CHS: Inspiring girls to discover and pursue their personal exellence.

Welcome to the 2021-2022 School Year

Warm greetings to new and returning families.

I will begin by thanking everyone for engaging with the school early through the Back to School Resources and the CHS COVID-19 Resources. Taking time to come prepared for the year ahead greatly eases the transition from summer activities to campus life. It also allows us to respond to your questions and concerns in time for the start of the year.

Toward the end of the last school year, the School’s leadership, including the Board of Governors, explored a statement frequently used to describe the school: Crofton House School is a community. It was interesting to hear the different perspectives when asked what this statement means in the context of a parent, an employee, a student, or an alumna, or simply from a personal point of view. What was common was the value placed on being part of a community and the sense that the “whole was greater than the sum of its parts”.

When returning to school in a pandemic or endemic, as the COVID situation is now being described, the need to elevate the importance of a community response is clear — everyone must do their part. The single most important thing to do is to be vaccinated. Thank you to everyone who has made the effort to be vaccinated and to have their children 12 years and older vaccinated. Individual responsibility goes beyond being vaccinated to include acting in a manner that prevents break-through infections for themselves and others. The COVID-19: CHS Health and Safety Guidelines are developed specifically to stop viral transmission. Daily health checks, staying home when ill, respecting personal physical space and avoiding contact, practicing regular hand hygiene, wearing a mask, etc. are all measures required on campus and practices we urge families to continue outside the gates.

A community built upon a foundation of trust and integrity is one that is sustainable, resilient, and forward-moving. Last year, surveys revealed that parents, employees and students began the year by placing their trust in the School. Feedback throughout the year demonstrated the School continued to earn the community’s trust through a challenging year. I am committed, once again, to ensure your faith in CHS is well-placed, and I would ask the same of you as a member of this community. Stopping the spread of all variants of the COVID-19 virus and protecting the health and safety of everyone within and beyond the CHS community is everyone’s responsibility. I know I can count on the CHS community to do their part and act responsibly.


About this Newsletter

Returning families will be familiar with ECalls, the bi-weekly email newsletter that delivers important notices, notification of upcoming events such as special evenings, parent-teacher conferences, and activities related to the CHS Parents’ Auxiliary. ECalls also includes a digest of the most recent blog posts, slideshows, videos and event recaps. It is a vital link between the school and parents.

For new families, you will be interested to know more about this communication. The newsletter will arrive in your inbox of the email account we have on file for you. You can expect to see it every two weeks on a Friday; however, when Friday is a school holiday, the date moves forward to Thursday of the same week. This is to ensure families have the information they need to begin a two week stretch. The next ECalls will arrive on Friday, September 17.

Receiving Crofton House School Emails

At the beginning of the year, all parents are added to the communication list. Should you choose to unsubscribe, please be advised that you will miss important messages from the School and the opportunity to stay connected to the CHS community. Please contact the IT Support Desk for any issues related to receiving communications from the school at support@croftonhouse.ca. It is the responsibility of parents to ensure they are viewing emails from the school in a timely manner.

COVID-19 Resources

The COVID-19: CHS Health & Safety Guidelines and Communicable Disease Plan can be found on the COVID-19 Resources page under "My CHS". The guidelines outline the health and safety, operational arrangements and expectations for parents, students and the School, we ask that you review these in preparation for your daughter’s return to school. In addition to full guidelines, we have prepared a “COVID-19: CHS Guidelines at a Glance”, a synopsis of the key elements. You will see these guidelines at all entrances.

UPDATED: Traffic Safety: Change to Traffic Control on Blenheim

We want your first day of school to run smoothly. With this in mind, it is essential for all families to review the updated information on Traffic Safety, particularly if your route includes the use of Blenheim Street. There have been changes made over the summer that increase pedestrian safety by limiting areas where vehicles can stop.

Facilities staff, together with Provident Security, are present at drop-off and pick-up throughout the year to guide traffic flow around the campus. Their purpose at these times is the safe arrival and departure of students; their direction and instructions are to be followed with respect and kindness.

