Viola Desmond Parent Weekly

Viola Desmond Public School Week of April 12th, 2021

Main Office: 905-619-7400

Safe Arrival Line: 1-844-350-2646

Please use the Safe Arrival line or School Messenger online reporting system to report when your child will be late, absent or getting picked up early.

Follow Us: Instagram and twitter: @violadesmondps

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We hope you are enjoying your Spring Break! This week marks the start of the holy month of Ramadan for some of our Viola Families, and we wish them all the best. As always, we continue to strive to recognize the celebrations, events and dates of significance that are reflective of our school community as part of our equity and inclusive programming. We highlight these moments on the announcements, in class during lessons, and as part of our discussions. We also welcome information shared by parents as we continue to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the students we are so privileged to work with on a daily basis.

While our focus will be on spending time with family this week, we will be monitoring the situation and will communicate any information from the school board, should we receive it. UPDATE: Viola Desmond will be closed, starting on Monday, April 19th, and we will pivot to Remote Learning until the Ministry of Education reopens schools for in-person learning. Additional information will be sent to you this weekend. If you have any questions, please email: Violadesmondps@ddsb.ca.

We hope that you will continue to stay safe during this time and look forward to seeing you soon.

Kind regards,

Mrs. Brusselers and Mrs. Thomas - Administrative Team

Bell Times

8:35 a.m. - Morning Supervision Begins

8:45 a.m. - Entry Bell

10:05 a.m. - Staggered Morning Recess Begins

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Lunch *Please note: Students going home for lunch must stay home for the entire lunch hour

2:00 p.m. - Staggered Afternoon Recess Begins

3:10 p.m. - Dismissal

Contest Time!

Enter for you change to win a prize!

In 10 words or less, What does Ramadan mean to you?

Contest ends April 16th @ 4 p.m.!

We are a Peanut Free School!

This is a gentle reminder that peanuts or peanut products should not be included as part of your child's lunch. This includes peanut butter, WOW butter and Nutella, or nuts in granola bars, just to name a few.

We have students and staff members with severe, life-threatening allergies. Being exposed to nuts could make them very sick.

We thank you for your cooperation.

Upcoming Dates

April 9th - VIOLA Virtual Awards Assembly for March
April 9th - Intermediate Equity Presentation from Gr. 8 Class at Coronation PS
April 12th to 16th - Spring Break
April 19th - Learn Not to Burn - Grades 2/3
April 21st - Learn Not to Burn - Grades 1 and 1/2
April 21st - Cypher Conference
April 28th - Learn Not to Burn - Kindergarten
May 4th - The GET Real Movement for Junior and Intermediate Students

If a Student Experiences the Onset of a Symptom at School:

**NEW**Under the current policy, the student must be immediately removed from class and await the arrival of a parent of guardian in the health room.

**NEW**All siblings of the sick child must also go home until the child complete one of the steps as discussed in the picture above.

Please contact the office or email Violadesmondps@ddsb.ca if you have any questions.

Mandatory Daily Self-Screening

The Ministry of Education has updated the current screening protocols based on the direction of Ontario's Medical Officer of Health. Please read the following changes carefully.

Changes have been made to the mandatory COVID-19 self-screening that must take place every morning before leaving for school. Effective immediately, every student who has one new or worsening symptom of COVID-19 must stay home until:

They receive a negative COVID-19 test result.
They receive an alternative diagnosis by a health care professional, or
It has been 10 days since the start of symptoms, and they are feeling better.

Parents/guardians must check their child(ren) for symptoms of COVID-19 every morning using the Government of Ontario’s easy to use COVID-19 school screening tool at: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/.

If your child does not pass the screening, please ensure that your child does not come to school and follow the directions outlined in the self-screening tool in order to keep everyone safe.

Isolation Requirement for Household Contacts of People with Symptoms of COVID-19

**NEW**If someone living in your household has symptoms of COVID-19, everyone in the household is required to quarantine (stay at home and not leave the home) until the person with symptoms:

receives a negative COVID-19 test result, or
receives an alternative diagnosis by a health care professional.

If the person with symptoms tests positive, or is not tested and does not receive an alternative diagnosis from a health care professional, the person with symptoms must isolate (including from household members) for 10 days from when the symptoms started, and all household contacts must isolate until 14 days from their last contact with the person with symptoms.

April is Sikh Heritage Month

April is an important month for the Sikh community. In this month, Sikh Canadians celebrate Vaisakhi, which marks the creation of the Khalsa and the Sikh articles of faith. Sikh Canadians widely celebrate Vaisakhi, also known as Khalsa Day, across Ontario.

