Welcome to the third edition of A.G. Bell Trending!

Trending @ AGB: Week of Oct. 12 to 15

This Week’s Top Stories:

Dates of Significance:

October is Islamic Heritage Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, and LGBTQ+ History Month. Join us in celebrating the heritage and diversity of our community and continue to create safe and brave spaces for our staff, students and families.

In the coming weeks we commemorate and celebrate the following dates of significance:

Oct 11- National coming out day, International Day of the girl

Oct 7-15- Navratri (Hinduism)

Oct 11- Thanksgiving Day

Oct 18- Birth of the Bab, Eid-Milad-un-Nabi

Oct 19- Birth of Bahá'u'lláh

Oct 31- Samhain, Halloween

Afrocentric Heritage Program:

New program to support Black students (Grades 1 - 8) in fostering cultural connections within their community.

Based on community feedback, Durham Black Educators’ Network (DBEN) in partnership with the DDSB and ETFO Durham will be offering a Saturday enrichment program focused on Afrocentric programming, the Arts, Outdoor Education, community and leadership building through welcoming special guests to share their voices. Our goal is to support Black students in understanding that Black identity is at the center of learning and their Blackness is important to their overall engagement and success.

What you can expect from And Still We Rise: Afrocentric Heritage Program?

Participants will have the opportunity to engage in culturally connected activities. They will be able to affirm their identities through hands-on experiential learning tasks. Topics covered include; my Black identity, Kwanzaa, STEM, community building and Black History. The program will invite speakers from the community to share their knowledge and lived experiences in real-life contexts, and through the exploration and recognition of diverse Black perspectives. The program will run from October 30, 2021, to June 11, 2022, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. The cost for registration is $50 per child for the year and lunch will be provided. Program fees are to be paid on the first day of the program.

Where can families learn more about this program?

Families are invited to an information and orientation session on Saturday, October 30th at11:00 AM at Viola Desmond Public School, 39 Formosa Ave, Ajax.

Registration

To register, participants should use the link provided here: https://forms.gle/tbEQsRm5VHWYP8436

For more information about And Still We Rise: DBEN Afrocentric Heritage Program, please contact: Michel Jackson-Stewart (michel.jacksonstewart@ddsb.ca) - DBEN Heritage Program Lead

Registration closes on October 15th, 2021

Terry Fox Run

This year our Terry Fox run took place on Wednesday, September 29. Thanks to our amazing families and community we were able to raise a total of $952.00 for cancer research.

Office

A reminder that until further notice, families will be unable to visit the office due to health and safety protocols. If you happen to need to speak with any of our office staff or your child’s classroom teacher, we strongly advise that you connect with them through phone, email, or arrange for an online meeting. Although we try our best to return calls within a 24 hour period, please note that due to a large volume of calls our office is currently experiencing, return calls may be delayed, we thank you for understanding.

We want to register our concern about the use of the “kiss and ride” and bus loop at the beginning and end of the day. Due to concerns about the safety of our students during morning drop off and end of day pick up please note the following:

Only the “kiss and ride” can be accessed during the morning pick-up. Please follow the instructions of our educators to ensure the safety of our students. The kiss and ride continues to be closed at the end of the day. Please use the side streets for parking if you are picking up your child
Please refrain from using the bus loop for drop-off and pick-up. This is a potential risk to the safety of our students. Thank you for your cooperation.

Vaccines:

Vaccines are safe, effective and the best way to protect your child, family, and community from COVID-19. Vaccines will help students and families to safely resume normal activities as soon as possible. Book an appointment for your family at https://www.durhamvaccinebooking.ca/

Health Canada has authorized the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for youth ages 12 and up. Durham Region youth 12 years of age and older can book an appointment for a free first dose of the vaccine at https://www.durhamvaccinebooking.ca/

To help your child and your family to make an informed decision, the Government of Ontario has developed a fact sheet based on expert medical advice and scientific information. Learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine at https://files.ontario.ca/edu-child-and-youth-covid19-vaccine-fact-sheet-en-2021-05-27.pdf

Supporting your child to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is an important step in the fight against this disease. It will help our school community return to a sense of normalcy and benefit physical and mental health for children, youth and families https://www.durhamvaccinebooking.ca/.

