Further to our update last week on the provincial state of emergency and stay-at-home order, the Ministry of Education has issued a media release that students in our school board will not be returning to in-person learning on Monday, January 25. This means that students will continue to learn remotely until further notice. The Ministry has previously communicated that the next date students would be returning to in-person learning is Wednesday, February 10, 2021. We will inform you if there are any changes to this approach.

Please note that this announcement does not impact students who are currently learning in-person as part of a Developmental/PLP/SLC small class placement. Those students will continue to learn in-person based on the individual arrangements that have been made and schools will be contacting families directly should there be any changes.

New Masking Requirements for Students

When students do return to in-person learning, it will be mandatory for all students in Grades 1 to 3 to wear a mask, subject to reasonable exceptions. This masking requirement is in addition to the existing requirement for students in Grades 4-12. We are strongly encouraging students in Kindergarten to wear a mask.

The new requirements also mean that students learning in-person are required to wear a mask while inside the school, in class, in hallways, on school buses as well as outside when physical distancing cannot be maintained (i.e. recess). We are sharing with you a few activities that families can practice with students to help encourage wearing a mask: https://bit.ly/3k134JB

While we understand the news that we will continue to be learning remotely may be disappointing to some, it is critical that everyone in our community continues to follow the provincial stay-at-home order to stop the spread of COVID-19. We have seen a reduction of COVID-19 cases in Durham Region over the past week but it appears that more must be done until schools can re-open.

Please continue to stay safe and take care of yourselves. School teams are looking forward to continuing to engage with your children virtually until we can all be together in-person again.