March 18, 2020

Dear Parents and Guardians, 

I hope this message finds you and your family very well during these unusual and uncertain times. As you are no doubt aware, the BC Government has issued a medical state of emergency for the Province of British Columbia. They are taking action to “flatten the curve” related to the spreading of the COVID-19 virus in order to support public health and safety. Some current measures being taken include asking citizens to engage in social distancing efforts, closing many public and private establishments where people gather, finding ways to support essential service employees to do their important work, and suspending in-class learning for all K to 12 students, until further notice. All things are changing rapidly and we ask that you stay attuned to the evolving nature of all related information, including the information provided here.

亲爱的家长和监护人:

我希望你和你的家人在非常时期过得很好。众所周知，BC省政府已经宣布BC省进入紧急医疗状态。政府正在采取行动，“拉平”与COVID-19病毒传播有关的“曲线”，以支持公共卫生和安全。目前正在采取的一些措施包括：要求公民之前相互保持距离，关闭公众聚集的公共和私人场所，寻找方法支持基本服务人员完成他们的重要工作，暂停所有K到12年级学生的面授课程，直到另行通知。所有的事情都在快速地变化，我们请您了解所有相关信息（包括此处提供的信息）的不断发展和变化。

Initial Planning 初步规划

We began initial planning for future student learning last week in anticipation of a possible decision to have students remain home from school after the spring break. District staff pre-planned teleconferences with other school districts, the Ministry of Education, and our own leadership team. Our Board Chairperson and myself attended a teleconference with the Minister of Education yesterday. This morning, members of the school district senior team and I attended a teleconference with the Deputy Minister of Education. I am writing to you now to do my best to summarize the most critical pieces of information we have in order to keep you aware of where we are at and what next steps might look like for your child.

上周，我们开始对将来学生的学习进行初步规划，以期春假后学生能够留在家里学习。教育局教职工人员预先计划了与其他教育局、教育部和我们自己的领导团队的电话会议。我们的董事会主席和我本人昨天参加了与教育部长的电话会议。今天上午，我和教育局高级组成员参加了教育部副部长的电话会议。我现在写信给您们是为了尽我最大的努力总结我们现在所获得的重要信息，以便让您了解我们的处境，以及下一步是如何为您的孩子规划的。

Ongoing Student Learning 持续的学习

In-class instruction for student learning will be suspended until further notice. Your child will, however, be provided with ongoing learning. While the learning your child will experience may not be a perfect replacement for their usual in-class instruction, it will provide the opportunity for ongoing learning likely involving a variety of online learning opportunities. Supports will be provided, where possible, for students with special needs. As per the Ministerial direction provided, all students will receive a final mark, will continue to develop in their learning, will advance to their next grade level, and all students eligible to graduate will graduate. The Ministry of Education is currently looking into the graduation requirement of the Provincial Graduation Numeracy Assessment and will get back to principals about this soon. The Ministry of Education is also working with post-secondary partners to ensure continued access for graduating student applications and flexibility during our current situation. Our teachers and support staff will continue to play a key role in supporting student learning in a variety of ways. Our principals will endeavour to maintain ongoing communication with you and your student. Your patience is appreciated in advance as we will need some planning and organizing time before being fully activated with your child and their ongoing learning after the spring break. We also ask that you call your school principal if your child does not have access to wifi or a device.

学生的课堂教学将暂停，直至另行通知。然而，你的孩子还将继续学习。虽然您的孩子将体验到的学习可能不能完全替代他们在学校的课堂教学，但我们将提供持续学习的机会，可能涉及各种在线学习机会。如有可能，将为有特殊需要的学生提供支持。根据教育部部长的指示，所有学生将获得最终成绩，并升入下一个年级，所有有资格毕业的学生将顺利毕业。教育部目前正在研究省级毕业计算能力评估的毕业要求，并将尽快回复校长。教育部还与高等院校合作伙伴合作，以确保在我们目前的情况下，毕业生能够继续申请大学并能够灵活处理。我们的教职工将继续在支持学生学习方面发挥关键作用。我们的校长会继续与你和你的学生保持联系。请耐心等待，因为我们需要一些规划和组织时间，才能充分规划您的孩子在春假后如何继续学习。如果您的孩子无法使用wifi或其他设备，我们也会要求您联系学校校长。

While all planning for student learning is being done simultaneously by various educator teams, we have established an order of focus to ensure the students’ and teachers’ most significant resource needs are met. Our first priority for extensive planning will begin with students in Grade 12 to ensure immediate attention to their on time successful graduation. Planning efforts and access to resources will then prioritize those students in Grades 11 and 10, who make up the rest of the Graduation Program. Our focus will then turn to our Middle Years students, the younger intermediate students (Grades 4-9), and ways to support K to 3 students with ongoing literacy and numeracy development.

