August 19th, 2020
Dear Students, Caregivers, Friends and Family members:
Firstly, please understand that we are extremely empathetic to the anxiety, worry and emotion around school opening in this time of COVID. We are all caught in the middle of a worldwide pandemic and we are working to answer all of the questions you may have. As the Principal of Grand River Collegiate I assure you that the staff at Grand River understand and share many of your concerns. In addition, we care deeply about each and every student. We have been working through the summer, as we receive direction and information from the Ministry of Education and WRDSB to plan and ensure that all students can return to school safely in the manner they choose. Please understand that some answers take time to emerge as we continue weekly to get new information and direction from various government agencies including public health.We thank-you for your patience, and know that together, we will continue to try to navigate this unprecedented time in history.
Josh Windsor
Principal, Grand River Collegiate
What you can do to assist us in ensuring we are ready for students and you are getting all of the information you need:
- Ensure you have completed the “Student Confirmation of Attendance Form” provided by the WRDSB so the system knows your return to school preference.
- Subscribe to the Grand River Website by entering your email at the bottom of the school homepage (https://grc.wrdsb.ca/) then clicking on the subscribe button, so that you get information as soon as it becomes available. An email with new announcements will come directly to your inbox from the school and school board.
- Ensure you have registered with ‘School-Day’. Administration and Classroom teachers use this to provide information, collect permission forms and offer other services to families. You can register or login to ‘School-Day’ on the left side of the school homepage or click here to navigate to the login page.
- Check the WRDSB Return to School Information page and the WRDSB Return to School FAQ page
NOTE – THERE IS CURRENTLY NO SCHOOL ACCESS PRIOR TO OPENING DAY!
Here are a few key points to address some of the frequently asked questions GRCI staff/guidance have received in recent weeks:
TIMETABLES & STUDENT COHORTS
Student timetables are not yet complete and may need to be reworked in some cases due to the quadmester model and responses to the recent student attendance survey. Unfortunately, this means student schedules will not be available until closer to opening day. Some students may also receive incomplete timetables at that time due to conflicts and/or late cancelled courses. Guidance staff will work as quickly as possible to resolve these issues.
Our hope is to communicate with families the student’s timetable and cohort so they are aware in order to prepare before the first day of school. We recognize and appreciate that students will need to know what cohort they are assigned to and their first quadmester classes before the first day of school (as only that cohort will attend). Specific information about opening day and first week procedures will be coming in the next few weeks.
Please be aware that current information in MyWay may not be up-to-date and likely won’t reflect your actual schedule for September. Students are advised to not check MyWay until after the resumption of classes.
COURSE CHANGES
Any course change requests submitted after June 30th have not been processed. Once we have finalized timetables, organized cohort groups and fixed any conflicts/issues, we hope to accommodate these requests where possible. It is not likely that these requests will be dealt with before Sept. 8.
No further course change requests are being accepted at this time. Guidance will be working closely with GRCI Admin to determine how to move forward with any late requests for changes after startup. These will almost certainly be limited by our quadmester schedule and cohort groups.
ONLINE ONLY STUDENTS
The WRDSB is still working on the process to register students for online-only classes this fall. We don’t yet know if course sign-ups and/or any change requests will be handled centrally through the WRDSB or via GRCI guidance staff. We are also waiting on details about how to handle any changes in plans (moving from online to in-person, or vice versa).
SCHOOL SETUP & DAILY/COHORT SCHEDULE
GRCI will look quite different than what you’ve been used to, but it’s all in the name of safety! There will be clear policies in place for entering/exiting the school and movement around the building (one-way halls and stairways, staggered bell times, arrows/signage) will look very different than your previous experience at Grand River or any other school. More details will be released closer to opening day. Classes have been reorganized to follow cohort sizing, including removal of furniture (all classes will be divided into 2 cohorts as equally as possible based on transportation restrictions and other specialized restrictions).
If you haven’t yet checked out the model WRDSB secondary schedule, please CLICK HERE to review the proposed model. We should hopefully have a more GRCI specific timetable to share in the coming weeks.
LOCKERS
We are awaiting final Region of Waterloo Health guidelines regarding locker use. If you left items in your locker last year and haven’t retrieved belongings, please contact the GRCI main office in late August.
EXTRA-CURRICULARS
The WRDSB is working closely with Regional Health to determine plans for extra-curriculars. We will share further details when we know more.
There will certainly be more info to come as we get closer to opening day!
As mentioned, we’ll do our very best to communicate with you via:
GRCI website (grc.wrdsb.ca)
Guidance Google Classroom
GRCI Instagram (@grandriversac)
Twitter (@GrandRiverSAC)
