Dear Parents and Care Givers,
I am writing to provide you with an update regarding remote learning at St. Isidore K-12 Catholic Virtual Schools. First, I would like to take a moment to thank you for your patience as we work through this unprecedented task of creating an entire school for over 3000 students in just a few short weeks. We know you are anxious to have your children begin their online learning classes, and we are very eager to meet your children and begin building relationships with them to create vibrant learning communities. There are several items I would like to provide updates for. I know you have many questions, so hopefully this will help to address some of them.
The sheer size of the school has created unanticipated challenges and as such we have had to adjust our start dates – BOTH elementary and secondary students will begin their classes on September 17th.
Early next week your child’s teacher will make contact to introduce him or herself and to make sure your child is ready to begin learning on the 17th. At this time, the teacher will provide you with details regarding the learning platform to be used (D2L or Google Classroom) and well as some details regarding the class schedule.
All students should be prepared to attend learning from 8:30 to 3:00.
However, please rest assured that they will not be sitting in front of a computer for the entire time – there will be body breaks and recess/ lunch breaks as well as times to work independently, to engage with their peers and to speak 1:1 with the teacher. We are planning to vary the teaching and learning activities and routines to help students engage in their learning and be active partners in creating the learning environment.
If, in the Board Return to School Survey, you indicated that your family needed a Chromebook, your home school will be in contact with you to arrange for you to borrow one from the school. Please watch for messages from the school regarding this process. Since the survey closed, you may have identified that you will need more support. Please contact your home school Administration as they will help arrange this for you.
You may have seen in the news that the WCDSB is providing Elementary Student Learning Kits to all students in K-8. IF you would like one, please contact your home school to arrange to pick one up, as they were all delivered there.
Finally, on behalf of our staff, we would like to continue to welcome you and your children to St. Isidore. We are so excited to begin this journey together. There have been bumps in the road as we get things up and running, and I am sure there will be others along the way, but I believe that when we work together, when we support each other and keep your children’s education and wellness at our guide, that we can do great things together.
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @IsidoreVirtual for up to date information. Our Web page will also be live soon!
Peace and Blessings,
Carla Santomero, Principal
Dawn Butson , Elementary Vice Principal
David Jaeger, Secondary Vice Principal
