Welcome Back to School - Sept. 4/20
We are eagerly and thoroughly preparing the school and timetable to welcome your children, our students, for a safe and enjoyable return to Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School!
I understand that despite the various communications from the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board and the Ministry of Education this summer, that there is likely still a lot of anxiety and uncertainty about your child’s return.
Below is some key Bishop Ryan specific information that I can now share with you:
1. Student Timetables are now available on myPath (the student portal) which can be accessed online at
https://mypath.pathtosuccess.ca/ or through the similarly named mobile app. On the timetable, the Term # indicates which 23-day block a student’s course is in. If using the myPath mobile app, you must select the “print” button to see the entire student timetable.
2. School Re-Opening Model features students taking only one course with only one teacher every 23-day block. The daily schedule consists of three 90-minute instructional sessions in the morning followed by a 40-minute lunch and then 30-minutes of real-time (synchronous) online learning. Students have been divided into two groups (cohorts) with Cohort A attending school on Mondays, Wednesdays and alternate Fridays and Cohort B attending school on Tuesdays, Thursdays and alternate Fridays. I understand that the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board will be releasing a full calendar to help staff, students and parents/guardians keep track of their dates. Our day begins at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 2:20 p.m.. Our daily bell schedule is:
8:00 a.m. – 9:35 a.m. Instructional Session #1 (90 mins.)
9:35 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. Break #1 (15 minutes)
9:50 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. Instructional Session #2 (90 mins.)
11:20 a.m. – 11:35 a.m. Break #2 (15 minutes)
11:35 a.m. – 1:05 p.m. Instructional Session #3 (90 mins.)
1:05 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Lunch (40 minutes)
1:50 p.m. – 2:20 p.m. Synchronous Learning (30 minutes)
3. Student Cohorts are also now available on myPath and can be found near the top of the screen. Please see item #2 above to identify the days of the week that cohorts are to attend.
4. First Day of School for Cohort B Students is Thursday, September 10. Cohort A Students will attend their first day on Friday, September 11.
5. Bishop Ryan Uniform must be worn by all students every day whenever they are in the school building. The First Days of School are full uniform days. Students who have a Physical Education course are permitted to just wear their Phys. Ed. Uniform to school. There will not be any access changerooms.
6. Arrival and Departure to/from School will be conducted in an orderly fashion. All students will report directly to their classroom upon entering the school. There will be no loitering in the hallways or in the school common areas (i.e. the forum/foyer, Cafeteria, Library Learning Commons, etc.) which will be closed. Students are not permitted to leave their classroom on breaks. Students are recommended to bring a lunch from home, but are permitted to leave the building during the lunch period. Students will only be permitted to eat lunch in their classroom. A staggered dismissal will be used to ensure social distancing at the end of the day.
7. Students with a “spare” during a block do not attend school for those 23-days. If it is not desirable that your child be absent from school for such a period of time, students should make an appointment with a Guidance Counsellor to make changes to their timetable.
8. Masks and Social Distancing must be maintained at all times in the school. Masks must be worn in all hallways, classrooms and common areas of the school. Students must bring their own mask for the first day of school, but will be provided with a school board endorsed cloth mask after that. Students must maintain a 2-metre distance from each other in all areas of the school and will be seated at a 1-metre distance from each other in their classrooms.
9. COVID Self-Assessment must be completed by all students prior to entering the building. I understand that the school board will be providing a self-assessment checklist that students will use. In the meantime, the Ontario COVID Self-Assessment can be accessed here:
https://covid-19.ontario.ca/self-assessmen ... . Students who are feeling ill should not come to school.
10. Other Safety Measures have been taken around the building for your protection. These include social distancing signage, the addition of hand sanitizer station, the create of sanitization/disinfection centres in every classroom and more.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 905-573-2151 or
br@hwcdsb.ca.
Very exited to have our students return! We continue to remain your child’s school “where faith, pride and effort promote excellence.”