Thank-you for joining this important conversation! We are interested in learning about how WCDSBLearn@Home is going.

The tool we are using is called ThoughtExchange. Your participation is voluntary, and your feedback will be very important for helping us make sure that we are providing the needed supports for students, staff, parents and community members.

To make sure that the conversation is about the topics most meaningful to you, we have set up separate conversations for different groups. This is why you are asked if you are a student, parent, staff member, administrator, or community member.

Here is the link: https://my.thoughtexchange.com/763676673

Once you have shared your thoughts, you will have the opportunity to read the thoughts of others and assign *STARS* based on how much you agree (5 Stars) or disagree (1 Star).  This helps us determine the ideas that are most important to the group.

We encourage all participants to read and consider 20-30 thoughts.

You can return to the exchange as often as you like to *STAR* thoughts.

PLEASE NOTE:  If you would like to join more that one conversation – choose a new group by opening the invitation link in a new tab in your web browser.

The Survey will remain open until Tuesday April 21, 2020.

If you have any difficulty with the survey, questions can be sent to: wcdsbresearch@wcdsb.ca

Parents/guardians who consent, are also welcome to share this link with their child(ren) to participate in the thought exchange.

For younger children (Grades K-8), please support them in participating as their feedback will be very important during this process.

Thank you in advance for your participation in helping us make WCDSBLearn@Home a success!

Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first,

also went in, and he saw and believed;

for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

Greetings Waterloo Catholic Community –

Over the course of the past few weeks, myself and others have used the word “unprecedented” many a time.  Our reality both locally and globally is unlike any other that we have ever known.  It has coincided for us as Christians with the season of Lent.  On this Holy Thursday unlike any other, as  we prepare for the Holy Triduum, we have a unique opportunity to reflect on how perhaps God is opening the door to us seeing how our current suffering is mirrored by that experienced by Jesus as He journeyed to the cross on Good Friday.  These have not been easy times for anyone and so we have no doubt turned to our faith for solace and inspiration.  And perhaps, as people of faith, on some level, we realize it is not so unprecedented after all.

This was another landmark week for us at Waterloo Catholic.  We are coming to the conclusion of our first week of full Educator-led distance learning.   There have been heroic efforts by so many in our system to bring us to this week, which by any measure, should be applauded.  I have previously spoken about my immense gratitude for our principals, computer technicians, program and student services staff, and all those who brought us to a remarkable state of readiness for this historic week.  Today I take a moment to celebrate and single out all our teachers and students.  It was a brave leap this week.  And possibly you may feel that the learning or experience was not all that you might have wanted it to be, but I sincerely thank and applaud you just the same.  Educators and students alike took a courageous step in these uncertain times and sought to create a meaningful connection, grounded in care and focused on reconnecting with the familiar. For that, I thank you.  We know it was not easy.

We hope that for most it was a positive experience.  That the door was opened to some learning, but more importantly to restoring the strong bond between child and educator.  Next week we will reach out to our community through the ThoughtExchange tool and we will invite you to share your thoughts with us so that we can hear from you and we can continue to reflect on what more we can do to serve our Waterloo Catholic family.  This week our WCDSB web page, and specifically our WCDSBLearn@Home page was populated with new material, including a comprehensive FAQ and new a WCDSBPray@Home link.  We hope that as you have journeyed through Holy Week and as you look to the Easter Season, that this is a site you will visit often.

This is indeed the season of rebirth.  And just as surely, we believe that the son of God suffered and died for us, we also firmly believe that the tomb was empty on Easter Sunday.  That He died so we might live.  So, as we mark the Holy Triduum not in churches, nestled side by side, and as we celebrate Easter Sunday not in the splendor of our parishes and with extended families gathered around tables, let us pause.  Pause to remember that we are not alone.  Not one of us.  That Jesus walks with us.  And that each of us is #CalledToBelong as a member of Christ’s family and of Waterloo Catholic’s family.  And as surely as Mary Magdalene and the disciples found faith and hope, we too will find new life in the days ahead.

Let me wish each of you all the blessings of the Easter Season.  Let us find joy in the simpler things we are being invited to notice.  Let us find hope in the resurrection and in each other.  This Easter Season may you be released from your burdens of worry and may your hearts fill with the hope of new life.

Loretta Notten

Director of Education

Several years ago, we established a very easy-to-use online pre-registration portal to make the registration process as convenient as possible.

Parents of children scheduled to begin JK in September 2020, are encouraged to complete the pre-registration process as soon as possible.

There will still need to be some in-person contact with the school, but that will be handled at an appropriate time after the COVID-19 crisis has passed.

For non-Catholic families wishing to register in a WCDSB elementary school, your school Principal will reach out to you to complete the required interview process – again – at an appropriate time in in the most appropriate manner, including via phone.

Please CLICK HERE for all the information you need to start the registration process!

Beginning April 6th, what the Ministry of Education is calling “Phase 2” or “Educator-Led” Learning will commence at the Waterloo Catholic District School Board. Schools will continue to be closed but learning will continue — involving a combination of distance learning tools for students.

Please visit our special WCDSBLearn@Home website for information and resources complied to support the government’s plan.

The resources on this site can supplement and support Educator-led learning. You may not need all of these resources, but if you find yourself needing assistance with creating a positive learning environment for your children, we hope they can provide some assistance.

