Please enjoy our September 2020 newsletter.

Please enjoy our October 2020 Newsletter

Please find attached an introduction of our new School Council Chair Simon Farquhar. A list of future meeting dates and instructions on how to join us are also included

In response to COVID-19, processes have changed to provide the suggested and mandatory school-based vaccines to Grade 7 and 8 students. The vaccines will no longer be administered in the schools. Instead, students will access clinics in the community. All schools, including virtual classrooms, will access community locations, by appointment only.

Immunization clinic dates and community locations for 2020/21 are posted on the Durham Region Health Department website: www.durham.ca/immunizationclinics.

The site will guide families to book an appointment at one of the community clinic locations, starting in October and running until December. Included in this email, is communication to forward to parents on how/when to book an appointment for their child through our scheduling platform. The vaccines offered this upcoming school year will remain the same (Hepatitis B, HPV and Meningococcal).

Please note the following changes this year:

• There will be no classroom visits by immunization program public health nurses.
• Consent forms for grade 7 and 8 students will be onsite at community locations for families to complete with a nurse.

We would ask that the intermediate teachers disseminate the information to their students and families. Attached is a Fact sheet for immunization information and a message to send to parents on how to access immunization community clinics. Please forward these two attachments to all grade 7 and 8 teachers to send out to the parents of the students in an email or via your chosen communication platform. 

Hello VMPS Family,

Exciting news, we are going to be having our school's Public Health Nurse join our School Council Meeting on Nov. 2 at 5:30 p.m. to answer Q&As. 

Please complete the following survey if you have any specific questions you'd like to ask and we will provide them to Joanne and she will provide answers to the trending questions that she sees.

Online survey: https://forms.gle/TpW41JsiEhE9NmX28

Kind Regards,

Mr Shea
Principal
VMPS

DRHD Hallwe'en...during COVID-19

School Yard Spook Instructions

School Yard Spook Poster

School Council Message

Please find attached the STSCO (bussing) Winter Newsletter

Please enjoy our November Newsletter

Note: Friday November 27 is a P.A. Day - no school for students

VMPS Remembrance Day Ceremony 2020

VMPS is learning about Reconciliation and embedding Indigenous Education into our daily lives. We are recognizing Indigenous Awareness month by flying our new Canadian Indigenous Flag.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT

Inclement Weather School Closures

The KPR Board has made an important change to how we handle inclement weather days (snow days) this winter. We wish to let all families know that schools will be closed on inclement weather days this year, to protect student health.

We know school closures are an inconvenience and hardship for parents and families. Ultimately, however, we must ensure student well-being at all times. To meet public health requirements and maintain student health, we are not able to combine groups or “cohorts” of students who attend school when buses are cancelled. We also cannot ensure that our schools would have enough staff on-site during snow days to safely supervise the much smaller groups of students in their existing cohorts. 

Therefore, if all buses are cancelled to a school, a region of schools or all schools board-wide, those schools will be closed for the day.

More specifically:

• when ALL buses are cancelled across the entire board, ALL schools will be closed for the day
• when ALL buses are cancelled within a specific geographic region of the board, such as the Municipality of Clarington, Northumberland County or Peterborough County, schools in that region only will be closed for the day
• and, finally, if ALL buses are cancelled for a specific school or group of schools, only that school or group of schools will be closed for the day.

When only a few buses are cancelled, or buses are delayed, schools will remain open.

Schools will provide learning for students to work at home on these days in a variety of ways, either through previously assigned or new work through the classroom teachers’ regular communication platforms, based on the age and grade of the students. Virtual elementary and secondary school programming on snow days will continue as normal.

We will inform families of school closures on snow days in several ways, including local news media, on www.kprschools.ca, through our social media channels (@kprschools on Twitter and Facebook), and by email or text from SchoolMessenger.

Please ensure that your school has up-to-date contact information for you, so that we can text or email you directly about what is happening at your child’s or teen’s school. You can sign up for our direct text service by sending a text message to 978338 with the message of “Y” or “Yes”.

For further information, please see the letter emailed to all families November 25 from Director of Education Jennifer Leclerc, or visit www.kprschools.ca

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT

Inclement Weather School Closures

The KPR Board has made an important change to how we handle inclement weather days (snow days) this winter. We wish to let all families know that schools will be closed on inclement weather days this year, to protect student health.

We know school closures are an inconvenience and hardship for parents and families. Ultimately, however, we must ensure student well-being at all times. To meet public health requirements and maintain student health, we are not able to combine groups or “cohorts” of students who attend school when buses are cancelled. We also cannot ensure that our schools would have enough staff on-site during snow days to safely supervise the much smaller groups of students in their existing cohorts. 

Therefore, if all buses are cancelled to a school, a region of schools or all schools board-wide, those schools will be closed for the day.

More specifically:

• when ALL buses are cancelled across the entire board, ALL schools will be closed for the day
• when ALL buses are cancelled within a specific geographic region of the board, such as the Municipality of Clarington, Northumberland County or Peterborough County, schools in that region only will be closed for the day
• and, finally, if ALL buses are cancelled for a specific school or group of schools, only that school or group of schools will be closed for the day.

When only a few buses are cancelled, or buses are delayed, schools will remain open.

Schools will provide learning for students to work at home on these days in a variety of ways, either through previously assigned or new work through the classroom teachers’ regular communication platforms, based on the age and grade of the students. Virtual elementary and secondary school programming on snow days will continue as normal.

We will inform families of school closures on snow days in several ways, including local news media, on www.kprschools.ca, through our social media channels (@kprschools on Twitter and Facebook), and by email or text from SchoolMessenger.

Please ensure that your school has up-to-date contact information for you, so that we can text or email you directly about what is happening at your child’s or teen’s school. You can sign up for our direct text service by sending a text message to 978338 with the message of “Y” or “Yes”.

For further information, please see the letter emailed to all families November 25 from Director of Education Jennifer Leclerc, or visit www.kprschools.ca

Break out your "Jingle Bells" and "Holiday Spirit".  Vincent Massey is hosting some fantastic spirit Days from Monday December 14th to Friday December 18th.

Please enjoy the council minutes from December

Please find attached information regarding the French Immersion Program.  Current JK students will be eligible to start in September of 2021.

I will also be posting the registration form. Completed registration forms for existing KPR JK students, can be e-mailed directly to dukeofcambridgeps@kprdsb.ca  

Attached you will find the student registration form for French Immersion September 2021.

Completed registration forms for existing KPR JK students, can be e-mailed directly to dukeofcambridgeps@kprdsb.ca  

Please find attached a link to explore some U Tube videos created by Duke of Cambridge.

At this time, we are asking parents to make decisions about school attendance in September, so we can ensure proper staffing for both our school classrooms and the Learn At Home program.

On July 29, the provincial government announced that elementary students in KPR will attend school five days per week, with enhanced health and safety requirements. Secondary students in our school board will also attend school full-time, with timetable adjustments that reduce the number of classes each day, and limit student and staff contacts.

Earlier this week, we shared our Return to School Plan with families and staff. Our plan supports one central principle: safeguarding the health and welfare of students, staff and the community in a manner that reflects the Board’s core values. Our planning is based on advice, guidance and directives of provincial and local public health officials and includes important information and protocols for students, staff and families.

The full document is available on our website, at: www.kprschools.ca/en/COVID-19.html along with an extensive list of Frequently Asked Questions. Please click here to access the Frequently Asked Questions.

Registration – Online Learn At Home Program

Families with elementary and secondary students may choose not to attend in-person school at this time (both elementary and secondary). Students who opt-out of in-class learning will continue to receive instruction through our established distance learning models, with an emphasis on real-time learning.

Students participating in online distance education will sign-in daily, participate in both real-time and independent study, follow the same curriculum as their peers attending school in person and be able to contact their teachers for help and to have questions answered.

If families change their decision regarding whether they want their children to attend in person after the start of school, their requests for a change will be addressed as soon as possible. We will ask that families be patient as some time will be required to develop transition plans from one form of learning to another as we will need to adhere to Ministry of Education and Public Health guidelines that support student and staff health, safety and well-being. Secondary students returning to in-person learning may be limited to the new term or new semester based on course availability, enrolment, and time missed in the course.

Families who wish to enroll their children in the online Learn At Home program are asked to do so by Wednesday, August 19, 2020 by clicking here.

 Year 1 Kindergarten students who wish to participate in the Learn At Home program will need to send a message to kpr_info@kprdsb.ca to register since these students do not yet have an OEN. Please include your student's name and the school name in your message.

Only students participating in the Learn At Home Program need to register. All other students will be assumed to be participating in the full-time in-school model.

To All KPR Families,

As you may be aware, since we sent out our back-to-school update for families yesterday, the Ministry of Education announced new information. In particular, we received new details regarding the Ministry’s planning for online, at-home learning. We recognize that families would like as much information as possible regarding our learn-at-home plans before they enroll their children by the August 19 date we communicated yesterday. To help you in making that decision, we are pleased to forward the provincial information to you as quickly as possible.

For the 300 minutes per day that must be spent on online instruction, the province has outlined how much time must be devoted to synchronous learning. Synchronous learning refers to live, real-time teaching when students in the class are connected by computer directly with the teacher and can interact with the teacher.   The requirements are as follows:

The table below outlines the minimum amount of time per day that students, depending on their grade level, must be provided with synchronous learning as part of their scheduled or timetabled learning.

Secondary students at KPR will follow a full course schedule over the year with four quadmesters, each quadmester including two, 150-minute classes per day.

We are now planning how these Ministry requirements will be put in place in each grade. We will provide more information to parents as soon as we are able. Planning for school in these unprecedented times continues to be very fluid and changeable, and we are responding as quickly as we can.

We have also added information to our Frequently Asked Questions, which you can access by clicking here. This includes further details on:

• Use of Alternate Learning Spaces
• Learn At Home program for French Immersion Students
• Transferring from In-person to Learn At Home program
• School Ventilation.

We encourage parents to check our website often at http://kprschools.ca/en/COVID-19.html for any further news.

August 19 Update

Staggered Start to In-school Learning

The board will be putting in place a staggered start to the first week of the school year. This will allow different grades or students to return to school on different days so students and staff can become more comfortable with new routines and health and safety practices. More information will be shared home to parents through schools as these schedules are finalized.

At last night’s Board meeting, school board Trustees also approved the use of an additional $5.5 million from reserves to support back-to-school planning efforts to support the:

• hiring of additional custodial staff,
• hiring of additional teachers to lower some class sizes,
• potential lease of space for classes should there be no space in specific schools, and
• hiring of staff to develop and offer the virtual, online Learn at Home program.

More information about these areas can be found in our Frequently Asked Questions, available here:  Frequently Asked Questions.

Dear KPR Parents and Guardians:

We want to provide everyone with another update on our continued planning for the upcoming school year.  We appreciate your patience as we work through these many interrelated issues. As you can appreciate, these are complex matters that take reflection and consideration to resolve.

Throughout all, we want to emphasize that our planning supports one central priority, which is safeguarding the health and welfare of students, staff and the community.

To that end, we are sharing today that we have made an adjustment to our secondary school planning model. The details are outlined below for families with secondary students.

We know that everyone is anxious to learn more about our plans for the staggered start to the school year. Once again, our emphasis has been on making our school environments as safe as possible for our students and staff.