Back-to-School Resources

The Back-to-School Resources are grouped into information for the Whole School, Junior School and Senior School. All families should review the Whole School information before moving to the specific information related to your daughter’s school. Resources include drop-off and pick-up routines for Junior School and Senior School, orientation and welcome event information, Outdoor Education forms (Grade 8–10) and all the essential resources you need to start the year. Bookmark this page as you will want to return to it often.

Student Information Forms - Past Due

It is essential that you complete the Student Information Forms in order for your daughter to attend class. Log into the MySchool Parent Portal and click on "Forms" in the left-hand sidebar to access forms. The School is contacting any families who have incomplete forms.

Self-Assessment Reminder

Community health & safety begins at home. Self-assessment will be an integral part of protecting the health of others and must be performed every day before coming to campus. Students, parents and staff should practice self-assessment and commit it to daily habit. Please note: the School will send daily weekday text messages to the community beginning on Wednesday, September 8. The aim is to build a routine of daily health checks and reinforce the requirement to stay home when sick.

Community Dining Update

SAGE Dining, our Community Dining partner, has been hard at work preparing for the start of the school year. Over the summer there have been some changes in the team. Harley Darnel, Food Service Director since the beginning of our Community Dining program, has moved on to pursue another opportunity. Mike Chow, who has been with SAGE Dining at Crofton House for five years (three of which have been as Assistant Food Service Director) has been promoted to Food Service Director. Please join us in wishing Harley the best in his new venue and in congratulating Mike on his new role. Please note: at this time the Grab & Go counter remains closed.

Have you downloaded the "Touch of SAGE" app? View daily menus and ingredients, create a custom allergen profile, plan meals, and provide feedback – all in one place on your mobile device.

Uniform Shop Order Pick Up

For families that have received a notice from the Uniform Shop that your order is ready, it is essential that you pick it up from the receiving area (5711 Balaclava Street) between 8:00 am to 4:00 pm as soon as possible. If you have not received your notification email from the Uniform Shop, no action is necessary.

Change in Date for Grades 1 - 5 Curriculum Night

To avoid the conflict with voting and monitoring elections returns on September 20, the Grades 1 - 5 Curriculum Night is being rescheduled from Monday, September 20, 6:30 - 8:30 pm (Election Day) to Thursday, September 23, 6:30 - 8:30 pm. It will continue to be a virtual event.

The Used Uniform Sale was a huge success, giving new life to donated garments and helping ensure all students are ready to start the new school year looking their best.

We’re excited to welcome everyone back to school in a few days! Thanks to the Senior School students and staff who have been helping get student health & safety kits ready for next week.

 

Courage, Creativity, Citizenship

Log into the My CHS portal to access the full school calendar.

Whole School

September 6 - Labour Day (School Closed)
September 8 - First Day of School, Grades 1-12
September 27 - School Photo Day - #1 Uniform
September 30 - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - No Classes
October 1 - Orange Shirt Day

Junior School

September 7 - ECE Parent Orientation
September 7 - Grade 1 Parent Orientation
September 8 - JK Orientation September 8 - SK Orientation
September 22 - ECE Curriculum Evening
September 23 - Grade 1 to 5 Curriculum Evening (RESCHEDULED)
September 27 - Grade 6-7 Curriculum Information Evening

Senior School

September 7 - Grade 8 & New Grade 9-12 Student Orientation
September 8 - Grade 8 ICT Day
September 9 - Senior School Curriculum Information Evening
September 13-15 - Grade 8 OE
September 13 - Post-Secondary and Careers Virtual Presentation - Grade 12
September 14 - Supporting the Whole Child Virtual Presentation - Grade 8
September 14 - Post-Secondary and Careers Virtual Presentation - Grade 9
September 20-22 - Grade 10 OE
September 20 - Post-Secondary and Careers Virtual Presentation - Grade 11
September 21 - Post-Secondary and Careers Virtual Presentation - Grade 10
September 22 - Grade 8 to 12 - Early Dismissal Wednesday (E)

 

           

Crofton House School  •  604 263 3255
Communications Department  •  communications@croftonhouse.ca
IT Department  •  support@croftonhouse.ca



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