September 1, 2020
TCRCE Families:
Hello, everyone. We are excited to start a new school year in TCRCE! Our schools will re-open full-time for all students. I wanted to share some brief updates before students arrive back on September 8. After nearly 6 months since school was last physically in session, it is great to have students return. The best place for children to learn is in a safe and supportive environment surrounded by their teachers and friends.
Over the past weeks, school administrators throughout TCRCE, school staff, and regional staff have been very busy preparing for reopening. Schools are now releasing their reopening plans to their school communities. These plans fall within the framework provided by Nova Scotia’s Back to School Plan. This plan is supported by Public Health. Schools have developed flexible timetables and practices, such as use of directional signs to control movement in school, hallways, common areas, and outside spaces.
School plans will also include details on what will happen at various points during the school day, and how we will put additional measures in place to ensure the ongoing health and safety of students and staff. For example, all schools are taking steps to limit unnecessary physical contact and maximize space. Time and resources will be devoted to maintaining good hygiene, and no large gatherings will be held in schools.
TCRCE’s Operations staff have been hard at work throughout the summer preparing our buildings for reopening. In addition to the regular, rigorous cleaning that happens every summer, buildings will have signage directing foot traffic. There are extra sanitizing stations throughout each school. Our buildings look great.
TCRCE posts frequently on our Facebook page. I encourage you to visit it, as we frequently share information on many elements of our reopening plan.
In addition, I encourage you to visit www.novascotia.ca/backtoschool. It has many great resources, including a “Back to School FAQ” that you will find very helpful.
Finally, I wanted to let you know there is a press conference happening tomorrow (September 2) at 2 PM with Minister Churchill and Dr. Strang. You can find a link to a livestream at https://novascotia.ca/stayinformed/webcast/.
All the best,
Dr. Chris Boulter, Regional Executive Director, TCRCE
