Check us out! NNDSB secondary schools hosting open houses

December 16, 2021 By Josh

To help families make an informed decision when choosing what secondary school to attend, Near North District School Board (NNDSB) schools will host open houses and information sessions for parents/guardians and students at its six secondary schools.

Open houses are an opportunity for potential students and parents/guardians to tour the schools, learn about programs, meet staff and ask questions.

If you have questions about a specific school or open house, please contact the school directly for more information.

Mapleridge Public School students create human chain to help local food bank

December 16, 2021 By Josh

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021

An annual tradition continues at Mapleridge Public School in Powassan. Now in its 18th year, the Jingle All the Way campaign sees the entire school community pull together to garner food and monetary donations for the Powassan and District Food Bank.

Students from JK-8 bring in donations for three weeks leading up to the big donation day. While under strict COVID-19 protocols, the human chain returned on Dec. 10. Students remained in their cohorts all while masked bringing the collected donations down to 250 Clark, which houses the food bank.

More than 250 students formed the human chain, and the annual passing of donations from one person to the next began until the items ended in the hands of a food bank volunteer to place in a box to be brought inside the food bank.

Grade 8 student Jane Piper who has been a part of this event for 10 years, noted she has always had a strong desire to give back to those in the community.

“Giving back has always been something that I've wanted to do,” she said. “Ensuring that everybody has something is important to me. If I just have a house and food, that's all I need, so I could donate a lot of stuff to people or if somebody needs help with something, I can do that.”

Piper noted you don’t need to donate a large sum of money to make a big impact.

As the chain of students passed each non-perishable donation up to volunteers at the food bank, Diane Cole, assistant coordinator for the Powassan and District Food Bank was moved by the act of giving.

“This shows what a giving community we live in and our children are taught early on what it is to help the community. I think acts like this show why we have such giving adults and children,” she said.

Principal of Mapleridge Public School, Alison Clarke, said it’s important to teach students from an early age what it means to be a part of a community.

“We're teaching children about the importance of giving and the human chain is a nice hands-on idea. For some, it can be an abstract concept, if they know they're just bringing food into the school, but then they don't really know what's happening after that,” she said. “Some students, we hear them say, ‘we're going to have a big feast?’ and so it allows for a learning opportunity to say no, it’s going to the food bank for community members to access.”

Clarke noted this allows for a conversation about sharing with those who may not have as much.

Grade 8 student Vienna Driscoll explained that any donation, no matter how big or small is important. “Even if it's just a small donation, it's still helping someone. It's not difficult to give and help other people.”

This campaign comes full circle. Before becoming the Powassan and District Food Bank, 250 Clark was the Powassan Junior Public School, the school where the Jingle All the Way campaign began. Following the merger of the two Powassan schools, the annual tradition continued at Mapleridge Public School.

“When you do something for a number of years, sometimes they lose their momentum, or they get stale, or they lack the support, but this event is still going strong. I anticipate this will continue to go on for many, many more years, which is a testament to how important it is to our school and the larger community of Powassan,” exclaimed Clarke.

More than 700 items and $700 was collected during this year’s campaign, which Cole noted will keep the food bank going well into February.

“We really appreciate all the children doing this and I think it shows such great community support,” said Cole. “We're bringing our children up properly to let them know that there are less fortunate people in the world and they need help and not to look down on them.”

As Piper reflected on her final Jingle All the Way event, she noted how great it has been to see the school community pull together all these years.

“I remember when I was younger, you'd always look forward to being with the big kids, too. You get to see everybody, do something outside of school, and do something for the community,” she noted. “It's nice to have everybody all together as a school doing something nice for the community and working together.”

This event is just one of many events that Mapleridge Public School students participate in for the community.

“It’s something we can all do together as a school to give back to our community,” said Driscoll. “It feels good to help and contribute towards that.”

Writing task results in a sweet deal for Sunset Park Public School students

December 14, 2021 By Josh

Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021

During the month of October, Mme. Anna Pearson’s Grade 6 French Immersion students at Sunset Park Public School in North Bay learned about different forms of persuasive writing and advertising techniques.

