Good Day to
all Parents and Guardians of Catherine Nichols Gunn School,
Being a
modified calendar school, our first day back from spring break will be Monday,
April 6. As you know from emails prior
to the break, and from emails from Chief Superintendent of Schools Chris Usih,
we know that learning and “school” are going to look just a different than they
have in the past as we move to primarily
an online format. For some of our
students, this will be an easy transition, and for others it will be more of a challenge. Even though we will not be face to face or in
the same space together, we will do our best to come together to create the
best possible learning environment within
an ever-changing situation.
As this is a
stressful time for our community, we will try to make communication as clear
and timely as possible. We understand
that access to technology may be an issue for some families. The Calgary Board of Education is looking at
ways to ease the burden on families.
Once I have that information I will forward it to you. This may include the loaning of devices, or
may include a scheduled pick up of print resources.
On April 6th, while the
school is technically open, the majority of teachers will be working from home,
collaborating with colleagues and planning for a new learning experience for
the students. To be clear, no families
should be coming into the school unless they have made a prior appointment with the school office to pick up
belongings or other materials for learning from home. Office hours at the school remain the same as
our regular school day hours, 8:30am – 3:00pm.
If you do require some learning resources, we can do our best to gather
these for you.
What I Do Know Moving Forward.
Based on the directive form the
Minister of Education, learning will be focused in the following ways:
Kindergarten to Grade 3: Language/Literacy
and mathematics/numeracy curriculum outcomes.
·
An
average of five (5) hours of work per student per week.
Grades 4 – 6: Language/Literacy and mathematics/numeracy
outcomes, with opportunity to incorporate science and social studies outcomes
through cross-curricular learning.
·
An
average of five (5) hours of work per student per week.
Kindergarten to Grade 5: Online Platform
-
The
school has decided to utilize the Google Suite of Apps, which also includes
Google Meet and Google Classroom.
Information regarding these platforms will be coming out early next week
so that you as a parent can be ready for it.
Grade 6: Online Platform
-
Teachers
will be using course shells located within Brightspace by D2L, but will be
presenting that information through the Google Suite of Apps, and Google Meet
and Google Classroom. Grade 6 Provincial
Achievement Tests for this school year have been canceled by Alberta Education.
Here is what can be expected in the coming days:
Monday, April 6: Teachers will be extremely busy,
learning about the online platform and collaborating with colleagues. We want to make sure we have uniformity and
consistency among teachers when it comes to delivering content the way that
Alberta Education has outlined. Teachers
will also begin to contact families, by email and by phone to clarify your
situation in terms of technology, checking on your child’s well being and
learning of any other concerns you may have, that we may be able to assist with.
Tuesday, April 7: Teachers will continue to contact
families, plan within their grade teams, and put forward plans to ensure a
continuity of learning based on the requirements of Alberta Education. On this day, teachers will also be reaching
out as to what their online environments look like, providing you the parent,
along with your child, the needed information to log onto the platforms, along
with a schedule for learning.
Wednesday, April 8th and Thursday, April 9th:
You can expect that teachers will begin to engage your child in online
learning opportunities through Google Classroom and Google Meet.
If you have questions or concerns
about your child’s learning, please contact your child’s teachers. The majority of them will be working from
home, but will be accessible to communicate with you through email.
Myself, and sometimes Mrs. Chastko,
along with a small office staff will be here at the school. Feel free to call the school office, and
leave a message. If we are unable to
answer, we will get back to you as soon as we can.
As is our motto: Be Brave. Be Kind. Be Strong. We will continue working within the spirit of
this motto to provide ongoing learning to our community.
Regards,
Colin McCracken – Principal, Michelle
Chastko – Assistant Principal, and all the Staff of Catherine Nichols Gunn
School.
