Thunder News Flash – January 15, 2022

With the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, it is even more important to do the following:

• complete a daily health check with your child – as work is underway to update the K-12 Daily Health Check app for alignment with updated public health guidance, please click here to use the BC COVID-19 Thrive app for your daily health checks
• monitor your children regularly for symptoms of illness – if they are sick, they should stay home.  Please click here for information about testing for COVID-19
• follow all of the provincial restrictions that are currently in place – please click here for the latest information
• ensure your children are wearing a mask when they enter the school each morning, unless exempt
• seek reputable sources of information about COVID-19, such as the BCCDC, including how to protect yourself, your family and your community, and what to do if you suspect you have the virus by clicking here

While we all continue to navigate through routines that are disrupted and changes that seem to come up daily, let’s also remember to be kind to each other and offer assistance to those who need help during these challenging times.

Please click here to read an update letter from Dr. Ariella Zbar, the Medical Health Officer for the Fraser Health Authority.  

Please note that due to the later start to school in January after our Christmas break, we will also be delaying the Progress Reports by one week.  Your child will now be bringing home their Progress Report on Friday, February 4th.

You may have heard on the news that Public Health Authorities are no longer completing contact tracing protocols like they were previously, and due to that will no longer be sending exposure notifications to schools to be distributed.  Instead, the new process they are following relies on schools to accurately report their student attendance numbers each day, and then look for triggers which would indicate that Public Health would need to be contacted.  These could include a higher than normal number of students away in a class, or in the whole school.  In order to help with this, we are asking parents to be a little more specific when reporting that your child is away from school.  When you call the school, or send an email through the website, please let us know the following:

• your child is away due to illness – you are not required to let us know what the illness is, or if the illness is COVID-related; however, telling us this information certainly helps to give us a clearer understanding of what may be happening in your child’s classroom.  Please note that this information is kept confidential and only shared with those who MUST know this information
• your child is away due to another reason, other than an illness – your family is moving, they missed the bus, you are on vacation, etc.  You do not need to be specific with your reason, but again it just helps us understand what is going on in the classroom

Your help with this is greatly appreciated as we continue to try and navigate this ever-changing situation.

Thank you to the many parents who have updated their Parent Participation hours through the portal on the school’s website.  Please note that 10 hours of Parent Participation must be completed by January 31st.  For any families who are new to the school, please note that this does not apply to you.

There are some jobs where the work is sporadic, or may be concentrated in one part of the school year.  If this is the case, and you know that you will be unable to complete your 10 hours by January 31st, please send an email to the Principal by clicking here.  There is a Work Bee scheduled for today, and that is a great way to get several hours that can then be logged.  For those families who do not complete their hours and do not make contact with the school, your first direct debit payment of $200 will be processed on February 1st.  Please note that these payments will not be prorated.  

There is a Work Bee today, Saturday, January 15th at the school from 9:00am – 2:00pm.  Please complete a daily health check before coming to the Work Bee, and stay home if you are feeling unwell.  Please also ensure that you are wearing a mask when you arrive at the school, and that you bring gloves for both inside and outside work, as well as any small, cordless gardening tools you are able to bring.  Your work around the school, both inside and outside, is much appreciated.

Please note that our next early dismissal day for our monthly staff meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 1st.  This early dismissal day was intentionally placed on a Tuesday, as the Big Bear basketball tournament is scheduled to take place at SJB from Wednesday to Friday.  While we are unsure if this tournament is going ahead, as this date has been scheduled since last June, and parents were aware of this, we feel it is important to keep this date as it is on our school calendar.  As always, the students should bring a snack and lunch to school that day, unless they have ordered Hot Lunch, and they will be dismissed at 12:55pm.

We are so happy to end this News Flash with some good news for a change!  Congratulations to Mrs. Di Palma and her husband who are expecting their second child in July.  We wish them all the best, although we will miss Mrs. Di Palma in Kindergarten next year, and know that Olivia will make a wonderful big sister.