For their writing task, students created a special doughnut to feature as doughnut of the month. After consulting with local bakery Good Glaze Doughnuts, the company generously agreed to feature the students’ top three choices at their bakery.

“This project was really fun. I didn’t think that my doughnut was going to make it to the store. I was happy and proud of myself when I found it did,” exclaimed Alex Villneff.

Some of the student creations included apple explosion, the bear paw print, and marshmallow explosion.

On Friday, Nov. 5 and Saturday, Nov. 6, three doughnut creations were ‘brought to life’ as the three choices were baked and sold at the Main Street West bakery. The students thoroughly enjoyed seeing their sweet treat available for others to enjoy.

Unsurprisingly, the three featured doughnuts sold out both days and the students were extremely proud of their work.

“I thought it was fun because the whole designing part and thinking about what it would taste like it. The idea of it coming to life was exciting for me,” said Maya Allaire.

Fellow classmate, Anna-Leigh Harrison echoed their enjoyment of the project, “I liked it because of the drawing part. I could show exactly how I wanted it to look and taste! I’m super excited that they’re going to feature it again in January.”

In addition to learning about persuasive writing and advertising techniques, students were able to make connections in the community and the assignment encouraged them to think about how they can build relationships in their local communities, in addition to supporting local businesses.

“This was such an awesome experience for my students. It brought together academics, curriculum and citizenship education where my students participated with and in our local community,” said Mme. Pearson. “I am delighted that the staff at Good Glaze Doughnuts were so supportive of my students and this amazing learning opportunity for them.”

And it wouldn’t be a complete lesson without a sweet treat! The students enjoyed a sweet treat where they enjoyed one of Anna’s Marshmallow Explosion doughnuts. This doughnut was one of three featured by Good Glaze Doughnuts and will be featured again on their menu in January.

Letter to Families from Education Minister Stephen Lecce

December 13, 2021 By Deb

Monday, Dec. 13, 2021

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we get nearer to the start of the winter break, Near North District School Board will be sharing information as it relates to a safe return to school on Jan. 5, 2022.

Please click this link to find a letter to families from Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, regarding the rapid antigen tests that students will be bringing home next week.

This letter, and any other COVID-19 related information, can be found on the COVID-19 Alerts and Resources page of the board’s website.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Near North District School Board

JK-12 Program department develops several methods of learning math

December 10, 2021 By Deb

JK-12 Program department develops several methods of learning math

Near North District School Board’s (NNDSB) K-12 program team has been busy brainstorming, developing, and implementing new and engaging ways for students to learn math from JK-12. The team is also working towards de-streaming the Grade 9 math curriculum.

“Math should not be seen as an abstract subject that doesn’t have any daily use,” says Math Facilitator Melissa Peddie. “Once you start seeing mathematics as a way we can interpret the world around us, you realize that it is absolutely everywhere. It’s an ultimate goal of educators to help students mathematize their environment so that they can use those math skills to move them forward in every aspect of their life.”

There are two board-based math facilitators, and nine school-based math facilitators within the board’s target schools, all of whom work alongside Peddie to support the implementation of the provincial math strategy.

What does a math facilitator do?

“My title is JK to 12 math facilitator. I work with teachers in a classroom-embedded, co-planning, co-teaching professional learning model,” says Peddie. “I support principals as they’re making school improvement plans particularly as they relate to mathematics. I am also responsible for providing central professional development to teachers across the board.”

Chris Walkling is a regional K-12 Student Achievement and Well-Being Principal who works alongside the various teams.

“Working as a student achievement and well-being principal, Laurie Forth, Steve Krause and I work as a team in a JK-12 capacity,” he explains. “With our focus on mathematics, we work closely with Melissa and Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Melanie Gray, in schools as well as at the system-level to support the implementation of curriculum and ultimately, to improve outcomes for students. Our team designs and implements professional learning that enables staff to respond to evolving student needs. “

While mathematics stays the same, the ways students learn and remain engaged, along with how educators teach the material, continues to develop.

