Hello Lyonsgate Families,

Next week we all head back to school. We don’t have any new information for you today, but we do have clarification on some policy questions, resources for you to use this school year, and a very important reminder.

First the very important reminder.

Each communication we have sent to you over the summer has included the following:

Please continue to follow all public health guidelines for the health and safety of your family, and the wider community, so that we can all participate in a full and safe 2020.2021 school year. Keep to your social circles/bubbles. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Maintain physical distance. Keeping community transmission rates low is essential.

We have also had requests from your fellow Lyonsgate parents this week for us to beg of you all, as we send our children back to school and into shared spaces, to please do what you know is the best and the right thing to do for everyone’s health and safety. We have been asked to remind everyone and fully support the call to please follow all of the required practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19:

• Be diligent about sticking to your 10-person social circles/bubbles.
• Limit unnecessary exposure by staying out of public spaces as much as possible (limiting grocery shopping to 1 trip per week, for example).
• If you are in any inside space — shopping, work, etc. — wear a mask and wear it properly.
• Maintain physical distance of two (2) metres wherever possible.
• Wash your hands and/or use hand sanitizer after contact with any possible contaminant.

Global pandemic viruses are definitely inconvenient and annoying. By doing the right and required things we can get through it more quickly.

As children return to school we must all commit to being more diligent to prevent community transmission rates from increasing.

We all need to do our individual parts to protect the health and safety of all of your children and your families.

Clarifications

A few points requiring clarification came out of yesterday’s Casa orientation sessions, and we’ve had some emailed questions.

Our Casa staff want you to know that they wish the orientation sessions had gone better. They were trying to find a balance between being firm, upfront, and clear, and being calm, compassionate, and casual so as to not create undue anxiety. They feel the scales tipped too far to the latter side and they felt they may have come off as too “wishy-washy.” As you know, some of the staff is new this year and were meeting you for the first time, online, and trying to create a reassuring bond while keeping in mind a lot of new information that we have all had to learn very quickly. Please accept their apologies and know that we had a thorough debrief afterwards to clarify any points of policy and protocol confusion.

Here is clarification on some points that have been raised:

• Cohorts will only close if there is a confirmed positive COVID-19 test/case.
• Cohorts will NOT close in cases when children are excluded for symptoms or failed screening.
• Only the symptomatic child is required to be excluded, not the rest of the cohort.
• The 14-day exclusion period is only required if you choose to NOT undergo a COVID-19 test for your child. In that case, your child can return within the 14-day period if you have a doctor’s note verifying that the symptoms are not COVID-19 related. (There is also a minimum 14-day exclusion period in cases of a positive test, but at that point Public Health is in charge and their direction must be followed).
• Masks: Elementary students (and Casa/Toddler students whose parents wish them to wear one) should have three (3) masks for use each day: one each for the morning and afternoon, and a spare. Clean masks should be kept in a paper bag and each child should also have a sealable plastic bag for used masks.
• No names of symptomatic children or positive/confirmed COVID-19 cases will ever be published or shared by Lyonsgate Montessori School. Obviously, we are required to inform you if there are confirmed cases in the school community, but no personal information will be shared.
• Once inside the school buildings, members of the cohorts, both students and staff, will not interact with each other.
• Daily online screening forms must be completed after 5:00 A.M. each day and before you arrive at the school to drop off your children.
• Casa Arrival Periods: there is no assigned group 1 or 2. The first 15 minutes of each half-hour arrival period are reserved for children of staff working in those cohorts and for children of families who fall under the category of “Eligible Worker.” If you do not fall under one of those categories, please arrive for screening during the second 15-minute period. If you are late and miss your arrival period, please wait until the screening area is clear.

Resources for You

Please visit https://lyonsgate.ca/

Just below the scrolling images you will find a section on the Home page called “COVID-19 Information.” That section contains links to:

• The daily screening forms (there are separate forms for the Primary (Toddler and Casa) and Elementary campuses, and for staff.
• The “Lyonsgate COVID-19 Advisory Page.” This is where any confirmed case information will be posted (you will also be notified via email), but let’s hope we never have to use that page.
• The “COVID-19 Supplemental Parent Handbook.” This contains all of the information you need related to COVID-19 at Lyonsgate. (Please wait for it to load).
• You can also find the Advisory page and Supplemental handbook under the “Parents” tab.

Your Contact Info

There has been some movement in the cohorts as we get closer to the start of school, and we know that some of you may have new or different contact information than what was entered on registration forms. We will be working to get contact lists updated next week. Please email jason@lyonsgate.ca if you have any updated contact information.