Learn @ Home Has Begun

Dear Parents & Guardians, 

I hope this message finds you and your family well and healthy.

As you are aware, this week we began the Learn @ Home Program led by our dedicated staff.  Over the past two weeks all staff have been hard at work putting together a meaningful distance learning program for our students. By this point, your child should have accessed their class and connected with their classroom teacher either via Google Classroom or through Student Connect. Both are platforms that our students are very familiar with. Please keep in mind that this is a very fluid situation; one which we will continue to monitor and develop as required. We must all give ourselves permission to take it slowly as we work through this format of teaching and learning.  As with any new system, we will need patience and allow for bumps in the road. We are working hard to ensure our students have opportunities to be engaged, learn and grow. As this first week is unfolding, it will become more clear to all of our students and families what learning can look like in this distance-learning model.

Our government has outlined the minimum expectations for student work-time in a given week based on learning materials and work assigned by your student’s teacher. For our students (students in grades 9-12) the basic guideline is that teachers will be providing approximately 3 hours of course work per week, per class. Students will be completing learning tasks that reflect the key components of the curriculum. These weekly hours will be done during a time that works best for the student and his/her family situation. In addition, the focus will be on credit completion and our graduating students. 

We ask you to also please remember that If you receive a phone call from  a “blocked number” this may be a staff member calling and trying to reach you. 

Please remember to keep informed by regularly referring to the SMCDSB COVID-19 Info and Updates and COVID-19 FAQ.

We continue to pray for the health of all and that this will be resolved quickly and that we remain strong and committed to getting through this together. 

As this week is Holy Week, you are encouraged to review the Faith Matters Newsletter for ways you can pray and celebrate together. On behalf of the STA staff, I would like to wish you and your families a blessed and holy Easter.

God Bless,

Ann Marie Sheehan

Principal

St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School