August 31st, 2021

August 31, 2021

 

Dear Gaels,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2021-2022 school year at Cameron Heights. 

School staff have been working hard over the past few weeks to prepare for what will be another unique year in the history of education in Ontario. In addition to the usual scheduling, hiring and student timetable changes, we are working alongside a construction crew who are completing renovations. You will notice changes to the technology wing, family studies, lockers, washrooms, and the main office.

We will start this school year in a modified semester schedule. You will have two classes per day on alternating weeks. Each class will be 150 minutes long with a 40 minute nutrition break in between. Here is the daily schedule. 

Next week we will have a staggered entry. Grade nine and ten students will attend on Tuesday September 7. Grade 11 and 12 students will stay home that day. We will then welcome our grade 11 and 12 students on Wednesday September 8 and the grade nine and ten students will stay home. On Thursday September 9, we will welcome all our students. There will be a number of orientation activities to welcome you back to school.

You will hear from your A block teacher later this week with instructions regarding where to go for your first period class.

We will not have cafeteria service to start the year, so please bring lunch and a labelled water bottle. Students will be able to eat lunch in their first period classroom. Water filling stations will be available, but water fountains will not. Students will have an opportunity to leave the school at the beginning of the nutrition break if they wish to purchase food in the community. Please keep in mind that the nutrition break is only 40 minutes and you’ll need to be at your period two class at that time.

In person sports and activities will not be starting at the beginning of the school year. We are waiting for direction from both the school board, and the Ontario Physical and Health Education Association, for guidelines on how to safely start interschool athletics. Similarly, we will not be assigning lockers at the start of the year. Again, we will wait for direction from the WRDSB regarding when we can do that. 

Covid protocols remain in place to keep us all safe. Students need to complete a daily screen before attending school. Please stay home if you are unwell. While at school they will need to wear face coverings and practice appropriate hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. Additional information is on the WRDSB website. You will get additional CHCI specific information next week.

Students who have questions about transportation should be able to find answers at the Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region website.

The last 18 months have been challenging for all of us. I would like you to reflect on your experiences, and be confident that you can be successful at school. We are all proud of how you demonstrated resilience, determination, and patience over the past two school years. We are here to help you. Please let us know if you need our assistance.

Your vice principal is assigned based on the first letter of your last name.  Mr. Frank Leung looks after students whose last names start with A-G. Mr. Adrian Blair has H-O, and Ms. Denise Rapson has P-Z. Your guidance counsellors are assigned similarly and you can see their contact information here. Mr. Greg Awad Lobe is our social worker and we will have three child and youth workers this year. They are Mr. Bryan Willms, Ms. Juli Cronin, and Ms. Melanie Gillespie.

I expect there are many questions not addressed in this letter. We will do our best to give you information as we get it. There will be changes as we go through the year. Hopefully the changes will allow us to more fully engage in school activities. Please pay attention to the CHCI and WRDSB websites for updates. You will also find information in your grade specific Google classroom. You can sign up via the CHCI guidance web page. Our Instagram account will keep you up to date on school activities and will direct you to the website when there are important updates. 

All the best this year Gaels. We can do this.

Sincerely,

Mr. Wilson
Principal
Cameron Heights Collegiate