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Please continue to follow public health measures. This #VictoriaDay2021 weekend, is filled with the hope and promise of a better summer. Our choices can make this happen. Stay the course: #WashMaskSpace, follow #publicHealth advice, #VaxUp #CanadaStay safe. Dr. Teresa Tam
Stay safe and have a wonderful long weekend.
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This Week's Update- Fields, Basketball, Tennis Reopen
- School Buildings Remain Closes
- Plans for September 2021 Continue to Evolve
- Toronto Public Health and SickKids to Lead Youth Vaccination Efforts in Toronto
- Mental Health Matters
- OPSBA Conducting Voluntary Student Survey
- Board Meeting this Week
- Ward 8 PARTS
New Invitations - Chicken Soup Recipes Please!
- Secondary Alternative Schools Art Show
- Virtual Holocaust Library Now Open
- Learn4Life
- Spelling Bee of Canada
Worth Repeating - Election of Student Trustees 2021-22
- 2021 Summer Programs
- Mindfulness in May
- Hold the Date - Ward Forum - May 31, 2021
- Policy Consultations
- Download the COVID-19 App
- School Year Calendar
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Fields, Basketball, Tennis Reopen
The Government of Ontario has announced the reopening of outdoor recreational amenities effective Saturday, May 22. As a result, the TDSB is reopening its sports fields, basketball and tennis courts for individual/non-organized use. Physical distancing restrictions remain in place. Team sports are not allowed. Staff will be reinstalling basketball nets where they have been removed and removing caution tape that was put up following the initial provincial order. We will also be revising signage accordingly. As we have since the beginning of the school year, permits for these outdoor amenities will not yet be offered.
All publicly funded and private elementary and secondary schools in the province will continue to operate under teacher-led remote learning for the time being. According to OPSBA, provincial and local medical experts, including the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other public health officials, will be consulted and use the most recent and relevant data to determine if it would be safe to resume in-person learning. Please remember this is NOT a decision of school boards or educators. As soon as we have information, we will share.
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School Buildings Remain Closed
All publicly funded and private elementary and secondary schools in the province will continue to operate under teacher-led remote learning for the time being. According to OPSBA, provincial and local medical experts, including the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other public health officials, will be consulted and use the most recent and relevant data to determine if it would be safe to resume in-person learning. Please remember this is NOT a decision of school boards or educators. As soon as we have information, we will share.
In the meantime, thank you to all educators, those who chose to teach through Virtual School and those who had to pivot from in-person to teaching via Remote Learning - and all educators who support students - your efforts in supporting student learning and well being during this pandemic have been nothing but extraordinary.
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Plans for September 2021 Continue to EvolveSecondary Schools - As a follow up to recent messages about plans for September, staff have messaged to provide some further clarity for secondary school students, staff and families to help answer some of the questions we have been receiving. Regarding quadmesters, the direction TDSB are following is from the Ministry of Education which has stated to all school boards: “In secondary schools, school boards are to adopt secondary timetabling methods that emphasize cohorting of students as much as possible and to limit the number of student-to-student contacts. School boards will be required to limit schedules to two in-person classes (such as quadmestering) with exceptions for schools where contacts can be limited by cohorting grades or if the overall size of the school is small, making contact tracing manageable.”
Staff recognize that some students experienced challenges with the model, while others preferred it and are continuing to explore ways to improve the model that was used this year, to better meet the needs of all students. They are currently planning for all in-person students to be attending school each and every day beginning in September 2021. Should the Ministry direction change, they will certainly revisit these decisions.
Elementary - Students and their families will be receiving selection forms for in-person or virtual learning in mid-August when families will have up-to-date information on the status of the pandemic and vaccinations for school staff and students, and the TDSB will be in a better position to provide information about health and safety measures in schools for in-person learning and more details about how live, online virtual learning will be delivered.
The Ministry of Education mandated that school boards must offer remote learning again in September (but without funding for separate virtual schools). The Virtual Schools (elementary and secondary) that are currently in place will not be offered for the 2021-22 school year. Virtual Learning will be provided through home schools and will include live, online instruction involving teachers, staff and students from the home school or a group of schools. Staff has confirmed they do not intend to mandate hybrid/simultaneous teaching system-wide. The priority will be for all students to be associated with their home school and for teaching options to be managed locally.
More information about the Selection Form for In-Person and Virtual Learning will be emailed directly to families in August. All information and the selection form will also be made available on the TDSB website.
