With the province set to head into lockdown, the local school board is announcing a transition to remote learning following the holiday break.
The Upper Canada District School Board announced plans Monday to temporarily close its schools and move to a school-board-wide remote learning model in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Director of Education Stephen Sliwa says the board has been proactively planning and connecting with public health officials who are carefully monitoring the status of COVID-19 in our region.
“We fully appreciate that an order to close schools throughout Ontario is a significant step in an overall provincial strategy by the Minister of Education to address our concerns about this public health issue and to keep us safe,” Sliwa said.
The decision means students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 will learn remotely from home from January 4th-8th, with plans to return to in-class instruction on January 11th.
Meanwhile, high school students will complete remote learning from January 4th-22nd – with plans to return to in-class instruction on January 25th.
Childcare centers will remain open and it’s anticipated that daycares will be providing their own updates to their clients in the near future.
Here are some basic guidelines for the re-start of school programs:
- Before the winter holiday break, staff and students were encouraged to bring home their learning resources and technology devices should the province enforce school closures. Because of our Remote Readiness Plan already set in place, the UCDSB will implement remote learning using either the Microsoft Teams to D2L platforms, and;
- As we near the start-up for school programs to begin on January 4, school principals & vice-principals will connect with teachers on the planned roll-out for remote learning and communicate with families and students accordingly.
“We will continue the necessary behind-the-scenes work that will be required to welcome students to remote learning as we start the New Year,” UCDSB Chair of the Board John McAllister said. “Families and students connected to the UCDSB can expect further updates as we move closer to the January start-up.”