We know families have many questions about what the school year will look like in September. Currently, the Ministry of Education has asked school boards across the province to plan for three possible scenarios:
- All students return to school full-time in September with enhanced protocols for health and safety
- An adapted model which would include grouping students into cohorts and smaller class sizes (this model would include a combination of face- to-face and at-home learning)
- A learning at home model
The Ministry of Education has committed to providing families with more detailed information the week of August 4th about what school start-up will look like in Ontario. Once the details are released we will need to take some time to evaluate and plan for how the Ministry's guidelines can and will be implemented at our schools.
In the meantime, we are asking families to complete a short five minute, anonymous survey, which will help us continue with our planning and communications moving forward. Please complete the Parent Back to School Survey by July 28 at 8 p.m.
We know that our students, staff and families want as much information as possible so that they can plan and prepare. We wish that we were able to provide definitive answers and certainty, but the reality is that the situation with COVID-19 continues to evolve daily and we are going to have to be patient and nimble with our responses.
We can assure you that we are committed to transparent and timely communications with our families and staff. As we move through August and get closer to school start-up, you will receive information, updates and resources in order to make the transition as smooth as possible for our students. We are also tentatively planning for a Livestream Panel discussion with professionals from our Board nearing the end of August - more details will be shared closer to the date.
We hope you will try to enjoy the summer as much as possible and we will continue to pray for the health and safety of everyone in our Simcoe Muskoka family.