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130 Buller Street, Port Moody, BC, V3H 2C6| Phone: 604-461-7384| Contact Us
École Moody Middle School of the Arts
School District No. 43 (Coquitlam)
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ÉMMSOTA Principal's Updates & Return to School Plans Sep 3 2020

September 09, 2020

Greetings ÉMMSOTA​ Families.

As we head into the Labour Day weekend I wanted to send a few updates and information to you all. We are looking forward to see your children in and around the building again and we want to ensure our parents and family members that the health and safety of all students, staff and community members are at the heart of every decision and all  the plans we have been working on over the past few weeks.

Staff have started to come back into the building and the rush of opening the year is definitely in full gear. It has been great to see colleagues coming back into the school looking refreshed and excited to get back in front of their students. We really miss them.

I will try and capture a few critical items in this email and will send another update next week before our students official return on September 10th and 11th.

First Days Back with Students

We have organized our first two days back to school for students around confirming attendance and providing an overview of our health and safety protocols for staff and students. Students will all arrive at a specific time according to their grade and line up according to their alpha last name. Please see attached document outlining the times and location for students to arrive on both Thursday September 10th and Friday September 11th.  We have kept our groups small (no more than 12 students) and are asking all students to have a mask ready to wear upon arrival as soon as physical distancing is not manageable. Our Thursday time will be used to determine our attendance and to quickly set students up for our health and safety orientations that will happen on Friday September 11th. On Friday students will meet again on the back field at their designated time and be guided by staff into a location within the school to spend the next 45-60 minutes going over important safety information and our newly established protocols for learning in our building. We will outline on Friday where students are to meet on Monday September 14th. Students will be told a specific arrival time and location according to the Pod / Team they will be on. Their Learning Group / Cohort will be established from within their Pod

Arrival, Pick Up and Drop Off and Leaving at End of Day.

We are strongly encouraging families to discuss travel plans to and from school to ensure students are physically distancing at all times on route to and from school. Students living East of the school will be encouraged to arrive across the back field and sports court areas to mitigate some of our traffic flow on Buller St. and into our parking lot. Parents can drop off on James St. as an option. We are strongly encouraging students to wear masks while arriving to school as there may be situations where physical distancing is not possible while walking on sidewalks and paths to the school. Parents are asked NOT to park and wait in our staff parking lot. This area must be kept clear at all times. Families should make arrangements for pick up locations so as not to create traffic jams in our drive through area. Please be aware of all pedestrians as for many, this is the first time in months students have been arriving to school. SAFETY FIRST!

Frequently Asked Questions:

What if a student or staff member becomes ill at school?

 If a student or staff member develops symptoms of illness while at school, the student will be provided a mask if they do not have one on and guided by a staff member to a designated supervised isolation room.  The parent or caregiver will be contacted immediately and asked to pick up the student.  Parents or caregivers must pick up their child as soon as possible if they are notified their child is ill. Staff would also go home immediately.  Caretakers will then immediately clean and disinfect the isolation room and any areas recently used by the student (e.g., classroom, bathroom, common areas).

Anyone experiencing symptoms of illness should not return to school/work until they have been assessed by a health-care provider to exclude COVID-19 or other infectious diseases AND their symptoms have resolved.

What if there is a confirmed case of Covid-19 at school? 

Should a person be diagnosed with COVID-19, and were potentially infectious at school, a consultation would occur with Fraser Health.  Fraser Health would perform an investigation to determine if there were any close contacts within the school and provide advice accordingly to the person and family, direct contacts, and the school. 

  Students and staff who have interacted with the confirmed case may be asked to stay home while Fraser Health completes their investigation.

*If Quarantine is required, school work would be provided for that time period.

I have attached the Daily Health Check Questionnaire that we are asking parents to review with their children on a regular basis and will be required to be reviewed by all staff and visitors entering the building. All visitors will be asked to wear a mask upon entering the building and sign in for contact tracing purposes. We are asking that parents do not plan to come into the school unless prearranged through the Office.

School Supplies will not be required for the first two days on September 10th and 11th. Minimal school supplies will be required on September 14th as we will be establishing our learning groups and your teachers will provide more details on supplies then. We will not be issuing lockers at this time and so ask all families to pack lightly and manage supplies accordingly to minimize large overstuffed backpacks in classrooms.

If you are still looking to get some of your back to school supplies you can find our supply list we sent out for order with Creative Children here: School Supply Lists

School Photos have been postponed until later in October when we have a better handle on our routines and safety procedures with students in the building. We will keep you posted as to our new date once it is determined.

School Orientation for those families new to our school community, or those who may have forgotten what this place actually looks like, please have a look at our EMMSOTA Virtual Tour that we put together back in June for our new Grade 6s.

If you have missed any communication and are looking to get caught up in the volumes of information we are throwing at you, we will keep al of our “Principal's Updates" and Weekly E-Newsletters on our webpage under “Current Announcements"

I would like to say a big thank you to all of our Parents and Guardians as we navigate through this very different school start up. We truly appreciate your patience and support as information changes daily and we work together to provide  consistent messaging and finalize plans that have your children's safety and well being at the very centre of all we do.

Cheers for now. We will talk again soon. Stay safe, healthy and happy.  

​Mark Clay
Principal

EMMSOTA Return to School Plan September 10 and 11th 2020.pdf

Covid-19 Daily Health Check Questionnaire.pdf

École Moody Middle School of the Arts

130 Buller Street, Port Moody BC
V3H 2C6
604-461-7384 604-937-8047 086-Office@sd43.bc.ca
8:00 am - 3:30 pm
Our school strives to keep our community informed. However, during urgent events, visit www.sd43.bc.ca to ensure you receive the most accurate and up-to-date information.