“I also am designing and developing different resources to support the work that we’re doing for student success. There’s a lot of collaboration, bringing in teachers with different perspectives to develop math assessment and teaching resources. We’ve had a major focus on developing number sense and supporting teacher understanding of what that means,” notes Peddie. “I’ve developed resources for the Classroom Support Centre to be signed out by educators, to support student learning and provide background information for teachers to develop their own understanding around number sense development.”

The Classroom Support Centre is a specialized NNDSB department that provides services and catalogued resources for educators to support their instructional practices. These include learning resources and kits for students to use in the classroom, educator resources, access to virtual resources such as videos and support with producing materials for classroom use.

Peddie adds that teachers have really embraced the evolution of learning, which includes their own learning.

“In talking with teachers, a lot have said they’ve had some great learning for themselves, to support them in being prepared to meet a variety of learners’ needs in their classrooms. Reflecting on the last couple of years, taking this understanding of what really good pedagogy looks like in math, and then considering the shift to online learning due to COVID-19 protocols, we’ve worked to bring a focus on the important pieces of this good pedagogy that we can still hold on to and leverage with these new constraints,” she says.

The math curriculum has really evolved over the last five years.

“One of the big changes would be teachers understanding how children learn math, and we’ve done a lot of work with learning trajectories. If you could think about a series of skills mapped out over time as being “stepping stones”, generally speaking, there’s an order to how children develop those skills and they get increasingly complex,” explains Walkling. “I think using learning trajectories and developing staff understanding of how those skills build over time, staff have become much more intentional. So, they can name with precision, where students are on that path, and meet them where they are at and support developmentally appropriate next steps, incremental nudges or steps towards success.”

There’s a strong consensus on how mathematics has evolved over a short period of time.

Mathematics hasn’t changed, but how it’s taught has adapted into a more compressive approach, thanks to research and a better understanding of how students learn.

“If you had just said five years, I would have definitely talked about a huge shift in learning for educators in terms of understanding how students develop number sense in particular, and how number sense impacts other areas of learning,” notes Peddie. “It’s the foundation that connects almost every area of mathematics. Once we have a handle on how students develop number sense right from Kindergarten all the way through into secondary school, then we become better math educators.”

One of the crucial changes is de-streaming the Grade 9 math curriculum. Streamed math refers to when students enter Grade 9, they are channelled through either the applied stream or an academic stream that sets them on the path for post-secondary studies. The streamed model has proven to not be as effective as once thought, thus the shift towards de-streaming all secondary school subjects.

“Right now, we’re working with the de-streamed Grade 9 mathematics teachers to support them in navigating the de-streamed programming,” says Peddie. “We’re exploring student learning profiles, new math curriculum expectations, along with resources and pedagogies to support de-streamed math learning environments.”

Gray notes how the hard work that Peddie and the team have put into developing and re-defining the way math is administered has put NNDSB in an excellent position for learning.

“A lot of the work that Melissa, supported by Chris, had done over the years, really put us in a good place to move forward with being able to be creative. A specific example is Melissa worked with so many educators across our system to help them develop an understanding of a pedagogical move called Number Talks and I can’t tell you how many classes I was able to jump into, in terms of their online learning to see those educators doing a version of number talks.”

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is another important recent development to the math curriculum, but as Peddie states, NNDSB was already brainstorming these aspects, which includes maintaining positive motivation and perseverance, thinking creatively, and developing self-awareness skills.

“We were already having these conversations in terms of mathematics. We have a resource developed by Jane Rutledge and me called the First X Days of Mathematics and it’s for classrooms, primary all the way up to intermediate. It sets a foundation for developing positive mindsets about students seeing themselves as mathematicians,” exclaims Peddie. “In the classroom, students are engaged in interesting challenging mathematic tasks that allow them to think creatively reflecting on themselves as mathematicians, and really broadening that idea of what is it to be a mathematician, and we’re all mathematicians.”

