Good afternoon, DGH community! A reminder to please fill out the Google Form (using the link below) to indicate dates and times that you would be able to come in and get your children’s belongings (if you have not done so already). At this point, this Thursday and Friday (June 5 and 6) are pretty much booked up. Your best bet would be to choose either next Wednesday and Thursday (June 10 and 11), as these days are much more open, particulary in the later blocks of time. If you have flexibility in when you come (in terms of dates and times), that is greatly appreciated.
Roughly 2/3’s of our families have filled out the form, so we know that there are still quite a few families to fill out the form. The first day has gone smoothly so far; we appreciate everyone helping to make this work. A huge thank you goes to Mrs. James who has spent many, many hours organizing these days and doing her best to accommodate people’s schedules.
Great news, DGH community! We are finally permitted to allow families in to retrieve students’ belongings. We know that our families have been anxious to get their child(ren)’s belongings. PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL AND ATTACHMENTS CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THE REQUIRED INSTRUCTIONS! There is a specific procedure that has to be followed.
If the clickable link above does not work, you can paste this link into your browser:
https://forms.gle/N4P96QwcBjPKwyyb7
1. Please note the TLDSB and local health unit have provided specific requirements that must be followed. We will follow these requirements to ensure everyone’s safety.
2. These requirements are outlined in the 2 attached documents. Please read each of these documents carefully. The TLDSB document provides a general overview of the requirements. The DGH document tells our community members exactly how this is going to unfold.
3. The Google Form mentioned earlier in this post MUST be filled out for any family wishing to come in retrieve students’ belongings. This is how we are going to organize the days we have set aside to make this happen. Families will be given a block of time in which to come to the school.
We anticipate letting people know beginning next Monday, June 1 what their block of time to come to the school will be.
We look forward to seeing many of our school’s students and families!
A reminder to all of our families to whom we owe a refund cheque for milk, juice or lunches that these refund cheques will be available for pick up between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm next Monday, May 25. When you come to the school, you will notice that we will have a table set up outside of our school’s main front doors. We will bring the cheque to you. If someone else is already at the table, please maintain appropriate physical distancing until that person has left. We only had a few people pick up their refund cheques last week, so we are hoping to get many more handed out this Monday coming up! Thank you, Mrs. Starr, for your efficient organization!
On behalf of the DGH community, I would like to wish a “Happy Birthday” to the following students who are celebrating birthdays between May 17 and May 23. We hope that everyone has an amazing, if still somewhat isolated, birthday!
Grade 8 families, while we are still in the process of determining precisely what our Grade 8 Graduation Ceremony will look like, we DO know that we will need a baby photo of all of our soon to be graduates. We would appreciate you sending in a baby photo of your daughter or son to your child’s homeroom teacher. The easiest ways to do this will be by emailing a copy of the photo to the teacher, or having your child share the copy of the photo with their teacher through Google Classroom.
Many families may have a digital photo of their daughter or son – which makes sharing extremely easy! Others may have a physical picture, but can scan it on a home scanner – which also makes it easy to send in to your child’s teacher. Or, you can take a photo with your phone’s camera and send it in that way.
The sooner you can send in the photo the better. It does take time to compile all of the photos and put the presentation together. We appreciate your help in continuing this DGH graduation tradition!
Milk and Lunch Program Refund Cheques Will Be Available For Pick Up On Tuesday, May 19 Between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm.
A number of families paid for the milk and lunch program in advance prior to our school being closed after the March Break. Rather than immediately refunding these monies, we had hoped to be back in school at some point this year and that orders could have been applied at that time. We simply do not know if we will be back in school in June. Even if we are back in school in June we are sure that the rules in place will not allow the milk/lunch program to run. Ms. Starr has maintained records as to who sent in orders.