Picture Day, Wednesday November 3rd.

Lifetouch protocols include:

Enhanced staff screening - All staff are required to complete an assessment - including temperature check - before reporting for work that day.

Masks - All staff are required to wear three layer medical masks at all times while on school property whether inside or outside. Additionally, all staff are required to wear a mask whenever they are in the presence of another staff member or on company property.

Social Distancing - Staff will maintain a minimum of six feet of distance from others. That includes students, staff at the school as well as Lifetouch staff. Our staff members will not share equipment or otherwise congregate in places where distancing can not be maintained. Additionally, we will ensure that social distancing can be maintained in the photography area while students are having their pictures taken.

Cyber Security Awareness Month:

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month! Throughout the next four weeks we will be sharing resources and tips developed by DDSB staff to help students, families, and staff stay cyber safe while they learn and connect with each other online.

Week 1 is all about understanding phishing threats. To find out how you can learn to recognize, understand, and avoid phishing threats please visit https://bit.ly/2YtOpkx.

Strengthening Accountability for School Board Trustees Survey:

The Government of Ontario is seeking feedback and ideas on ways to strengthen accountability for school board trustees. We encourage you and your family to complete this survey to have your voices heard.

The survey should take around 30 minutes to complete and you can submit feedback until November 1, 2021.

Access the Strengthening Accountability for School Board Trustees Survey here: https://www.ontario.ca/form/survey-strengthening-accountability-school-board-trustees.

Special Education Advisory Committee (Member at Large position available)

The Durham District School Board’s (DDSB) Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) is seeking applications for one Member at Large position. To learn more about SEAC, the qualifications required for this position and how to apply, please visit https://bit.ly/3uvBzhW. Letters of interest are requested by 4:00 pm on Thursday, October 14^th, 2021.

Gifted Testing

Durham District School Board's nomination for the gifted screening test is taking place now. Nomination links will be active from 9 AM October 8th to 9 PM October 19th. Late submissions will not be accepted.

If you are interested in having your child tested, please contact one of our SERTs (Mrs. Taylor or Ms. Aukstakalnis) for a nomination letter. This test is open for students from grades 3 to 8.

Danielle.taylor@ddsb.ca

Samantha.aukstakalnis@ddsb.ca

Reminder:

Parents, please note there is no formal supervision at the end of the day. Please encourage your child(ren) to leave school property and head straight home, unless given permission otherwise. We have noticed that many students are choosing to stay afterwards at our school playground making the area quite busy, we would encourage that if your child is accessing the playground at the end of the day to wear a mask for their protection and the protection of other students.

Your continued support is appreciated as we work to keep everyone safe. Please continue to reinforce the necessary protocols at home particularly mask-wearing, hand washing, hand sanitizing, and physical distancing.

PIZZA DAY

Don't forget about our pizza days! It will be every Thursday for the remainder of the school year. $2.50/slice and $1.25/drink. We are now ordering Halal pepperoni pizza's!!

Trending @ AGB: Week of Sept. 27 to Oct. 1

A.G. Bell Trending October 1, 2021

Terry Fox Run

This year our Terry Fox run took place on Wednesday, September 29. Thanks to our amazing families and community we were able to raise a total of $...for cancer research.