Peddie notes helping students develop an understanding of perseverance in mathematics is a big part of social-emotional learning.

Building off social-emotional learning, there are numerous learning platforms that Peddie and the math team have implemented for students to build upon their math skills. One of the platforms is DreamBox Learning.

“DreamBox is specifically for Grades 1-3 students this year and it’s an online resource that’s adaptive to student needs,” says Peddie. “It differentiates what lessons and what games students play to build their math understanding based on individual student starting points. Through these tasks in DreamBox Learning, students engage in productive struggle.”

Once students work their way through the lessons, teachers are able to provide feedback for the learners. Though not new to NNDSB, DreamBox Learning has found its way to becoming a valuable resource for students.

“We ultimately determined that there was a significant value in placing that resource in the primary level, gamified learning beyond school, and a general level of engagement that was very well received and beneficial for students in primary,” notes Walkling. “When we think how that’s different than maybe some other tools that are out there is that the representations of math in DreamBox, are similar and consistent with the tools that kids use in the classroom. If you think about the “rekenrek” or about “number lines”, all of those representations are familiar to students and they’re also present in the game. So, there’s a nice relationship there. But beyond that, the program documents all of the interactions that students have in the online environment and maps those experiences to the Ontario curriculum, allowing staff to monitor and respond to evolving student needs.”

Rekenrek is a tool that translates to an arithmetic rack or calculating frame. The rekenrek is a unique tool that allows children to develop number sense at their own pace.

“This is a really exciting time for us as a school board. With a fresh take on a multi-year strategic plan, new board improvement plans, more cohesiveness across all our departments, we are going to be able to plan as specifically as possible and set those goals,” says Gray. “I love listening to Melissa and Chris talk about math. From the system level, I do believe that we are a strong team and we’re well-positioned with the aforementioned plans.”

The board receives funding from the Ministry of Education to purchase resources that align with the new math curricula, support professional learning opportunities for staff, and hire school and board-based math leads. All of these investments contribute to NNDSB’s efforts to improve student outcomes in mathematics and ensure their success after secondary school.

What are Peddie and Walkling’s favourite parts of the job?

“For me, being in the classrooms with teachers and students, co-teaching, co-planning, listening to student thinking, talking with teachers about what they’re noticing, collaborating at all those components,” says Peddie.

“I would say the moment that students have an ‘aha’, and all of a sudden it clicks! And in that same moment, the educators have the means to see the impact of their actions. To see that their efforts have improved outcomes or enabled understandings for students. These little ‘mastery moments’ allow staff to see that their actions have impact, and they’re making a difference for students,” says Walkling.

With the chances of probability and other math lessons, the learning opportunities and platforms are not a random addition for NNDSB.

“It’s not just happenstance, we spend a long time looking at the quality of the resource and how it connects to what we know already works, the pedagogy that’s in place or pedagogy we want to further develop and how does this resource support educators in making those connections,” says Peddie.

Board Highlights for December meeting

December 10, 2021 By Deb

Friday, Dec. 10, 2021

Board Highlights for December meeting

The following are the highlights of the Near North District School Board (NNDSB) meeting of Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021.

Chair, Vice-Chair acclaimed at organizational meeting

At the annual organizational meeting of NNDSB, Trustees Jay Aspin and John Cochrane were acclaimed as the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board.

The pair has been at the helm of this Board since its inaugural meeting in 2018, and their experience has helped the board navigate some difficult terrain. With their leadership, the Board has appointed Craig Myles as Director of Education in 2020, guided the Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP) process and helped improve transparency through governance and reporting processes.

This is the final year of this Board’s mandate; the municipal election will be held Oct. 24, 2022.

Director recognizes staff

As part of his update to the Board, Myles acknowledged staff for the contribution to NNDSB in seeking excellence in innovation in the areas of student programming and leadership.

