Dear Parents,
Thank you for the great start to our first week! We greatly appreciate your support with our safety requests. So far, we have had a good response to our new drop-off and pick up times. Remember to go slow, and please follow the signs and the supervisor’s requests to move up to the stop signs, so that all children can all stay safe! We are grateful for the Bingo Parents who moved to our supervision. We are still in need of a few more. If you have yet to move into a role or spot to complete the required participation hours, please complete the following survey. There are roughly 20 families yet to commit to the new options.
https://forms.gle/2DU11gY3BsrcDRJJ7
Please contact Lisa Mannella (lmannella@youachieve.com) to set up your new role.
There are only 5 NEW Options:
- Playground Supervisor- 8:10 a.m. to 9 a.m. once per week.
- Playground Supervisor- 2:10 p.m. – 3 p.m. once per week
- Classroom maintenance support – weekends
- Parish gardening and snow removal- on call
- Fundraising Donations – ($500 min value for future auctions) for 1st auction
We need to continue to have parents participate to help with keeping costs down and programs running smoothly.
Thank you for your continued Support!
Safety Updates
We are all updated daily with COVID-19 numbers and outbreak information. Our goal as a school is to keep students as safe as possible. The 1st way to keep all students safe is to NOT send any flu symptomatic kids to school. We rely on all parents to pre-Screen your child(ren) daily. Also, there seems to be different risk tolerances as seen in the news with protests and a variety of opinions on how to deal with COVID outbreaks. We at Our Lady of Sorrows School MUST take all necessary precautions to ensure safety for ALL our families, as well for our many compromised immune students and those who live with the elderly. We are continuing to appeal to ALL our parents to continue to respect our safety protocols so that we can help prevent the spread of COVID at OLS and in our local community. Thank you to all parents who wear masks and stay socially distant in the playground as well to those who stay at their cars at pick-up and drop-off. Also, thank you to parents who are taking all safety precautions at home as well, avoiding large crowds and gatherings and staying cautious in public spaces, as recommended by our Public Health Ministry. As we can see by the daily news, some may not be in agreement to the strategies implemented. However, as the numbers of infected and dying are rising across the country and throughout the world, we MUST continue to do our part. The safety of our students, staff and families depends on all of us remembering the Motto: Worry about YOU spreading it. No one wants to be the spreader of COVID. As seen by your amazing response to our requests so far, it is clear you all care. Thank you for caring for one another! Thank you for being safe! Together we can all continue to prevent the spread at OLS for as long as possible. Thank you! May you all BE Safe!
Reminders
AFTER SCHOOL CLUB – 24 HOURS NOTICE REQUIRED
Due to our new health regulations, effective immediately, we require a minimum of 24 hours- notice for all children attending After School Club. We will no longer be accepting same day attendance requests.
All parents interested, please contact the office (office@myolosschool.ca) with the days needed.
INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS – OPTION 4 STUDENTS
School Pictures for Option 4 students will be on Monday, October 19th. More information is to follow.
SEPTEMBER 19 & 26, 2020 – FIRST COMMUNION
Please refer to the information provided by the Grade Three teacher.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 – MEET THE TEACHERS NIGHT- VIRTUAL
The first Mandatory Parents’ Meeting will be held on Thursday, September 24th. More information will follow prior to the meeting. Please mark your calendars. This will be the first Mandatory Meeting as indicated in the Policy Manual and Registration Guide!
RECESS AND LUNCH BREAKS
Primary and Intermediate grades will have different recess and lunch breaks to stagger transition times and to provide a greater amount of space between cohorts on the playground.
Primary Grade 1 to Grade 4 ( K when needed )
Recess: 10:00 – 10:15 a.m.
Lunch: 11:55 – 12:20 p.m.
Intermediates: Grade 5,6,7
Recess: 10:15 – 10:30 a.m.
Lunch: 12:20 – 12:45 p.m.
Students will need to be outside more often.
