Further to the Ontario Chief Medical Officer’s announcement yesterday, we are planning on a return to school date of Wednesday, January 5, 2022 for all levels from Toddler through Junior High.
Dearcroft will continue to maintain our strict COVID-19 policies as we’ve already had in place, including, but not limited to placement of air filters in every classroom, keeping windows open as much as possible, and keeping our materials, classrooms and common areas clean on a daily, ongoing basis.
A new measure Dearcroft will be implementing, with the assistance of the Ministry of Education and the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, will be the use of non-fit-tested N95 masks for all staff at Dearcroft. Non-fit-tested N95 masks meet the same NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) standards as fit-tested N95s but have not been, and are not required to be, fit-tested. The Ministry of Education will require all licensed child care staff to have the option to wear either medical/surgical masks or the non-fit-tested N95 masks provided by government. As soon as these masks are made available to Dearcroft, we will commence this new measure.
For those families who did not collect rapid tests before the holidays, we will have 1 rapid test available per child (1 test only, not a kit of 5 tests) to collect on Tuesday, January 4th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Once we have received further information on protocols from Public Health and the Ministry of Education, we will provide an update on Tuesday, January 4th.
Together, our teamwork will help us see a safe start to the second term. We are especially appreciative of your on-going caution of keeping your children home if there is any uncertainty or symptoms that could spread to others.
The Dearcroft staff sends their gratitude for your efforts at keeping classrooms safe for all.
Thank you kindly and please stay safe, as we head into the new year. Happy New Year to you and your family!