Update on suspension of in-class instruction
Dear Students and Parents,
Before we head into the last week of Spring Break, I wanted to connect with you and give you a bit of an update on where we’re at and what to expect.
As you can imagine, after the announcement this week of the suspension of in-class instruction across BC, there have been many questions raised about what that means for students, staff and families.
What we know so far is that while most of our students will remain home with families, our school doors will remain open. We have been tasked by the Ministry to develop a plan to allow for continuity of learning. There’s work happening to figure out how to make sure the children of front-line workers dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak will have coverage through the days. We know there are vulnerable students who face additional challenges in the wake of the decision to suspend in-class instruction and we’re trying to consider those needs as well.
What does all that mean? We’re still working hard to figure it all out.
I have had multiple conference calls with the Minister of Education, the Deputy Minister, other Superintendents and more. I’ve been working with the District’s various leaders, and their teams, to investigate our options and build out the plan. Together, we’ll be looking at how some learning can be provided using online resources – creating plans that also accommodate for those who might have more challenge accessing devices.
We will not have the full plan 100% ready to launch for March 30th, when students were set to return. That we know. But we will be in contact with you all again, late next week, to lay down more details about what the plan entails, what the timelines will be as we phase this in, and generally what parents, students and staff can expect as we walk through this unprecedented time together.
In addition to these emails, we will continue to provide updates, resources and more through all of our communications channels. You can connect with us here:
- For the full picture, continue to check in here, on the District’s website
- For highlights, announcements and links to helpful tools: https://www.facebook.com/newwestschools/
- For timely updates, news and relevant resources: https://twitter.com/newwestschools
Thank you for your thoughtfulness and your patience. From the start of this through to whenever we reach the end, know that the safety and wellbeing of our students, staff, families and community will always be our top priority. And we’re committed to working collaboratively to bring some stability and continuity to as many of our students as we can in this fast-moving time.
We’re in this together,
Karim Hachlaf
Superintendent of Schools / CEO