**Please ensure all students are prepared with proper jackets and footwear daily as we will also increase the air circulation in the classrooms as well. Students will need to wear sweaters and jackets more often.
*There is NO sharing of snacks or lunches or birthday food celebrations. Please ensure you are packing all necessary items in their school bags. Please include a water bottle where necessary.
STUDENT MORNING DROP OFF
We have introduced longer drop-off times (8:30- 9:00 a.m.) to prevent crowding. Masks must be worn by parents in all public places, and in the pick-up and drop-off zones when physical distancing cannot be accommodated.
All school students will enter from the West lot doors and sanitize prior to entering the building. Parents can walk them through the Turner or Slocan gates; however, the Pender gate is drive-through and out only! If you wish to come from the north side, please use the Church steps or playground gate into the playground.
PICK- UP PROCEDURES
All Primary parents are able to enter the parking lot through the Pender gate from 2:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. and park in a stall. Primary kids (K-4) will be dismissed through their exit doors.
Dismissal is every 5 minutes, starting with Kindergarten to help stagger the crowding. Staggered Dismissal Times are as follows:
| Grade K – 2:30 p.m.
Grade 1 – 2:35 p.m. Grade 2 – 2:35 p.m. Grade 3 – 2:40 p.m. |
Grade 4 – 2:40 p.m.
Grade 5 – 2:45 p.m. Grade 6 – 2:50 p.m. Grade 7 – 2:55 p.m. |
We understand that primary parents may have to wait in the lot for 5 – 10 minutes for all siblings to appear. We ask that all children wait in their cars for safety, as cars will be exiting at different times. Please be patient as we are attempting to align the best times for each family with multiple grade siblings.
Intermediate parents only (Grades 5-7) must arrange for students to be picked-up outside the gates. Please arrange your pick-up areas in advance and please be patient in the lots. The exit doors for Grades 3-7 are the north doors, and Grades K-2 are the south doors next to the Turner gate. Again, we do not wish parents to walk through the Pender gate as there will be cars moving through this tight area, which is dangerous. Please use the Church stairs or the Slocan playground gate.
UNIFORMS
Students will be allowed to wear summer uniform until Friday, October 9th. This is to allow students to wear gym strip when needed. We ask all parents to also send in their regular uniform daily as well, as students will need to change to adapt to the daily weather. Please read the Policy Manual, which is included in the students’ agendas. See Page 5, Item #5. Teachers will continue to do uniform checks every next week. Please ensure all uniform items comply with the Uniform Policy.
*Sweaters are mandatory for all school functions such as Masses, School Assemblies, Paraliturgies, and Fieldtrips when representing the school.
OFFICE HOURS
Please note that our office hours for the 2020-2021 school year will be as follows: 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Our after-school supervision ends at 3:05 p.m. No gatherings are allowed in the playground.
VISITORS
All visitor contact must be by phone, email, or appointment due to COVID screening protocols.
For the safety of our students and staff, all visitors and parents are required to report to the school office upon arrival where a “Visitor” tag will be issued if needed. We ask that all parents/visitors only use the Main School entrance on Slocan Street to enter the school. During instructional time, parents are not to go to their child’s classroom. Any supplies or lunches (labelled with child’s name and grade) are to be left at the office. It is your child’s responsibility (not the office staff) to retrieve their lunch or supplies from the school office. We also wish to restrict calls home for supplies and lunches, so please have your child review daily routines and help them to prepare for their day prior to bedtime. We encourage your children to bring all necessary items to school daily including school sweaters! Thank you.
ABSENTEES
It is very important that you call the school by 8:30 a.m. if your child will be absent or late. This will save time calling you to check if your child is home. Upon your child’s return to school, you must send a note to the classroom teacher explaining the reason for the absence. Please also include all dates absent. If you have more than one child, we require separate notes for each one. This information is required for our annual Attendance Audit which determines our Government funding for the year. We ask that all notes be written at home, not last minute at the school office. Absentee notes may also be emailed to the following email address: office@myolosschool.com