For our in-person school operations, this means giving our principals and school staff enough time to:

• realign elementary classroom sizes and staff assignments based on changes resulting from students choosing to stay home for the online school option; parents should be aware that this could potentially mean your child’s assigned teacher may change
• confirm and adjust secondary student timetables, especially for our Learn At Home students
• properly set up and become familiar with our new pandemic-related school practices
• organize classrooms in safe layouts, which includes the moving and storage of a considerable amount of furnishings, desks and other equipment throughout the school.

At the same time, we are also organizing our Learn At Home online school for over 5,300 students. This is a challenging undertaking that requires a significant amount of planning and development with our teaching and administrative staff.

For all of these reasons, we are sharing today that our staggered start will now take place over a two-week period.

This two week period will be as follows:

September 8 – September 11 – Schools remain closed to students. Staff continue preparing school for the new year.

September 14 – September 18 – Student and class groups will attend school on different days to become familiar with classroom and school processes. All students will be in attendance full-time on Friday, September 18.

This two-week period will provide all our staff and students the additional time we believe will be crucial for everyone to prepare learning spaces, and to finalize, understand and be comfortable with, the many new routines that will be a part of the normal school day.

Finalized schedules will be shared with parents through their local school as soon as possible.

We know this will be disappointing to our families and students who are eager to get back to school with all their friends, but we need to take the time to get this right from the start.

Changes to school day structure for In-Person Learning – Secondary students

Our back-to-school planning continues to change and evolve over time in support of student and staff safety.

As we worked through the implementation of our plan and timetabling for secondary students, we realized that our initial structure for the day could be changed and improved to make it better and safer.

The key part of this change is that while students will still be in school all-day, every day, they will now alternate their two subjects every week, instead of every day.

This means that students will take their Period 1 class every day for Week 1. Students will then take their Period 2 class every day the following week. This will continue alternating for the first quadmester.

The following example may be helpful:

We realize this is an extended amount of time for students on each subject. The safety improvements of this model, however, are significant:

• students can remain in a defined classroom for the entire week without traveling to another classroom, similar to our elementary model
• this further limits the number of contacts and touch points for students and staff throughout the day, so that we will no longer have students using two different desks during the same day
• the possibility of schools implementing staggered breaks and lunches for students during the day, so that they can have a break from their classroom; our previous plan was based on students remaining in their Period One classrooms to have lunch.

While our intent with the original school plan was to structure the school day safely for everyone through organized timetabling and limited movement, we feel this plan is a safer and better alternative. Any parents or students who feel that this change may affect their interest in participating in our online Learn At Home program should contact us at kpr_info@kprdsb.ca

In closing, we appreciate your continued patience as we work through these uncommon days in preparation for the new year.

We wish you health and wellness.

Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Is your child eligible for transportation and attending a KPR school in person in September, but won’t be using the bus? If so, please visit https://www.stsco.ca/NotUsingBus.asp as soon as possible to let us know you’re opting out from using the school bus.

You may have seen media reports yesterday regarding the provincial announcement of updated directives for local health units and school boards in ensuring schools remain safe for students and staff.

We are currently reviewing those documents, in collaboration with our local health units, and will be updating our health and safety procedures for all schools to reflect this guidance.

A letter from the Minister of Education outlining these directives is attached here for your information, the highlights of which include:

- Updates to illness protocols to deal with students who become ill while they are at school, including how they will be cared for by staff and provided with personal protective equipment
- The critical importance of parents screening their children every day before school, and keeping them at home if they are ill
- The ways school communities will be updated if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID- 19, and the immediate contact tracing that will begin by local health authorities
- Situations where required classes or cohorts of students will be recommended for testing or sent home, or where the school will be closed until public health officials determine it is safe for students and staff to return.

We know that the health and safety of your children, our students, is your greatest priority. Along with the health and wellness of our staff, we want to assure you that we share that priority.

As mentioned above, we are presently working together with our health units on this newly released guidance document, and will update parents and guardians on our enhanced measures as they are finalized.

 Learn At Home Program

We continue to work on establishing our online, virtual school for over 5,300 students who have chosen this education program. As parents can appreciate, this is a challenging undertaking that requires a significant amount of planning and development with our teaching and administrative staff.

Principals and vice-principals have been assigned to oversee and manage both the virtual elementary and virtual secondary Learn at Home programs. They will be reaching out to families next week with more information about school start-up.

Helping your child become comfortable with mask wearing

One important part of back-to-school routines involves helping students become more comfortable wearing masks. KPR has compiled some tips and videos to help children become more comfortable with putting on and wearing masks. Students in Grades 4 and up are required to wear non-medical face masks when indoors at school, while students in Kindergarten to Grade 3 are encouraged to wear masks in indoor spaces. Please see the attached poster, to support this important part of our back-to-school preparations.

Dear KPR Parents and Guardians:

As the Labour Day long weekend draws closer, we want to take a moment to share with you our excitement in returning to what is our passion, and what we love to do the most – educating your children.

We say this fully understanding that many parents and students are concerned and anxious about what the future will bring. We appreciate those feelings – no one remains unaffected by the events of the last few months – and, in the days ahead, we will do all that we can to support our students in their transition back to school.

We also believe strongly that bringing students together, in person and virtually, is a critical necessity for their overall health and wellness. 

The closures of our schools last spring was a necessary step that we supported, for the health of our communities. The impact of these closures on our students and staff, however, was significant.

From September until March, our students and staff were learning and growing together, in common spaces. Regrettably, from that point in time, life in our communities and schools changed in fundamental ways for us all.

We look forward to taking another step towards our new normal by reuniting students with their peers, and students with our staff, who have missed them.

As I have mentioned, we know that these are uneasy times for families, and that you have understandable concerns for your children’s health.

We have worked with focus and intention to consider all parts of the school day, to make attending school safer for students. As recommended by health authorities, we are making many adjustments to the school day. These include:  

• The way our students enter our buildings and walk through hallways and classrooms each day
• Set-up of desks and classrooms so that students are as far apart as possible
• Keeping classes together in one group with one teacher, as much as possible
• Staggered lunches and breaks for different classes
• Mandatory masks for staff and students in Grades 4 and up, and strong encouragement of masks for Kindergarten to Grade 3 students
• Supplies of hand sanitizer in classrooms and hallways, as well as frequent reminders to wash hands often with soap and water
• A strict health protocol for students or staff who become ill
• Increased cleaning and sanitization of all high touch surfaces, such as handles, door knobs, and faucets, three times a day
• Thorough evening cleaning, including the use of electrostatic sprayers that disinfect all items in large areas, and
• Following all federal and provincial requirements for school bus safety.

Next week, as students begin to hear more from their schools and teachers, we will also share Back to School Information packages with important reminders about the new protocols in place at schools, to keep everyone safe.

Once again, I thank all of our families for your patience and understanding. There have been many changes to our educational programs this spring and summer as we continue to work through the many interrelated issues before us.

I also can’t promise that there won’t be more changes in the days ahead as we adapt to evolving educational and health directives. I can, however, assure everyone that our staff members are an amazing group of committed and caring adults, who have come together in these unprecedented times, to work with purpose and intention to support our students.

We know that no plan is perfect, but we will be tireless in improving and refining our actions and practices each day.

We wish you a joyful start to the school year. 

Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Update for Families of Virtual School Students

We want to thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we launch our Virtual Elementary and Secondary Schools for over 5,600 students in KPR.

Please find below an update for students and families for both the elementary and secondary virtual school.

Virtual Elementary School

Given the overwhelming interest in the virtual school, staff are working as quickly as they can to respond.  The complexity of creating these schools and transferring student information has created technical challenges requiring additional staff and time.

Many parents and students have already been contacted by your child’s teacher. For those that have not heard from your teacher yet, you should hear from them by Monday afternoon.

We trust the following questions and answers will provide you with timely information to support your planning for next week.

Is my child registered?
For those families who completed the “Opt Out Form” in August, please rest assured that your child is registered in the virtual school and has been assigned a teacher.

For those families who did not complete the Opt Out Form because you are new to the board and/or made a decision to attend the virtual school after the August deadline, please know that we working as quickly as we can to add your child(ren) to our school database.

For those families who completed the Opt Out Form in August and have since made the decision to not participate in the virtual school, please know that we are working through a process of removing your child(ren) from our database and transferring this information back to your child’s home school.

When will my child’s teacher contact us?
Once your child’s information is successfully transferred to the virtual school from their home school or a new registration is completed, they will be assigned to a teacher who will contact you about next steps.  Staff are working over the weekend to continue this process.  While we are working diligently to contact families by the end of today, it is possible that your child’s teacher may not contact you until Monday of next week.

What will September 14 to 18 look like?
As you know, all schools in KPRDSB are having staggered entry of students during this week.  This applies to our  virtual school as well.  With students, teachers and parents being new to learning virtually, the plan is for virtual students to attend for increasing periods of time each day as outlined by your child’s teacher.  Your child will not be expected to be online all day until Friday, September 18.   When not online, your child will be assigned work to complete independently.  The focus will be on learning how to use the technology, developing relationships and getting back into the routine of school.

How do I get a device for my child?
Many of you have completed the online survey and already picked up a chromebook.  Should you still need a device, please send an email as soon as possible to: kpr_technology@kprdsb.ca

How do I get technical support for my child?
We have set up Student/Parent Helplines to support virtual students.
Student/Parent Helpline Virtual Elementary School
1-877-741-4577 Ext 3002
Elementary_Helpline@kprdsb.ca

 Who do I contact with my questions about Virtual School?
Please reach out to your child’s teacher with questions or concerns after your initial contact
If you have not heard from your child’s teacher by Monday afternoon, please contact the Education Centre at 877-741-4577, extension 2030.  Your patience is appreciated as we work as quickly as we can to get back to you.

Virtual High School Update (VHS)

We know that a number of students still do not have complete timetables and that some students are having difficulty accessing their KPR online account.  We understand that this creates anxiety given that school starts on Monday.  Please know that the first four days of next week are dedicated to learning about our online learning environment in D2L. 

During this time we will be working hard behind the scenes to resolve all the timetabling and access issues.  No student will fall behind because of timetabling or access issues. 

 How do students access their timetable?
Virtual High School Students should be able to see their timetable in Edsby.  If you are having trouble accessing Edsby because you forgot your username or password please use the following link to access this information. You will need the PIN number that was sent to you via email from KPRDSB. 
https://studentcreds.kprdsb.ca/

If you do not have a PIN number or are still having issues accessing Edsby please call 1- 877-741-4577 Ex 3001

If you need access to technology please use the following email.  kpr_technology@kprdsb.ca 

When will students begin?
Like all schools, the VHS has planned a staggered entry.  The VHS has approximately 1500 students and the staggered entry will allow students to begin by learning how to navigate the online classroom.  The staggered entry schedule is listed below:

Grade 12 Students – Monday, September 14^th
Grade 11 Students – Tuesday, September 15^th
Grade 10 students – Wednesday, September 16^th
Grade 9 Students – Thursday, September 17^th

On Friday September 18^th regular classes will start for all students.  The first priority for students is to familiarize themselves with the D2L environment which can be accessed at the following online address: https://kprdsb.elearningontario.ca/

Students will need their school network username and password to access D2L.  Once they have gained access to D2L there are two introductory modules for them to work through. 

