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:
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:
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To start VES classes on:
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Register between:
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Monday, November 2
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October 9-23
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Monday, November 30
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November 2-20
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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