For this reason, we have written refund cheques (thank you, Ms. Starr) for the amount that families paid for the milk and/or lunch program. Rather than mailing all of these cheques out, we figured that most families would be able to pick up the cheques at our school. We do recognize that some families will not be able to come to the school and, in these cases, will be happy to mail the cheque to you. We also understand that some families will not be able to come on Tuesday, May 19 between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm, but perhaps on a later date. The Google Form below will allow parents to let us know if they require the cheque to be mailed to them.
Google Form To Fill Out If You Require The Cheque To Be Mailed To Your (click on the link below or copy and paste into your browser)
Note: a SchoolMessenger email was sent to our grade 8 families earlier this morning. This post contains the same information and the same link to the Google Form. If you received the SchoolMessenger email and completed the Google Form already, you can ignore this post.
As you know, grade 8 June graduations (in person graduations) have been cancelled by the TLDSB the current school year. The DGH Intermediate staff recognize the milestone grade 8 graduation represents. We have had some preliminary discussions as an Intermediate staff and have determined some potential options. These options have been shared with you in the form of a Google Form where you can offer your opinion on what you think is the best option.
The link to the Google Form is here. Just paste it into your browser and you will be taken to the Google Form.
https://forms.gle/cPH5HW9zCZXsvoRbA
Please note that unlike many of our surveys which are anonymous, in this Google Form you will be required to submit your name as we are looking for one response per family. We would ask that each family consult with their soon to be graduate to determine their choice for what graduation they would like. The Google Form should be completed by Friday, May 15 at 5:00 pm.
We recognize that there is no “perfect” solution in this situation. However, our intent is to use input from families, along with staff input, to determine what our graduation ceremony will look like.
Option 1
Virtual Graduation Held on June 25 or 26
• the DGH staff would put together a virtual graduation ceremony
• while the precise format of a virtual ceremony has not been determined, it would likely include many of the same features of an in person graduation, but in a virtual format recorded in advance (e.g., grade 8 certificates would be awarded, individual award winners would be given out, the Valedictorian’s speech given, and photos of students in their graduation attire sent in advance will be included)
• as noted, all of the pieces would be recorded in advance and put together into a presentation that would be shared with our grade 8 families
Option 2
In Person Graduation Held on September 2
• this is the Wednesday prior to school starting in the fall
• this would look like very much a traditional graduation
• there would not be a dance
This is contingent upon social distancing rules being relaxed by this time and larger gatherings being a possibility. It is possible that social distancing rules WILL NOT be relaxed at this time or still not allow for group gatherings of any size. In that case we WOULD NOT be able to hold an in person graduation and would have to hold a virtual ceremony of some sort. Being upfront, there are some different possible options in this case (e.g., a small number of graduates and family members are in the gym to graduate, they leave, and then another small group enters); however, we cannot provide a clear plan as we do not know what social distancing rules may or may not look like in September.
Option 3
In Person Graduation Held on September 24
• all of the points noted above would apply to Option 2
Grad Sweaters/T-Shirts
The Google Form will also ask how many families would be interested in purchasing a Grade 8 Graduation sweater or t-shirt. We have included a sample image of what the front and back of the clothing would look like (they are definitely unique to this year!). If enough families are interested, additional information around the purchase of sweaters will be provided.
DGH community, take a moment today to reflect on and recognize the incredible sacrifice made by Canadians (and our Allies) during World War II. Today is the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day – which marked the official end of World War II in the European theatre. Out of a population of just 12 million, more than 1 million Canadians and Newfoundlanders (Newfoundland was not yet a part of Canada) served. Roughly 45 000 gave their lives. The freedoms we enjoy today are, in no small part, a direct result of the sacrifices of Canadians 75 years ago. We do not glorify war, but recognize the extraordinary efforts our citizens made.
My family, like so many in our DGH community, had members who served. My grandfather served overseas, was shelled in Italy and spent more than a year in a military hospital. His brother, my great-uncle, served overseas and was killed in Holland only 2 months before the war ended. My grandfather is on the right and my great-uncle on the right. Take a moment today to learn about YOUR family’s history! This is how history is brought to life.
