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COVID-19

Updates and Information for Families

Friday, June 10th, 2022

Heritage Academy will adjust requirements for the wearing of masks, moving from “mandatory” to “strongly encouraged”.

We continue to strongly encourage the wearing of masks and will respect decision-making made by students, families, and staff based on personal risk factors.

On May 20th, 2022, Ottawa Public Health communicated the following data to Ottawa-area school boards:

Wastewater viral levels are decreasing, bringing them to less than half of what they were earlier this spring and lower than the January 2022 peak;
Testing percent positivity is moderate and levels are decreasing;
New hospital admissions are low and decreasing; and
New confirmed outbreaks are low and decreasing.

The trends in these monitoring indicators suggest that COVID-19 transmission in Ottawa continues to decrease at a steady pace, which is consistent with data reported by the Ontario Science Table.

Both local and provincial data show a steady decrease, indicating that we have reached a point where we can adjust our practice.

Friday, January 14th, 2022

Dear HA Families,

We will be returning to in-person classes on Monday, January 17th and we want to update parents, guardians and students on the current public health measures we need to follow.

Prior to coming to school each day, students must do the following:

Self-screen or be screened by a parent/guardian using our EduSafe screening app which reflects the Ministry's provincial school screening online tool. This tool was updated on January 6. Alternatively, you may send a paper copy of the completed questionnaire with your student.
Ensure all students wear a clean mask to school, and have an extra mask (or two) in their bag should they need to change it during the day.
Students will be provided with a 3-ply reusable mask at school if they want or need one during the day.
Parents must ensure a contact is available to pick up their student from school should they develop symptoms.

Public health units will no longer be providing schools with letters to notify of positive cases of COVID-19 in classes or schools, and this information will no longer be reported to the Ministry of Education. We ask that parents, guardians and students be vigilant in their screening and not attend school if they are feeling unwell, even if their symptom is not a known symptom of COVID-19.

Additional Health Measures in Place
As announced by the Ministry of Education, students in Public schools will receive rapid antigen tests to use if students show symptoms of COVID-19. As Private schools have been excluded from this, we've been working hard to secure rapid tests for our families and due to supply/demand test kits would not be available until late February. As we receive more information regarding these test kits we will update our families. There are advocate groups currently working to ensure tests are also provided to Private schools.

New isolation requirements are in place, which families need to be aware of. All household members need to self-isolate if anyone in the household has symptoms of COVID-19.

Please refer to What to Do If You Have Symptoms Flowchart.

There may be times when a class or an entire school will need to move to remote learning on short notice if we do not have enough staff to supervise classes. We want families to be aware of this reality so they can plan for it. Moving a class or a school to remote learning will always be a last resort, but it may happen the night before or even the morning of. Student safety is our top priority and we must ensure that we have proper supervision for students while they are at school.

Remote Learning Options will be available if 50% or more of a class is absent related to Covid-19
If students need to be away due to illness, self-isolation, or for other reasons related to COVID-19, these remote learning options will be available: synchronous learning (online, in real-time), digital asynchronous learning (independently, on their own time, materials on classroom platform) or printed materials when digital access to materials isn’t possible.

Reporting and Notifications

The school cannot disclose medical information on individuals but we will be advising both parents and faculty in the following events;

1. Increased Absenteeism Notice will be sent if 25% of a class is absent (not counting planned absences)

2. Increased Absenteeism Notice will be sent if 50% of a class is absent (not counting planned absences)

and virtual options for those absent will be implemented.

3. Close Contact Exposure Notice will be sent if there has been a student or teacher within a cohort that has tested positive for Covid-19. This notice will contain further details depending on the scenario.

We will continue to share information with you as we receive it or if the information changes.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the school.

Best regards

Tuesday, January 4th, 2021

As you may be aware, the Ontario Government has made the decision to close all schools in Ontario. This includes all private schools.

Although our school environment has remained Covid Free due to the diligence of all, we have no choice but to adhere to this regulation. We will be implementing Emergency Virtual Classes until further notice. Students will be back learning virtually starting on Wednesday, January 5th, 2022.

Wednesday, August 18th, 2021

We are happy to welcome all our students and staff to School for the first day of class on Tuesday, September 7th, 2021.

Please refer to emails sent over the summer and the School Wide Safety Document linked below to answer any of your Return to School and Covid-19 protocol questions.

