Hello Parents,

Thank you to all who were able to come and visit the school yesterday. We enjoyed chatting with you and ensuring things are in order for this school year. If you were not able to come, we will be following up with you to complete a few pieces of paperwork.

Things to note for next week:

Start of Classes: Tuesday Sept 8th and ongoing are regular full days of classes, 8:35 am – 2:35 pm

Bussing: Shuttle bus from Chetwynd Secondary to PCS will run starting Sep 8th. Morning drop-off time is 8:15 am and afternoon pick up is 2:50 pm. School District 59 busses will run their first regular day on Friday, Sep 11. They will be giving us more information on riding sometime next week.

Masks: We received notice that our order of reusable masks is delayed. If you have one at home, please send it with your Gr 5-12 child to wear on the bus. If not, we will provide disposable ones until our reusable ones arrive.

Vending Machine: Due to Covid related sanitation concerns, our vending machine is currently not in service. Please plan to send snacks/food accordingly.

Office Hours: Our receptionist will be available from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm. Please plan to take care of office matters and required messages to students during this time. Phone calls outside of these times may not be answered right away.

Enjoy your weekend and see you in a few days!

Mrs. Atherton

Hello Parents,

A big welcome to Leslie Fowler to our team! She is our new receptionist and is currently tackling a lot of paperwork. We are thankful to have her on board. We also want to welcome Stephanie King as Gr 3 & 4 teacher, Melissa McAfee as our Early Learning Program Instructor and Jennifer Hook as an Educational Assistant. Our returning staff are in similar roles as last year and you can see the details on our website here: https://peacechristianschool.ca/about/our-staff/.

Registration/Orientation is this Thursday from 10 am – 4 pm. Please plan to attend with your students at some point during this time for about an hour. Weather permitting, this will take place outside. Depending on their grade, they will meet their teacher, confirm information, choose lockers, confirm classes, etc. Parents, we also need to do a Covid-19 orientation/sign-off with you.

Our Covid-19 safety plan is currently under review by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and should be confirmed soon. We appreciate all the guidance from the MoE, our public health offices and WCB to ensure we have a safe environment for all. A summary of measures being taken is attached to this email. Details of our proposed policy and plan can be found on our website here: https://peacechristianschool.ca/about/our-policies/covid-19/

A question many people have is about mask wearing. As outlined by guidelines, our plan includes staff and Gr 5-12 students to wear non-medical masks whenever they are interacting with people in another learning group, without being able to keep physical distance. At this time, we have arranged our schedules so that our two learning groups will not need to interact so there will be minimal requirement to wear a mask within the school building. Gr 5 – 12 students will wear non-medical masks while riding the bus, putting it on before loading and taking off after unloading. Students and staff are welcome to wear masks whenever they wish to. No student is required to wear a mask if they do not tolerate it.

Thank you to everyone for your support of our school! We are busy putting the final touches on our classrooms to make everything ready for our students. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Kristin Atherton

Summary of Safety Measures.pdf

Hello Families,

The days of summer are speeding by and school will be starting soon! Many of you likely have questions about what that means and how things may be different. Please know we are doing our best to plan for both a good education and the safety of all.

Based on the current epidemiology of COVID-19 in B.C., the latest research, guidance from the Provincial Health Officer, and evidence that children are at a lower risk of developing and transmitting COVID-19, K-12 students can return to full-time, in-class instruction in accordance with current public health guidelines for schools. The ministry did recently release guidelines that have requirements for masks under some circumstances for middle and upper grade students.

In preparation for the possibility of wearing masks, we will provide two re-usable masks for each student (middle & upper grades). At this time, we are hoping to keep mask wearing to a minimum by keeping our learning groups (cohorts) separate. Some situations are likely to require masks, such as riding the bus. More detail about the government guidelines can be found here: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020EDUC0045-001542

Our teachers start back to work next week and we will be training and planning together for the least interruptive and best possible situation for your families to stay safe and still enjoy a positive school experience. We will be sending out more details about our safety plan next week. If you have questions or concerns, please let us know.

Enjoy your weekend!
Kristin

Hello Parents & Students,

Plans continue to come together for this next school year. We continue to follow government and public health guidelines to ensure we will be keeping our students and staff safe. Covid-19 virus has a very low infection rate in children under 19 and schools are considered a controlled environment as it is a consistent group of people, with policies and practices to reduce risks. Therefore, we are comfortable and happy to be welcoming all our students back to regular in-person classes in September.

We are still planning our Meet & Greet/Registration Day for September 3 and starting regular in-person classes for all students on September 8. We are able to be ready for the 8th as our teachers have scheduled planning days prior to that week where we will ensure our safety procedures are in place to receive students. As the local school district may be having a gradual restart to school, school district bussing may not be available the first few days of school. We will work with them to determine dates and protocols that may be required for riding their busses.

