Hello Owen Families,
We had a great first week back at school. Students adjusted to wearing their masks, distancing, sanitizing hands and following routines to keep everyone healthy and safe.
We still need to work on routines for morning drop off and afternoon pick up as there are behaviours that are quite concerning.
In the morning...
Our back bus loop is strictly for bus use between 8:00 am - 5:00 pm. Some parents have been pulling into the loop and then backing up after they have dropped off their child. Backing up in that area is extremely dangerous. Children, staff or caregivers can be hit, particularly with the snow. Please park on one of the side streets and walk your child to their classroom area.
We've also had some parents drop off children in the staff parking lot. There is a sign at the parking lot entrance to indicate that lot is only for staff. Our daycare staff and TDSB trades workers also use the lot to park. We have staff and children cross the lot and it is dangerous if unauthorized cars are there. Children, staff or caregivers can be hit, particularly with the snow. Please park on one of the side streets and walk your child to their classroom area.
In the afternoon...
With the winter snow it's difficult to see over the snow banks and it's also difficult buses to make the turns out of the bus loops. Please respect the street signs and do not park close to the stop sign. Cars parked past the arrow on the parking sign make it difficult for buses to turn the corner. We had a near miss when the bus tried to back up to avoid a car that was parked illegally which put a family in danger.
Please make sure you park west of the crosswalk (indicated by the Owen Green students with flags) by the back loop and not on the crosswalk or at the bus loop. We want to ensure students are safe when crossing the street.
Please let other parents know or report to the office any cars you see parked in illegal spots or doing unsafe things that would put our students or caregivers in danger. We all need to work together to keep our students safe.
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Telus Wise Digital Presentation for Parents
Telus wise will be doing a virtual presentation for parents on Tuesday Feb 23rd at 6:30 pm. The topics include:
- Supporting youth in a digital society
- Ages and stages
- Screen time
- Cyberbullying
- Sexting
- Gaming & Social Media
- Parental controls
Check out the parent guide Helping Our Kids Navigate Our Digital World
Meeting ID: 979 2490 7936
Passcode: 445063
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Video Game Addiction Resources
With remote learning, children have been online more than they have been in the past. Many parents have concerns that children are becoming addicted to video games, youtube or social media and it is impacting their children's wellbeing.
Check out the Video Game Addiction: Symptom Checklist and the I'd Rather Inventory for Digital Wellbeing that is attached to the email to see how these digital tools are affecting your child.
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Grad Sweatshirts
Grad Sweatshirts are in and will be distributed Monday morning. Grade 5 Virtual School parents can call the school to arrange a time to pick up their child's sweatshirt. Thank you parent grad committee for putting this together for the students!
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Forest of Reading
Our books are in and classes have started to read the books so they can vote on their best author. Books will be read individually and in some cases as a read-aloud in class. Thank you Parent Council for support our reading programs at Owen!
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Returning to School
There are many questions about how long to stay at home when sick or if someone has travelled in the family. Here are a few scenarios to help you.
Scenario 1:
My dad had just returned from overseas. Do I need to stay home?
Yes. If anyone in the household has travelled outside of Canada in the last 14 days, all children
and adults who attend a school setting must stay home from school until the person who
travelled completes the federally-required 14 days of self-isolation. If the individual is
exempt from this self-isolation because they perform an essential job (e.g. truck driver,
pilot), the rest of the household can still attend school.
Scenario 2:
My sister is sick and shows one of the COVID symptoms. Do I need to stay home?
If anyone in the household has COVID-19 symptoms, all children and adults who attend a
school setting must stay home from school until COVID-19 has been ruled out. If the
household member with symptoms does not go for testing, and is not a close contact of a
positive case, the children and adults in the home who attend a school setting must stay
home for 10 days. If they test negative for COVID, your child will stay home from school and return 24 hours after symptoms show they are improving.
Scenario 3:
My child has tested positive for COVID-19? Can the siblings come to school?
Notify the school if your child has test positive for COVID. Your child will self isolate for at least 10 days from when symptoms started. Siblings and household members will need to self-isolate for at least 14 days. Parents will need to send the Return to School form to confirm their child is healthy enough to be at school.
Scenario 4:
My child has a headache at school? What is the procedure for handling children with symptoms at school?
Students will be sent to the office to check how the child is doing? Students who exhibit COVID symptoms will be resting in our Wellness Room. Parents will be called and asked to pick up their child. It is recommended the student get a COVID test. Parents will need to send the Return to School form to confirm their child is healthy enough to be at school.
Just a reminder that parents need to complete the Daily Health App everyone morning between midnight and 8:45 am. The issues of siblings and multiple users has been resolved. Parents should be able to sign out of the app with one child and sign back on with another. Students who are not clear either because,
- they show one or more symptoms or
- parents have not completed the health app
Students will be directed to go to the office and Talia and Elizabeth will call home to confirm the health status of your child.
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Continued Health and Safety Practices
Please remind your child of the continued importance of hand washing, physical distancing and mask wearing, which is required for all staff, visitors and students JK to Grade 12. Although the ministry has mandated mask wearing for the younger kids, Owen has been wearing masks for all grades inside and outside since the fall.
Please remember that parents and students are not to congregate in the school yard, and, outside of school, students should not gather with others, even with those in their cohort. Remember to respect the Stay at Home order issued by the ministry.
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Kindergarten Registration
TDSB online registration for Kindergarten September 2021 is now available. After you have completed the online registration, please call the office to schedule the follow up Virtual Face-to-Face Registration. Virtual Registration will take place February 18 - 25, 2021.
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Moving out of Owen?
As we begin to start preparing for our September 2021 school year, we would like to gather information to help us know how many students will be returning to Owen.
If your child will be moving to another school in the fall, please fill out the following form to help us know where to transition the Ontario Student Records and transfer them to their new school.
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STUDENT NEWS
If you have photos, student work or family activities you would like to share on the Owen Online for next week, please email them to jamie.parkes@tdsb.on.ca by Thursday of this week.
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