August 30, 2021 Update
Please read my Welcome to School letter:
August 19, 2021 Update
Please click on this link for our divisional 2021/2022 Guidelines for Maintaining Safe and Healthy Schools in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic that were released today.
August 16, 2021 Update
Recently, our provincial government provided an update. Here is the video update and the updated government School Year Plan:
There will be a meeting on August 25 with school and divisional leaders. After that meeting, we will provide an update regarding the 2021-22 school year.
July 26, 2021 Update
We hope everyone is enjoying the summer break. As we continue to plan for the 2021-22 School Year, here is our draft plan for our school muster points:
We may have to adjust this plan once construction of our new portables begin.
July 2, 2021 Update
Earlier this week, our provincial government shared their 2021-22 School Year Plan. Here is the document:
We continue to plan to keep some of our protocols, but it appears that the coming school year will include a normal start, and the government will lift all health restrictions. This is terrific news. We do not expect to share more information regarding our September start at Father Leonard Van Tighem School until the end of August.
We want to thank all the members of our community for their support during this pandemic.
June 29, 2021
First Day
The first day of school for our students will be Wednesday, September 1, for all our Grade 1 to 9 students. Our Grade 1 to 7 students attend all day. Our Grade 8 and 9 students only attend the afternoon starting at 1 pm. Our Grade 7 students receive lunch as part of the Grade 7 Orientation. The school busses will be running for the beginning of the day and the end of the day. There is no noon bussing; therefore, our Grade 8 and 9 students need to find their own transportation to school that day.
The first day of school for our Kindergarten and Early Learning Program students will be on Monday, September 13.
Helpful Links
Bell Times: https://flvt.holyspirit.ab.ca/school/bell_times
Calendar: https://flvt.holyspirit.ab.ca/resources_publications/news/whats_new/f_l_v_t_full_year_calendar
Bussing Information: https://www.holyspirit.ab.ca/schools/transportation/lethbridge_schools_transportation
School Supplies: https://flvt.holyspirit.ab.ca/school/supply_lists
School Website: https://flvt.holyspirit.ab.ca/
Divisional Website: https://www.holyspirit.ab.ca/
Principal Blog: https://gregkostiuk.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flvthawks/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flvthawks/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/flvthawks
Protocols
As we finish this school year, we can be proud of what we accomplished. Firstly, we survived. Although there were many ups and downs, we could complete a school year during a global pandemic, which is quite an accomplishment. Secondly, we came together as a community. Throughout the positive cases, close contacts, and pivots to and from at-home learning, our students, parents, and staff were able to support each other. We did not do everything perfectly, but we supported each other throughout the school year.
Going into this school year, we were unsure what the school year would look like; this is true for next year, but now that we have had a year’s experience, we will be better prepared. We plan on having a typical start, as much as possible, in September. Some protocols will be out of our control as we await provincial and divisional directives. Some of our COVID-19 protocols were popular in our school community, and some were not; therefore, we have decided to keep some and throw others away. In deciding what to keep and remove, we reflected on what was best for students in mind. Although we expect to have to adapt in September, here is a list of protocols we plan on removing and keeping:
Protocols (or changes) we are removing:
- Keep students in strict cohorts. This is subject to the lifting of either the provincial or divisional mandate;
- Require social distancing in our canteen lineup;
- Require students to stay in cohorts during recess and break times. This is subject to the lifting of either the provincial or divisional mandate;
- Keeping a closed campus for our Jr. High students during lunch. This is subject to the lifting of our divisional order;
- Mandatory masking in our Grades 4 to 9 and elementary music classes. This is subject to the lifting of either the provincial or divisional mandate;
- Rather than students moving from class to class in our Jr. High, require teachers to move class to class;
- Close our library to student use;
- Requiring our librarian to visit classes rather than have students visit the library;
- Spread out student lockers in each of our classrooms;
- Require staff to sign-in daily;
- Follow a locker schedule to begin and end the day. We will need to maintain a structured protocol for locker use, so we do not have all our students at their lockers at the same time;
- Student written prayers read by the office staff. Students will read their prayers over the intercom;
- Announcements later in the morning. Announcements will be at the beginning of the day.
Protocols (or changes) we are keeping:
- Teachers will continue to meet and dismiss students from muster points outside of the building. Our staff found this to be an effective way to start the school day. For our younger students, our staff found the use of muster points to be an effective way to communicate with parents daily. Once staff bring their classes into the school, our Jr. High teachers will take their homerooms to their lockers before going to class and our Elementary teachers will take their classes directly to the classroom and send students to their lockers right after morning announcements. We may have to adapt or revisit this protocol depending on the construction of our new portable classrooms. We will share a map of muster points closer to the start of the school year;
- We will continue to use multiple entrances and exits. Our staff felt this improved on congestion in our hallways;
- Keep all our outside doors locked. Many members of our community, including students, parents, and staff, felt keeping all the doors closed dramatically increased a sense of security in our school;
- Keep the school building closed to the public. Similar to doors being locked, keeping our school closed to the public increases the security and safety of everyone in our building. Our younger students had an increased sense of responsibility as they needed to perform their locker duties by themselves. Our school population continues to grow. Not allowing the public in our hallways helped to alleviate congestion. Also, our Gathering Space will act as a learning space throughout the day;
- When needed, parents will be able to volunteer in the classroom;
- Close our mezzanine during lunchtime to our Jr. High students;
- During inclement weather, our staff will open the mezzanine;
- Having all our students eat in their classrooms;
- Before the pandemic, our Grade 1 to 3 classes ate in the canteen. Our staff found that students were a lot more settled in their classroom and ate their lunches;
- Require all Jr. High to go outside for part of the lunch break;
- Play O Canada weekly over the intercom at school;
We will continue to reflect and adapt our plan as we know more information about the start of the school year.
Finally, here are our office hours for the end of August:
For all our returning families, we look forward to welcoming you back to our school. For all our new families, we welcome you to our community. Have a terrific, safe summer.
Greg Kostiuk 