Dear parents/guardians,

On Aug. 17, students in our modified calendar schools started classes and in two short days, students in our traditional calendar schools will be joining them. We are so excited to welcome back all of our returning students, and all families new to the CBE.

Before Sept. 1, I want to share a few important updates and reminders.

Masking in Schools

On Aug. 18, we communicated to all parents that masking will be mandated indoors for all staff and students in kindergarten to Grade 12 for the start of the school year. This decision was made based on all of the available evidence, including the number of active cases in Calgary, and will be reviewed by the end of September.

Mask guidelines, which are similar to the guidelines used in 2020-21, were posted on our website today. The guidelines provide details about when masks are required, as well as mask breaks and exemptions. Please take a moment to review these guidelines and discuss them with your child.

Other Health Protocols

When in-person classes begin, other health protocols will also be in place. These include proper hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette and enhanced cleaning and ventilation. Most importantly, students and staff are expected to use the daily checklist to identify if they should attend school or stay home. Please help us keep our schools and workplaces safe by keeping your child home if they are sick.

Positive Cases in Schools

The COVID-19 positive case notification process has changed significantly from last year.

At the direction of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, schools will no longer inform close contacts or the school community of positive cases. This is a shift to managing COVID-19 as one of a range of communicable diseases. Schools will continue to monitor their school populations for positive cases, either through self-reporting from staff or families, and/or absenteeism due to illness. If absenteeism rises significantly, AHS may declare an outbreak and recommend additional health measures.

For more information about how illnesses, including COVID-19, will be handled, please refer to the government’s Guidance for Respiratory Illness Prevention and Management in Schools.

Online School Registration Open until Thursday, Sept. 2

On Aug. 19, we re-opened the opportunity to register with our online school, CBe-learn. If you are interested in transferring from in-person classes to online classes with CBe-learn, you have until Sept. 2 at Noon to request a transfer from your current CBE school to CBe-learn.

Depending on when transfer forms are received and processed by your current school, the start date may range from Sept. 7 to Sept. 13. Details and copies of the transfer form are available online. Please note that registering in CBe-learn is a full-year commitment.

We are Here to Help You!

School offices in our traditional calendar schools opened on Friday, Aug. 27. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please connect with your school.

I wish you a happy and healthy start to the 2021-22 school year!

Sincerely,

Christopher Usih
Chief Superintendent of Schools

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