August 30,
2022
Hello
Anglophone West School District Families,
I hope you all
had a restful and safe summer. We are excited to welcome our students back to
school next week for the 2022/2023 school year! Our teaching staff are back to
work, preparing for a positive, safe, meaningful year ahead.
As always, our
students' and staff's health and safety remain our priority. We will continue
communicating and working with the Department of Education and Early Childhood
Development (EECD) and the Department of Public Health to monitor Covid-19 and
other communicable diseases and adjust our practices as required.
Your efforts
to continue with proactive health measures will also make a big difference. Please encourage your children to keep up with frequent
hand washing and sanitizing, use proper cough/sneeze etiquette, and
monitor for symptoms of illness. Please also remember to keep your children
home when they are sick. According to Public Health, children should stay home
until they have been fever-free for 24 hours and symptom-free for 48 hours
without medication. If your child has symptoms of Covid-19, we encourage you to
get them tested. If they have tested positive after becoming symptomatic,
please follow Public Health's advice available online.
If you have
further questions about COVID, we encourage you to visit the following
Government of New Brunswick sites:
Protecting Yourself and
Others
Testing for COVID-19
COVID-19 Symptom
Checker
Although there
is no mask mandate in our province, and masks are not required in our schools,
some students and staff will choose to wear masks based on their level of risk
or concern. While families may have different perspectives regarding Covid-19
safety, we ask that everyone be patient, kind, and respectful. We will continue
to support our schools so they remain welcoming, supportive environments for
everyone.
Please also be
reminded that some of our schools are staggering student entry next week. These
schools will be communicating with you to ensure you know which days your
children will be attending during the week of September 6-9. If you are not
contacted with specific instructions, the first day of class will be Tuesday,
September 6.
We would also
like to remind you of the new ASD-W district website, which can be found here: asdw.nbed.ca.
Please take some time to browse the
new site and familiarize yourself with new ways to find information. The site
is divided into three main sections, found across the top of the page: New Students, Current Students, and
About ASD-W. The New Students section is for those looking to
find information on getting a child started in ASD-W, and the Current Students
section is for those with children already in the system, like yourselves. The
About ASD-W section contains information about the district governance,
policies, schools and facilities and employment opportunities. Updates will be
shared through the News channel, and all events will be posted in the Calendar. Alerts regarding weather, busing and buildings can be accessed by clicking the
yellow Alert button found at the top right of the site. There is also a new
feature called Switch
sites, which will enable you to move from the district website
to your child's school website with just a click.
Finally, our
Facilities and Transportation Teams have been working all summer to prepare our
buildings and buses for September. Our bus routes have been finalized and are
available on our website here.
Throughout the
year, Jennifer Read, our Director of Communications, and I will continue
communicating important district updates and information by email, phone, text
and on our website. Please ensure your contact information is up-to-date with
your school.
I would like
to wish you all the best for the coming year and thank you for all you do to
help keep our schools welcoming, supportive places for our students to learn. I
encourage all of our students to jump into the new year with confidence and
make it one of the best years yet! We look forward to seeing everyone in person
soon.
Sincerely,
David
McTimoney, Superintendent, ASD-W