COVID-19 Community Update #4

March 12, 2020

16 Adar 5780

Dear Parents,

In consultation with UJA Federation's Centre for Jewish Education and Jewish Day schools throughout the city, we are closely monitoring the developing COVID-19 situation in the Greater Toronto Area. We are working closely with community partners, including the MNjcc and Toronto Public Health, to stay abreast of developments that may impact our community.

In the next few weeks leading up to the Passover Holidays we are looking carefully at the various events on our calendar. Currently we have decided to postpone large group gatherings, such as the SK Grandparent event. We are evaluating class field trip experiences on a case by case basis. We are planning on moving ahead with Parent-Teacher conferences as planned, with additional precautions in place. Should we be advised to switch to conferences in digital form we will inform the school community by end of day March 23rd.

We are in constant communication with the MNjcc leadership and as of March 11, 2020 the MNjcc staff and our faculty are required to disclose if they have been in close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19. With respect to travel, faculty must disclose if they have recently or plan to travel to a level 2, 3 or 4 country or if they have been in close contact with anyone who has recently returned from a level 2, 3 or 4 country. We are working together to keep our community and our building safe. Please click here to view the notice sent to MNjcc members today..

We are also asking you to privately disclose any family travel plans to us for our monitoring purposes. Please share your plans in this private form which will only be viewed by members of our senior administration: Click here

In light of the current situation we have been developing a digital classroom plan with all faculty and our external IT provider. Should matters escalate requiring us to close school doors for any period of time we would require no more than 48 hours for digital implementation.

Many children have been asking questions about COVID-19. Toronto Public Health continues to be a leading resource, with the most up to date information and response protocols. In addition, the resources below can be used to share accurate information with children. Morah Francine is available to speak to children who need additional support and resou rces in dealing with the difficulties of unknown realities.

As educators it is our responsibility to continue to normalize the school environment as much as possible while ensuring good hygiene and health precautions are put in place. We are working on this daily.

Parents, you are crucial partners in keeping our school healthy. We urge you to consider the following:

Please click here to read the most up to date Toronto Public Health Notice
Read and adopt basic measures to protect your family's health, as provided by Public Health Canada and the World Health Organization.
Reinforce to your children the importance of washing hands for at least twenty seconds with soap and warm water, especially prior to eating.
Encourage children to avoid high-fives and handshakes and to respect the choice of people in their community to use other forms of greetings.
If your child is experiencing symptoms of a cold or flu, please keep them home and - if necessary - seek medical attention.