News from Vanier - two important updates - April 8

Dear Vanier students and families:

First, two important updates.  As you can imagine, things have been changing quickly over the last days and weeks and we had been making some specific plans without all the necessary information.  As a result some of our plans need to change.  We apologize for any inconvenience these changes may result in:

1.The distribution of locker contents and learning materials is postponed.   We had been advised to not provide families with any materials from inside the school to ensure the safest and most up to date recommendation are followed to prevent any possibility of the spread of COVID-19.  We don’t want to create any unnecessary risks and in an abundance of precaution, we will wait for official guidelines for the safe handling of all materials from schools as recommended by Yukon Department of Health and Social Services.

2.Home learning will start on Thursday, April 16.  Up until yesterday, we had been operating on the understanding that learning would resume on the 15th.  All communications from Vanier, including yesterday’s emails from teachers, reflected this.  The Department of Education has clarified that classes are suspended until the 15th, inclusive, resulting in the first day of learning at home being Thursday, April 16.
 
Yesterday, our Minister of Education announced that face-to-face classes with students would be cancelled for the remainder of this school year.  We are quite sad that this is the case, but absolutely understand the need to do so in order to limit the spread of COVID-19.  I’ve attached a letter and FAQ sheet – these were also sent out yesterday.

Since staff returned to school on March 30, we have been preparing for this possibility and will be ready to roll out our learning from home program next week as promised.

Each teacher has been asked to develop an educational program for their class to facilitate learning from home.  As mentioned in Monday’s email, the time allotments for this program are:

• 10 hours per week for Grade 8 & 9 students (3 hours each for Scimatics and Humanities, 1 hour each for Religion, French, PE, and options class); and
• 3 hours per week per course for Grade 10-12 students

Teachers will choose one of three methods for delivering and accepting assignments with the goal of these being ready for use on April 16.  On that date, you will be able to check what each teacher will be using by checking our school website next week.

1. Email/posting assignment/instructions to website and collecting and communicating by email;
2. Google Classroom (accessible through https://portal.yesnet.yk.ca); or
3. Another technology that was in use prior to the cancellation of classes (e.g. FreshGrade)

In all cases, teachers and staff may host Zoom meetings to facilitate small-group or class-wide discussions or to provide additional support.

If you need help accessing the portal, please start here: https://www.vcss.ca/help.html and watch Mr. Biss’ very helpful video.  The link to the portal login is at vcss.ca under the ‘Portal’ menu.

• The user name for every student is [student number]@yesnet.yk.ca (e.g. [email protected])
• Most students have a password in place.  If you need it reset, please call the school at 667-5901 any time after 1 pm today or email [email protected]
• If you need a student number, please call the school at 667-5901 any time after 1 pm today.  We will ask some questions to verify identity before releasing a student number.  We will not do this over email.

 
We will also be developing some structures to help students need additional support, especially those who were used to being supported by our Educational Assistants.  We are developing plans and structures to make additional help available to students.  Please keep in mind this may look and feel very different from what students are used to receiving in the school.
 
There are still many unknowns with regard to how the next days and weeks will go.  Our commitment to keeping you as informed as possible remains.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions and concerns.
 
Sincerely,
Ryan Sikkes, principal and Jeanette Gallant, vice-principal