Dear JICS families,
The recent placement of the City of Toronto into lockdown is a stark reminder of how fragile our efforts have been to limit the spread of COVID-19 since March. Despite our best efforts to protect our community by separating students into smaller cohorts, maintaining physical distancing wherever possible, increasing hygiene and cleaning practices among others, the risk to our community is still quite high.
Our ability to keep to the doors of our school open requires our community’s continued vigilance in adhering to the measures from Public Health at all times.
This letter will cover:
Updated TPH Protocols
Updated JICS Protocols
Ontario Lockdown Measures
Travel during Winter Break
School communication re: COVID-19
1. Updated TPH Protocols
Toronto Public Health has updated their information about self-isolation time periods:
The incubation period for COVID-19 is 14 days, and so if you were a close contact you must self-isolate for 14 days as that is how long it can take to develop symptoms.
People with COVID-19 are infectious for 10 days. So if you have tested positive for COVID-19 you need to self-isolate for 10 days. However, if you were hospitalized or have a weak immune system, you may need to self-isolate for a longer period of time.
2. Updated JICS Protocols
Per Toronto Public Health, if someone in the JICS community tests positive for COVID-19, they must stay home and self-isolate for 10 days after their symptoms started. This is a change from the previous instruction which was to self-isolate for 14 days.
Students and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 may return to school after this 10-day self-isolation period if they are symptom-free, and no longer need to wait another 48 hours.
Every JICS family must complete the JICS Daily COVID-19 Screening Online Form by 8:15am. Please do not place an added strain on the office administrative staff and put our community at risk by exiting your home without taking your child’s temperature and accurately completing the form.
Complete the screening form each morning, even if your child is not attending school.
Kindergarten children are strongly encouraged to bring cloth masks to school to wear indoors. (This follows the protocol already in place for Gr 1-6 students.)
Masks are not recommended for Nursery children.
3. Ontario Lockdown Measures
No indoor social gatherings except with members of the same household. This includes playdates with friends.
People from different households may gather outdoors in groups of up to 10 while maintaining at least six feet of distance from one another.
Make necessary trips only for important errands like groceries or medication.
4. Travel during Winter Break
We have come to understand that some families within our community will be travelling during the Winter Break. Please ensure that you are following the required protocols for safe travel as well as a safe return if you are traveling outside of the country. Note that teachers do not prepare work material for students if their absence is related to a vacation. We require all families travelling abroad to complete the travel form by Dec 4.
5. School Communication re: COVID-19
The school will continue to over-communicate any time there is information to share.
It is our priority to share any and all information that impacts the health and safety of our students and staff.
The information we share is affected at times by the legal requirement to maintain the privacy of our students, families and staff, but never at the expense of the health and safety of our community.
If/when a positive case presents itself in our school, Public Health determines whether any staff, students or cohorts were close contacts. The school then communicates as needed to all close contacts.
The health of our students and teachers is affected by the actions of our families, and we rely on your adherence to the Public Health measures to keep our community safe and our school open. We hope that the upcoming Winter Break is an opportunity for a change of pace, allowing us all to reflect on what we are grateful for and reminding us what and who we are protecting.
All the best,
Richard
Richard Messina | Principal
Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Laboratory School
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education | University of Toronto
416-934-4509 | richard.messina@utoronto.ca
