Boozhoo all students and families,

On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, the Ontario government announced that schools will remain closed to students until Monday, May 4, 2020, to protect the health and safety of students and staff. The decision to extend the closures was made on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health.

To make sure the learning for students continues, the government is launching the second phase of Learn at Home. Developed with education partners, the second phase of Learn from Home establishes clarity for parents, enhances education supports, and creates opportunities for teachers and educators to connect with students. https://www.ontario.ca/page/learn-at-home

In the upcoming week, teachers and staff will begin to connect with families to extend their education into the home. Many of our team have already connected with families to do a check-in and find out about available technology and internet as well as the interest for the NOW (Nutrition On Weekends) program which we plan to continue to extend through the generosity of the Rotary organization. We plan to provide online learning,
instruction, feedback, assessment, and tutoring during the closures. We will continue to provide language and cultural support as well through online delivery.

Gaagagekiizhik School

For our students in grades JK-2, the focus will be on literacy and numeracy instruction. For our students in grades 3-7, the focus will be on literacy, numeracy, science, and social studies instruction. All students in grades JK-7 will be provided with approximately 5 hours of work per week. Teachers will work with their students and share information with parents and guardians on how the delivery of these materials will happen.

Bimose Community High School

For high school students in grades 9-12, students will continue with their second semester courses. Any senior students who are on track to graduate will not be held back by any community hour or literacy test requirements. Students will be provided with 3 hours of work per course per week. Teachers will work with their students and share information with parents and guardians on how the delivery of these materials will happen.

We will be starting to engage students and families gradually so as not to overwhelm them. This may take a week or more to implement and get students readjusted to this new way of learning.

We know that there may be many questions you may have. Please reach out to your teachers or principals for further information through email, phone, or through our Facebook pages. We will all work together to help our students get used to routine and reconnect with school staff.

Miigwech,

Wendy McPherson & Darcy Wickham

Memo: April 3, 2020 (125 downloads)