We all remain hopeful that as the number of COVID cases continues to decline, with the accelerated pace of vaccinations, we will be in a much better situation in the fall with almost everyone back in in-person learning, however staff must plan based on the current environment.
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Toronto Public Health and SickKids to lead Youth Vaccination Efforts in Toronto
The Province of Ontario announced that youth will be able to book vaccination appointments through the provincial booking system to access their first dose at a City-run immunization site as of Sunday, May 23 at 8 a.m.
On May 17, Toronto vaccination partners, in collaboration with community agencies and school boards, started operating pilot pop-up vaccination clinics for youth 12 to 17 years of age and their families to receive their first doses. Opportunities for youth vaccination will continue to expand over the next month. School-based pop-up clinics will also be available in hot spot neighbourhoods. Please watch for this information from your schools and via Twitter.
There will be a significant and coordinated effort to continue to engage and immunize Toronto youth 12 to 17 years of age that will conclude with a two-week vaccination blitz during the weeks of June 14 and June 21. Immunization clinics for youth with special needs or particular accessibility requirements are also being planned. More details on these initiatives will be released as they become available.
Further information about youth vaccination and consent will continue to be made available to youth and parents or guardians in collaboration with Toronto Public Health, SickKids, other health-care partners and school boards.
Providing vaccinations for all who are eligible, including children and youth, will help reduce the number of COVID-19 cases in our community and allow kids to participate in activities that benefit their health and well-being. Vaccination continues to be an important way to protect ourselves, our families and our communities from COVID-19, including the variants of concern. We continue to encourage everyone to get vaccinated at their earliest opportunity.
All adults can book their appointments for City-run clinics through the provincial booking system or by calling the Provincial booking system at 1-833-943-3900 (TTY 1-866-797-0007). There are no walk-in or standby appointments available at City-run clinics.
Toronto Public Health will be hosting town halls about COVID-19 vaccines for parents/guardians of 12-17 year old school students. The dates for the session are as follows:
- Tuesday May 25, 2021 10:30 am to 11:30 am.
- Wednesday May 26, 2021 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
- Saturday May 29, 2021 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Please see the website for information on how to join.
For more information on children and vaccines, please see our fact sheet on the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine – Youth age 12 to 17
Thank you for your continued support in helping to keep our schools communities safe. Please continue to visit our website at: www.toronto.ca/COVID19 to stay up-to-date. For COVID-19 information related to schools, please visit COVID-19 school information for parents and caregivers. If you have general questions about COVID-19, please call our Hotline at 416-338-7600, Monday-Sunday 8:30 AM – 8:00 PM. Interpretation services are available.
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OPSBA Conducting Voluntary Student Survey
Online Learning and Covid-19 in Ontario
On Thursday, May 20 Trustees were invited to the final OPSBA’s Speaker and Professional Development Series on Transitioning from the COVID-19 School Experience. Since first declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020, COVID-19 has been, and continues to be, one of the great social and economic disruptors of our time with widespread impact on one of society’s most traditional institutions – school. This session will provide an overview of the observations, preliminary research and implications for the future of school in OPSBA's ground breaking discussion paper entitled, Transitioning from the COVID-19 School Experience, followed by an opportunity to engage in a discussion forum using some of the document's key guiding questions.
We look forward to the publication of the discussion paper in early June. In the meantime, OPSBA is surveying students from across the province to gain their insight. In these surveys, students are asked about their experiences before and during the pandemic, types of learning activities they did, how well online learning worked for them, and how things could be improved.
The survey will only require about 10 minutes to complete, and the responses will be completely anonymous. The survey will remain open until May 31, 2021. OPSBA wants to hear directly from students. Below is a link to the survey for all students:
The Ontario Public School Boards’ Association will use the survey results to work with school boards and other education partners, including the Ministry of Education, in planning a successful “return to school” once the pandemic is over.
Have questions? If you have any questions about the survey, please feel free to contact Judith Nyman at jnyman@opsba.org.