As a fairly small school with small class sizes and ample building space, we are able to meet recommendations with minimal changes to our program. We will have continued safety protocols, many similar to what we practiced in June. These will include:

– Keeping student interactions within their learning cohort (group) of less than 60 students, unless physical distancing can be maintained. We will have two learning cohorts, elementary and high school. This means we will revise a few programs like our reading buddies and house team activities that included students from both these groups.
– Minimizing physical contact between students
– Consistent seating arrangements
– Enhanced cleaning and disinfecting of high touch points during the day
– Additional hand washing and sanitization
– Posters to address traffic flow
– Assemblies with only one learning group present at a time

We will be asking you as parents to:
– Ensure your child(ren) is feeling well before attending each day
– Remind your child(ren) to minimize physical contact with their friends as needed

Please let us know if you have questions or concerns. You’re welcome to stop by our table at Farmer’s Market the next few Friday afternoons from 3 – 6 pm, or email or call the school. Happy last few weeks of summer break!

Mrs. Atherton

Hello Families,

Please see the attached letter from our head office.

Regards,
Kristin

2020-08-10 Letter to Parents.pdf

Hello Parents,

We are having a lovely sunny week so I hope you are finding time to enjoy the nice weather. As you may be aware, Minister Fleming and Dr. Henry made an announcement today about school re-opening full-time for our students in September. There will still be precautions against the spread of Covid-19 with keeping student groups that interact to less than 60 students, as well as similar protocols we had in place in June (additional cleaning and handwashing, staying home if sick, etc.).

We are excited that we will be back in our classrooms full-time with our students. Our teachers have their main teaching assignments (see our website for our staff list). We have also started our detailed plans to ensure we will be following guidelines to keep your family and our staff safe. As we get closer to the start of school, we will communicate more of our plans to you.

To help with your plans for September, attached is a supply list for Gr. 7 – 12 students. School supplies for K – Gr 6 (other than a water bottle and non-marking indoor shoes) will be supplied by the school.

Also, we are looking for a receptionist for this coming school year. This is a part-time position during school hours. Please let us know if you are interested or know of someone who you think may be a good fit here. A little about the job is attached.

Have a great August!

Kristin

School Supply list for 2020-21.pdf

Receptionist Needed.pdf

For anyone who has not completed these items:

· Return your chrome book and cord

· Return your textbooks

· Pick up your Report Card

Please do so tomorrow (Thursday) between 9 and 12.

Have a wonderful summer vacation!

Hello Parents!

The final days of school are here! As we close off these last couple days of school, we would appreciate your reflections about these last few months. Here is a 3 question survey we would appreciate you taking the time to complete: https://forms.gle/UKDVryvCup8zLipK7. This information will help us integrate your experiences into next year and create a better ‘normal’.

We will be reflecting as a staff and re-evaluating our processes as we plan for next year. Some of our plans are shown in the attached document. We expect the government to announce the overall guidelines on how to start school in the later part of August. We are hoping for a full return to in-class instruction but will follow whatever government guidelines are given at that time to ensure the safety of everyone. We have our initial "Registration/Welcome Back" day scheduled for Thursday, September 3, 2020, with regular classes to start Tuesday, September 8, 2020.

Thank you for supporting your children in their education. And thank you for allowing us to be part of your journey! Enjoy your summer and we look forward to seeing you again in September 🙂

Re-entry plan 2020-21.pdf

Hello Parents,

We are almost at the end of the year! Thank you so much for all of your support through all the changes these last few months. We have grown and learned so much together! Below is what to expect the last two weeks of school. For those with school books/textbooks at home, please ensure they are brought back to the school at some point during the next two weeks.

Jun 15-19

K – Gr 9: Regular classes and zoom classes, similar to the last couple of weeks (unless communicated differently by the specific class teacher)
Gr 10-12: Final exams
Mon: Science 10 @ 9 am, Physics 12 @ 12:30 pm
Wed: Math 10 @ 9 am, Math 11 & 12 @ 12:30 pm

We are excited to be having a graduation ceremony with our Class of 2020 on Friday, June 19. Unfortunately, to keep within the health guidelines for COVID-19, this event is by invitation only. If you would like to drop off a card for a grad prior to the 19th, we will ensure they get it at the grad ceremony.

Jun 22-25
Monday – NID
Tuesday
K-Gr 5 Zoom session
Gr 6/7 Class event/Awards
Gr 8-12 Awards video, time tba
Wednesday
K-Gr 5 Class events
Gr 6-12 10:30am Hike up Baldy/Ghost Mtn
Thursday – Pickup Day (8:30 – 12:00)
Yearbooks, report cards, and student work will be available for pick-up until noon. Teachers will be cheering everyone into a great summer break!

Have a great week!

Mrs. Atherton

The minutes of the PCS PC Exec May 27 meeting are attached below as well as posted to the website.

Thank you to all the PCS families for your stellar support this year to the programs and fundraising events hosted by the Parent Committee.

And a very special thank you to the ladies and gentlemen who helped make our hotlunch & milk programs work so well this year!! We could not have done it without each of you. Thank you to the behind the scenes people as well who bought groceries, organized menus and schedules and sent text reminders.

May your summer be a peaceful and refreshing time!!

Sincerely,
PCS Parent Committee

May 27 2020.docx