Important Information Session for Parents/Guardians of Children (5-11)

IMPORTANT!! Vaccine Information Session for Parents/Guardians of Children (5-11)

Vaccine Information Session for Parents/Guardians of Children (5-11)

Presenter: Dr. Kelly Grindrod, Associate Professor from the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy

Date: December 2, 2021

Time: 7- 8:30 p.m.

Zoom Meeting Link

There will be an opportunity to ask questions following the presentation.

Vaccines are an important tool to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and allow families to safely resume normal activities.

Although children and youth are less likely to get very sick from COVID-19 they can still:

Get sick from COVID-19
Be infected and not have any symptoms
Spread COVID-19 to others
Experience longer-term effects if they do get infected

COVID-19 vaccines authorized by Health Canada are safe, reliable, and can help protect you, your family, and our community from COVID-19. Learn more about the COVID-19 vaccines.

This webpage will be updated when additional information about COVID-19 vaccines for children becomes available.

Can my child get the COVID-19 vaccine?

Children born in 2016 or earlier are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Find information about how to get a vaccine.

A Parent’s Guide to Vaccination (available in 13 languages)

By ctkadmin2|2021-11-30T11:59:46-05:00November 30th, 2021|News|Comments Off

Bobcat Weekly Update #13 – November 29- December 3

Advent Week 1 – Hope

“I Can & I Will”

Mrs Amorim, Mrs Tavares and Ms Soares, along with their class will be creating prayers and jokes of the day!!

Please continue to do the COVID screening for each child, each day

Monday, November 29

Grade 8’s visit St Benedict’s- permission slips must be completed.

Tuesday, November 30 – Pita Day

Giving Tuesday! We will focus on supporting FoodforKids Thank you for the donations through Cash online
3-4:15 -Homework Club for Grade 7 & 8 students
We will learn about the Advent Wreath

Wednesday, December 1– Pizza Day

Spirit Wear Day – Please wear blue, yellow or Bobcat spirit wear!!
Umbrella Assembly hosted by Ms Duque’s class

Thursday, December 2–Sub Day

“I Can & I Will Day” – look out for a special surprise coming home today
3-4:15 Homework Club due to Parent Interviews

Friday, November 26– Smoothie Day

Please dress in your favourite red, green or white clothes to collect points for your colour house!

Due to the current state with respect to COVID, we have made the difficult decision to cancel Family Night that was scheduled for December 8th. We will be having a Catholic School Advisory Council meeting on that night at 6pm. All are welcome to attend.

DRESSING FOR THE WEATHER – Weather is unpredictable at this time of year. Please ensure your children dress for the weather every day. Extra clothes (including socks) are always a good idea, especially when our yard is muddy.

Due to the temperatures, we will not be having any basketballs or soccer balls outside. Gaga ball will still be allowed and encouraged:)

Grade 7 & 8 Homework Club – In partnership with our Grade 7 and 8 teachers and St. Louis Adult Learning & Continuing Education, we wish to inform you of an opportunity to support your child outside of regular instructional hours. To help our students work on skills in a quiet environment and to help them improve their Mathematics and Literacy skills, we are offering a Homework Club for Grade 7 and 8 students at Christ the King School every Tuesday (except the first of the month and when there are special events like Parent Interviews) and Thursday from 3:00-4:15 beginning November 23, 2021. They will meet each time in the Library Learning Commons and they will sit according to their classroom cohort.Please look in the weekly newsletter for information regarding dates on a weekly basis or Ms. Gillespie, Ms. Duque or Ms. Reale’s Google Classroom. Students who choose to participate are not required to come every time, however they are encouraged to build in routine.

COVID Protocols- We are all doing a fabulous job adhering to the guidelines and keeping each other safe. Please continue to do the COVID screening each morning, the written yellow form is no longer required

School Verification Forms & Cash Online: Hot meals are back!!!! You must be signed up for School CashOnline to order. Please ensure that you are signed up and paid by the deadline. No refunds will be offered if the child is absent.

Our Catholic Faith Community: St Patrick’s Parish Weekly Bulletin

Greenway Chaplin Please take a moment to look at the programs available.. There are a lot of exciting events happening!!

By ctkadmin2|2021-11-28T18:11:41-05:00November 28th, 2021|News|Comments Off

Special Message from the Director of Education – Important COVID-19 Updates

Important COVID-19 Updates

Dear WCDSB Community,

We hope that you continue to be well and that you have had a healthy and enjoyable fall season. We are pleased that, for the most part, our schools continue to be safe and healthy places for learning to prosper. We have not been without our challenges this fall, but with a few exceptions, our COVID-19 case counts have remained quite low and we are so grateful to both our staff and our families for working hard to follow all the necessary guidelines and precautions.