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Board Meeting This Week
Board Meeting, Wednesday, May 26, 2021, 7:00 p.m. Public Session Electronic Meeting
15.1 (1) P048, Occupational Health and Safety Policy: Annual Review
15.1 (2) P072, Workplace Violence Prevention Policy: Annual Review
15.1 (3) Information Flow Protocol: New Governance Procedure
15.2 (1) Alternative Schools Community Advisory Committee: Review of Secondary Alternative Schools
15.2 (2) Alternative Schools Community Advisory Committee: Elementary Alternative Application and Admission Procedures
15.2 (3) Black Student Achievement Community Advisory Committee: Consultation on Review of Elementary Alternative Schools Application and Admission Procedures and Optional Attendance Review
15.2 (4) Equity Policy Community Advisory Committee: Anti-Asian Racism Resource Guide Implementation Plan
15.2 (5) French-as-a-Second-Language Community Advisory Committee: Access to French Immersion in Underserved Areas
15.2 (6) French-as-a-Second-Language Community Advisory Committee: Child Care (Before- and After-School) for French Immersion/Extended French Students (JK-6)
15.2 (7) LGBTQ2S Community Advisory Committee: Terms of Reference
15.2 (8) Special Education Advisory Committee: SEAC Community Member Representative
15.2 (9) TDSB Psychological Services, Backlog Wait Lists, 2020-2021: Update
15.2 (10) Human Rights Annual Report, 2018 - 2020: Update
15.2 (11) Long-Term Plan for Outdoor Learning
15.3 (1) Contract Awards, Facilities
15.3 (2) Contract Awards, Operations
15.3 (3) Construction Tender Award: Terry Fox Public School Addition and Renovation
15.3 (4) Jones Avenue Adult Learning Centre Rebuild
15.3 (5) 2021-22 Grants for Student Needs Update
15.3 (6) Proposed 2021-22 Budget Timelines: Update
15.3 (7) Secondary Alternative Schools Program: Staffing
15.5 (1) School Renaming Request for Queen Victoria Public School: Establishment of a School Renaming Committee
15.5 (2) Boundary Change Review for Glenview Senior Public School, John Polanyi Collegiate Institute, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute and Ledbury Park Elementary and Middle School
15.5 (3) 705 Progress Avenue Site: Update
15.5 (4) Multi-Year Strategic Plan Update
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Ward 8 PARTS
Yonge-Eglinton PART - The Yonge-Eglinton Phase 2 Program Area Review Team has been established to continue looking at accommodation solutions to address overcrowding at Eglinton Jr PS, and includes consideration of the Bannockburn building to resolve ongoing accommodation pressures in the Yonge-Eglinton area. For more information about the review, please visit: https://www.tdsb.on.ca/About-Us/Strategy-Planning/Search-All-Reviews?id=166.
The Q&As and the deck including the survey results and final recommendations achieved through consensus of the PART can be found here:
Hodgson Middle School (Feeder Schools include Davisville, Eglinton, Maurice Cody and Oriole Park)- A report will be presented to the Board of Trustees for approval to relocate Hodgson MS to the 529 Vaughan Road building in the fall 2021. A survey will be conducted around March 2022 to determine each family’s choice for transportation: school bus or TTC. For the Qs and As to date, click here. Read more information https://www.tdsb.on.ca/About-Us/Strategy-Planning/Search-All-Reviews?id=168
Boundary Change Review for Glenview Senior Public School, John Polanyi Collegiate Institute, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute and Ledbury Park Elementary and Middle School - Please see above as this recommendation is on the Board Meeting Agenda this week.
Armour Heights PS, St Andrew's MS, and Ledbury Park EMS - The Board of Trustees have made a decision regarding this review: Board Decision Letter - April 23, 2021 - Armour Heights becomes a JK-8 school, retaining its grade 7's for September 2021
Baycrest Public School relocation to the former Sir Sandford Fleming Building - To view the deck from the March 15 community meeting, please click here. Monthly construction updates will be posted on the school website.
The NEW Davisville/Spectrum - The presentations and the Q&A’s from Davisville Virtual Community Meeting on May 11 have been posted on board's review site.
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Chicken Soup Recipes Please!This year the Asian and Jewish Heritage Committees have collaborated to present Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup for the month of May, The book, author's reading, and teacher resources are available here. An integral part of the activities are the recipes.
TDSB Chicken Soup Recipe Book will reflect our incredibly diverse communities and feature recipes from as many countries, cultures, religions, and Indigenous communities that we as a Board represent. We know this is an ambitious task, but the variety of chicken soup recipes is a warm and hearty reminder that we are all “a little different, a lot the same”… We are asking that students, their families, staff – anyone in the TDSB family - submit their chicken soup recipe, preferably with pictures of the soup, the family cooking the soup, or just photos of the generations of family who have passed down the recipe. We also would like a story of where the soup originated and its significance to the family. Our goal is to publish a TDSB Chicken Soup Recipe Book next school year as a fundraiser for Toronto Foundation For Student Success, which helps feed our kids. Please email your recipes directly to our Recipe Book editor by May 31 to – susan.sidlofsky@tdsb.on.ca.
