When our schools closed, we committed to keeping you informed. As Director of Education, we want you to know our Board’s commitment to the safety and well-being of our students and staff is unwavering.
Why We Closed Schools
As you know, all 72 Ontario School Boards closed their schools on the advice of Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and the experts at the Provincial COVID-19 Command Table from March 14 – April 5, 2020, in response to the emergence of COVID-19. The Premier indicated he will continue to follow the advice of medical experts and should school closures need to be extended he will advise Ontarians.
Learn at Home Portal
The Province of Ontario launched a new online tool to help students continue learning while schools are closed. The online resource is in line with the kindergarten to grade 12 curriculum.
The Learn at Home website is now live.
The website contains reading material for elementary and secondary students. Qualified tutors will be made available through TVO, available to answer questions from students. High school content is designed with a focus on STEM courses to ensure core competencies and skills are reinforced.
EQAO Assessments – Cancelled
All EQAO assessments (elementary and secondary) cancelled for the remainder of this school year. For students who are graduating in the 2019-20 school year, the literacy graduation requirement is waived. Students who are not graduating this school year will have the opportunity to write the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) in the upcoming 2020-21 school year.
Repayment Schedule for Child Care and Extended Day Programs (EDP)
Given the decision to close schools and then child cares /EDP’s was not made until Thursday and Friday last week, we were unable to stop the bank processing from going through. That file is sent electronically to the bank several days in advance by our Finance department.
Work is being done now to ensure April 15 payments reflect automatic refunds for the following:
March 5 – 4th strike day – if your child was registered for Thursdays
March 16 – 20 – if your child was registered for March Break
March 23 – April 3 – for the days your child is registered for.
NSFs for March will be addressed at a later date. No further attempts will be made to withdraw from your account before April 15.
We also encourage parents to continue to check the ocsb.ca website for EDP fee information/refund updates. Parents whose children attend the Ottawa Catholic Child Care Corporation sites should check the occhildcare.ca website for fee information/refund updates.
Ottawa Public Health Updates
Ottawa Public Health posts the latest COVID-19 developments on Twitter and Facebook and their Website.
Every day at 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET, the Province of Ontario’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) web page will be updated with the most up-to-date information, including the status of cases in Ontario.
Reminder – Travellers
To all families and staff returning from abroad, welcome back home. Please remember you must practice 14-day home isolation, which means asking a friend or family member to drop off anything you will need at your doorstep – food, cleaning supplies, and toiletries.
It is crucial to understand family reunions or playdates could be dangerous to your loved ones. Our local hospitals are counting on all of us to be socially responsible.
Doing Our Part
We are working with the City of Ottawa to set up a primary care clinic at our former St. Patrick Intermediate site located on 1485 Heron Rd. This is just one way we are helping to support the broader Ottawa community.
Archdiocese of Ottawa Suspends Masses
All Catholic Masses suspended until further notice. “It is with regret that we must temporarily suspend all public celebration of the Mass and other gatherings of Catholics in the Archdiocese,” said Archbishop Terrence Prendergast in a statement to the clergy, religious, and faithful of the Archdiocese.
School Board Office – Closed
Our Board Office is closed to most staff. Many of our administrative staff are working remotely to help plan our next steps.
Communication
We know you have questions and we will do our best to keep you up-to-date. Please look at our website and social media channels through Facebook and Twitter for our latest postings. We will also continue to share any new developments impacting our schools with local media, and directly with parents/guardians through our SchoolMessenger communication system.
Thank You
Thank you for your empathy, partnership, and humanity as we all do our part to practise social distancing, appropriate sanitization, and the recommendations of our local, provincial, and federal public health officials. Together, in faith, we will rise from this crisis with newfound strength and wisdom.