Dear
families,
I
hope that you and your loved ones are keeping well and are healthy. The past
few months have been full of change and uncertainty as we respond to the global
pandemic and try to reduce the spread of COVID-19. As a Board of Trustees, we
know that our families have experienced this pandemic and the school closures
in different ways, and we want you to know that our thoughts have been with you
all.
Our school
board moved quickly to introduce our Learning and Caring Plan through an intentionally
phased approach. Our plan focused on both supporting student well-being and
providing continuation of learning for more than 127,000 students. A plan was
developed that respected each family’s unique situations and focused on
maintaining a caring, safe and inclusive learning environment. To support this,
over 20,000 pieces of technology were distributed to ensure that all of our
students could access the learning opportunities available to them, and
resources and plans were put in place to support all of our learners, including
students with special education needs and English language learners.
More
information about the Learning and Caring plan as well as tips, resources and
supports for students and families to support well-being and online learning
can be found at www.yrdsb.ca/covid19.
We
are all part of a larger community and I am inspired to see the many different
ways schools, families and students maintained their connections with one
another. It was also moving to see the many inspiring ways our school board,
students, staff and families acknowledged our frontline workers and made
contributions to the fight against COVID-19. As a school board, for example, we
donated over 145,000
pieces of personal protective equipment, including gloves, masks and more.
Each
and every one of us has made a difference - in staying home as much as possible
and following public health
guidelines. I
know that this has meant making sacrifices.
To
our graduating class of 2020, I know this is not the graduating year you had
hoped for. I appreciate that the school closures will not affect your ability
to graduate, however this unique situation and the need to postpone graduations
has been disappointing. I remain tremendously proud of all of our graduates and
look forward to celebrating this important milestone with you as soon as we are
able to reschedule the graduation ceremonies.
In
addition, I know that you have missed out on field trips, awards events,
athletic banquets, spirit days, assemblies, our annual Celebrating Student
Success awards and
the many other ways we extend learning, connect as a community and celebrate
the achievements of our students.
We
have also been unable to gather together as we normally would in our schools
and communities to celebrate or recognize important dates, including Sikh
Heritage Month, Pesach, Good Friday, Easter (Western), Vaisakhi, Holy Friday,
Orthodox Easter (Eastern), Ridvan, Jewish Heritage Month, Asian/South Asian
Heritage Month, Ramadan, Pride, National Indigenous History Month, Italian
Heritage Month and Portuguese Heritage Month. As a Board, these dates of
significance are important for us to acknowledge and we will continue to
celebrate and value the wealth of diversity in our community.
As
the school year comes to a close, I want to wish you and your families a safe,
healthy and happy summer. I look forward to a time when we can welcome your
children back into our schools again. We know that families have questions about what the return to
school will look like. We will continue to share information with you as it
becomes available. In the meantime, we encourage you to continue following public health guidelines
and to stay connected.
A message from the Chair of the Board of Trustees is also available on the Board website at www.yrdsb.ca.
Juanita Nathan
Trustee, Markham,
Wards 7 and 8