And for inspiration, here’s a new two minute promo video
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Secondary Alternative Schools Art Show
In the past, the Alternative Tentacle Art Show has showcased the work of the 9 Secondary Alternative Schools West (alt9) students for the past 15 years, this year the focus was placed on student artists who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and racialized. Their individual submission were then unified into one display by Oasis Skateboard Factory Leadership students and turned into skateboards. The student work is on public display in the windows of X-Space Gallery located at 303 Lansdowne Avenue, Unit 2 from May 12 – May 30. Due to Covid-19, all other student artwork will be exhibited online through our Online Art Show Nothing Escapes the Alternative Tentacle. The art show exhibits work from students from the TDSB’s 9 alternative secondary schools. It’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase students whose voices can be heard through their art. Staff are commended for their efforts in keeping our students engaged and motivated during these challenging times. Take the time to stop in to view the unique window display and check out the online Art Show, The Alternative Tentacle 16.
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Virtual Holocaust Library Now OpenLiberation75 attracted 30,000 participants from more than 50 countries and almost every continent in the world. Participants were from all age groups, including more than 50 participants who were 95 years and older. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For those who missed a program, you can find it at the new Liberation75 Holocaust Virtual Library along with additional Holocaust-related programs from their over 250 Participating Organizations - find 1 80+ program recordings including Keynotes, Breakouts, Exhibits, Teacher & Student Programs (Gr. 6+), and Past Webinars. Please click here https://www.liberation75.org/library. Never forget.
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Learn4Life
Summer 2021 - Online General Interest Programs for Adults 18+ and Seniors
- Registration opens: Wednesday, May 19, 2021
- Classes begin:Mon, July 5, 2021
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Election of Student Trustees (2021-22)
The Toronto District School Board is now accepting applications for the positions of Student Trustees for the 2021-22 school year (two positions available).
- Applications close: Tuesday, May 25, 2021
- View Candidates and Campaign Videos: June 21 - 24, 2021
- Voting Day (Online): Thursday, June 24, 2021
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2021 Summer ProgramsElementary Summer School Thirty-eight (38) programs are offered to students in Kindergarten to Grade 8, from July 5 to 30, 2021, in-person or online through virtual instruction. Registration is now open! Click here for a full list of participating schools and registration information - https://www.tdsb.on.ca/About-Us/Innovation/Elementary-Summer-School.
eLearning Summer School: online – Students can take one course in July and/or one in August. Mostly Gr. 11 and 12 courses; Students can access course 24/7 during the allotted course time period. Registration for July courses close: June 11, 2021 at 4:30pm. Registration for August courses close: July 8, 2021 at 4:30pm. https://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/elearning/e-Summer-Online-Program
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Mindfulness in May
Davisville Jr PS invites you to join them and instructor Tina Carlson, an IMTA certified mindfulness teacher with UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center for a variety of programming in May.
- Thursday May 27 - 8:00 - 9:30 pm - For Parents and Caregivers - Mindfulness and Equity: Natural Partners
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Hold the Date - Ward Forum - May 31, 2021
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Policy Consultations
The objective of consultation is to gather public input regarding options, alternative courses of action, as well as to identify unintended effects for various participants and to find solutions. Please see revised the Policy Review Schedule.
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Download the COVID ALERT APPTogether, let's limit the spread of COVID-19. COVID Alert is an additional tool to protect yourself and your loved ones. COVID Alert helps us break the cycle of infection. The app can let other app users know of possible exposures before any symptoms appear. That way, we can take care of ourselves and protect our communities. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/covid-alert.html. Please note, unfortunately, the app is only available on certain phones/operating systems.
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School Year Calendar 2020-2021- The last day of class for elementary students is June 29, 2021
- The last day of class for secondary students is June 28, 2021
School Year Calendar 2021-2022- First day of classes for students is September 9, 2021
- First day back from Winter Break is January 3, 2022
- The last day of class for elementary students is June 30, 2022
- The last day of class for secondary students is June 29, 2022
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