Under the leadership of Officer of Corporate Affairs Liana Blaskievich and Acting Principal of Student Success and Specialized Programs Lucio Pavone, the team of Sarah Spence, Alysha Young, Lisa Spencer, Stacie Burnie, Josh Casey, Roy Desjardins and Deb Bartlett have been instrumental in bringing the Personal Support Worker (PSW) program together. It is the intention of NNDSB to train PSWs in living classrooms in Parry Sound, Sturgeon Falls, North Bay and Mattawa.

Chippewa Secondary School teacher Greg Richardson has been chosen as the recipient of the 2021 Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ (OFSAA) Leadership Award. He was acknowledged during the OFSAA AA Boys’ Volleyball tournament for his achievements over a 27-year-career.

Director presents annual report

Myles presented the Director’s Annual Report at the Board meeting, highlighting the work done by staff and the Board.

Myles said he was “happy and proud” to release the report, in which was woven references to the board’s MYSP and its four pillars: Excellence in Teaching and Learning; Excellence in Innovation; Excellence in Relationships; and Excellence in Communications.

The report also highlighted the governance improvements made by the Board, including the new governance manual, a new finance manual and the streamlined budget reporting process.

Board Chair Jay Aspin complimented Myles, noting that the document was “a top-notch report” in a difficult year.

The Director’s Annual Report can be found here.

Online meetings reduce Trustee expenditures

Trustee expenditures for the year ending Aug. 31, 2021 were shared in the agenda package.

Because COVID-19 measures caused the cancellation of in-person meetings, travel-related expenses reduced trustees’ annual expenditures. The total for the Board (including honoraria, benefits, professional development, auto reimbursement, cell phone, office and professional fees) was $84,956.41.

Chair Aspin noted that “as a group, we have really saved a lot of money.” He said pre-COVID the total was usually $120,000 or $125,000, referring to the savings as “a silver lining” of the pandemic.

Trustee Louise Sargent added that online meetings also meant that trustees “didn’t have to pick and choose” and had more opportunities to attend more professional development and learning sessions.

Chair outlines six key Board priorities

In his address to the Board, Chair Aspin outlined six challenges for the Board to tackle in this last year of its mandate.

Calling them “broad brush priorities,” Chair Aspin said providing quality education and keeping staff and students safe and healthy in the face of COVID-19 was a focus, as are overseeing the implementation of the MYSP, completing new school builds in North Bay (Fricker) and Parry Sound (JK-12), supporting improvement in human resource allocation, continued expansion of community partnerships and communications and to advance the North Bay facilities study.

Board approves draft audited statements

Trustees approved the draft audited consolidated statements for the year ending Aug. 31, 2021.

Vice-Chair Cochrane, who chairs the audit committee, said the committee had “a nice, clean report” from auditors KPMG and praised the work of Superintendent of Business Seija Van Haesendonck and Manager of Finance Wende Proulx.

Student Trustee reports on school activities

Student Trustee Cecilia Darling’s report covered work taking place through the Ontario Student Trustee Association (OSTA), as well as activities in local schools.

Of note in her report, OSTA’s Environmental Sustainability Working group is working towards developing an environmental sustainability handbook to act as a guide for students and schools across the province. The guide will outline how communities can work towards developing more environmental consciousness. She added that NNDSB’s Senate team is looking at environmental sustainability to ensuring recycling is done safely and efficiently.

Student Trustee Darling noted two NNDSB schools participated in Ontario Federation of Secondary Athletics Association (OFSAA) championships, including Chippewa’s Boys AA Volleyball team (which hosted and won the championship) and Almaguin Highlands’ Girls A Basketball team attended OFSAA in Smithville.

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Note: the full agenda package is posted on the website prior to meetings, and official minutes are posted after they are approved at the next board meeting.

For more information, please contact:

Deb Bartlett (she/her)
Communications Officer
Near North District School Board
P. (705) 472-8170 ext. 5010
E. Deb.Bartlett@nearnorthschools.ca

Positive momentum continues, as shown in annual report

December 9, 2021 By Deb

Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021

Positive momentum continues, as shown in annual report

In a year in which people continued to struggle through the second year of a global pandemic, Near North District School Board (NNDSB) staff shone. Director of Education Craig Myles proudly presented the 2020-2021 Director’s Annual Report to trustees at Tuesday night’s Board meeting.