Timetable Adjustments?

We know that there are students who have timetables that are incorrect or who wish to make timetable changes.

Please visit this link to request a timetable change: forms.gle/TLkD74cayh79BzTt7

All courses being offered at the VHS can be viewed by going to the link below.  This will help to inform change requests:  

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JCnMFdIOPLMSl7QaN7A2idVNbDywiSjT_aZv4zredPw/edit?usp=sharing

If your concerns are of an urgent nature, please contact the Virtual High School by calling 705-760-8630. 

How do I get technical support for my child?
We have set up Student/Parent Helplines to support virtual students.
Student/Parent Helpline Virtual High School
1-877-741-4577 Ext 3001
Secondary_Helpline@kprdsb.ca

Unfortunately, STSCO has informed us that the continued, severe bus driver shortage has resulted in more First Student bus routes being cancelled for the rest of this week (to September 18). A full list of affected routes is available at http://www.stsco.ca/driver-shortage-cancellations.asp

September 25, 2020

Dear KPR Parents and Guardians,

As we approach the end of September, it has been reassuring to see KPR students of all ages settling into their new routines for the 2020-21 school year. Whether attending school in person or online, students have been getting to know their teachers, completing their first projects, and adapting to the many changes brought about by COVID-19.

All of this has been possible thanks to the tireless efforts and support of our staff and our families, who have done their best to encourage a sense of normalcy and certainty in these uncertain times. In addition to offering sincere thanks to all of you, this week’s message provides several updates and information about resources available to you.

Confirmed COVID-19 Cases at Adam Scott CVI

You may have heard that Peterborough Public Health confirmed three cases of COVID-19 at Adam Scott CVI. Peterborough Public Health has indicated that it is not declaring an outbreak at the school at this time, because it is not believed that these cases were transmitted through the school. Fortunately, the affected individuals, who are close contacts of each other, are experiencing mild symptoms and are recovering at home in self-isolation.

While this is unwelcome news, we are committed to sharing information with families as quickly as possible. Adam Scott families were notified last night through email, posts on the school and board websites and Edsby, and through social media.

The health unit has identified close contacts who may have been exposed to the ill individuals while they were infectious. The health unit has called close contacts directly to advise them as to any next steps they must take, such as self-isolation and/or testing. 

The school is still open, and individuals who were not contacted may continue to attend school. Families have been reminded to continue to self-monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19; this includes completing the daily self-assessment for symptoms, available at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/ 

We are continuing to follow all health recommendations, including thorough cleaning and disinfecting of all areas; frequent and proper handwashing by everyone in the building; wearing masks; maintaining physical distancing to the fullest extent possible, and following any other steps directed by the Health Unit. If you would like further information on KPR’s COVID-19 protocols, please visit http://kprschools.ca/en/COVID-19.html 

Daily self-screening

We also wish to highlight the importance of every family and every staff member in every school completing self-screening each morning for any possible signs of COVID, before heading to school. Two particularly helpful sources of information include:

• the provincial government’s online, interactive screening tool, available at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/  
• KPR’s Self Screening Tool and Morning Checklist, available at http://kprschools.ca/en/DailyScreeningTool.html

By working together, we can all help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Illness Protocol

As students begin to experience cold and flu-like symptoms this fall, we want to remind everyone of the key points of our Illness Protocol, based on evolving guidance from our local Public Health partners.

• Most importantly, in the event that students experience any symptoms of illness identified on the COVID screening tool at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/, families must keep children home, contact their health care provider or a COVID Assessment Centre for guidance, and follow their recommendations.
• If testing is recommended, children must stay home from school until the test result is received.
  • If the test result is negative for COVID-19, but the child still has symptoms of illness, they should stay home until symptom-free for 24 hours (or 48 hours in the case of vomiting or diarrhea).
  • If the test result is positive for COVID-19, Public Health will be in regular contact and will inform families when children can return to school.
• If testing is not recommended because the primary health care provider has diagnosed that the symptoms are not due to COVID-19, children must stay home until symptoms have been resolved for 24 hours (or 48 hours in the case of vomiting or diarrhea).
• If children are not diagnosed with an illness other than COVID-19, or are recommended for testing for COVID-19 but they do not get tested, they must self-isolate for a minimum of 14 days from the time their symptoms started.  They cannot attend school during this 14-day period.

COVID Alert App

We also want to remind you of the Government of Canada’s new COVID Alert app, which can be downloaded for free to let people know of possible exposures to COVID before any symptoms appear. That app is available at https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html

 KPR’s Parent Conference goes virtual

For the past 19 years, KPR’s annual Parent Conference has given parents and guardians free, direct access to expert advice on supporting their children’s learning and on raising healthy, resilient families. This year, we are hoping even more people will be able to participate in the event as it goes virtual.

We encourage all interested parents, guardians, staff and community members to join us online for this year’s Virtual Parent Conference, which will be held: 

Saturday, October 17
9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
Theme: Drop the Worry Ball
Featuring Dr. Alex Russell

 Dr. Russell is a clinical psychologist, a well-known and engaging speaker, and co-author of the book Drop the Worry Ball: How to Parent in the Age of Entitlement.

Online registration for his presentation will begin next week. All registrants will receive a link to watch the presentation live, and to ask Dr. Russell questions. Watch for more information soon.

Orange Shirt Day and Rowan’s Law Day

And, finally, we invite everyone to join us in recognizing two important events next week: Orange Shirt Day, and Rowan’s Law Day. Both are on Wednesday, September 30.

KPR has participated in Orange Shirt Day for several years, to honour survivors and remember victims of Indian Residential Schools. Each year, we encourage students and staff to wear orange to demonstrate their commitment to reconciliation and to ensuring that “Every Child Matters”. We encourage everyone to learn more about Orange Shirt Day by visiting www.orangeshirtday.org

Rowan’s Law Day honours an Ottawa student who died after sustaining several concussions over six days. In 2018, the provincial government passed Rowan's Law (Concussion Safety), to protect amateur athletes on the field and at school, and to support concussion awareness and prevention. To see KPR’s concussion safety protocols and resources, visit http://www.kprschools.ca/en/our_schools/getinvolved/parentresources/concussionresources.html

KPR and our schools will continue to communicate regularly with parents and guardians, to keep you up to date on latest developments affecting your children and teens.

In the meantime, stay well.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Parents: get expert advice on raising mentally strong, well-adjusted children, without having to leave home!

The KPR school board’s 19^th Annual Parent Conference is going virtual this year. Please join us online on:

Saturday, October 17
9 a.m.-11 a.m.|
Theme: Drop the Worry Ball
Featuring Dr. Alex Russell

Dr. Russell is a clinical psychologist, well known and engaging speaker, and co-author of the book Drop the Worry Ball: How to Parent in the Age of Entitlement.

As always, the parent conference is free and open to all interested parents, guardians, community members and staff.  Registrants will receive a link to watch the presentation live, and to ask Dr. Russell questions.

Watch for an update from KPR October 1, when registration opens.

Friday, October 2, 2020

Dear KPR Families,

As I write this update, it strikes me that nothing is more predictable this year than its unpredictability. With that in mind, I would like to share with you a few new developments that have taken place since last week’s update.

New COVID-19 Self-screening Tool

The provincial government this week released a new COVID-19 self-screening tool for families and individuals to use every morning. The new tool, which goes into effect immediately, is meant to help families and individuals make an informed decision about whether they should attend school or child care, consult a health care provider, or get tested for COVID-19.

The new self-screening tool now has two sets of questions about possible symptoms. The first set asks about symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath. Children with any of these symptoms will still be advised to stay home until they receive a negative COVID-19 test or other medical diagnosis. 

The second set of questions asks about symptoms that are common to other illnesses as well, such as runny nose, headache and nausea.

• Children who have only one of these symptoms will be advised to stay home for 24 hours, after which they can return to school or child care if their symptoms are improving.
• Children with two or more of these symptoms will be advised to stay home until they consult with a health care provider and receive a diagnosis other than COVID, or a negative COVID-19 test.

Another change in the symptom list is removal of abdominal pain and conjunctivitis (pink eye).

The new self-screening tool is attached, and posted at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/covid19-cms-assets/2020-10/Screening%20Children%20v1.0%202020-10-01%20FINAL%20EN%20AODA.pdf  All KPR schools will follow these new directions. Please self-screen every day.

Confirmed COVID-19 Cases

Health authorities this week notified us of a confirmed case of COVID-19, at Highland Heights PS in Peterborough. In addition, there is a probable case of COVID at the YMCA GTA child care centre located within the John M. James PS building in Bowmanville. Both schools are responding as directed by Durham Public Health and Peterborough Public Health. In both cases, we have worked closely with public health officials to identify anyone who may have been exposed to the ill individuals while they were infectious. The health unit called close contacts directly and advised them as to any next steps they must take, such as self-isolation and/or testing.

Highland Heights PS, John M. James PS and the child care centre are still open, and individuals who were not contacted by their health units may continue to attend school and child care, including the after-school program.

Meanwhile, we are pleased to report that the three individuals at Adam Scott CVI who were confirmed last week as having COVID-19 have been recovering well at home. 

All KPR schools are continuing to follow all preventive steps identified by health officials, including thorough cleaning and disinfecting of all areas; frequent and proper handwashing by everyone in the building; wearing masks; and maintaining physical distancing to the fullest extent possible.

We also remind all families and staff of the importance of daily self-screening, using the new screening tool attached.

COVID Alert App
We also want to remind you of the Government of Canada’s new COVID Alert app, which can be downloaded for free to let people know of possible exposures to COVID before any symptoms appear. That app is available at https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html

Text Message Alerts from KPR Schools

Text message alerts are a quick and easy way to receive information about school news, attendance, and more. We will also be using text message alerts to notify families about confirmed cases of COVID in their schools.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to opt into this service now, by sending a text message to 978338 with the message of “Y” or “Yes”. 

You can opt out of these messages at any time by simply replying to one of our messages with “Stop”.  If you choose not to opt in to text messaging, you can still receive school information via email. You can also decide which types of communications you receive, and how, through the School Messenger App under Preferences, or by logging into https://go.schoolmessenger.ca/#/account/login

Joining the Virtual Parent Conference is easier than ever

Please join us at KPR’s free Virtual Parent Conference, which will be held: 

Saturday, October 17
9 a.m.-11 a.m.
Theme: Drop the Worry Ball
Featuring Dr. Alex Russell

Dr. Russell is a clinical psychologist, well known and engaging speaker, and co-author of the book Drop the Worry Ball: How to Parent in the Age of Entitlement.

To make joining the Virtual Parent Conference as easy as possible for everyone, separate registration will not be required.  You will be able to “tune in” directly to the Parent Conference, the morning of the event on October 17, by simply clicking on a link that we will be sending out to all families and staff next week.

In addition, KPR will be recording Dr. Russell’s presentation and posting it on our website, the week after the Parent Conference, for those unable to participate in the live, real-time event. Our website also will include links to information and resources provided by agencies that serve families across KPR.

 If you need assistance, have questions or if there are accommodations that would make the conference more accessible for you, please email kpr_info@kprdsb.ca or call 705-742-9773 or toll-free 1-877-741-4577, ext. 2018.

