Enhanced Safety Measures

Dear AVS families,

Last week, our Superintendent shared all students will return to school on January 10, 2022, after an extended winter break, allowing schools to adapt to the impacts of the Omicron variant that is affecting our province.

Over the last few days, our school has been busy preparing continuity of learning plans and enhanced safety measures in advance of students returning to school on Monday. It is with this letter that we wanted to remind families of our ongoing measures and share the enhanced protocols we are implementing to keep students and staff safe.

Health & Safety Measures

Guidelines and existing protocols that have succeeded in minimizing the spread of the virus in schools include:

• Doing daily health checks and staying home when sick.
• Encouraging everyone who is eligible to get fully vaccinated.
• Using available space to spread out and to respect the personal space of others.
• Wearing masks in accordance with the Provincial Health Officer Order on Face Coverings.
• Cleaning hands regularly.
• Cleaning and disinfecting all surfaces at least once a day.

Our school's new enhanced health and safety measures will also include:

• All staff meetings have been facilitated online on Microsoft Teams.
• Moving all meetings/gatherings/events to virtual including assessment meetings.
• Limiting visitors for essential purposes as well as requiring appointments to be scheduled.
• create more space in the classrooms as well as reconfigure them to avoid face-to-face seating arrangements where possible. When not possible, we have added plexi-glass barriers as an added measure of protection.
• Reinforcing measures such as hand hygiene, masking and physical distancing.
• Although there are no changes to physical education and intense activity, teachers will adjust activities to reduce crowding.

Next Steps

We have been very successful with our safety measures and protocols which is a testament to our staff and students. With this new variant, we may need to be prepared to go into a functional closure if deemed necessary by the district or public health. More information will be available on our school district website.

We will also continue to keep you updated via the school website and email. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. 604-859-9803 or avsoffice [at] abbyschools.ca.

We want to thank everyone for doing their part in keeping our school safe. We are in a privileged position with our hybrid model and smaller population, but our collective commitment to following protocol and safety measures is what will keep our school safe.

The health and safety of students, staff and our entire AVS community remains a priority and it is imperative that we all make every effort to keep each other safe. As we continue to support one another to remain healthy this winter, we remind you to conduct a daily health check for your child and keep them home if they are experiencing any symptoms.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Thank you for your ongoing understanding and cooperation.

Sincerely,

Zhi Su

District Principal