Dear ALC Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to this week’s Monday Morning Message.
Daily COVID Student Assessment and monitoring for symptoms of COVID-19
Parents and guardians must complete the Ottawa Public Health (OPH) COVID self-assessment for every student before leaving home each day.
https://secureforms.ottawapublichealth.ca/School-Health-Sante-scolaire/COVID-19-Screening-Tool-for-Students
Ottawa Public Health link for Attestation form for return to school for a tested/ill child.
Anyone with symptoms must stay home and follow public health directives about testing. This step is key to helping keep the virus out of the school. Please take the time to thoroughly review the screening tool with your child each morning, and follow the directions provided by Ottawa Public Health.
Toonie Tuesday - February 23rd
On Tuesday, February 23rd, the Education Foundation of Ottawa (EFO) will be hosting their annual Toonie Tuesday event to raise critical funds for OCDSB families in need. The Education Foundation of Ottawa is an independent charity in support of OCDSB students. Please donate if you can through the Foundation’s website.
Feb 24th is Kindness Day at ALC
Wednesday, February 24th is Pink Shirt Day. This year for Pink Day, we are focusing on random acts of kindness. All ALC staff and students are encouraged to wear pink in support of kindness on February 24th, and to take a moment and do something kind for someone else, each and every day.
Virtual After-School Literacy/Numeracy Homework Support Program
Continuing Education is offering an after-school Literacy/Numeracy homework support program for OCDSB students in Grade 7 -12 looking to achieve greater success at school. The Literacy/Numeracy Program provides students in Grades 7-12 with a supervised opportunity to complete, review, practice and receive support in a range of subject areas. There is no charge for these programs and they are on a drop-in basis. If you are interested in attending the program please fill out the registration form below.
Program starts: Monday, November 2, 2020
Hours: Mondays - Thursdays, 3:45 pm - 7:30 pm
Eligibility: This program is open to students in grades 7-12 who are currently attending an OCDSB Day School during the 2020-2021 school year.
Registration form: Please fill out the online registration form.
*OCDSB students need to register using their @ocdsb.ca student email account. Registrations cannot be accepted from non-OCDSB accounts. The registration form must be completed before students will be able to attend the program.
Also, TVO Mathify offers 1 to 1 support virtually in math for students in grades 6-10 by certified Ontario Teachers. Please go to https://www.tvomathify.com for more information.
The Jerusalema Dance Challenge
Last Friday, the grade 5/6 MFI class hosted a virtual assembly to celebrate Black History Month. They presented a video dancing to a song entitled, Jerusalema, written by a South African DJ in the Zulu language. This song made number 1 in many countries around the world. Subsequently, a dance challenge began in Angola last February and went viral. It has helped to lift spirits during the COVID-19 pandemic. ALC students are encouraged to take the challenge with their family or friends outside and record it. They can send their video to Mme Evans janet.evans@ocdsb.ca over the next two weeks. On Friday, March 5, we will have another virtual school google meet to share the dances with the school. Here are a few videos which might help:
Jerusalema dance tutorial
top 10 dance Jerusalema challenge
The OCDSB Thought Exchange Survey
Last week, the OCDSB launched a survey to check-in with OCDSB students (grades 7-12), parents/guardians, and staff using thoughtexchangeTM. The survey is a follow-up to the one conducted in October and will inform our work for this year and help the Board to plan for next year. To inform our next steps, the Board wants to hear from as many families as possible about their experiences, challenges, and successes.
All participants are asked to:
(1) Answer some multiple-choice questions; and
(2) Tell us (in their own words) about their current experience. They will also have the opportunity to see and rate the thoughts of others.
The survey will remain open until Friday, February 26th. The survey will collect information at the District level, not the school level. Staff, students in grades 7-12, and parents were invited to participate by email late last week. The link is also posted on the District website and on our school website.
If a participant wants to participate in a language other than English, they can do so by clicking 'Change language' from the drop-down menu on the Introduction page for their exchange. Further instructions on how to participate in another language can be found on the thoughtexchange help page.
Important Dates and Upcoming Events:
Weds, Feb 24 - Pink Shirt Kindness Day
Weds, Feb 24 - virtual ALC School Council mtg, 7 pm
Thurs, March 11 - Term 2 IEPs sent home
Sun, March 14 - Daylight Savings Time starts
Fri, April 2 - Food Friday, no school
Mon, April 5 - Easter Monday, no school
April 12-16 - Rescheduled March break
Kind regards,
Elizabeth Rainer and Sandra Hutt
ALC Principal and Vice Principal