We wish everyone a safe, healthy and relaxing weekend.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Thursday, October 8, 2020

Dear KPR Families,

As we approach the Thanksgiving long weekend, we would like to extend our sincere best wishes to our students and families.  We are living through historic times, and we continue to be incredibly proud of our students and staff as they adapt to the new realities of our school day.

Together, they are finding moments of joy, happiness and inspiration, and most importantly, they are learning.

These are difficult times, without question, but with positive intention we continue to work through challenges as they come, and to do all that we can to ensure the safety and wellness of everyone in our schools. We remain thankful for the opportunity to be together, in person and virtually, engaged in our life’s work and passion: public education.

We urge everyone to be responsible in our Thanksgiving observations, and to continue to do all that we can to keep our communities healthy.

Please find below further information as part of our weekly update.

Important: please self-screen daily!

We remind families and staff that it is extremely important to screen themselves for possible symptoms of COVID-19 every morning, before heading to school. Please use the Ontario government’s updated, online self-screening tool for this purpose. It will help you make an informed decision about whether you should attend school or child care, consult a health care provider, or get tested for COVID-19.

The new self-screening tool can be completed online at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/. A printable version also can be downloaded from https://covid-19.ontario.ca/covid19-cms-assets/2020-10/Screening%20Children%20v1.0%202020-10-01%20FINAL%20EN%20AODA.pdf 

In addition, we have attached a copy of the self-screening tool for you to print if you choose. Please self-screen every day.

We also wish to remind parents of two other important sources of information on COVID:

• We encourage you to download the Government of Canada’s COVID Alert app, which can let people know of possible exposures to COVID before any symptoms appear. That app is available at no charge at https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html
• The KPR website has a wealth of information on COVID, including our illness protocol, mental health resources to help support families at this time, details on wearing masks properly, posters in eight languages, and a COVID-19 Reporting page that provides an update on numbers of confirmed cases at schools throughout KPR. All of this information can be accessed from http://www.kprschools.ca/en/COVID-19.html

 KPR Virtual Elementary School (VES)

With 4,300 students now attending the VES, an intake process has been created to support a successful transition for students and their families. VES students will be able to move from in-person to online learning at the end of each month. This will allow sufficient time for principals and teachers to make the transition as smooth as possible for students.

If you would like to move your child from in-school to online learning, please start the process by speaking with the principal of your home school.  Families will need to register by October 23 if they wish their children to make the change on the next available start date of Monday, November 2.

Similarly, families who wish their children to switch to online classes on Monday, November 30 will need to register between November 2-20.  Please note that this process will not occur in December. 

In other words:

Watch for more information on the transition and registration dates for January.

After registering for the VES and while waiting for their online classes to start, students will be supported by their home school until they transition to the virtual school. They will have two choices during this waiting period: either attend class in person at their home school until the VES start date, or complete work assigned by their child’s teacher at home.

Kawartha Pine Ridge Virtual High School (KPRVHS)

At the secondary level, all Virtual High School classes are currently full for this quadmester.  The next entry point will be for the second quadmester, which begins on Monday, November 23.  

Requests to transfer into online learning for the second quadmester will need to be completed by October 30, so that appropriate staffing can be put in place to accommodate the new enrolment levels.

To start the process of transferring to the Virtual High School, parents must contact their home school’s Guidance department. 

Families requesting a transfer to online learning at KPRVHS should be aware that:

• Students will no longer have a timetable at their home school, and course availability may change if the student chooses to return to their home school later in the school year.  The student will be registered with the KPRVHS and no longer registered at their home school.
• KPRVHS does not offer all the courses that a regular high school offers, so it may not be possible to match courses.
• KPRVHS is not able to offer specialized programs such as International Baccalaureate (IB) and skilled trades-related courses.
• Students are required to participate in a minimum of 225 minutes of daily scheduled synchronous learning (live, real-time learning) between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Parents and guardians interested in transferring their teen from the virtual school to their home secondary school also will need to contact their Guidance department to begin the process.

KPR Parent Conference: one click away
You are just one click away from receiving free, expert advice at KPR's Virtual Parent Conference next week.

KPR's 19th annual conference - the first one to be held virtually - will take place: 

Saturday, October 17
9 a.m.-11 a.m.
Theme: Drop the Worry Ball 
Featuring Dr. Alex Russell 

To make participating in the Virtual Parent Conference as easy as possible, we are not requiring pre-registration this year. You will be able to “tune in” directly to the Parent Conference on the morning of the event, by simply clicking on the following link:  
https://kprdsb.webex.com/kprdsb/onstage/g.php?MTID=ec88524730938f91cc940009914595b06

Dr. Alex Russell is a clinical psychologist, well known and engaging speaker, and co-author of the book Drop the Worry Ball: How to Parent in the Age of Entitlement.

If you need assistance, have questions or if there are accommodations that would make the conference more accessible for you, please email kpr_info@kprdsb.ca or call 705-742-9773 or toll-free 1-877-741-4577, ext. 2018.

Sign up for Text Message Alerts

And, finally, we encourage families to sign up for KPR’s Text Message Alerts to get quick updates on school news, attendance, any possible confirmed cases of COVID in their child’s school, and more. You can opt into this service now, by sending a text message to 978338 with the message of “Y” or “Yes”. 

You can opt out of these messages at any time by simply replying to one of the Text Message Alerts with “Stop”.  If you choose not to opt in to text messaging, you can still receive school information via email. You can also decide which types of communications you receive, and how, through the School Messenger App under Preferences, or by logging into https://go.schoolmessenger.ca/#/account/login

We wish everyone a healthy, relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Friday, October 16, 2020

Dear KPR Families,

It’s hard to believe it’s mid-October already! Changing colours, falling leaves and cooler temperatures are a fitting reminder that, even in the midst of change, we can thrive. Our students, staff and communities illustrate this every day, by continuing to learn, grow and succeed, despite the stresses and uncertainties of today.

Following are the latest updates on education locally and provincially.

Virtual Parent Conference: one day away

KPR's Virtual Parent Conference is just one day away, and we’re making it easy for you to join us, on:

Saturday, October 17
9 a.m.-11 a.m.
Theme: Drop the Worry Ball 
Featuring Dr. Alex Russell 

You will be able to “tune in” directly to the Parent Conference on the morning of the event, by simply clicking on the following link:  
https://kprdsb.webex.com/kprdsb/onstage/g.php?MTID=ec88524730938f91cc940009914595b06

Dr. Russell is a Toronto-based clinical psychologist, a frequent keynote speaker, and co-author of the book Drop the Worry Ball: How to Parent in the Age of Entitlement. We look forward to “seeing” you at the conference, and we thank our Parent Involvement Committee for supporting the conference every year.

 Equity and Diversity Strategy Thoughtexchange

 As we develop our Equity and Diversity Strategy for the next four years, we invite families to share their perspectives on equity priorities for our school board. Our Equity and Diversity Strategy guides our work in valuing equity, diversity, inclusion, and the dignity and humanity of all students, staff and stakeholders.

Your participation is important and valued. To gather your feedback, we are asking for your thoughts on one open-ended question. You also will have a chance to consider and assign a rating or ‘stars’ to the ideas shared by others.  

Your thoughts and stars are confidential. You can come back as often as you like to participate in the Thoughtexchange, and, in fact, we ask that you do come back to star some of the new ideas shared by others. The ratings will help us understand the most important areas to focus on in our Equity and Diversity Strategy.

Here is the question:
We value equity, diversity, and the dignity and humanity of all people. We aim to remove barriers to success and engagement, and support equitable outcomes. From your perspective, please identify 2-3 priorities for our Board's Equity Strategy moving forward.

Please click here to participate: https://my.thoughtexchange.com/scroll/517289218

The Thoughtexchange will be open until November 9. Thank you for your participation and input!

Wanted: Parent Involvement Committee members

 KPR is seeking parents who are passionate about student success and parental involvement in schools, to serve on our Parent Involvement Committee. Parents from each of KPR’s three regions will be selected for the Parent Involvement Committee at the following Regional School Council Association meetings:

Clarington, October 21, 7 p.m., email kpr_info@kprdsb.ca for details

Northumberland, Date TBA, email kpr_info@kprdsb.ca for details

Peterborough area, October 20, 6:30 p.m., email kpr_info@kprdsb.ca for details

The Committee meets monthly throughout the school year to support, and provide advice regarding, meaningful and inclusive parental involvement in all of our schools. For further information on the work of the Parent Involvement Committee, please visit http://www.kprschools.ca/en/our_schools/getinvolved/parentinvolvement.html

Switching to or from the Virtual Elementary School (VES)

An important reminder: if you would like to move your elementary-age child from in-school to online learning, you must start the process by speaking with the principal of your home school by Friday, October 23. This is the deadline to let us know if you wish to move your child to the VES on the next available start date of Monday, November 2.

Similarly, if you wish your child to start VES classes on Monday, November 30, you will need to contact your home school principal between November 2-20. 

In other words:

Please note there will be no new start dates in December. We will announce details for January soon.

If you do choose to transfer your child to online learning, they will be supported by their home school until the next VES start date noted above. Families wishing to move their children from VES to in-person learning also can approach their home school principal. There may be a waiting period before their children can move, however, as the school must ensure it meets all provincial requirements.

KPR Virtual High School (KPRVHS)

 As noted last week, all Virtual High School classes are full for this quadmester. The next entry point will be for the second quadmester, which begins on Monday, November 23.  

Requests to transfer into online learning for the second quadmester will need to be completed by October 30, so that appropriate staffing can be put in place to accommodate new enrolment levels.

If you wish to transfer your teen either into the Virtual High School or back to their home school, please contact the Guidance department at your home school to begin the process.

Speaking of online information…

 …with KPR’s increased focus on digital communication and the move by thousands of students to virtual learning, we are no longer printing our traditional “fridge calendar”.  Here are some important dates that were approved by our Trustees and the Ministry of Education earlier this year:

PA Days:            Friday, November 27; Monday, February 1; Friday, May 14 (secondary ONLY); Friday, June 11 (elementary ONLY), and Wednesday, June 30

Winter Break:   Monday, December 21, to Friday, January 1

March Break:    Friday, March 12, to Friday, March 19

The dates also are posted at http://kprschools.ca/en/our_schools/resources/schoolcalendars.html

Should there be any changes due to the constantly evolving nature of COVID, we will let parents know.

Working together to prevent COVID-19

 And, finally, as we find ourselves in the “second wave” of COVID-19 cases predicted by public health officials, it’s even more critical to screen ourselves every morning for possible symptoms of COVID-19. Students and staff who feel unwell should remain at home, even if their symptoms seem as minor as a mild cold.

It’s easy to do this daily self-screening. Simply use Ontario’s online self-screening tool at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/ or print it from https://covid-19.ontario.ca/covid19-cms-assets/2020-10/Screening%20Children%20v1.0%202020-10-01%20FINAL%20EN%20AODA.pdf 

We also encourage you to download the Government of Canada’s COVID Alert app, which can let people know of possible exposures to COVID before any symptoms appear. That app is available at no charge at https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html

Take care, and enjoy the coming weekend.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Did you miss KPR's Virtual Parent Conference on Saturday, October 17?  No worries, you still can hear the keynote address by clinical psychologist Dr. Alex Russell.  A recording of Dr. Russell’s presentation – titled Drop the Worry Ball – is available at http://www.kprschools.ca/en/our_schools/getinvolved/parentresources/parentsconference.html

On that web page, you can check out this year’s Virtual Information Fair as well, featuring agencies that serve families in our area.  KPR’s Parent Involvement Committee sponsored our 19^th annual Parent Conference, the first one to be held virtually.

