April 11th, 2020

What to Expect as We Begin Distance Learning at the Q:

Dear Parents & Caretakers,

Distance Learning will be a new experience for us all. Happily, however, our teachers and students have been using Google Classroom as a learning tool all year. Our first week will begin on Tuesday, April 14th, 2020 (due to the Easter Monday school closures) and end Friday, April 17, 2020. Moving forward, “regular school weeks” will be Monday to Friday.

The Ontario Ministry of Education has stated that the expectation for Grade 7 and 8 students is to participate in 10 hours of learning per week. Further to this, the WRDSB has advised that the students primarily focus on Core/Language Arts, Math and Science, and Technology. This is not unlike our regular classroom allocation of time at Queensmount. As well, we will still be providing work and learning expectations for the Arts, French, and Physical Education programs.

Student work will be uploaded into their Google Classes, by their current subject teachers, before the start of the regular week and school day, beginning at 8:20 am. For example, next week, the work will be posted by Tuesday, April 14, 2020, before 8:20 am. For a week that does not begin with a Holiday, assignments will be uploaded by teachers for the entire week before the regular Monday start time of 8:20 am. Individual teachers will set forward the expectations around specific assignment completion timelines, but given that we will be planning on uploading new work before the start of school each Monday, that will assist with general time management expectations.

As we are fully aware of the unique circumstances we all find ourselves in, we realize that not every child will be able to access their Google Classrooms when their teachers are online to support them directly. As such, we have created a document that will be shared for students and parents/guardians to refer to listing ongoing supports throughout the week. We will be posting an “Office Hours” document weekly on our website and School Day. We have included the link here as well. Click on Queensmount Distance Learning Staff Office Hours. Everyone will be able to see who is available to support your children at various points during the school day as they engage in their distance learning.

It is our expectation that students check their Google Classrooms and Google Mail daily to meet the Ministry’s expectations for student learning. Teachers will be monitoring their Board emails and can be reached via school email during their “office hours” and other times during the regular school day 8:20 am- 2:40 pm. Please keep in mind, staff will be busy, planning, assessing and working with administration during “non-office hours” so staff will respond in a timely fashion as possible. Click Here for the Distance Learning Student expectations.

We have all been working hard to try and create a Distance Learning model that will engage all of our students and keep each of their learning journeys moving forward. As always, we will triangulate our data to reflect upon this process to make refinements as necessary to provide the best virtual learning environment we can for your kids. Having said that, the world around us changes moment to moment, and sometimes creates new realities for us all. When those moments arise, we will adjust as required and meet these new challenges head-on.

Thank you, stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you very soon.

Mr. J. Lencz & Ms. D. Sherifali

Principal & Vice-Principal of Queensmount