By proclaiming the month of April as Sikh Heritage Month, the Province of Ontario recognizes the important contributions that Sikh Canadians have made to Ontario's social, economic, political and cultural fabric. Sikh Heritage Month is an opportunity to remember, celebrate and educate future generations about Sikh Canadians and the important role that they have played and continue to play in communities across Ontario.

Mandatory Masks for Students in Grades 1 -8 and Parents

Reminder: Masks are required to be worn by students in Grades 1-8 while at school. This includes while outside when physical distancing cannot be maintained. Kindergarten students are strongly encouraged to wear masks! Due to the cold weather, students should bring multiple masks to school in case they get wet or dirty.

It is also mandatory for parents and guardians to wear masks while outdoors on school property as physical distancing is not always possible when dropping and picking up your children.

In the interest of everyone’s safety, we are requiring that you please wear a mask. Thank you!

Some Dates of Significance

April is Genoicide Awareness Awareness Month:

In 2015, members of the House of Commons passed a historic motion to recognize the month of April as Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month. Canada has welcomed the survivors of these atrocities and the descendants of those who perished.

Throughout history, the world has been afflicted by too many genocides—including the Holocaust, the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the Ukrainian Holodomor, the Armenian genocide, the Srebrenica massacre, the genocide of Yazidis and the Rohingya genocide, to name the ones that have been recognized in Canada’s House of Commons.

Canada has been a part of this violence. The violence the National Inquiry for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women heard about amounts to a race-based genocide of Indigenous Peoples, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis, which especially targets women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. This genocide has been empowered by colonial structures, evidenced notably by the Indian Act, the Sixties Scoop, residential schools and breaches of human and Indigenous rights, leading directly to the current increased rates of violence, death, and suicide in Indigenous populations.

April is:

Ramadan (Muslim) - August 13th

Ramadan, in Islam, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and the holy month of fasting. It begins and ends with the appearance of the crescent moon.

International Day of Pink - August 14th

April 14th, 2021 marks the International Day of Pink. It is a day where communities across the country, and across the world, can unite in celebrating diversity and raising awareness to stop homophobia, transphobia, transmisogyny, and all forms of bullying.

The Day of Pink was started in Nova Scotia when 2 straight high school students saw a gay student wearing a pink shirt being bullied. The 2 students intervened, but wanted to do more to prevent homophobic & transphobic bullying. They decided to purchase pink shirts, and a few days later got everyone at school to arrive wearing pink, standing in solidarity. The result was that an entire school took a stand and began working together to prevent homophobic & transphobic bullying.

Vaisakhi (Sikh) - April 14th

Although Vaisakhi has traditionally been a harvest festival in Punjab and across South Asia for centuries, the day has a very special significance for Sikhs. On Vaisakhi Day in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh created the order of the Khalsa. The Khalsa are those Sikhs who have accepted the Sikh initiation or “khande kee paahul” and commit to live their lives in the spirit of service to all, equality and compassion. The founding of the Khalsa was a seminal event in Sikh history which gave the Sikh faith its final form.

It was also on Vaisakhi day in 1699 that Guru Gobind Singh asked the Sikhs to adorn themselves with the Sikh articles of faith.

Ridvan (Bahá'í ) - April 20th

Ridvan (Riz-wan) celebrates the beginning of the Bahá'í faith in the 19th century. In 1863, a Persian nobleman named Bahá’u’lláh spent 12 days in a garden which he called Ridvan — the Arabic word for "paradise."

During this stay, he announced to his family, friends and followers that he was the Messenger of God. He went on to become the founder of the Bahá'í faith and wrote many religious writings that are still important to this day.

“I raise up my voice-not so I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard...we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”

― Malala Yousafzai

Updated Saftey Reminders

With the recent class closures, Durham Region Public Health has advised of additional protocols due to the Variants of Concern:

Students will only be allowed play with students in their own classrooms and not shared cohorts. We will be redrawing recess zones this week.
Gym classes will now be separated as well. We will be moving classes outside when the weather permits.
Students must go to their class entry door. We have been asked to refrain from letting students enter through their sibling's door when they are late as they are crossing cohorts. Please come to the main doors if your child is late.
If a child, sibling, parent or family member is showing any symptom related to COVID-19, students (and family members) must stay home.
If you are keeping your child home because they are unwell, please let the office know and follow the Daily Self-Assessment procedures.
Complete the Daily Self-Assessment every day prior to attending school.
Parents are still not permitted to enter the school. If you have a question or concern, please call the main office at 905 619 7400 or email Violadesmondps@ddsb.ca

Stay connected - Follow us on twitter @violadesmondps!

Many parents have made inquiries about teaching and learning plans. We will do our best to provide resources and communications through our school twitter account (@violadesmondps) to keep you up-to-date.

Page updated

Report abuse