Woven through the report were references to the board’s Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP) and its four pillars: Excellence in Teaching and Learning; Excellence in Innovation; Excellence in Relationships; and Excellence in Communications. Although the MYSP wasn’t official until the June 2021 Board meeting, all stakeholders were kept apprised of the progress and the work taking place during the plan’s development. With input from a variety of sources, NNDSB’s MYSP prepares every stakeholder group to focus on the goal of student achievement and well-being.

The Director’s Annual Report also shared highlights of the Board, such as the creation of a new governance manual, a finance manual and streamlined budget reporting process.

“I am happy, and proud,” said Myles during his presentation to the Board on Tuesday. He said the annual report is “one of accomplishment and success of staff and students…in the face of (COVID-19) pandemic.”

Myles said credit for the work must be given the “strong team” that comprise the board. “Without these groups, this report would not be possible,” he said.

Board Chair Jay Aspin complimented Myles, noting that the document was “a top-notch report” in a difficult year. “We continue to strongly support our Director’s efforts to reform and rejuvenate this board and the results are apparent.”

The Director’s Annual Report can be found here.

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For more information, please contact:

Deb Bartlett
Communications Officer
Near North District School Board
P. (705) 472-8170, extension 5010
E. Deb.Bartlett@nearnorthschools.ca

Board approves audited 2020-2021 financial statements

December 8, 2021 By Deb

Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021

Board approves audited 2020-2021 financial statements

As recommended by the Audit Committee, Near North District School Board last night approved the draft audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended Aug. 31, 2021. The audit was conducted by KPMG and resulted in a clean audit opinion. No significant control deficiencies were noted, indicating that the finance department continued to work effectively during the disruptions presented by the pandemic.

Highlights of this year’s statements include an increase to operating accumulated surplus of $3.1 million, and additions to capital assets of $8.9 million.

Chair of the Audit Committee, John Cochrane said, “Once again, thanks to a totally impressive team effort led by our Superintendent of Business Seija Van Haesendonck, and Manager of Finance Wende Proulx, our audited financial statements are a shining example of the way your Board wisely spends our taxpayer funds. Congratulations to all involved!”

The Audit Committee also presented a year-end report, which Trustees approved, and will forward to the Ministry of Education for the year ended Aug. 31, 2021.

The statements may be found in the agenda package from last night’s meeting.

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For more information, please contact:

Deb Bartlett
Communications Officer
Near North District School Board
P. (705) 472-8170, extension 5010
E. Deb.Bartlett@nearnorthschools.ca

Chair, Vice-Chair acclaimed at organizational meeting

December 7, 2021 By Deb

Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021

Chair, Vice-Chair acclaimed at organizational meeting

Chair Jay Aspin and Vice-Chair John Cochrane were acclaimed at tonight’s organizational meeting of Near North District School Board (NNDSB), signalling trustees’ continued support of Board leadership.

Director of Education Craig Myles, as secretary of the Board, presided over tonight’s meeting until the Chair was elected.

The two have held these positions with this Board since it was elected in the fall of 2018, through elections and acclamations.

Much has been accomplished under the leadership of Chair Aspin and Vice-Chair Cochrane. Among the highlights are the appointment of a new Director of Education, consistent efforts to improve transparency and processes, the creation and implementation of a governance manual and the development of a Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP) that sets the course for the board through 2026.

After his acclamation, Chair Aspin addressed the Board, thanking trustees for their continued confidence.

Chair Aspin is entering his 21^st year as a school board trustee, and has held elected public office for 43 years, including six terms as a North Bay councillor and a Member of the 41^st Canadian Parliament.

“It is both an honour and a privilege to continue to serve as your Chair. I look forward to continuing to work with Board members, Director Myles and his senior leadership team to support the achievement and well-being of our students and staff,” said Chair Aspin.