KPR invites all families, students and staff to help us shape our Equity and Diversity Strategy for the next four years. Please share your perspectives on equity, diversity and inclusion priorities, through a special Thoughtexchange at https://my.thoughtexchange.com/scroll/517289218 .

The Thoughtexchange asks you to offer your feedback on one open-ended question: 
We value equity, diversity, and the dignity and humanity of all people. We aim to remove barriers to success and engagement, and support equitable outcomes. From your perspective, please identify 2-3 priorities for our Board's Equity Strategy moving forward.

The Thoughtexchange will be open until November 9.  Thank you for participating!

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Dear KPR Families,

With almost two months into the start of the 2020-21 school year, it’s great to see all the wonderful learning happening in both our physical classrooms and online. It’s amazing how adaptable, resilient and creative our students and staff truly are.

It’s also remarkable how quickly changes can happen in our day-to-day lives. As always, I have news to share with parents from the past week.

Virtual Parent Conference: keynote now online

KPR offers sincere thanks to the 200 parents and guardians who took time out of their busy schedules to join us at our Virtual Parent Conference last weekend. Don’t worry if you missed hearing the expert advice offered by clinical psychologist Dr. Alex Russell. We have posted a recording of Dr. Russell’s presentation – titled Drop the Worry Ball – at http://www.kprschools.ca/en/our_schools/getinvolved/parentresources/parentsconference.html

While you’re there, please feel free to check out the link to this year’s Virtual Information Fair as well. We appreciate the support of KPR’s Parent Involvement Committee in once again sponsoring KPR’s 19^th annual Parent Conference, the first one to be held virtually.

 Equity and Diversity Strategy Thoughtexchange

Please help us shape KPR’s Equity and Diversity Strategy for the next four years. We invite all families to share their perspectives on equity, diversity and inclusion priorities, through a special Thoughtexchange at https://my.thoughtexchange.com/scroll/517289218 .

The Thoughtexchange asks you to offer your feedback on the following open-ended question:  
We value equity, diversity, and the dignity and humanity of all people. We aim to remove barriers to success and engagement, and support equitable outcomes. From your perspective, please identify 2-3 priorities for our Board's Equity Strategy moving forward.

The Thoughtexchange will be open until November 9. Thank you for your participation!

Switching to or from our Virtual Schools

 Families: please remember to contact your home school if you wish to switch your children or teens between in-person and online learning. Here’s a quick reminder of the timelines you need to follow to make this change.

For ELEMENTARY students to move from in-person to online learning on the first available start date of Monday, November 2, parents must speak with their home school principal by this Friday, October 23. After that, to move to the Virtual Elementary School (VES) for the next available start date of Monday, November 30, parents will need to speak with their home school principal between November 2-20.  

Families wishing to move their children in the opposite direction, from VES to in-person learning, also should approach their home school principal.

The timeline and process for SECONDARY students are different. The next available entry point to the Virtual High School is Monday, November 23, the start of the second quadmester. Requests to transfer into online learning for the second quadmester will need to be completed by October 30. If you wish to transfer your teen either into the Virtual High School or back to their home school, please start the process by contacting the Guidance department at your home school.

Update your contact info!

A quick reminder: please make sure to update your children’s school on any changes in your contact information, such as a new phone number or email address. This will help ensure you continue to receive vital, timely information from the school.

In addition, please remember that you have the option of choosing how the school communicates with you; to do that, please use the School Messenger App or log into https://go.schoolmessenger.ca/#/account/login and click on Preferences. Our newest method of reaching out to families quickly is via KPR’s Text Message Alerts. You can opt into this service now, by sending a text message to 978338 with the message of “Y” or “Yes”.

Community representatives wanted

Do you know someone in the community who does not have children in school, but who avidly supports public education? If so, please pass on this call for volunteer community representatives on our Parent Involvement Committee.

KPR is seeking one non-parent community member from each of the Board’s three regions (Clarington, Northumberland-City of Quinte West/Murray Ward, and Peterborough) to join nine parent representatives in advising the Board on ways to encourage meaningful and inclusive involvement in children’s education. Community members are invited to submit a letter of interest by 4 p.m. on Thursday, November 5 to director_education@kprdsb.ca  For information on the Parent Involvement Committee, visit http://www.kprschools.ca/en/our_schools/getinvolved/parentinvolvement.html

Preventing the spread of COVID-19

 And, finally, I can’t miss this opportunity to address a topic that is top-of-mind for all of us: preventing the spread of COVID-19. Please remember to self-screen every morning by using the province’s online tool at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/ or by printing the tool from https://covid-19.ontario.ca/covid19-cms-assets/2020-10/Screening%20Children%20v1.0%202020-10-01%20FINAL%20EN%20AODA.pdf . Students and staff who feel unwell should remain at home, even if their symptoms seem as minor as a mild cold.

Please take advantage as well of the federal government’s COVID Alert app, to learn of any possible  exposures to COVID before any symptoms appear. You can download the app for free from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html

Our local health units also have posted some new and helpful advice for families on celebrating Halloween safely. You can find tips at:

https://www.durham.ca/en/health-and-wellness/novel-coronavirus-update.aspx#Halloween

https://www.hkpr.on.ca/2020/10/07/halloween-safety-during-covid-19/

https://www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca/novel-coronavirus-covid-19/covid-19-social-gatherings-holidays-events/?highlight=halloween#halloween

I wish everyone a healthy and rejuvenating weekend.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Dear KPR Families,

The additional stresses of living in a COVID-19 world make it easy to forget about all the positive things our students and staff have been accomplishing during a trying year. I am proud of staff for ensuring that joy, positivity, personal connection and innovation have remained an integral part of learning at KPR.

As usual, I have some news from the past week to share with our families.

Indigenous Peoples Awareness Month
November marks an important month at KPR schools. Over the coming weeks, our elementary and secondary schools will participate in special activities in honour of KPR’s fourth annual Indigenous Peoples Awareness Month. The Board chose November to celebrate our year-round commitment to teaching all students about the rich cultures and perspectives of Indigenous peoples because the month already marks four significant occasions: Treaty Recognition Week, National Aboriginal Veterans Day, Louis Riel Day and Inuit Day. 

Throughout the month, KPR students and staff will focus on our commitment to reconciliation. Students and staff will learn about Treaty awareness, Indigenous medicines, foods, bushcrafting, films, music, and culture. We also will have a virtual leadership conference for Indigenous youth. COVID-19 may have changed the way we recognize this pivotal month, but it has not dampened our dedication to working with local and national elders and knowledge holders to better educate students of all ages about Indigenous peoples in Canada. Watch for more information on the wide variety of virtual presentations available in the coming weeks.

Remembrance Day
All KPR schools will be recognizing the significance of Remembrance Day, and honouring those who have fought for our freedoms and for peace. In many cases, students will be participating in virtual Remembrance Day ceremonies, holding ceremonies outside, recognizing Remembrance Day over their schools’ PA systems, and more. As in previous years, students also will be crafting artworks and creative writing pieces in honour of Remembrance Day.

Secondary school: exams, transfers & timelines
As the current quadmester draws to a close, some families have been asking whether our secondary students will be writing final exams. KPR has decided, like many other school boards across Ontario, not to proceed with final exams for our high school students next month. Instead, students will be assigned culminating tasks; this applies to all KPR secondary students, whether they are learning virtually or in person. Should you have any questions related to your teen’s culminating tasks, please speak with the teachers.

Secondary students who would like to move from in-person to online learning will have three more opportunities to do so in the 2020-21 school year. Students will be able to apply to make the switch for the start of each new quadmester, and only if there is space available. The first deadline is immediate: students must apply by this Friday, October 30 if they wish to start virtual classes for the second quadmester. The start dates for each high school quadmester are as follows:

  Quadmester 2 – Monday, November 23
  Quadmester 3 – Tuesday, February 2
  Quadmester 4 – Monday, April 19 

To have your teen transfer either into the Virtual High School or back to their home school, please contact the Guidance department at your home school. Details on application timelines for Quadmesters 3 and 4 will be released later.

Elementary transfer timelines
Families wishing to move their children from in-person learning to the Virtual Elementary School (VES) have different timelines to follow. Parents will need to apply by November 20 if they would like their child to begin classes at the VES on the next available start date of Monday, November 30. Whether they wish to switch their children into or out of virtual learning, families will need to start the process by speaking with their home school principal.  After November 30, the next start date for moving into VES will be in early 2021, after Winter Break. Watch for more information soon.

Free math tutoring
I encourage families to take advantage of the free mathematics tutoring and online learning tools available at TVO Mathify. Designed for Grades 6-10 students, Mathify offers live, one-on-one math tutoring with an Ontario Certified Teacher, as well as other digital learning tools. Tutors are available online Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-9 p.m., and Sundays from 3:30-9 p.m. Students can start with Mathify at any time by registering at www.tvomathify.com

Equity and Diversity Strategy Thoughtexchange
Don’t forget to let us know the priorities that you believe should guide KPR’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for the next four years. Please visit  https://my.thoughtexchange.com/scroll/517289218 by November 9 to offer your thoughts, and to rate the thoughts shared by others.

Mental health resources
Mental health experts confirm that COVID-19 has had a negative effect on our communities’ mental health. KPR has a variety of helpful resources for our students, families and staff at http://www.kprschools.ca/en/MentalHealthResources.html  In addition, we have posted Dr. Alex Russell’s presentation from our October 17 Virtual Parent Conference for those who missed it. To hear Dr. Russell speak about how to Drop the Worry Ball, and to visit a virtual information fair with links to agencies that support families, please visit http://www.kprschools.ca/en/our_schools/getinvolved/parentresources/parentsconference.html

Preventing the spread of COVID-19
Here’s a final reminder of some important resources for everyone in our school community:

• Please self-screen every morning for any signs of illness by using the province’s online tool at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/, and stay home if unwell.
• Please download the free COVID Alert app from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html, to learn of any possible exposures to COVID before symptoms appear.

I wish everyone a wonderful Halloween weekend. Stay well!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

COVID Alert helps us break the cycle of infection. The app can let people know of possible exposures before any symptoms appear. That way, we can take care of ourselves and protect our communities.

The COVID Alert app is an exposure notification app that tells people if they may have been exposed to COVID-19. Note that the app does NOT use GPS or track your location. Instead, it uses Bluetooth to exchange random codes with nearby phones.

Let's limit the spread of COVID-19 and prevent future outbreaks. Download the free app on the App Store or on Google Play today.

Dream Big!

KPR encourages young women in Grades 7 to 12, and their parents and guardians, to participate in Dream Big, a virtual career discovery expo on December 1, from 6-8:30 p.m.

The free event will highlight careers available in the skilled trades, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), emergency response, entrepreneurship and more – all careers in which women traditionally have been under-represented.

For more information and to register for this event, please visit dreambigknc.eventbrite.ca .

