Dear Parents/Guardians,

I am writing today to provide a further update regarding learning at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.  We all recognize that this is a very fluid situation. We are developing a plan that will take us through the next two weeks and beyond that, if necessary.

As you know, the Ontario government has released the Learn At Home web portal. This resource is available on the Board website at www.st-clair.net  We recognize that learning at home presents some challenges – one being, that not every student has easy access to technology or to wifi.  Your child’s principal and teacher will be connecting with you this week in order to determine the learning needs of our students and to continue to support the important relationship between our Catholic schools and the home.  Thank you for your patience as we develop and implement these plans.

I’m very confident in our ability to weather this storm together.  Our strong foundations of faith, family and friendship and our dedicated call to serve Catholic education is at the very heart of everything we do.  This pandemic is taking us into an uncertain future. We don’t have all the answers, but we do have great people who are working hard to support our students and that will make all the difference. 

I can’t say enough about the amazing team of educators and learning support staff who are leading this effort for our Board.  Working together we have just one goal – to support our students and families. I also want to thank our custodians, maintenance staff and computer technicians, who have worked tirelessly to complete a deep cleaning of our schools, Board facilities and devices.  We all appreciate their efforts to help keep us safe. We also have a dedicated team of employees who are working every day on the business side of our Board. We thank them for their great work to overcome the many challenges presented by the pandemic.

There will be further updates in the days ahead.  We are committed to ensuring that you have the latest information.  Please visit the Board’s COVID-19 response page regularly for updates at www.st-clair.net 

In the meantime, please continue to follow the advice of our government leaders and public health professionals.  Each of us is called to do all that we can to limit the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

We have also posted links to important websites from mental health organizations and professionals.  They include excellent resources for helping you talk to your child about the COVID-19 pandemic.

• School Mental Health Ontario
• St. Clair Child & Youth Telephone Counselling Services
• COVID-19: Supporting a discussion with children and youth
  (from Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child & Youth Mental Health) 
• Why Can’t I go to School? (Social Story)
• Kids Help Phone

All of these websites link to important information.  Please visit them often to stay informed.

In closing, let me assure you that although these are challenging times to say the least, we are committed to find ways to support our students and families.  It is the only reason we are here. God’s blessings to you and your family. Stay healthy and safe. With Christ as our strength and our shield, we can go forward in confidence as we face the future together.

Sincerely,

Deb Crawford
Director of Education