’s Learn at Home initiative, covering a range of grades and subjects that may be helpful for students and parents during this time. It is important to note that these online resources are not mandatory or graded and are meant for families to use as optional resources to support independent learning while students are at home.
In addition, the ministry has asked school boards to use the next two weeks to develop plans to re-establish the delivery of curriculum, and to explore ways to provide students with access to devices and internet connectivity in the event the closure is extended. The Ministry and the board are exploring a range of ways that teachers will be supported to be able to reach students during the school closure period.
We understand that parents and students are very concerned about this interruption to student learning. We also understand the importance of teachers, administrators and all education staff to provide the learning opportunities and programs our students need.
We ask for your patience and understanding as all stakeholders finalize how direct support to students will be offered. These are challenging times, but I know that we will get through this together.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support, be safe and looking forward to seeing one another in the not too distant future.
Mr. da Luz