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Good Afternoon DGH Community,

If your family borrowed technology (usually a Chromebook) for use during remote learning between January 4 and 22, we are asking that this be brought back by your child on Monday, January 25.

I recognize that this is not an ideal situation for all students and families.  Backpacks can be jammed fairly full with all of the regular items that students bring to school on a daily basis, so there often is not a great deal of space left over.

Try to place the Chromebook in the backpack as safely as possible.  Chromebooks will be collected in the morning after students arrive and returned to the classroom from which they were taken.  We have tracked where each of the devices came from and our goal is to return to that classroom and/or student.  We have already created a process for gathering and disinfecting devices prior to being returned to the correct classroom.    

We know that some families may be concerned that their child(ren) may not safely return the Chromebook safely to school.  So long as you are able to drop the Chromebook off on Monday, January 25 (preferably earlier rather than later), it would be fine for a family member to bring the Chromebook in that way.  Simply call the office at 705-786-1915 when you arrive at the school and Ms. Starr or Mrs. Taylor will pick it up from the cart when you drop it off.  

Thank you to Mrs. Taylor for so efficiently getting technology out to families while remote learning was taking place.  Thank you also to our families who picked up technology so efficiently.  It felt like a very smooth process overall.

As we prepare to return to school on Monday, January 25 (and we are happy about having our students back in our bricks and mortar school!), I wanted to take a moment to ask our families to reinforce school routines with their child(ren). Please know that we, as staff, also take these routines seriously and do our best to implement them as thoroughly as possible.

We will continue all of the routines used thus far in the school year.  Given the spike in Covid-19 numbers that in part led to the move to remote learning, these routines will continue to be extremely important in hopefully preventing Covid-19 from getting into our school at all.  If Covid-19 does get into our school, hopefully these routines will minimize its spread.  In no way is this meant to unnecessarily upset or concern our families.  Rather, I believe that whatever we can do reasonably “up front” will help keep all of us as safe as possible.

The Health Unit continues to stress to schools the ease with which Covid-19 spreads.  I am betting that most of our school community shares my belief: that I have no desire to return to remote learning anymore than is absolutely necessary! 

These routines include:

(a) wearing masks at all times other than when eating/taking a drink or when more than 6 feet apart when outside.  Staff will also continue to follow this routine.

(b) using the hand sanitizer located at our entry doors each time you enter the building.  While many students do have their own hand sanitizer (and there is no issue with that), they still need to use the hand sanitizer provided at our entry doors.  We do have students who try to avoid using the hand sanitizer, so we would appreciate our families really reinforcing this with their child(ren).   

(c) washing hands on a regular basis, including when heading to/returning from the Gym (or using hand sanitizer).

(d) remaining in their seats in the classroom, unless directed otherwise by a staff member.

(e) students not sharing any items, which includes everything from class materials to items like gloves, hats and scarves.  The Health Unit has particularly stressed the importance of students not sharing clothing items.

(f) students not going into classes’ cohort (e.g., going into the wrong yard at recess).

Please continue to complete the Covid-19 screening tool daily before your child(ren) heads off to school.  This is a key to preventing the spread of Covid-19 in our school.  If your child exhibits any of the symptoms, please keep them home.  Aside from this being the direction of the Health Unit, if your child exhibits these symptoms at school, you will be asked to come and pick your child up from school.  We recognize the inconvenience this represents to families; however, the goal is to have as safe a school environment as is reasonably possible.

As I have said previously, overall our students and staff have done an impressive job following routines to the best of their ability.  We are not perfect (and no one ever is), but the efforts of all involved have made a difference to this point.  And that, no doubt, is in large part due to the support of our families – thank you!

The TLDSB has released its proposed 2021-2022 school year calendar.  You can view the calendar by clicking here.  Or you can paste the link below into your browser:

On the school calendar post, you will also find some additional information and a link to where you can provide feedback.  It is always a good thing to check the calendar out in advance as it will give you an idea of what the next school year looks like.  As well, the board does take feedback into consideration in finalizing the calendar before sending it on to the Ministry of Education.  

Kindergarten registrations for next year taking place, our grade 8s filling out grade 9 course selection sheets, and school year calendar planning – it always seems a bit surprising in January that we are so deep into next year’s planning!

Below you will find information that was sent to our school from IE Weldon regarding the Power Pack Program for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year.  Should you have interest in this program for your child, you will want to check out the information below, complete the required documents and check out the Google Meet information.  The Power Pack Application Form and Course Selection sheet is due into IE Weldon by February 26, 2021.  If you are not interested in your child joining the Power Pack program, there is no need to read this email.

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This is the first of several email exchanges to help coordinate the registration of your grade eight students interested in attending I.E. Weldon in the fall.  As a first step, please direct your students to familiarize yourselves with Weldon’s website https://iew.tldsb.on.ca , paying particular attention to the IB program and Power Pack tabs.  Power Pack applications are due back by February 26, 2021. There will be a “Welcome Wildcats” video added very soon.

Students and their families are also invited to attend one of two Virtual Power Pack Information Sessions, facilitated through the Google Meet platform. The presentations will provide detailed information about the Power Pack and IB Programs and will outline next steps to walk you through the application process. The meetings will be held on Thursday 28 January 2021 and Tuesday 2 February 2021.  Both information sessions will begin at 7pm.  Links to the Google Meets are listed below:

The link for the January 28 meeting is: https://meet.google.com/wcv-zijs-qnw

The link for the February 2 meeting is: https://meet.google.com/fsz-zqze-h

More information about these Google Meet sessions, including messaging to be delivered to families, will be forthcoming.

Attached you will find the Power Pack Information pamphlet and the Application form, as well a Grade nine option sheet (which needs teacher recommendation and a guardian signature). These forms will need to be filled out and sent to I. E. Weldon.  