This letter once again brings a few very important updates of which we would like you to be aware as they are important to your understanding as to how things are unfolding and precautions we wish to continue to enforce, so that we may continue on a safe, healthy and positive path as a community.

Vaccination

As you have no doubt heard in the media, vaccination for children ages 5-11 is now ready to be rolled out in the province and within Waterloo Region. The Chief Medical Officer of Health for the Province and local Public Health offer us the guidance, as the experts, that this is our best defence against COVID-19. It will assist in keeping our children healthy, as well as all those with whom they have contact. Vaccinations will be available at Public Health vaccination sites, community hubs, local pharmacies and at a few school pop-up sites (of which you will be informed when they are occurring). A parent’s approval will be required for any child 5-11 to be vaccinated and any school-based sites will happen after hours. Parents can begin making appointments as of today.

As a parent you may have questions about the vaccine for children 5-11 year olds. Our local Public Health Unit is sponsoring a virtual parent information session, via Zoom, on Thursday Dec 2nd, from 7 – 8:30 p.m. The presentation, along with a question-and-answer session, will be given by Dr. Kelly Grindrod, Ontario College of Pharmacists Professor in Pharmacy Innovation and Associate Professor, University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. We would encourage any parent who still has questions about the vaccine to attend this session.

Rapid Antigen Testing for Students over Christmas Break

On November 18th, the provincial government announced that over the Christmas Break rapid antigen screen kits will be provided to any and all students who wish to take home 5 tests to be administered every few days between Dec 23rd and Jan 4th, so that we are better assured a safe and healthy return to school in January 2022, and a safer, healthier coming together with Friends and Family over the Christmas Season.

Sports / Athletics

As reported in previous letters, we have been pleased to see the return of athletics and sport to our schools and for inter-scholastic play to have returned for those age 12 and older. The criteria to play is full vaccination and/or proof of a negative test. This strategy is being used in a very targeted way for students who are not able to use our other usual strategies to ensure their safety – that is – they are unable to ensure masking and social distancing. This strategy has now been endorsed by the province and will now continue for the foreseeable future for us at WCDSB. We are extremely pleased by this decision.

Additional Health and Safety Measures

Also part of the November 19th announcement was the direction that all Parent-Teacher interviews should take place virtually (or by phone). Similarly, schools are asked to ensure that assemblies occur virtually to ensure cohorts are not blending and social distancing is maintained.

Secondary Delivery Model

The province has opened the door to the second half of the year being delivered through a proper semestered model – which is 4 periods or 4 75-minute classes in a day. This decision will have to be supported by Public Health based on cases and other relevant data. At the current time we are hopeful that we will be in a position to return to a semestered/4 period day in February.

Potential Travel

A reminder that students under 12, travelling with vaccinated parents do not have to quarantine per se, but they are not allowed to return to school until 14 days from return have passed. This guidance is found on our webpage. This is federal policy we are sharing.

https://www.wcdsb.ca/covid-19-student-screening-and-testing/

Screening

As we have shared before, please know that one of the most important things you do each and every day is to complete the screening tool before you as a staff member or student (or parent of a student) arrive at school. Any individual who fails the screener or who is symptomatic in any way should not be reporting to school. That is part of our collective responsibility to one another.

https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/

Please review our full Operational Guidelines to ensure you understand how we are continuing to ensure a safe and happy school experience for all.

We continue to be exceptionally grateful for your support and partnership as we navigate this unique year.

Sincerely,

Loretta Notten

Director of Education

By ctkadmin2|2021-11-23T11:37:46-05:00November 23rd, 2021|News|Comments Off

Bobcat Weekly Update #12 – November 22-26

Bobcat Weekly Update #12 – November 22-26

“I Can & I Will”

Mrs. Magliocco, Mrs. Lisi-Smith and their class will be creating prayers and jokes of the day!!

Please continue to do the COVID screening for each child, each day

Monday, November 22– Photo Retake Day

Extended Day shut

Tuesday, November 23 – Pita Day

3-4:15 -Homework Club for Grade 7 & 8 students

Extended Day shut

Wednesday, November 24– Pizza Day

Spirit Wear Day – Please wear blue, yellow or Bobcat spirit wear!!

Extended Day shut

Thursday, November 25–Sub Day

No Homework Club due to virtual Parent Interviews

Extended Day shut

Friday, November 26– Smoothie Day

Extended day re-opens

Our Catholic Faith Community: The St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Patrick’s Parish is once again running their annual Christmas program. Families living within the parish boundaries may request Christmas assistance by leaving a message on the SVDP voice mail at 519-623-0173 from Nov 1 to Nov 30. A volunteer will return the call and collect the required information. Families will receive a grocery store voucher and for those families with children under 18 years of age, each child will receive a Walmart gift card. Please note that families who register with the Firefighter Basket Program, Salvation Army, Food Bank’s Christmas program or Haven House cannot also register with this program.