KPR also will be running an information night in January for all KPR students about career pathways available through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, Specialist High Skills Majors, and Dual Credit programs, which allow students to gain high school and post-secondary credits at the same time. Stay tuned for details.

Friday, November 13, 2020

To All KPR Families:

Aaniin! Tawnshi! Tunngasugit! Welcome!

In honour of Indigenous Peoples Awareness Month, I offer this continued, warm welcome to all KPR families in Ojibwe, Michif and Inuktitut – languages of area First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.

Also in recognition of this important month, I look forward to an annual event that will take place this Monday, November 16 at the Education Centre: the raising of the Métis flag, in honour of Louis Riel and in acknowledgement of our partnership with the Métis people.

This weekly update also offers a reminder of the opportunity for Indigenous families to voluntarily self-identify, as well as updates on other news.

Voluntary Self-identification
All parents and guardians of Indigenous students, as well as Indigenous students ages 18 and older, have the right to voluntarily self-identify. KPR worked with the Indigenous Education Advisory Committee and Indigenous leaders to establish voluntary self-identification for First Nation, Métis and Inuit families some years ago, for several reasons. By self-identifying, families help us to monitor the success of programs and services we offer for Indigenous students. They also assist us in recognizing additional ways we can support Indigenous students, so that they meet with success. We believe we must do all we can to ensure that First Nation, Métis and Inuit students are engaged in, and feel welcome in, our schools. We also consider it essential that Indigenous students see themselves and their rich cultures reflected in the curriculum offered to all students.

All families are reminded of the opportunity to self-identify when they register for school, and at the start of each school year. This opportunity remains open at all times throughout the year. If you would like to self-identify as First Nation, Métis or Inuit, please contact your principal or vice-principal.

New Director of Education
This week, the school board announced the appointment of Rita Russo as Director of Education and Secretary to the Board. Rita is currently serving as Superintendent, Leadership Development for the York Region District School Board. She will assume her new leadership role with KPR effective January 25, 2021, following my retirement. Rita is an accomplished professional known for her collaborative, people-first style, and I am pleased to offer her a sincere welcome to our wonderful schools and communities.

Thoughtexchange Deadline Extended
We have extended the opportunity for everyone to share your thoughts on the equity, diversity & inclusion priorities that should lead KPR over the next four years. You now have until Monday, November 16 to offer your feedback, and to rate the comments of others, by visiting https://my.thoughtexchange.com/scroll/517289218 . If you have already participated in the Thoughtexchange, we invite you to participate again and rate some of the new thoughts that have been shared since you first took part. We value your input.

Bullying Awareness & Prevention Week
Next week is provincial Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week, the first of three major bullying prevention events recognized each school year. Staff and students take advantage of these opportunities to focus once again on bullying prevention efforts that take place throughout the school year, and to reiterate the importance of kindness, acceptance and respect for all. The other events coming up are national Pink Shirt Day on February 24, and the International Day of Pink on April 14. Watch for a sea of pink!

More Dates to Remember
We also remind you of several other important dates coming up at KPR:

November 16 – deadline to offer your views on KPR’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, at https://my.thoughtexchange.com/scroll/517289218

  November 20 – Deadline to contact your home school principal if you wish to transfer your child to the Virtual Elementary School

November 20 – Secondary Credit Completion Day, no classes for high school students only

November 23 – Start of second quadmester at all KPR high schools

November 27 – PA Day for all KPR elementary and secondary schools

November 30 – Start date for NEW Virtual Elementary School students

December 1 – Dream Big! virtual career expo for young women in Grades 7-12 & their parents; details and registration are at dreambigknc.eventbrite.ca 

December 21-January 1 – Winter Break

Protecting against COVID
And, finally, I offer my sincere appreciation to families and staff throughout KPR who have been mindful about taking personal steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Thanks to your efforts, strict COVID protocols and our close work with local health units, we have had fewer cases of COVID in our schools than in many other areas of the province. This underscores the need for all of us to remain cautious and vigilant to prevent the spread of COVID. I offer the following reminders with a view to remaining healthy:  

• Please self-screen every morning for any signs of illness by using the province’s online tool at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/, and stay home if unwell.
• Please download the free COVID Alert app from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html, to learn of any possible exposures to COVID before symptoms appear.

Stay well!

Sincerely,
Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

KPR is considering two options for the 2021-22 school year calendar, and we are asking everyone to let us know which option you prefer. 

With Option A, students would be in class on the Friday before March Break (Friday, March 11, 2022), and staff would have one PA Day in the week before classes begin. There would be NO holiday on the Friday before March Break, so March Break would run from Monday, March 14, to Friday, March 18, 2022. 

Option B would include a holiday on the Friday before March Break (Friday, March 11, 2022) for all elementary and secondary schools, and two PA Days for staff in the week before classes begin. March Break would, therefore, run from Friday, March 11, to Friday, March 18, 2022.

Please visit http://kprschools.ca/en/our_schools/resources/schoolcalendars.html for more information and to complete the survey by December 1.

Friday, November 20, 2020

To All KPR Families,

This week and this month mark two important events at KPR: Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week, and Indigenous Peoples Awareness Month. The week started with the raising of the Métis flag at the Education Centre, and continued with a variety of virtual and in-person events focused on First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples in Canada, and on bullying prevention and kindness. As always, a sea of pink shirts marked bullying awareness events during the week.

Here is a quick look at other news for families.

Elementary Progress Reports
Elementary families: the date for distribution of your children’s progress reports has been moved to Monday, November 30. All progress reports will be distributed by email that day, via a password protected attachment. If you would like to receive the progress report in another format, please contact the school office as soon as possible.

Another important date is Friday, November 20. This is the deadline to speak with your home school principal if you wish your child to switch to the Virtual Elementary School on the next available start date of November 30.

2021-22 School Year Calendar Survey
KPR would like your input on the school year calendar for 2021-22. We are considering two options. Option A would make the Friday before March Break 2022 a regular school day, not a holiday, and include one PA Day for staff before the start of classes. Option B would make the Friday before March Break 2022 a holiday, and include two PA Days for staff before classes begin. For details and to complete the survey, please visit http://kprschools.ca/en/our_schools/resources/schoolcalendars.html

 Other Important Dates
November 20 – Secondary Credit Completion Day, no high school classes
November 23 – Start of second quadmester at all KPR high schools
November 27 – PA Day for all KPR elementary and secondary schools
November 30 – Start date for NEW Virtual Elementary School students
December 1 – Dream Big! virtual career expo for young women in Grades 7-12 & their parents; registration at dreambigknc.eventbrite.ca
December 21-January 1 – Winter Break

#StoptheSpread
And, finally, the recent rise in COVID-19 cases in Ontario and around the world is an unfortunate reminder of the importance of taking preventive measures to #StoptheSpread. This includes wearing masks correctly, washing hands frequently, limiting social contacts to the immediate family, physically distancing from others, self-screening daily at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/, staying home if ill, and downloading the free COVID Alert app from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html.  We have had few cases of COVID in KPR schools thus far, thanks to everyone’s vigilance, and we want to keep it that way!

I wish you and your family a safe, happy and healthy weekend.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Monday, November 30, 2020

To All KPR Families,

This update focuses on an important change in the way we handle inclement weather days (snow days) this year. I also have a few reminders on other news.

Inclement Weather School Closures
As indicated in my email to families last week, schools will be closed to students on inclement weather days this year, to protect student health.

We know school closures are an inconvenience and hardship for many. Public health requirements, however, do not allow us to combine separate groups or “cohorts” of students, and we cannot guarantee that schools would have enough staff on-site on snow days to safely supervise existing cohorts. Therefore:

• when ALL buses are cancelled across the entire board, ALL schools will be closed to students for the day
• when ALL buses are cancelled within a specific geographic region of the board, such as the Municipality of Clarington, Northumberland County or Peterborough County, schools in that region only will be closed to students for the day
• if ALL buses are cancelled for a specific school or group of schools, only that school or group of schools will be closed to students for the day
• schools will provide work for students to do at home on snow days
• when only a few buses are cancelled or delayed, schools will remain open.

Classes in the Virtual Elementary School and Virtual High School will continue as normal on snow days.

Please ensure your school has up-to-date contact information for you, so that we can text or email you directly about what is happening at your child’s or teen’s school.

2021-22 School Year Calendar Survey
A reminder: you have until this Tuesday, December 1 to let us know your preference for the 2021-22 school year calendar. For details, and to state which of two options you would prefer, visit http://kprschools.ca/en/our_schools/resources/schoolcalendars.html

Important Dates
November 30 – Elementary progress reports emailed to parents/guardians
November 30 – Start date for NEW Virtual Elementary School students
December 1 – Dream Big! virtual career expo for young women in Grades 7-12 & their parents; registration at dreambigknc.eventbrite.ca
December 1 – Deadline to complete 2021-22 school year calendar survey
December 21-January 1 – Winter Break

Free Parent Workshop
You have the opportunity to participate in a free parent workshop with Dr. Jean Clinton, about Connecting as a Family During a Very Different Holiday Season. The online event will take place via Zoom on Monday, December 7, at 7 p.m. Dr. Clinton is a renowned  advocate for children’s mental health. Please email omsfc@nexicom.net to register.

Self screening
And, finally, I remind you of an important website: Coronavirus (COVID-19) school screening (ontario.ca) . From there, you can complete an online assessment, or download the assessment as a printable document, to screen your child or yourself every morning for signs of COVID. It is available in English, French, and 18 other languages.

I wish everyone a healthy, enjoyable week.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Leclerc

Director of Education

To All KPR Families,

The past week has marked several important human rights observances: the International Day of Abolition of Slavery on December 2, International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on December 6, and International Human Rights Day on December 10.

These observances are not one-time events at KPR. They are connected to our year-round efforts to foster equity, inclusion, kindness, respect and dignity for all. While we have made progress in this area, we believe much more can, and must, be done to achieve a truly equitable society.   

We offer our sincere thanks to everyone who participated in our online ThoughtExchange to help us prioritize our equity, diversity and inclusion efforts. Approximately 900 people shared their thoughts, and applied over 22,000 ratings to other participants’ comments, in the ThoughtExchange. We are now collating and capturing all of that information to help inform our goals and objectives. Watch for more information as we move forward.

In the meantime, here is other significant news.

School closures on snow days

An important reminder: KPR schools will be closed on inclement weather days this winter, to protect student health.

 More specifically:

• when ALL buses are cancelled across the entire board, ALL schools will be closed for the day
• when ALL buses are cancelled within a specific geographic region of the board, such as the Municipality of Clarington, Northumberland County or Peterborough County, schools in that region only will be closed for the day
• and, finally, if ALL buses are cancelled for a specific school or group of schools, only that school or group of schools will be closed for the day.

Students will learn at home on inclement weather days. When only a few buses are cancelled or delayed, schools will remain open. Stay tuned to local news media, social media, kprschools.ca, stsco.ca or direct emails/texts from SchoolMessenger for updates on whether your school will be open.

We know school closures are a hardship for some families. Ultimately, however, we cannot combine cohorts of students who attend school on inclement weather days, and we cannot guarantee we would have enough staff onsite to safely supervise students in their existing cohorts.

