Update for Families: September 1, 2022

Dear KPR Families, 

Welcome back to another school year in KPR! I hope that you all had the opportunity to rest, recharge, connect with loved ones and enjoy the beautiful weather over the summer months. We are so pleased to open the doors of our local public schools once again. 

As we embark on this new school year together, I’d like to take this opportunity to share my appreciation for the students, staff and families that make up our KPR community - you truly bring our classrooms, schools, and hallways to life and I am so excited to continue building on our strong foundation of student success, belonging, and well-being in the coming year. 

There is nothing that brings me greater joy than welcoming students back to school, and this year we are welcoming back over 34,000 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12. I invite families to share their positive spirit and back-to-school excitement by participating in our #KPRFirstDay social media campaign. Share photos of your first day, using #KPRFirstDay and tagging @kprschools. There are some fun prizes!

The last couple of years have been very tough, but we are looking to the Fall with promise for stability and a return to pre-pandemic learning experiences - and that feels incredible. COVID is still a factor in our lives, but we are pleased that provincial Ministry of Education guidelines support a return to normal operations in most areas, with a continued focus on health and safety practices to keep everyone well. Our Return to School Plan reflects the latest provincial guidance, and is outlined below. We appreciate everyone’s cooperation in self-screening every day and following the guidance provided by the screening tool. Please read through the tool carefully as there are new recommendations as of August 31st. 

With the launch of KPR’s new website, we now have an events calendar where you can find upcoming school calendar dates, events, Board-recognized dates, and days of significance. I invite you to check out the important dates coming up in September, and follow @kprschools on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to learn more about the many days of significance and observances that KPR students, staff and families participate in. 

We know that the return to school can be a challenging time for some students. At KPR, we understand that student well-being is just as important as success in learning, and in fact, it’s foundational to all other types of success. We encourage students and their families to take a look at School Mental Health Ontario’s How to Support A Mentally Healthy Back to School for Your Child tip sheet for a positive school start-up.

Wishing everyone a very healthy and happy start to the 2022-2023 school year! 

Rita Russo, 

Director of Education 

KPR News

Virtual Learning

KPR schools and classrooms continue to provide rich, varied in-person learning experiences for all students. For those who wish, we are also offering families the ability to choose remote learning for the 2022-2023 school year. 

The opportunity to opt-in or opt-out of virtual learning for the 2022-2023 school year will be available until September 13, 2022. Families and caregivers are asked to contact their child's home school as soon as possible if they are interested in transitioning from in-person to virtual learning or from virtual learning back to in-person.

Return to School Plan

On the advice of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, for the 2022-23 school year, most health and safety requirements remain unchanged from the previous direction provided at the end of the 2021-22 school year. This means a return to normal school operations in most areas.

COVID restrictions have been lifted in relation to assemblies, cohorting, cafeteria use, extracurricular sports and clubs, in-province field trips, food programs, recess, shared materials and spaces, vaccination attestations, and visitors and volunteers.

KPR’s full Return to School Plan is available on our website. A few of the key areas are summarized below.

Screening

All staff, students, and visitors should self-screen daily before attending school, using the newly updated, provincial school screening tool. Please read through the screening tool content carefully as there are new guidelines as of August 31st. Visitors and volunteers will continue to sign in at school offices and should indicate that they have completed screening.

Any staff, student or visitor who does not pass the screening questions should not attend school and should follow the guidance provided in the screening tool. 

Masking

KPR schools and buildings are mask-friendly environments, where we continue to respect everyone’s personal choice about wearing masks. There are still situations where masks may be required, as outlined in the school screening tool - such as after international travel, after illness with COVID-19 symptoms, or after close contact with someone with COVID-19 symptoms. We know that masks do reduce the risk of spreading illness, and masking is still encouraged by our public health unit partners, particularly for those who are at higher risk of serious illness.

Masks for students and staff will continue to be available at schools.

Absences

When levels of absenteeism are more than 30 per cent higher than average daily absence rates, schools will communicate with public health units, who may provide recommendations to the school or for families. The Board and schools will also monitor attendance for sudden increases in absences or unusually high absence rates in a particular class.

Illness Protocol

In the event of illness at school, families will be asked to pick up students and keep them home until their symptoms are improving, in accordance with the provincial screening tool. Students who develop symptoms of illness while at school will be distanced from other students as much as possible and asked to wear a mask until they can be picked up. Schools will no longer have separate isolation rooms.

Rapid Antigen Tests will continue to be available at schools and will be provided as needed.