Orange Shirt Day/National Day of Truth and Reconciliation:

Since 2013, Orange Shirt Day has been recognized as a day for schools and communities to commemorate Residential School Survivors and learn about the legacy of the residential school system. This day was initially based on Phyllis (Jack) Webstad’s story (Phyllis Webstad Orange Shirt Day Presentation.mp4). Our students and staff were out in their orange shirts as this is relevant to our current school-wide inquiry into the part we play in Truth and Reconciliation as duty bearers of Human Rights. This year, September 30 has also been recognized by the federal government as the annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The Office:

Please be advised that until further notice, families will be unable to visit the office due to health and safety protocols. If you happen to need to speak with any of our office staff or your child’s classroom teacher, we strongly advise that you connect with them through phone, email, or arrange for an online meeting. Although we try our best to return calls within a 24 hour period, please note that due to a large volume of calls our office is currently experiencing, return calls may be delayed, we thank you for understanding.

Masks and COVID screener:

We are reminding students and families that all students must arrive to school wearing either a medical or 2 layered fabric mask with ear loops or ties that cover the nose and mouth area and is securely held in place. Please see the attached masking guideline for further information. Additionally, all families arriving on school property must complete the COVID online screener BEFORE arriving to school, if your child is experiencing any COVID symptoms please refer to the attached from public health. Any students experiencing illness while at school will access our designated Health Room, and parents will be called to pick up their child and follow Durham Health guidelines which include isolation, negative COVID test, an alternative diagnosis from a doctor, and a period of 24-48 hours symptom-free before returning to school. We appreciate your support in keeping your child and others safe and healthy. https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/

Library News:

Our library is now fully opened and accessible to all students. Students now get to visit the library on a schedule. To help maintain our library collection during this time, we ask that only your child use their borrowed materials and sanitize their hands at home while enjoying reading materials. These healthy practices will benefit all students and ensure items are returned with limited contact transfer. If you have any specific questions about the library please feel free to contact Ms. Appleton.

Medical Alerts and Medication

All families who have indicated a medical alert particularly requiring the administration of a medical device such as an Epi-Pen or specific medication including, and not limited to, Tylenol, should have received medical forms from our office to be completed and returned noting medical plans. If you have not received these forms and believe our office should be made aware of a medical condition requiring a medical plan, please call our office at your earliest convenience.

Health & Safety: Ensuring your Child’s safety at A.G. Bell P.S.

We believe it is necessary that you are duly informed of the additional safety protocols implemented to ensure the safety of our staff and students: We continue:

Monitoring mask-wearing of our students in grades 1-8 while indoors as well as encouraging continued mask-wearing while outdoors. This is also strongly encouraged with our kindergarten students
A daily check-in with all students upon entry into classroom confirming completion of COVID online screener tool
Hand sanitizing and washing- soap and paper towels are readily available in all classrooms and throughout the school. Students must wash or sanitize their hands before entering classrooms from outdoors and before and after eating.
One-directional movement in the hallways to ensure measures of physical distancing and limit physical contact with others
Staggered lunch recesses to ensure decreased numbers outdoors for extended periods
Encouraging all students to go home at lunch where possible.
Swift reporting and isolation of students who report or are showing covid-19 like symptoms in our designated Health Room. These cases are immediately referred to the office and monitored in our health room awaiting parent pick-up
Public health nurse to support AGB school community and share updated practices and policies
Classes are assigned designated washrooms for use to minimize physical interaction as much as possible while in the building with scheduled bathroom breaks.
Limited rotary- rotary teachers move rather than students with the exception of gym time. This minimizes the amount of movement inside the building.
Limited use of water fountain station to only water bottle refills
Student use of class learning materials such as manipulatives and gym equipment only with prior and post hand washing or sanitizing
Health and safety signage prominently displayed throughout school hallways, with readily accessible PPE for all staff and students in need or replacements.
Scheduled rotation of all clinical staff in the building and sign-in of all non-DDSB staff into AGB for contact tracing purposes.
The teaching of safety procedures and protocols using AGB’s “Success Camp,” a series of lessons designed to support student learning of health and safety, wellbeing, connection, and growth mindset
Added adult presence at beginning of the day and end of the day to encourage students and parent movement and prevent crowding.

