December 31, 2021
Dear STMC Parents,
This is the first in a series of three IMPORTANT School Reopening Emails – Please Read
We truly hope that all of our families have all had an opportunity to safely reconnect with those they love and with those who love them most this Christmas!
School Reopening Delayed Until January 10, 2022:
If you did not have the chance to check out the briefing from Minister Dix, Dr. Henry, and Minister Whiteside live on Wednesday afternoon you now know that classes and instruction across the province will not resume until Monday, January 10, 2022.
A good chunk of the early part of next week will be set aside for planning and readying the school for the return of students the following week. This will be the bulk of what we will be doing as a staff on Tuesday & Wednesday. We need to completely update and submit an enhanced Communicable Disease Plan and will share that with you in our second School Reopening Email next Wednesday. Additionally, as a teaching team we will be developing a series of contingency plans that we will be able to enact should we experience any further pandemic disruptions to learning moving forward.
The COVID-19 School Safety Protocols that we have in place – ones developed and refined over the last 21 months – need to be both reviewed and re-communicated to all within our school community. Collectively, we have admittedly grown lax since the wide-spread immunization programs took hold late last spring and it’s time to return to what we’ve had in place previously.
STMC is not only a school… But it is the residence to our two 85 year-old Christian Brothers.
Only the School-Based Admin, our Directors, Office Staff, and Facilities Team will be physically on-site at the school next Tuesday and Wednesday (January 4 & 5). All of our other teaching and support staff will be working at home remotely until Thursday. The bulk of our staff will return next Thursday. Limited student entry into the school will begin next Thursday once our enhanced protocols are in place.
Looking ahead:
This is the first of three School Reopening Emails. The next will hit inboxes next Wednesday, January 5, 2022 and the final one will come to you next Friday, January 7, 2022.
Until then…
We encourage our Gr. 12’s to continue preparing their Personal Profiles and completing their post-secondary and scholarship/bursary applications as deadlines are looming at the middle and end of January 2022. [Fear not… You’ve got this!!!]
For our Grade 8-11s next week would give each of our students an opportunity to review materials from previous units of study so that they can hit the ground running when we reopen on January 10, 2022.
Finally, as we have asked in each of our correspondences with you since the start of the pandemic we ask that you pray for the continued good health of our two resident Christian Brothers – Bro. Bassett, Bro. Cass – as well as everyone associated with our St. Thomas More family!
Wishing everyone a blessed, safe, and happy New Year in 2022.
Pax et Bonum!
Yours in Christ,
Dianne Doyle – President, STMC
Steve Garland – Principal, STMC
