LKS Parent Council

Hello LKS Parents.

We hope all of you are well.

It is clear to all that the start of the school year 2020-2021 will be unlike any other that we have experienced. We have all had to manage with a great deal of change and uncertainty in our lives for the past 6 months.

Throughout the summer, TDSB committees have been working to put together guiding principles for schools to follow as we look at reopening schools. The Returning To School document has undergone a number of editions that respond to feedback from staff, teachers, trustees, public health and parents. We are using this as a guide for our preparations for the
opening of school, September 8.

Over the next few days/couple of weeks, Kimm and I will keep all of you updated as we move closer to the reopening of LKS. Please understand that the landscape continues to change and although we have tentative plans in place, we fully anticipate that things will continue to evolve right up to September 8. We thank you in advance for your patience.

We can tell you that our school will look different when we return and we will abide by all public health measures as directed by Toronto Public Health. Visual cues will be prominent throughout the building reminding students and staff of physical distancing, directional flow, regular hand hygiene, as well as which doors are for entry and which are for exiting. We will see PPE being worn by all staff as well as masks for all of our grade 4 to 8 students. At this time masks are encouraged for our K- 3 students, but not a requirement. We have also been working to ensure we use our outdoor space for learning as much as possible keeping in mind that inclement weather will always be a risk.

All parents have been asked to complete a pre-registration survey which closes tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18. The survey allows families to choose either in-school learning or remote learning. This valuable information will allow us to finalize our classes and build what will be known as cohorts. At present time, our classes/cohorts are typical of the sizes we have seen in
past years. Our JSK classes are approximately 25-28 students (with one class of 15), our grade 1 to 3 classes are at a maximum of 20 students, and our grade 4-8 classes are approximately 25-30. We do anticipate this will change once we get the results from the pre-registration.

If you have responded to the survey already and want to change your response, we ask that you let us know before Monday, August 24. Switching between in-person and remote classes after the beginning of school is more complicated and while we can try our best to accommodate individual circumstances, it will likely happen at the end of a reporting period
(November and February). Remote classes will not likely be taught by LKS teachers. Instead, classes will be created from students across the system who have opted for remote learning and taught by a centrally assigned TDSB teacher or one who cannot return to in-person classes because of their own personal circumstances.

Another source of information for parents is this recording of a TDSB webinar held on Thursday, August 13th. While it is lengthy, it may address some of your initial concerns or questions from a board level perspective. You can find the webinar, by clicking here.

Over the course of this week, we will be meeting with both staff and members of our Parent Council to share our tentative plans and continue to fine-tune how things will look in September. Although we too still have many questions awaiting answers, Kimm and I are confident that over
the next few days things will begin to take shape. We know that we have incredible support from our staff and community and will do whatever it takes to create a safe learning environment for all of our students and staff.

We will keep all of you informed as we move forward and please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Take care,
Kimm and John