St Patrick’s Parish Weekly Bulletin

Today at Mass we celebrated the feast of Christ the King. The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, celebrated this year on Nov. 21, also is referred to as the Feast of Christ the King, Christ the King Sunday, or Reign of Christ Sunday. The feast was introduced in the Western liturgical calendar in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

Grade 7 & 8 Homework Club – In partnership with our Grade 7 and 8 teachers and St. Louis Adult Learning & Continuing Education, we wish to inform you of an opportunity to support your child outside of regular instructional hours. To help our students work on skills in a quiet environment and to help them improve their Mathematics and Literacy skills, we are offering a Homework Club for Grade 7 and 8 students at Christ the King School every Tuesday (except the first of the month and when there are special events like Parent Interviews) and Thursday from 3:00-4:15 beginning November 23, 2021. They will meet each time in the Library Learning Commons and they will sit according to their classroom cohort. Please look in the weekly newsletter for information regarding dates on a weekly basis or Ms. Gillespie, Ms. Duque or Ms. Reale’s Google Classroom. Students who choose to participate are not required to come every time, however they are encouraged to build in routine.

Grade 8 Graduation Spirit Wear – please get in your name requests and voluntary payments asap. Orders will be placed this week.

Greenway Chaplin

Please take a moment to look at the programs available.. There are a lot of exciting events happening!!

COVID Protocols

We are all doing a fabulous job adhering to the guidelines and keeping each other safe. Please continue to do the COVID screening each morning, the written yellow form is no longer required

School Verification Forms & Cash Online: Hot meals are back!!!! You must be signed up for CashOnline to order. Please ensure that you are signed up and paid by the deadline. No refunds will be offered if the child is absent.

Important Dates

November 22- Photo Retake Day
November 23- Grade 7 & 8 Homework Club Starts
November 25 – Virtual Parent Interviews (No homework club today)

By ctkadmin2|2021-11-21T16:59:48-05:00November 21st, 2021|News|Comments Off

#kindnessmatters

Kindness Matters and today, we WEAR PINK to show our support for a wonderful movement started by two Canadian students from Nova Scotia.

Check out their story below whereby they went out and got PINK SHIRTS to show support for a student who was being bullied for wearing a pink shirt

Today, so many STAND UP to say NO to BULLYING!

This week is Kindness and Anti-Bullying Week and our community will learn about and touch on many important themes throughout the week .

What we focus on grows and while we want to understand, name and say NO to Bullying … we also want to focus on what kind of actions are needed to make our community and world a better place such that bullying is not welcome!

Monday-Wear Pink

Tuesday- PJ Day

Wednesday- Two Different Shoes Day

Thursday – Backwards Shirt Day

#kindnessmatters

By ctkadmin2|2021-11-15T09:38:32-05:00November 15th, 2021|News|Comments Off

Bobcat Weekly Update #11 – November 15-19

Bullying Prevention and Awareness Week

“I Can & I Will”

Ms Taillon and her class will be creating prayers and jokes of the day!!

Please continue to do the COVID screening each day

Monday, November 15 Wear Pink Day- show your support to stop bullying

Challenge #1 – As a family, make a list of people in your life. For each person, use one kind word/phrase to describe each person.

Tuesday, November 16 Pita Day– Pajama Day- Put bullying to a rest

Wednesday, November 17– Pizza Day – Two Different Shoes Day- Let’s learn to walk in someone else’s shoes

Spirit Wear Day – Please wear blue, yellow or Bobcat spirit wear!!
VBall SA @ SVDP
BBAll CTK @ SVDP

Thursday, November 18–Sub Day – Backwards Shirt Day- show that you have someone’s back

Volleyball practice

Lifetouch orders due

Progress Reports are going home

Friday, November 19– PA Day – no school for students

Challenge #2 – Have a family discussion about why people bully. Giving a child knowledge about “why” bullying happens can empower that child to know

where it may come from. It does not excuse the bullying, but it may help the child understand more about the bully.

Our Catholic Faith Community: St Patrick’s Parish Weekly Bulletin

Greenway Chaplain

Please take a moment to look at the programs available.. There are a lot of exciting events happening!!

COVID Protocols

We are all doing a fabulous job adhering to the guidelines and keeping each other safe.
Please continue to do the COVID screening each morning, the written yellow form is no longer required

School Verification Forms & Cash Online: Hot meals are back!!!! You must be signed up for CashOnline to order. Please ensure that you are signed up and paid by the deadline. No refunds will be offered if the child is absent.

Important Dates