January 14th, 2022

In Person Learning

Our secondary schools will be reopened on Monday, January 17 for in person learning. School staff are looking forward to welcoming students back to in person classes and ensuring a successful final two weeks of Semester 1. There is no change to the school schedules or bussing.

Transition to Semester 2

Ahead of the start of Semester 2, we would like to remind secondary students of the following:

  • January 28, 31 and February 1 are instructional support days. Students are not required to attend in person on instructional support days, with the option to attend if arranged with the classroom teacher and approved by administration.
  • February 2 is a Professional Development day and schools will be closed for the day.
  • Semester 2 will begin on February 3.

Short Term Virtual Learning

Given our current conditions in the COVID-19 pandemic, families may decide to have their children learn at home, or may be directed to isolate based on the daily COVID-19 screening.

To support these scenarios, we want to ensure that families have access to a remote learning option. We are pleased to announce the Short Term Virtual Learning option for secondary school students.

The Short Term Virtual Learning option is temporary and intended to meet the needs of those families who are not yet comfortable sending their children to school for in-person learning.

In order to support students who may be in this situation, our secondary schools will provide Short Term Virtual Learning starting Monday January 17.

About Short Term Virtual Learning

Learn more about how you can have your student take part, and how their learning will be supported virtually:

  • To have your student take part, parents, guardians, and caregivers should notify the school attendance phone or email about the number of days they expect attend Short Term Virtual Learning
  • This program is meant to be temporary in nature, up to February 11, 2022
  • Families who wish for their children to return to in-person learning prior to February 11 will be welcomed at any time

Supporting Student Learning

  • Students will continue to access learning materials posted within their own class’s virtual learning environment (D2L Brightspace or Google Classroom) at any time during the day
  • Learning opportunities will be entirely asynchronous
  • Students will be able to access their teachers for support asynchronously through a mutually agreed upon method of communication (email, Google Chat, message boards in the virtual learning environment, etc.)
  • Attendance will be taken weekly based on student engagement with the learning

Science, Mathematics, English and Social Sciences

  • Central staff specializing in Science, Mathematics and English/Social Sciences will be available for all secondary students throughout the school day between the hours listed below to answer student questions.
  • These help sessions will be offered between January 17 and January 27, 2022. For security and privacy reasons, students will only be able to access these Google Meets if using their WRDSB Google accounts. As a reminder, here is a link for the WRDSB digital citizenship code of conduct and WRDSB Tech@Home to assist with troubleshooting device, connectivity and software issues.
  • Mathematics: 10:30 am – 11:30 am each day (Google Meet link)
    • Additional Math help from TVO Mathify is also available for Grade 6-11 math support, including 1:1 tutoring
  • Science: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm each day (Google Meet link)
  • English and Social Science: 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm each day (Google Meet link)
    • TVO has also been identified as a resource for families by the ministry of education

Students will not be penalized or rewarded, academically, for choosing to learn in-person or remotely.

Requests for Semester 2 Full Remote Program

The WRDSB Secondary Remote Learning Program has a limited number of places available for Semester 2, with waitlists for most grades and courses. Interested families or students should request this program through their home school principal.

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