After his acclamation, Vice-Chair Cochrane said, “I would like to thank my fellow board members for their on-going support of my work as Vice-Chair, and Chair of the Audit and Finance Committees,”. “My thoughts are focused, of course, on completing our much-needed school in Parry Sound. Our Board remains intent on pupil and staff safety throughout this coming year.”

Director Myles is grateful that Chair Aspin and Vice-Chair Cochrane were willing to let their names stand for another term. “This board has made remarkable progress in so many areas under the leadership of Chair Aspin and Vice-Chair Cochrane. NNDSB is fortunate to have a stellar group of trustees who are passionate about the work they do on behalf of students. I believe that more good things are to come with them guiding the Board for another year.”

This will be the final year of this Board’s mandate; the next municipal election will be held Monday, Oct. 24, 2022.

Chair Aspin said, “As this is our last year of this term as the Board of Trustees, let’s continue to reform and rejuvenate the board with the good work we have achieved together since 2018.”

The Chair said the key challenges the Board will focus on this year include providing quality education while keeping staff and students safe and healthy in the face of COVID-19, full implementation of the MYSP, completion of new school builds at Fricker and the Parry Sound JK-12 build, support improvements in human resource allocation, effective continued expansion of community partnerships and communications and to advance the North Bay facilities study.

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For more information, please contact:

Deb Bartlett
Communications Officer
Near North District School Board
P. (705) 472-8170, extension 5010
E. Deb.Bartlett@nearnorthschools.ca

December Letter to Families

December 3, 2021 By Deb

Friday, Dec. 3, 2021

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This monthly Letter to Families is intended to keep you apprised of news that affects all students and families of Near North District School Board (NNDSB). The Letter to Families is distributed on the first Friday of the month.

Child vaccine clinics: The North Bay Parry Sound Health Unit is hosting COVID-19 vaccination clinics for 5- to 11-year-old children in the coming weeks. You can find out more information about clinic dates and times here.

Some of these clinics are being held at area schools. The school clinics are not during school hours and the expectation is that children will attend with an adult who will consent on their behalf. According to our local health unit, there is no age of consent for vaccinations, but nurses determine if a child can make that decision and understand the consequences prior to vaccination. For more information about Child Vaccination Clinics please call the health unit at 1-844-478-1400.

Travel at December Break: With the holiday season approaching, it is anticipated that many staff, students and families will choose to make travel plans for the December break. Ahead of the break, we would like to share some information about directives related to international travel and quarantine requirements.

Individuals must follow federal testing and quarantine requirements upon return from any international travel. This includes not attending school or childcare for the 14 days following a return from international travel for individuals advised to quarantine or not attend school/childcare upon their return.

While unvaccinated children under the age of 12 who travelled internationally with a fully vaccinated companion are exempt from federal quarantine, they are not permitted to attend school or childcare for 14 days following their return. Generally, individuals who are fully vaccinated are exempt from federal quarantine and may continue to attend school or childcare. Individuals with all other federal quarantine exemptions (e.g., travelling for cross-border custody arrangements; travelling for medical treatment) may also continue to attend school or childcare. For more detailed information, please contact our local health unit.

Rapid Antigen Testing during December Break: On Nov. 18, 2021, the Minister of Education announced a program for rapid antigen testing for all Ontario students during the December break. Before the break, every student in Ontario will be sent home with a rapid antigen screening kit that contains five tests. These kits will support all students to complete voluntary screening at home prior to their return to the classroom in January.

If a student tests positive using the rapid antigen screening, they must follow local health unit guidance which includes isolating and getting a confirmatory test at a local testing site. More information about this program will be shared once it is received from the Ministry of Education.

Winter Timetabling for Secondary Schools: For the winter semester starting in February 2022, the Ministry of Education has announced that all secondary schools may resume a regular timetabling model of four courses per day, unless not supported by the local Medical Officer of Health.

We are currently working with our local health unit to finalize how timetabling will look in our NNDSB secondary schools and will share further information once it is available to us.