Like school boards across Ontario, we are sharing with you ventilation information to enhance transparency and provide consistent communication about measures taken to improve air quality in schools. You can view school-specific information by visiting https://bit.ly/DDSBVentilation

Islamic Heritage Month 2021 (10).pdf

Reminder:

Fire Drills:

Over the past two weeks, we have completed two fire drills with a third to take place on Friday, October 1. We will also be practicing a “lockdown” drill as a whole school in the month of October as a part of our Health and Safety procedures.

Pizza Days are Back!!

We are happy to report that Pizza Days will be returning to AGB in October. We are currently organizing to have halal, cheese, and vegetarian options available at a cost of $2.50 as well as drink options of orange juice, apple juice, and chocolate milk at a cost of $1.50. Orders will take place using School Cash Online and will happen once a week. More information to come.

We encourage all students, where it is possible, to go home for lunch. Spending lunch hour at home provides students with an opportunity for mask relief, reduced student contact and the ability to access mask change and any other necessary hand washing/sanitizing in the comfort of home. For those students returning from lunch, we ask that they return to school as close as possible to the end of the lunch break at 11:45 a.m. Students will not be given entry through our front office doors.

For intermediate students going out for lunch to local restaurants, it is required that all food and drink items be consumed before returning to school property.

Gifted Corner! Ms. Fleming Gr. 6 Gifted

This is our “I Am” identity graffiti wall. Over the first weeks of school we have been looking at ourselves and all the aspects of what make us unique… our identities. We have been also learning about who our peers are and forming our own class identity. Through artwork, cartooning ourselves, interviewing our elders, and reflecting on our learning styles, and personality traits, we have created our identity wall…. We call it “Among Us”

Trending @ AGB: Week of Sept. 13 to 17

Welcome Back AGB!

Welcome back to another great year of learning AGB! Although our year is starting under some different circumstances, the spirit, positivity, and excitement for another school year is most certainly in the air, we thank our dedicated custodial team, office staff, and educators for all their hard work and efforts in getting us prepared for 2021-2022. We are so happy to welcome your children back to school and look forward to prioritizing our relationships and attending to wellbeing as we reconnect as a school community. Our first few weeks of learning will be devoted to “Success Camp” for this reason. “Success Camp” is our AGB way of re-inviting our students to school. Not only will we be learning and revisiting safety protocols when in the building and outside of the building, but we will also be focusing on the areas of well-being, connection, and growth mindset this year as we explore how to use strategies to support our mental health and wellness, investigate our part in Truth and Reconciliation and as duty bearers of Human Rights, as well act as innovators and problem solvers using the new 2020 Math Curriculum.

Currently our students are underway in their inquiry of the Land Acknowledgment and are amazing us with all the new ways in which they are stretching their thinking and responsibilities as settlers. As the year moves forward, our school is working towards planning for intramural sports and extracurriculars. These opportunities will be organized with room for cohort mixing under the premise of health and safety guidelines and will be limited in numbers based on social distancing and space requirements. More information from specific teachers leading these extracurriculars and intramurals will be offered as opportunities become available. Much to look forward to!

Although this year continues to be shaped by our evolving conditions, we truly appreciate the ongoing support and communication from our AGB families. As we recognize that sometimes the abundance of emails and information may feel overwhelming, it is our goal to continue using the practice of our weekly AGB Trending to keep you informed and to reduce the number of emails your receive from the system. As always, please visit ddsb.ca for the latest updated information related to COVID, but also feel free to contact our school at 905.683.7368 or email AlexanderGBellPS@ddsb.ca with any questions or concerns you may have.

Yours in Education,

Shahana Arain, Principal Samantha Joseph, Vice Principal

Staffing List:

So many returning teachers and new educators to welcome to AGB, please see below as you familiarize yourself with AGB’s 2021-2022 school team!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GQ4RwWldtCYITNUHHKy49YaASn5MiA8pVbnN8ia9ok0/edit?usp=sharing

School Schedule:

8:00 a.m.

