Update for School Closure - Thursday, April 2

Hello everyone,

We have spent the past few days trying to understand and react to the government announcement on Saturday that effectively made some substantial cuts to education.  There are yet to be decisions made but we can assure you that we are making decisions with the sole purpose of having the most minimal effect as possible to our students and support staff.  We hope to have some updates early next week on that development.

On to some good news.  We sent out a survey to students on Tuesday and would like to share the results.  We had nearly 60% of our students respond which automatically lets us know that we have at least 60% of our students actively engaged right now.  Of the respondents, here are the results:  

• In general, there are many comments about the workload being too much so our teachers are making some adjustments in that regard.  
• Grade 8 and 9 would like more video conferencing opportunities.  We are hoping to rollout a few opportunities over the next few days but are also very cognizant to not overdo this.  
• Connections and communication from the school are solid.  
• Our students have a significant desire to return to normal and come back to school
• About a third of our students feel their mood has decreased.  Please contact the school if you would like some assistance with this.
• Almost all students are putting in between 2-6 hours a day on school work which is the intention.  We are aiming for 3 hours a day of work. If your child is not in this zone, please contact your teachers to discuss this.
• Other big changes to the lives of our students are more free time and they are getting more sleep.

       From what we can tell, we are ‘threading the needle’ of trying to offer a good education to all.  Please feel free to look over the actual survey results here at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1mjVjy4ZG9vZn_biRgQPAeAeZMvsj1A6KGMHj-wjnZjU/viewanalytics

          As always, more updates will follow and please feel free to contact your teachers during business hours to discuss and plan for your children.  All the best everyone,

Mr. Lowe