Good Afternoon Grade 8 Parents,

The purpose of this email is to provide updated information around Grade 9 course selections for LCVI. The relevant documents have been emailed directly to our Grade 8 families via SchoolMessenger email. If you did not receive this email (with the relevant documents), please reach out to your child’s homeroom teacher.

Information Google Meet for Students Will Still Happen on Tuesday, January 19 at 11:55 am

– the Google Meet for our grade 8s will still happen on January 19 at 11:55 am.  Due to Covid-19 restrictions this year, the meeting was going to be via Google Meet anyways (organized in the classroom).  

– either Ms. Graham, Mrs. Ridgway, or Ms. Naylor will organize the Google Meet and send the Google Meet link and invite out to students prior to the meeting

– the purpose of the meeting will be to provide information to students around the different available pathways and courses available to them

– students can then discuss discuss their options and complete the paper course selection sheet

Parent Information Google Meet on Wednesday, January 27 at 6:30 pm

– Ms. Kathy Naylor, guidance counsellor from LCVI, is hosting a Google Meet on January 27 at 6:30 pm for parents to join her

– she will provide information around pathways and courses and will answer any questions that families might have

– the Google Meet link for this evening will be sent out prior to the meeting

Entering Course Selections Into the Online System

– instructions have been attached to this email showing families how to enter their course selections into the online system

– our students are quite tech savvy in this area, so most of our families will be able to do this fairly easy

– should you have any questions or difficulty accessing and using the online system, please reach out to your child’s homeroom teacher (if there are issues that we cannot resolve, we can reach out to Mrs. Naylor from LCVI for additional support)

– at the latest, course selections should be entered into the online system by February 26

If Your Child Is Not Attending LCVI

– if you know that your child is not going to attend LCVI, you should not fill out the LCVI online course selection system

– you will want to reach out to the high school you anticipate your child attending to make sure that they can attend and determine how you enter course selections for that high school

– if you aren’t sure which high school your child is going to attend, you will want to speak with Mrs. Naylor on the LCVI Parent Information Night on January 27 in terms of whether or not to complete an LCVI course selection sheet (your child can also ask this question during their Google Meet with Mrs. Naylor next Tuesday, January 19) 

Exciting times as your child(ren) head into high school!  I bet for some parents it feels like yesterday that your kids were beginning JK!  If you have questions, please reach out to your child’s homeroom teacher.  We will do our best to answer whatever questions you might have.

If your child will be 4 years of age by December 31, 2021, they are eligible to attend Junior Kindergarten beginning in September 2021. If this is your first child to attend school, the process can seem a bit daunting. The key information is provided below. You can always reach out to our school at 705-786-1915. Due to the move to remote learning until at least January 22, your call may go to voicemail; however, our school secretaries do check for messages.

The key information you will want to know follows below:

Early Registration helps determine staffing for the 2021-2022 school year. While you can register your child at anytime prior to the start of school, having as accurate as possible numbers as we begin planning for the 2021-2022 school year is extremely helpful and important. Basically, the sooner you register your future JK student the better!

Information around the Kindergarten Registration process can be located at the TLDSB Kindergarten page on the board’s website. Most registrations can be completed online via the “ereg” system (we get most of our registrations this way). The link to the ereg system is located here. Please note the online registration system (ereg) is only intended for students who have not attended a TLDSB school previously (either beginning JK or the student is coming from out of board).

We recognize that there will be some parents who are unable to register electronically via the above method. If this is the case, please contact the school at 705-786-1915. If leaving a message, please leave your name, your phone number and that you need to complete the Kindergarten Registration over the phone. A staff member will touch base with you to setup a time to complete the registration. The registration process will take about 10 to 15 minutes.

To fully complete the registration process, the following documents will be required:

• Proof of age for each child
• Name and phone number for family doctor
• Ontario Health Card number (optional)
• Child’s immunization record
• Residence road name and 911 address

We are excited to start gathering information on next year’s newest Huskies!

DGH community, your efforts were truly appreciated by the Little Britain Mariposa Community Food Bank AND had a tremendous impact for local community members. The generous donations of food and toys benefitted many. We received a thank you letter from the food bank regarding this. I think it important that our community be recognized for all the good that you do! Thank you also to our Student Council, Ms. Cayley, Ms. Graham, Ms. Starr and Mrs. Taylor for helping organize this important activity.

An exciting time of the year is almost upon us – grade 9 course selections for our grade 8 students! 

Mrs. Naylor, LCVI’s guidance counsellor, will be hosting a Google Meet with our grade 8s on Tuesday, January 19. Information around high school and course selections will be provided to our grade 8s during this meeting.  Course selections will likely be done fully online again this year. Thank goodness technology allows us to do so much of this remotely now! 

A Parent Information Night with LCVI staff will take place on Wednesday, January 27 at 6:30 pm. 

Most of us are likely quite happy to say goodbye to the year 2020 and instead welcome in the year 2021! DGH community, as we ring in the New Year, I would like to wish everyone a better year. While it looks to be a tough start to the school year (with our students beginning in online learning), I will still draw positives from this experience. Our students (and larger community) HAVE shown a great deal of resiliency and I know this is something we will continue to see. As I have noted before, I was extremely happy to get students and staff back in the building in September and I am sure we will have everyone back in the building soon again.

As has been said by many in the past year, “Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.”

Heads up and chins up, Huskies. Together, we will get through this!

For those of our DGH families who celebrate Kwanzaa, we wish you a happy beginning to this week of celebration. Canada recognized Kwanzaa beginning in 1993. Kwanzaa is a time for people of African heritage to celebrate their culture and history. Starting on December 26, it lasts for 7 days (ending on January 1).

Interested in learning more? Check out this link at CBC Kids.