Under the Educator-led learning plan, the government has outlined the minimum expectations for student work-time in a given week, based on learning materials and work assigned by your student’s teacher. These expectations, for each teacher, include:

• Kindergarten to grade three: Five hours of work per student per week, with a focus on literacy and math;
• Grades four to six: Five hours of work per week, with a focus on literacy, math, science, and social studies;
• Grades seven to eight: 10 hours of work per week, with a focus on math, literacy, science and social studies; and,
• Grades nine to 12: Three hours of work per course per week for serestered students, and 1.5 hours of work per course per week for non-serestered students, with a focus on credit accumulation and graduation.

The WCDSBLearn@Home website will be updated on an ongoing basis, so please visit often.

March 31, 2020

Dear Waterloo Catholic Community –

We hope that you and your family are well and staying healthy.  Today we learned, that as a key part of the Government of Ontario response to the COVID19 crisis, that the closure to schools is extending to May 1^st, 2020.  The government will continue to monitor the situation and further extensions or updates may occur.  We reiterate, that these decisions are being informed by a concern for preserving the health and safety of all, and in this regard we know that each of us shares a common goal.  Realizing that this extension of the closure was likely, and as previously communicated, both the provincial Ministry of Education and locally here at Waterloo Catholic, we have been preparing for remote teacher-led learning.

Today the Ministry released a memo that provides explicit guidance to all of us about expectations for learning.  It provides an outline of the number of hours teachers and students should engage in learning – based on their grade level.  To be clear – the suggested hours reflect both the time a teacher might use in providing formal instruction or guidance, as well as the time the student will spend completing the learning task or activity.  There is not a firm expectation that all students have to be “online” at the exact same time, although in some cases that might happen on occasion.

Both Waterloo Catholic and the Ministry of Education have been thoughtful about matters of equity, as they apply to access to technology, to internet, language barriers, students with special needs and varying home environments.  All to say – this is not a “business as usual” learning environment but at Waterloo Catholic we will strive to do our very best to ensure each student feels valued and is connected to learning.  One thing we are doing in this regard is working on Chromebook distribution to those families who indicated the need for a learning device.  Your local school will provide more detail if you are an affected family.  Deployment is happening this week.  That said – at Waterloo Catholic, our number one priority will be ensuring that each child experiences connection and that they know their teacher cares.

We would also like to draw attention to the fact that while there will be consistent expectations for students in the same grade, that optional, additional activities will also be made available to all students.  On our WCDSB board website you will find from our home page a link to WDCSBLearn@Home where a host of additional resources for all learners will be found.  We also encourage you to continue to follow the #STEAMDays hashtag where lots of fun and engaging activities are being posted.

We understand that there is added anxiety for students who are in senior grades of high school or in graduating years.  This too is something to which we are very attuned.  The Ministry has provided some direction today and there will be ongoing conversations and plans that will be communicated in relation to these students.  Certainly there is an intent that no student on track to graduate – or any student – should be negatively impacted by the current public health crisis.

Finally – we encourage you to closely follow any and all directives from our governments and Region of Waterloo Public Health.  As a global community – we have never been more connected by an event or issue and now is the time to do everything we can to ensure we can soon return to life as we knew it not so long ago.  We wish your family good health as we look ahead to Holy Week.  Please continue to remain confident that we are here to support you, as we walk together as a hope-filled community.  Our faith will be a source of comfort and strength, as will the sure knowledge that after the pain and heartache of Good Friday, comes the hope, joy and new life of Easter.

Sincerely,

Loretta Notten                                                Bill Conway

Director of Education                                  Chair of the Board

March 24, 2020

Dear Parents / Caregivers –

Since last we reached out to you, the global situation in relation to COVID-19 has continued to worsen and here at home we have seen unprecedented actions taken by our federal and provincial governments.  As you know, schools are now closed and it would appear that this will stretch beyond the Easter weekend, although exactly when we might return to face to face learning is not yet clear.  These decisions are being informed by a concern for preserving the health and safety of all, and in this regard we know that each of us shares this common goal.  Nonetheless, the news that students will be home indefinitely may be disconcerting to you and your child.

We want to assure you that at the Waterloo Catholic District School Board, we will be working to the best of our ability and in collaboration with the province, to ensure that your child is connected to learning opportunities.  We will use the initial two weeks for the board to support our teachers in establishing at least an initial contact with all of their students through the most appropriate means possible, including mail, phone, email or other channel.  We will try to use this time to establish what is needed to support teacher-led learning and to aid you as families, to the best of our abilities under the circumstances.

We also want to acknowledge that this could be a time of great uncertainty and anxiety for our students.  We would encourage you to visit our board website where a number of resources can be found that may be helpful to you or your child, as you navigate this time.  We are also truly blessed to have our faith and prayer to aid us at this time.  Our God walks with us always and the Holy Father reminds us that prayer is a sign that we are not alone.

While we are in the process of “gearing up”, we would remind parents that WCDSB has launched #STEAMDays, a fun and interactive way to be connected to activities that have a daily focus on science, technology, engineering, the arts or mathematics.  Further, the Ministry of Education has launched the website Learn at Home and you are encouraged to visit that site for learning activities.

Finally – we encourage you to closely follow any and all directives from our governments and Region of Waterloo Public Health.  As a global community – we have never been more connected by an event or issue and now is the time to do everything we can to ensure we can soon return to life as we knew it not so long ago.  We wish your family good health.  Remain confident that we are here to support you, as we walk as a hope-filled community of faith toward the season of Easter and the re-birth it brings.

Sincerely,

Loretta Notten                                                              Bill Conway

Director of Education                                                  Chair of the Board