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Weekly Parent Newsletter - Friday, January 14th 2022

Hello GDHS Families,

As reported in the news, all Ontario students will be returning to in-person learning on Monday. We are excited to see students back in the building, but we also know that the return to in-person learning brings with it many questions and concerns. While we will address some of these questions or concerns below, please feel free to reach out to the school, or your student’s VP with any questions that are not answered here.

Reiterating COVID Safety Measures

Existing COVID safety measures continue to be our most effective tool in mitigating the spread of COVID in the school building. These include:

• Masking: All staff and students must wear a mask at all times, except when eating during lunch. In order to be effective, masks must be worn over the entire mouth and nose. Students may continue to wear their own masks, but will be provided masks by the school as requested.

• Physical distancing: Whenever possible, students are to remain 2 metres apart. We understand that this is not always possible given classroom space, school population, and/or other realities, but any mitigation strategy will contribute to overall safety and effectiveness.

• Daily COVID-19 screening: Please continue to complete the Ontario Daily COVID-19 School Screening. Any student who does not pass this screening must remain home for that day. All students learning in person must present daily confirmation that they have completed the Government of Ontario online COVID-19 school screening tool.

COVID Isolation Guide for Families

The guidelines for isolation due to a confirmed/suspected case of COVID, or an exposure to a confirmed/suspected case have changed. Please see here for an updated and detailed isolation guide, including length of self-isolation. Please note the following specific changes and details:

• Individuals with symptoms of COVID-19 are presumed to have COVID-19, whether or not this is confirmed by a Rapid Antigen/PCR test.

• If a person in your household has symptoms, whether members of the household are vaccinated or not, all household members should isolate while the person with symptoms is isolating.

• COVID-related symptoms have now been split into two categories.

• Only one (1) of the following symptoms is required for self-isolation to be necessary:

  • fever and/or chills

  • shortness of breath

  • decrease or loss of taste or smell

  • cough

• Two (2) or more of the following symptoms are required for self-isolation

  • congestion

  • fatigue

  • joint pain

  • Headache Sore throat

  • Gastrointestinal symptoms (i.e. vomiting or diarrhea)

Rapid Antigen Tests

All students will be given two (2) Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs). Phased distribution of these tests will begin with elementary students on Monday, but we do not yet know exactly when secondary students will receive their tests. Details will be provided as soon as they are available. RATs will be replaced as new supplies become available.

RATs are now to be used only by symptomatic individuals to determine when they may return to school. As per the COVID-19: Interim Guidance for Schools and Child Care: Omicron Surge Guidance, if two consecutive RATs, separated by 24-48 hours, are both negative, the symptomatic individual is less likely to have COVID-19 infection, and the individual should isolate until symptoms are improving for at least 24 hours (or 48 hours if gastrointestinal symptoms are present) before returning to school.

Lunch

The cafeteria will remain open at lunch with limited capacity. Students may also eat in the hallways, open classrooms, or the library. The servery is not yet open, so students will not yet have the opportunity to purchase lunch at the school.

Students may remove their mask when eating lunch. As such, we will remind students that physical distancing during lunch is especially important. Students must put their masks back on as soon as they have finished eating, and cannot remain unmasked for social reasons just because it is the lunch break.

Daily Schedule

Upon returning to school on Monday, students will continue to follow the same schedule that was in place prior to the winter break.

• Period 1 9:00 - 10:15

• Period 2 10:20 - 11:35

• Lunch 11:35 - 12:45

• Period 3 12:45 - 2:00

• Period 4 2:05 - 3:20

-Your GDHS Admin Team