Time-limited Health and Safety Measures in Schools: To mitigate risks associated with the colder weather and gatherings/travel over the winter holidays and to limit the number of contacts for unvaccinated populations especially in elementary schools, the Ministry of Education is implementing enhanced health and safety measures for schools. These measures will remain in place until the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health recommends they be lifted, and include:

virtual-only parent teacher conferences/interviews in elementary and secondary schools;
starting in January, virtual-only assemblies in elementary schools.
restricting lunches/breaks to classroom cohort when indoors, where distancing between cohorts cannot be maintained in elementary schools.

In addition, all elementary and secondary schools will be required to implement daily onsite confirmation of screening prior to/upon arrival at school for at least two weeks following winter break. Please ensure your child completes their COVID-19 school screening before attending school each day. Starting on Jan. 5, teachers will confirm completion of this screening each morning during daily attendance. The screening tool can be found here.

More COVID-19 information may be found in this memo from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Thank you to all parents, guardians, community members, staff and students who took the time between Nov. 15 – Dec. 3, 2021 to complete the School Climate Survey. This survey is important because a safe, inclusive, and accepting school environment is essential for student success and well-being.

The data collected from the School Climate Survey is used to inform the development of Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plans and to build strategies into School Improvement Plans to improve school climate. We appreciate your participation!

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) provided an informative parent session on Nov. 17, 2021, that was well attended by parents/guardians from throughout our district. Feedback from the session was very positive; parents/guardians were highly encouraged by the number of resources C3P provided. One area of focus was how to have positive conversations with kids so that they feel supported and safe while online. More information can be found on a variety of C3P’s platforms, including:

Protectchildren.ca – the Canadian Centre for Child Protection’s main website with resources for families to help keep kids safe;

Protectkidsonline.ca – a one-stop shop for all things about internet safety;

DontGetSextorted.ca – a website with information about sextortion – including a video, lesson plan, tips to stay safe, and information about reporting;

NeedNelpNow.ca – a website designed to help teens stop the spread of sexual pictures or videos and provides support such as information about how to involve a safe adult, helping a friend, and the laws in Canada/how to report;

Cybertip.ca – Canada’s tip line to report the online sexual exploitation of children;

Cybertip.ca Alerts – notifications sent out to inform the public of concerning technology trends and new resources designed to increase children’s personal safety.

MLI HOMESTAY, one of NNDSB’s partners, is seeking families to host international students coming to North Bay in late January 2022.

Students are coming for long- and short-term studies. They will live as a member of the family, and compensation is provided to assist with expenses.

To learn more, contact Andrea Corbeil at acorbeil@mlihomestay.com , call 705-845-1988 or visit www.mlihomestay.ca.

Director of Education Craig Myles sends his best wishes to all students, staff and families for a most joyous holiday break.

COVID-19 has affected all over us over the past two years and as immunization has reduced the morbidity of the virus, we are seeing the return of some pre-pandemic activities at schools and in the community.

The Director is grateful for the board’s COVID-19 team for its leadership, and all staff and families for their diligence in adhering to the COVID-19 protocols that have kept NNDSB schools free from outbreak. We must balance the importance of friends and family, with awareness of the risks of gathering over the holidays.

Season’s greetings to all NNDSB staff and families.

NNDSB follows the direction of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and the public health unit when devising COVID-19 plans.

Thank you,

Near North District School Board

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Check us out! NNDSB secondary schools hosting open houses

Mapleridge Public School students create human chain to help local food bank

Writing task results in a sweet deal for Sunset Park Public School students

Letter to Families from Education Minister Stephen Lecce

JK-12 Program department develops several methods of learning math

JK-12 Program department develops several methods of learning math

Board Highlights for December meeting

Board Highlights for December meeting

Positive momentum continues, as shown in annual report

Positive momentum continues, as shown in annual report

Board approves audited 2020-2021 financial statements

Board approves audited 2020-2021 financial statements

Chair, Vice-Chair acclaimed at organizational meeting

Chair, Vice-Chair acclaimed at organizational meeting

December Letter to Families

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