December Principal’s Update
Dear Summit Heights Families,
On behalf of the staff, we hope your start to December has been excellent and that the recent snow has helped get everyone into a positive festive mood. For those who celebrate Hanukkah, we wish you and your family and friends a Happy Hanukkah throughout the entire 8-night festival!
Upcoming dates/events:
December 9 – School Advisory Council (SAC or “Parent Council”) virtual meeting 7-9pm
December 17 – Last day of classes before the Winter Break
December 18 – January 2 – Winter Break
January 3 – Classes resume
Fencing
As many have noticed, the installation of the remaining fencing and gate work that started in 2017, has finally been completed. The completion of fencing and gates will help to keep our students safe during recess, DPA and outdoor learning. This is particularly important for our younger students (and for a small number of students who have a risk of leaving our yard). The fencing also provides a visual reminder (along with signs) that dogs are not permitted on our yard (see below).
The gates to our yard have not been, and are not locked this time, and will remain that way for the foreseeable future.
No Dogs in our yard
Like all other TDSB property, dogs are not permitted on our yard at any time. We have had numerous occasions where dog excrement has been left on our property, discovered by our students and staff during the school day. While our caretakers work hard to keep our yard clean and safe for all to use, we ask that our community help us by not using our yard for their dogs (on or off leash). Please remind your neighbours of this as well.
Additional “no dog” signs will be installed on the new portions of our fence/gates as soon as possible. We hope that these new signs (once installed) and the new portions of fence and gates will help remind dog walkers to not use our yard for their dogs.
Switching Survey
Parents will be receiving an email from the TDSB regarding the option for switching from in-person to virtual (or vice versa) on Friday, December 3. Only parents who want to switch should fill out the survey during the survey window (December 3 to December 7th). The start date of the switch is February 22, 2022. More information can be found on the TDSB website at www.tdsb.on.ca
Holidays/vacation
If you are travelling this winter break, please be sure to review the travel guidelines by the Federal Government at travel.gc.ca
In regards to missed school work during a vacation taken during school time, or due to a quarantine period after returning from travel abroad, your child (or parent depending on the age of your child) will be responsible to connect with their teacher after your return. A plan/schedule will then be developed to complete said work. Please be in direct consultation with your child’s teacher about the requirements for missed work upon his/her return to school.
Rapid Antigen Test kits
Each in-person student at Summit Heights will received 5 rapid antigen test kits to take home, along with printed instructions. While these kits and instructions have not yet arrived at our school, we anticipate their delivery before the holiday break, and we will distribute them as soon as we are able to.
Covid-19 Screening/Health protocol
Please be reminded that we continue to screen all students daily in regard to the Covid-19 Health Pass. Students may use the paper-pass or mobile app. Staff need to see a parent initial on the paper-pass that corresponds to the current date. Students using the mobile app only need to show their “pass” check mark/QR code for that day.
Please actively screen your child(ren) daily using the questions on the screener. If your child has any of the five Covid-19 symptoms, or anyone who is sick or has any symptoms of illness, including those not listed as one of the 5 symptoms, should stay home and seek assessment from their health care provider if needed. This direction is on the most up-to-date screening pass and is important for the health and well-being of everyone in our school community. Parents, we need your cooperation in this matter, thank you.
You can find the paper health screening pass and link to the app at www.tdsb.on.ca/School-Year-2021-22/Daily-Health-Screening
Recess Snow Play
This week we saw the first snow fall, and students were excited to play with the snow during recess. We have reminded students that there is no throwing/kicking snow at any person or any ‘thing’. Snow forts, snowmen/sculptures are for “being made”. and not destroyed, and the snow belongs to everyone (i.e., no one ‘owns’ the snow, so don’t argue over it!). Finally, two years ago the TDSB introduced updated guidelines around sledding/tobogganing (requiring helmets amongst other rules), so our school no longer permits sledding/tobogganing during recesses in our yard.
Winter Outdoor Wear
Parents, we have reminded our students that for recess, they should wear what they were sent to school in. Meaning, if a student is sent/comes to school in their winter jacket, hat and gloves, then they should be wearing those items for recess. The intention of this reminder/rule is to keep children warm while playing outdoors during the winter months. Please remind your child of this practice.
SAC Friday Files
Our SAC is working on sending their Friday Files digitally this week. There is a wealth of important information (both from SAC and from the school staff) contained in each Friday File – please be sure you have opted in for these important, and regular, communications. You can contact SAC regarding the Friday files at this email address: shpsfridayfiles@gmail.com
Thank you for reading.
Best regards,
Mr. B. Mah,
Principal.