Transfers to Virtual Elementary School

The next opportunity to transfer students from in-school learning to KPR’s Virtual Elementary School (VES) will be early in the new year. This will allow teachers to finish student assessments before students transfer to the VES. More specifically:

• an Opt Out portal will be open on kprschools.ca from January 13-22 at 4 p.m., for families to complete if they wish to transfer their children to the VES
• the first day of class for new VES students will be Tuesday, February 2 (February 1 is a PA Day)

• VES teachers will contact families of new VES students beginning January 28.

Until February 2, students will continue to attend their home school; parents can discuss other learn-at-home options with their home school principal, if they wish, until their children start the VES classes February 2.

Watch for more information about the Opt Out portal soon.

Secondary Quadmesters

The current quadmester will continue to the end of January for all KPR secondary students, whether they attend bricks-and-mortar schools or the Virtual High School. Quadmester 3 will begin Tuesday, February 2, and Quadmester 4 on Monday, April 19.

Winter Break

The last day of school before Winter Break will be Friday, December 18. Students will return to school after the holidays on Monday, January 4.

Self screening

As we see the number of COVID-19 cases rise locally and globally, I remind you once again of an important website: Coronavirus (COVID-19) school screening (ontario.ca) . There, you will find an online assessment to complete for your children every morning, to ensure they do not attend school if they have symptoms of COVID.  This information is available in English, French and 18 other languages.

Stay well, everyone.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Please join us for a special virtual event:

Virtual KPR Pathways Information Night
Thursday, January 7, 2021
7-8:30 p.m.
Register at https://forms.gle/JCP3i2HP3CTKAUMX6

This free, online event for students and families will feature the wide variety of exciting, hands-on learning opportunities available for high school students in KPR.  Learn about the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, Dual Credits, Specialist High Skills Majors, Experiential Learning and Cooperative Education. See how KPR secondary schools can help build your teen’s resume, nurture their curiosity, challenge their creativity, and expand their confidence.

For additional information, please email oyap@kprdsb.ca

Students: need to talk? Get help 24/7 at kidshelpphone.ca or 1-800-668-6868, or text 686868. You matter.

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Important News for All KPR Families,

Another year has come and gone! While 2020 may not be our favourite year in memory, it has highlighted several important themes: KPR students and staff truly care about one another and their communities; together, we are resilient, adaptable and we rise to even the most difficult challenges; and families play a vital role in supporting student success.

This year, more than ever, we wish everyone a safe, healthy and peaceful holiday, and look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Possible Extension of Winter Break

Late yesterday, the Ministry of Education asked all school boards to be prepared for the possibility of Winter Break being extended for longer than the scheduled two weeks, in response to increases in COVID-19 cases. It is important to note that NO DECISION has been made on this matter as yet. The Ministry simply asked school boards to be prepared for a possible, extended holiday break should that decision be made by the province.

Should the holiday break be extended, schools would provide learning for students to complete at home on these days. This learning could take place in a variety of ways, through previously assigned work or new work, using the classroom teachers’ regular communication platforms (e.g., Edsby, Google, D2L), based on students’ age and grade.

This would involve a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities for all students. Synchronous learning refers to real-time teaching when the students and teacher are connected live, while asynchronous education would involve online posting of resources that can be completed by the student at any time.

To ensure your family is prepared for any possible shift to at home learning, we encourage you to:

• Ensure that the school has your correct email address and contact information.
• Ensure your child or teen brings home all personal belongings and learning materials they may need over the break (shoes, clothing, etc.), as well as any food left in their locker or cubby.

We will inform parents of any possible change in the status of our schools through our website at kprschools.ca, direct email and text via SchoolMessenger, the news media, and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Once again, it’s important to reiterate that NO DECISION has been made regarding a possible extended holiday break.

Transfers to & from Virtual High School

Regardless of what happens with possible extended school closure, KPR is continuing to plan for families who wish to transfer their teens between their regular high schools and KPR’s Virtual High School. The next opportunity to change learning modes will be for the third quadmester, which begins Tuesday, February 2.

Families wishing to transfer their teen into, or out of, virtual learning must contact their home school guidance counselor by Friday, January 15, 2021.

KPR reminds families that our physical high schools offer a comprehensive and varied program that meets the needs of all students. The Virtual High School is not able to match all the courses that a regular high school offers. For further information, please see the Virtual High School (kprdsb.ca) website, or call 705-760-8630.

High School Pathways Information Night

We encourage students and families to join us for a special online event:

Virtual KPR Pathways Information Night 
Thursday, January 7, 2021
7-8:30 p.m.
Register at https://forms.gle/JCP3i2HP3CTKAUMX6

This free event will feature the wide variety of exciting, hands-on learning opportunities available for high school students in KPR. Learn about the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, Dual Credits, Specialist High Skills Majors, Experiential Learning and Cooperative Education. For information, please email oyap@kprdsb.ca

Other Important Dates
January 7 – Virtual Pathways Information Night (register at https://forms.gle/JCP3i2HP3CTKAUMX6)  
January 13-22 – Opt Out portal opens on kprschools.ca for elementary families wishing to transfer to the Virtual Elementary School (VES); watch for details in early January
January 15 – Deadline to notify home school re. moving to/from Virtual High School
February 1 – PA Day
February 2 – First Day of school for new VES students, start of Quadmester 3 for high school students

Please Remember…

• KPR schools will close on inclement weather days (snow days) throughout the winter. Only schools where all buses are cancelled will close. Schools where only some routes are cancelled or delayed will remain open. Check your email/texts for direct messages from SchoolMessenger, visit stsco.ca or kprschools.ca, or listen to local news media for updates in early mornings.
• Mental health resources to support students, families and staff during the holidays will remain available at Mental Health Resources (kprschools.ca) .

 Safety During the Holidays
The Ministry of Education has asked all school boards to share the following important message before the holidays. Please consider what we can all do to make the return to school in January 2021 as safe as possible.

During the holidays, it is important for everyone to adhere to public health measures when connecting with one another. Please check the provincial government’s holiday web page for up-to-date guidance for a safe holiday season, including suggestions for safer activities for children and families.

Daily self-screening will still be a requirement when we return to school in 2021. Please continue using the provincial COVID-19 screening tool every morning, before attending school. Anyone feeling ill should not go to school. At school, we will continue to reinforce masking, frequent handwashing, “cohorting” of students in consistent groups, and physical distancing.

Since COVID conditions are changing constantly, we also encourage you to visit Ontario.ca/covidresponse regularly, as well as your local health unit’s website:  

Public Health - Region of Durham (Municipality of Clarington)
peterboroughpublichealth.ca (Peterborough County and City)
www.hkpr.on.ca (Northumberland County)
https://hpepublichealth.ca/ (Quinte West/Murray Ward)

Kids Help Phone
Finally, we have vital information we encourage you to share with your children and teens:

Students: need to talk? Get help 24/7 at kidshelpphone.ca or 1-800-668-6868, or text 686868. You matter.

We’re also posting this information on the home page of each school’s website and at kprschools.ca

Sincerely,
Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

December 31, 2020

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we extend to everyone our hope and best wishes for a happy New Year, we wanted to share this brief reminder for parents, highlighting that:

• All schools are closed to students until January 11, 2020.
• Elementary and secondary school students will participate in remote learning from January 4 to January 8, 2021.
  Elementary school students will return to in-person learning on January 11, 2021.
• All Learning and Life Skills (LLS) students (elementary and secondary) will be engaged in face-to-face learning at their home school with their teachers and support staff as of Monday, January 11, 2021.
• Secondary school students will continue learning remotely and will resume in-person learning on January 25, 2021.

Beginning January 4, schools will provide learning for students to complete at home on these days. This learning will take place in a variety of ways, through previously assigned work or new work, using the classroom teachers’ regular communication platforms (e.g., Edsby, Google, D2L), based on students’ age and grade.

Learning during this period will involve a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities for all students. Synchronous learning refers to real-time teaching when the students and teacher are connected live, while asynchronous education involves online posting of resources that can be completed by the student independently.  

Learning for students enrolled in the virtual elementary and secondary schools will continue as normal.

We continue to respond to requests for student technology needs to support remote learning.  If you are in need of a Chromebook, please complete this Google Form. Please note:  To be responsive to the learning requirements in the secondary quadmester model, and given the extended break scheduled for those students, we will be prioritizing secondary student requests before reviewing elementary student requests for devices. The OEN # can be found on any of the student’s report cards. (Secondary students can review their report cards in Edsby). If you do not have an OEN# or it will not work in the google form, please email kpr_technology@kprdsb.ca and provide all of the same information in the email.

We will inform parents of any further updates on the status of our schools through our website at kprschools.ca, direct email and text via SchoolMessenger, the news media, and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.

We thank you for your continued support of our students, and we hope for brighter days ahead in the New Year.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Thursday, January 7, 2021

SCHOOLS REMAIN CLOSED UNTIL JANUARY 25

Dear KPR Families,

The provincial government today announced that elementary and secondary schools in our area of Ontario will remain closed until January 25 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, all Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (KPR) schools will remain closed, and students will continue to learn online from home, during that period.

More specifically, the province has announced that:

• All elementary and secondary schools in southern Ontario - which includes KPR - are closed to students until January 25, 2021. Therefore, elementary students will not return to in-person learning on January 11, as originally announced.
• Elementary and secondary students will continue to participate in remote learning until in-person learning resumes January 25.
• Learning and Life Skills (LLS) students (elementary and secondary) will participate in face-to-face learning at their home school with their teachers and support staff as of Monday, January 11, 2021.

KPR will continue to provide online learning for students to complete at home when the schools are closed. This learning will take place in a variety of ways, using the classroom teachers’ regular communication platforms (e.g., Edsby, Google, D2L), based on students’ age and grade.

During this period, students will continue to participate in a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning. Synchronous learning refers to real-time teaching when the students and teacher are connected live online. Asynchronous learning involves work being posted online, to be completed by the student independently, at any time.  

Learning for students enrolled in the virtual elementary and secondary schools will continue as normal.

KPR continues to respond to requests for student devices to support remote learning.  If you are in need of a Chromebook, please complete this Google Form. Please note: we will continue to prioritize secondary student requests before reviewing elementary student requests for devices.

To complete the Google Form and request technology at home, families will need their child’s or teen’s OEN (Ontario Education Number). This number can be found on students’ report cards. Secondary students can review their report cards in Edsby.

If you do not have an OEN# or it will not work in the google form, please email kpr_technology@kprdsb.ca In the email, please include your name and email address, your child’s full name and their home school.

We will inform families of any further announcements affecting our schools through our website at kprschools.ca, direct email and text via SchoolMessenger, the news media, and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone.

Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Monday, January 11, 2021

To All KPR Families,

Thank you to students, families and staff for your patience, resilience and support as we move forward with online learning.

Here are some further updates.

Virtual Elementary School
After the closure of schools ends January 25, families will still have the option of sending their children to school in person or online. For elementary families, the next opportunity to request a transfer to the Virtual Elementary School (VES) starts this week. 

An Opt Out portal will be open at http://optout.kprdsb.ca/ from January 13 until 4 pm January 22, for families to complete if they wish to transfer their children to the VES. Parents and guardians must complete the form on this portal between January 13-22 if they wish their children to move to the VES on the next available transfer date.

The first day of virtual classes for new VES students will be Tuesday, February 2 (February 1 is a PA Day). Teachers will begin contacting families of new VES students January 28. Until then, students will continue to attend their home school.