Best wishes to all of our families and we look forward to seeing all of our students in a few weeks.

Friday, April 16th, 2021

Dear Heritage Families,

As you may be aware, the Ontario Government has made the decision to close all schools in Ontario. This includes all private schools.

Monday, February 1st, 2021

We are happy to welcome all our students and staff back to School for in person classes on Monday, February 1st, 2021.

Please refer to the School Wide Safety Document linked below to answer any of your Return to School and Covid-19 protocol questions.

Thursday, April 2, 2020

Dear Heritage Families,

As the Provincial Government has decided to extend the closure of schools, we are ready to move forward with Phase 2. Our staff have been hard at work preparing their individual platforms to ensure students receive the tools and information they require to stay on track. We will continue to adapt and modify our platforms based on our student’s specific needs and look forward to welcoming everyone back as soon as possible.

Phase 2 of our Junior Online Learning Plan
The next phase of our online learning platform will begin on Monday, April 6th, 2020. As schools will remain closed for at least the next month we have adjusted our approach to facilitate online learning classrooms. Please be patient as we work out the kinks.
All teachers will be using an online classroom platform and zoom for communication and meetings

Grades 1-3 SeeSaw
Grades 4-8 Edmodo
Grades 1-8 Zoom (for video meetings)

For more details on the Online Learning Plan, refer to the April 1st communiqué.

Phase 2 of our Senior Online Learning Plan
The next phase of our online learning platform will begin on Monday, April 6th, 2020. As schools will remain closed for at least the next month we have adjusted our approach to facilitate online learning classrooms.
All teachers will be using an online classroom platform and zoom for communication and meetings, these have already been set up and students should be using Edmodo starting today.

Grades 9-12 Zoom (for video meetings)
Grades 9-12 Edmodo (for classroom pages)

For more details on the Online Learning Plan, refer to the April 1 st communiqué.

S.M.T. Individual Online Sessions

S.M.T. sessions will begin again next week, if your student had SMT from 8:15 - 9:00 or 3:15 -4:00 those times and sessions will be starting back up again.
Students will receive a message from their SMT educator. Sessions will be held on Zoom.
If your child had SMT between 9:00 and 3:15 they will have their session based on a 2 day
alternating schedule. Students will receive a message from their SMT educator with the time
and details of their sessions.
Best wishes to all our families.

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Saturday, March 21, 2020

Dear Heritage Academy Families

We hope that our families and their loved ones are managing well during these challenging times.

We wanted to share the most recent information from the Ministry of Education.

As you know, all schools remain closed until April 5th, 2020. There are many questions about what happens after that date. We are developing a plan to prepare for a possible extended closure if that is necessary based on public health advice. We will continue to keep you updated on this.

EQAO Assessments

The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) has been cancelled for the 2019-2020 year. For students who are graduating in the 2019-20 school year, the literacy graduation requirement as set out in Ontario Schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12: Policy and Program Requirements, 2016 will be waived. Students who are not graduating this school year will have the opportunity to write the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) in the upcoming 2020-21 school year.

We will be working with all families to ensure that all students are able to complete their work and meet the necessary requirements to move on to the next grade level.

Teachers have been looking at the different options to support their classes and will be deciding which online platforms will be best to utilize if the closures extend past April 5th. We are committed to assisting each student in meeting their requirements to move on to the next grade level. There are a variety of wonderful options available so please bare with us as we solidify the best one for our student body.

We know that this is a stressful time for families. We are committed to developing resources to help.

Here are some online resources that address anxiety relating to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

How to Manage Anxiety During COVID-19

KidsHELPPHONE Messaging about COVID-19

We will provide updates on a regular basis as new information becomes available.

All teachers will be emailing home Monday morning to provide families with further details.

Our families health and safety is our number one priority at this time. We will all get through this together.

Please stay well and practice the guidance of Ottawa Public Health in terms of social distancing and self-isolation as required.

Yours truly,

Cheryl

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Thursday, March 12, 2020

Dear Parents and Guardians

As you are likely aware, the Ministry of Education has closed all public schools for two weeks following the upcoming March break.

Heritage Academy will be closed until April 5th following the direction from the Ontario Chief Medical Officer.

Teachers have been asked to prepare work for their students and to provide material via email upon our return from March Break.

We want to ensure that our students do not fall behind while working from home during this time.

We will be sending a follow-up email to all families on March 23rd with further instructions.

Thank you

Cheryl