Preparing for the Week of At-Home Programming (Jan 4-8)
Hello again, Chester Ronning School Community!
We have made it to the last week of classes before the break - with our fingers crossed that we will have a relatively uneventful final five days so that we can send everyone safely and happily on their way for the holidays. Thankfully, Chester Ronning School has so far enjoyed relative good fortune in terms of keeping our classes intact and at school during this strange year. Words really can't express our appreciation and gratitude for our families who have acted with great responsibility and vigilance to observe the recommended health measures and daily self-assessments that have helped us to get to this point without a major disruption.
And so, we are now entering the week before the Christmas holiday. Although things look a little different here this year, the energy and excitement remains palpable and our staff is doing a tremendous job to maintain a festive spirit here at school and it certainly looks and feels like Christmas at CRS right now with all the decorations and holiday artwork! The Grinchmas Food Drive has also been a great success, with hundreds and hundreds of items donated to our local food bank! (Tomorrow, December 15) is the last day that we will be collecting donations.) Our morning Christmas Caroling tradition started today and, although it's a lot quieter than the usual practice of gathering everyone in the gym to sing together, it's still nice to enjoy those favourite holiday songs throughout the school! This week marks the unofficial end of the year, as well, since the holidays carry us through to the New Year. And that's the main reason for this blog post, since there will be five days of at-home programming after the break before a return to school on January 11, 2021.
Battle River School Division has prioritized flexible at-home programming for the week of January 4-8 and the CRS staff has been working hard to provide meaningful learning experiences that can work in-and-around any family obligations and childcare arrangements that may be necessary during the week of at-home learning that the provincial government has implemented following the holidays. As such, attendance will not be taken and the on-line sessions will be optional during the week of January 4-8.
This is only a slight change from the previously communicated plan. We know that circumstances are different for each family and CRS teachers have worked hard to produce paper-copy materials for all students with detailed instructions that will enable students to successfully engage in their learning with or without technology/internet access and at whatever time works best for families. Teachers will begin sending these packages home today. If you do not receive your child's package of paper-copy materials by Wednesday, December 16, please contact your child's teacher so they can provide another package before the holidays.
During the week of January 4-8, CRS staff will still be conducting Google Meets that students may choose to attend, where supplementary lessons and/or enrichment activities will be conducted in a virtual environment. Throughout this week of at-home programming, teachers may also invite students to join them online for additional individual and/or small-group sessions to support their learning. Prior to the holidays, teachers ensured that students were familiar with how to access their Google Classrooms and join Google Meets so students choosing to use these resources should be able to do so with minimal support.
We are hopeful that the week of at-home programming will be successful for all of our students and their families, whether they prefer a more traditional, structured sort of school day or if they will benefit from increased flexibility as we continue to navigate the challenges of living and learning during this pandemic. Please see the linked documents for additional details and don't hesitate to contact your child's teacher(s) if you have questions or need clarifications.
In-class learning will resume on January 11, 2021.
Please be well and take care. However you celebrate the holidays, I hope it will include some time for rest and enjoying your loved ones!
Merry Christmas!
Reid Lansing
Principal
Jan 4-8 Suggested Daily Schedule