Here’s a snapshot of the important dates:
  January 13-22 – Opt Out portal open for transferring students to Virtual Elementary School (VES)
  January 28 – VES teachers start contacting families of new VES students
  February 2 – First Day of online classes for new VES students

For details, visit the Virtual Elementary School website or call 705-760-8620.

Virtual High School
The second semester (which includes Quadmesters 3 and 4) begins Tuesday, February 2 for all KPR high school students. Families wishing to transfer their teen to the KPR Virtual High School (KPRVHS) for Quadmester 3 must contact their home school guidance counselor by Friday, January 15. Similarly, to request a transfer from KPRVHS to in-person classes, families must contact home school guidance staff by January 15.

Please remember KPRVHS does not offer the full breadth of courses that a regular high school offers, so it may not be possible to match courses when moving to virtual learning. As KPRVHS is online, it cannot offer many specialized courses such as hands-on skilled trades. Once students move to KPRVHS, they are no longer registered at their home school.

KPRVHS students participate in at least 225 minutes of scheduled synchronous (live, real-time) learning daily, between 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. For details, visit the Virtual High School (kprdsb.ca) website or call 705-760-8630.

Parent Technology Helplines
We have created helplines for Parent/Student Technology Support at: 

  Student/Parent Helpline - Elementary
  1-877-741-4577 Ext 3002
  Elementary_Helpline@kprdsb.ca

  Student/Parent Helpline - Secondary
  1-877-741-4577 Ext 3001
  Secondary_Helpline@kprdsb.ca

We recommend that students access their applications (EDSBY, D2L, Google Classroom, etc.) via our Student Portal at students.kprdsb.ca to alleviate many of the common issues students experience when learning from home.  We also have a Parent Portal – parents.kprdsb.ca – where we are posting critical Learn@Home information and useful links.

Let’s #ShareTheGood
We all know the negative impact of COVID-19 on schools and communities. We also know amazing things are continuing to happen in KPR. These stories deserve to be told. Help ignite positivity and optimism – not to ignore how hard teaching and learning are right now, but to amplify the good things that are happening. Join us in following School Mental Health Ontario on Twitter @SMHO_SMSO, tag them in your tweets and use the #SharetheGood hashtag on Twitter and Instagram.

As part of my goal to #SharetheGood, I present our 2020 Director’s Annual Report, the last one of my career. I have been heartened and impressed by the resilience, dedication and hard work of staff, students and families as they adapted to an ever-changing landscape. Thank you for everything you have done to lead the way with positivity and adaptability. Please click here to see the many ways students thrived over the past year.

For me, the biggest change of the coming year will be entering the ranks of the retired as of January 22. It has been an absolute honour and pleasure serving students, families, staff and communities in KPR, and I sincerely wish all of you the very best. Our new Director of Education, Rita Russo, is a caring, dedicated and experienced educator, and I’m sure her people-first style will support continued success. Our schools are in good hands.

Stay safe and strong, everyone.

Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

To All KPR Families,

As you likely have heard through the news media, the provincial government today declared an immediate, 28-day state of emergency throughout Ontario. This includes a stay-at-home order that takes effect this Thursday, January 14. The purpose of this email is to let you know how our schools will be affected.

In announcing the state of emergency, Premier Doug Ford stated schools in Ontario’s COVID-19 hotspots (Windsor-Essex, Peel, Toronto, York and Hamilton) will remain closed to in-person instruction until February 10. KPR is not included in that group at this time.

Premier Ford also said that, by January 20, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health will advise when students at other school boards can return to in-person learning.

We will provide a further update at that time, confirming whether schools will re-open January 25, 2021, as currently planned, or if the provincial government will extend the remote learning period.

The government also announced there will be additional safety measures when schools are allowed to reopen, related to expanded masking requirements for Grades 1-3 students, and for mask wearing outdoors. We will provide further details as we receive them from the Ministry of Education.

As always, we will continue to update our families and staff as we move forward.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Leclerc
Director of Education

Kindergarten Registration is open for September 2021!

Teacher/Early Childhood Educator teams provide safe, inclusive, engaging programming at Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board schools, where students learn through play.

To attend Kindergarten Year 1 (Junior Kindergarten), children must turn four years of age in the year that they start school. Similarly, children must turn 5 in the year they begin Kindergarten Year 2.

Visit our Kindergarten webpage for more info and to register online: https://bit.ly/38M3XTs

We're also planning a Virtual  Kindergarten Information Night for February. Stay tuned for details.

The provincial government has announced the dates when students will be able to return to in-person learning. These dates vary across Ontario, depending on the status of COVID-19 cases within each Health Unit’s region.

For KPR elementary and secondary schools, this means:

• Schools located in Northumberland County and in Peterborough City and County will reopen January 25 for in-person learning.
• Schools located in the Municipality of Clarington remain closed to in-person learning. We will inform families of any potential return to school date as soon as it is provided to us by the province.

Students in stand-alone Learning and Life Skills (LLS) classes in all areas of the board will continue to participate in face-to-face learning at their home school with their teachers and support staff during this period. 

Learning in our Virtual Elementary and High Schools will continue as usual.

The province has also announced that masks will be mandatory for Grades 1-12 students when they return to in-person schooling, regardless of the date.  Masks will be highly recommended, but not mandatory, for Kindergarten students. New masking requirements will also be in place for outdoor activities where physical distancing of at least two metres is not possible.

Municipality of Clarington schools include:

 Elementary

Central Public School

Charles Bowman Public School

Courtice North Public School

Dr. Emily Stowe Public School

Dr. G.J. MacGillivray Public School

Dr. Ross Tilley Public School

Duke of Cambridge Public School

Enniskillen Public School

Hampton Junior Public School

Harold Longworth Public School

John M. James Public School

Lydia Trull Public School

1. J. Hobbs Senior Public School

Newcastle Public School

Orono Public School

S.T. Worden Public School

Vincent Massey Public School

Waverley Public School

Intermediate

Clarington Central Intermediate School

Courtice Intermediate School

The Pines Senior Public School

Secondary

Bowmanville High School

Clarington Central Secondary School

Clarke High School

Courtice Secondary School

Centre for Individual Studies (CIS) Clarington, in Bowmanville

KPR will share further information as it is confirmed by the Ministry of Education.

Friday, January 22, 2021

To All KPR Families,

This message follows up the provincial announcement on the dates students can return to school for in-person learning.

For KPR elementary and secondary schools, this means:

• Schools located in Northumberland County and in Peterborough City and County will reopen January 25 for in-person learning.
• Schools located in the Municipality of Clarington remain closed to in-person learning. We will inform families of any potential return to school date as soon as it is provided to us by the province.

The start dates for each region of the Board were identified by the province based on COVID-19 rates in each Health Unit’s jurisdiction.

Students in stand-alone Learning and Life Skills (LLS) classes in all areas of the board will continue to participate in face-to-face learning at their home school with their teachers and support staff during this period. LLS classes in Peterborough and Northumberland regions will resume their normal dismissal and bus schedules, effective Monday, January 25. However, LLS classes in Clarington will continue with the shortened day and modified bus schedule until all students in that region return to in-person learning.

Learning in our Virtual Elementary and High Schools will continue as usual, regardless of where students live.

New Provincial Requirements
As students return to school, it is extremely important that our students and staff comply with COVID-19 precautions and protocols. These include the following new requirements from the Ministry of Education:

• Mandatory masks for Grades 1 through 12 students. For Kindergarten students, masks are highly recommended, but not mandatory. 
• Masks are required for outdoor activities where physical distancing of at least two metres is not possible.

In addition, students are reminded to refrain from congregating in groups before and after school, and at breaks such as lunchtime. Students should arrive shortly before the start of school, and return directly home after school. 

COVID-19 Protocols
We continue to ask all students and staff to self-monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19. Every morning before heading to school, please complete the daily self-assessment for symptoms, available at https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/

Schools also will continue to follow all public health and provincial directions, including thorough cleaning and disinfecting of all areas; frequent and proper handwashing by everyone in the building; wearing masks; maintaining physical distancing to the fullest extent possible, and following any other steps directed by the local health units.

Busing
Bus transportation will resume for students who are returning to in-person learning. Routes and stops will remain the same as they were in December, before the shutdown of schools. Please visit stsco.ca for further information.

Reminder: January 22 Virtual Elementary School (VES) deadline
We also remind families of elementary students of an important deadline. If you would like your child to attend the Virtual Elementary School (VES) when in-class learning resumes, you must register by 9 p.m. today (Friday, January 22) at http://optout.kprdsb.ca/. The first day of virtual classes for new VES students will be Tuesday, February 2, 2021.

Monday, February 1 is a PA Day, so there will be no classes on that day.

School Closures on Snow Days
Finally, we remind families that KPR schools will be closed on inclement weather days to protect student health.

• If ALL buses are cancelled across the entire board, ALL schools will be closed for the day.
• If ALL buses are cancelled within a specific region, schools in that region only will be closed for the day
• If ALL buses are cancelled for a specific school or group of schools, only that school or group of schools will be closed for the day.
• If only some buses are cancelled or delayed, schools will remain open.

Stay tuned to local news or social media, kprschools.ca, stsco.ca or emails/texts from SchoolMessenger for updates early in the morning.

Protect yourselves, protect your children, help us protect our KPR community.

We're looking forward to welcoming new Kindergarten students to our local public schools this September. Kindergarten teachers and Early Childhood Educators work together to provide safe, inclusive, engaging programming where students learn through play.

Visit our website at  www.kprschools.ca/kindergarten to register online for the 2021-22 school year.

We invite families to join us for a free, online Kindergarten Information Session to learn more about the Kindergarten program, and for tips and tools to help prepare your child for school.

Virtual Kindergarten Information Session
February 11, 2021
7:00 p.m.
Register online at www.kprschools.ca/kindergarten

KPR reminds everyone to save the date for Bell Let’s Talk Day, this Thursday, January 28. On this important day, Bell will contribute 5 cents for every applicable text, call, tweet, social media video view, or TikTok video using the #BellLetsTalk hashtag. Please get your social media buzzing to help raise funds for – and promote awareness of – mental health.

Bell Let’s Talk launched in 2010 with a focus on building awareness, acceptance and action in mental health across Canada.  Last year alone, Bell Let’s Talk raised a record $7.7 million for mental health support and services, bringing the total raised to $100,695,763.75 over the years.  The Bell Let’s Talk Community Fund provides grants up to $25,000 for projects that improve access to mental health care, supports and services.  Bell Let’s Talk also recently announced a new $5 million Diversity Fund to support the mental health and well-being of members of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour communities across Canada.

Aside from raising critical funding for mental health services and supports, Bell Let’s Talk Day also helps to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and inspire those that are struggling with mental health challenges and symptoms. Bell has developed a toolkit that educators may wish to incorporate into their planning with students.  It can be found at  https://letstalk.bell.ca/en/toolkit.  Another supportive resource for educators is School Mental Health Ontario’s new Student Mental Health Action Kit, which contains lesson plans, resources, and support to help students, as well as resources to support staff wellness.

Mental health resources can be found on KPR’s Mental Health and Wellness Portal.  New resources are being added to our portal on a regular basis, so please check it often!