Entry

9:30- 9:45 a.m.

Morning Recess

10:45-11:15 a.m.

First Lunch (1^st floor students indoors/2^nd floor students outdoors)

11:15-11:45 a.m.

Second Lunch (1^st floor students outdoors/2^nd floor students indoors)

1:15-1:30 p.m.

Afternoon Recess

2:20 p.m.

FDK Dismissal

2:30 p.m.

Gr. 1-8 Dismissal

Parents please note there is no formal supervision at the end of the day. Please encourage your child(ren) to leave school property and head straight home, unless given permission otherwise. We have noticed that many students are choosing to stay afterwards at our school playground making the area quite busy, we would encourage that if your child is accessing the playground at the end of the day to wear a mask for their protection and the protection of other students.

The Office

Families, please be advised that until further notice, families will be unable to visit the office due to health and safety protocols. If you should happen to need to speak with any of our office staff or your child’s classroom teacher, we advise that connecting through phone, email, or arranging for an online meeting. Although we try our best to return calls within a 24 hour period, please note that due to a large volume of calls our office is currently experiencing, return calls may be delayed, we thank you for your understanding.

Masks and COVID screener

As a follow up to our earlier email this week, we are reminding students and families that we are asking students to arrive to school wearing either a medical or 2 layered fabric mask with ear loops or ties that cover the nose and mouth area and is securely held in place. Please see the attached masking guideline for further information. Additionally, all families arriving on school property must complete the COVID online screener BEFORE arriving to school, if your child is experiencing any COVID symptoms please refer to the attached from public health. Any students experiencing illness while at school will access our designated Health Room, and parents will be called to pick up their child and follow Durham Health guidelines which include isolation, negative COVID test, alternative diagnosis from a doctor, and a period of 24-28 hours symptom free before returning to school. We appreciate your support in keeping your child and others safe and healthy. https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/

News from the Library

Ms. Appleton is beginning to open the library and make materials accessible for home enjoyment. Students will visit the library with scheduled visits, attendance, and hand sanitizing. To help maintain our library collection during this time, we ask that only your child use their borrowed materials and sanitize their hands at home while enjoying reading materials. These healthy practices will benefit all students and ensure items are returned with limited contact transfer. If you have any specific questions about the library please feel free to contact Ms. Appleton.

Lunch Hour

We encourage all students, where it is possible, to go home for lunch. Spending lunch hour at home provides students an opportunity of mask relief with reduced student contact and the ability to access mask change and any other necessary hand washing/sanitizing in the comfort of home. For those students returning from lunch we ask that students return to school as close as possible to either our end of lunch bell at 11:45 a.m. Students will not be given entry through our front office doors.

Intermediate students will be receiving a separate permission form seeking permission to leave school property over the lunch hour this Friday. This permission form, once signed by parents, will give their Intermediate child the opportunity to sign themselves out over the lunch hour without the need of continue parent notes. Please review and sign returned to your child’s homeroom teacher if interested. As note, students going out for lunch to local restaurants should finish all food and drink items before returning to school property.

Pizza Day

Fire Drill

Our first of three fire drills for this half of the year will take place Friday morning, the two additional drills will take place on the following two Fridays. We will also be practicing a “lockdown” drill as a whole school in the month of October as a part of our Health and Safety procedures.

Medical Alert

For all families who have indicated a medical alert particularly requiring the administration of a medical device such as an Epi-Pen or specific medication including, and not limited to, Tylenol, should have received medical forms from our office to be completed and returned noting medical plans. If you have not received these forms and believe our office should be made aware of a medical condition requiring a medical plan, please call our office at your earliest convenience.

COVID-Tips-For-Choosing-Face-Mask.pdf

What-to-do-if-my-child-is-sick-and-was-not-exposed-to-a-known-case (1) (1) (1).pdf

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