Re-Entry Planning

ECACS Re-Entry Plan Aug 7th
Posted on 09/12/2020
Re-Entry Plan September 12th Update

Dear Students, Parents and Staff:

I hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather and getting time to relax before we start what promises to be an interesting school year for 2020-2021.  This has been a busy summer where governments, the health systems and school boards prepare for the reopening of school in September 2020.  The COVID-19 pandemic has made the return to school much more complicated than usual and, as more information about the virus becomes available, authorities at every level have to revise plans that were put in place just days or weeks prior.

In June, the Alberta government outlined three possible return to school scenarios for September 2020.  Scenario 1 was a return to normal operation with some preventative health measures.  Scenario 2 was a return with more significant health measures like social distancing, limited class size, etc. and Scenario 3: at-home learning continues (in-school classes are suspended/cancelled). On July 21st, Premier Kenney and Minister LaGrange announced that schools in Alberta would return under Scenario 1 effective September 2020.  At that time, the Minister indicated masks would not be mandatory for students or staff.

However, as you now know, the Minister announced this week…

… mask use for students in grades 4 to 12, as well as all school staff, will be mandatory when school returns for the 2020-21 school year. Staff will be required to wear masks in all settings where physical distancing cannot be maintained, and students will be required to wear them in all shared and common areas, such as hallways and on buses. Mask use for Kindergarten to grade 3 students will continue to be optional.

To assist with these new guidelines, Alberta’s government will provide every single Kindergarten to Grade 12 student with two reusable masks. This will ensure that students who are required to wear masks will have them, and will allow for our Kindergarten to Grade 3 students to have masks should they wish to wear them. We will also provide all of our teachers, school staff, and bus drivers with two masks.

Additionally, all teachers and staff will receive one reusable face shield for their use in schools. The use of face shields will be at the discretion of the individual staff member.

East Central Alberta Catholic Schools (ECACS) principals and central office staff have been working on details of our re-entry plan over the summer.  We will base our reopening on the comprehensive, 14-page, document prepared by the government, GUIDANCE FOR SCHOOL RE-ENTRY – SCENARIO 1. (Please click on the title to be taken to the document). 

Re-Entry PlanIn addition, Edmonton Catholic Schools Division has given us permission to utilize their School Re-Entry Plan that we have modified for our use. The re-entry plan is linked here. Central to all our planning is the safety of our students and staff.  To that end, we will have hand sanitizer available at all entrances to our schools and in every classroom.  More rigorous cleaning will occur with greater frequency than normal in all schools.  High touch areas will be cleaned frequently. Schools will ensure social distancing as much as possible. We will be limiting visitor access to schools to essential needs only.  All visitors will have to wear a mask.

We realize that the return to school this year may cause anxiety for some students and parents. Our priority is to keep everyone safe and to offer a warm and welcoming environment in all of our schools.  If you have specific concerns, please contact your school principal before school reopens or feel free to call me anytime at 780-842-3992.

If you have serious reservations about returning to your traditional school in September, ECACS has an online grade 1-12 school, School of Hope (SOH), where you can register and complete the school program in a completely online environment.  Please visit the SOH website at https://soh.ecacs.ca or call (780) 853-2188.

As we continue the school re-entry planning process, we will keep you updated with any new information as it becomes available. Thank you for your continued support as we strive to do what is best for ALL of our students and employees during these challenging times.

In the meantime, as our mission states, “We teach; we share; we learn; we care. We grow in Christ, believing that together we can make a difference.”  Take care of yourselves and each other, stay healthy and enjoy the rest of this beautiful summer weather, however you can.

Sincerely,

Superintendent - Charlie McCormack

Board Chair - Debra Klein

 

“We teach; we share; we learn; we care. We grow in Christ, believing that together we can make a difference.” Treaty Land Recognition - “We acknowledge that treaty 6 & 7 territories, on which we stand, is the ancestral land of the Indigenous peoples, and is common home to everyone in virtue of God, our Creator’s, gracious gift.” Alberta Public Catholic Education. © 2024 East Central Catholic Schools.