在各个教育团队完成所有学生学习计划的同时，我们建立了重点关注顺序，以确保满足学生和老师最重要的资源需求。我们的第一个计划将从12年级的学生开始，以确保他们顺利毕业。然后，通过计划工作和获取资源的方式，优先考虑11年级和10年级的学生。之后，我们的重点将转向我们的初中学生，低年级的学生(4-9年级)，以及幼儿园到3年级的正在进行读写和计算能力发展的学生。

Other Educational Programming 其他教育项目

In-class instruction for student learning is suspended until further notice, but schools are not entirely closed. Some current child care services may remain open. Some additional onsite student programming may be provided for children of families working in provincially identified essential services such as health care, police, fire, utilities, etc. Some student counselling and mental health support may be provided. Some opportunities for students to pick up and drop off materials will be arranged. All of these things are uncertain at this point in time but we will keep you posted as we learn more.

学生的课堂教学暂停，直至另行通知，但学校并没有完全关闭。目前的一些托儿服务可能会继续开放。可能会为在省级确定的基本服务中工作的家庭的孩子提供一些面授项目，例如父母从事医疗、警察、消防、公共设施等工作的孩子。可能会提供一些学生咨询和心理健康支持。学校将为学生安排取/放资料。目前所有这些情况尚不确定，但随着我们了解更多，我们会及时通知您。

Child Stress or Anxiety 儿童压力或焦虑

We also know that in uncertain times such as these, your child may experience stress or be anxious about what is ahead. It is very important that, as adults and advocates, we keep our messaging calm and supportive. Things will all be okay and students will return to their usual school experiences and friendships in the future. Your student is deeply cared about by our staff and we will be connecting with them shortly after the spring break. We have also attached a supportive document with talking points for working with children through uncertain situations.

我们也知道，在这种非常时期，你的孩子可能会感到压力或对未来感到焦虑。作为成年人和倡导者，我们保持冷静和支持是非常重要的。一切都会好起来的，学生们将来会回到他们平常的学校生活和友谊中来。我们的教职工深切关怀您的学生，我们将在春假后与他们联系。我们还附上了一份支持性文件，提供了在此类情况下如何与儿童交谈的要点。

Acknowledgement 感谢

I would like to take the opportunity to thank our amazing staff at SD48 who have been responsive to the rapidly evolving situation in the context of COVID-19. Custodial and maintenance staff have been keeping our schools safe and continue efforts to ensure they are ready for staff and students. All of the educators and support staff had already been working with our students to teach universal approaches to health and wellness and support the ongoing cleanliness of our schools. Our online learning teachers have been proactively initiating plans to support students ahead of these recent announcements. School administrators and district support staff have continued to meet and plan. As always, our many community partners have also provided critical collaboration over the past few weeks.

我要借此机会感谢我们SD48的出色工作人员，他们在新冠病毒疫情下对迅速发展的局势作出快速反应。保安人员和维修人员一直在确保学校的安全，并努力确保学校为教职员和学生做好准备。所有的教育工作者和支持人员已经与我们的学生合作，教授保持健康的方法，为学校的清洁工作提供支持。我们的在线学习老师一直在积极主动地制定计划，在最新公告发布之前已经在为学生提供支持。学校行政人员和教育局支援人员继续开会并制定计划。与往常一样，我们的社区合作伙伴也在过去几周内提供了关键的协作。

In Closing 最后

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this information. We will continue to take direction from the Ministry of Education and the Public Medical Health Officers as developments transpire and new information is made available. Our initial plans for student learning will no doubt evolve and extend as we learn more. We will continue to connect with you in the near future to keep you up to date with what we know and with our planning for your student’s learning and other educational programming in our schools.

感谢您花时间阅读所有这些信息。随着事态的发展和新信息的发布，我们将继续听取教育部和公共医疗卫生官员的指示。我们最初的学生学习计划无疑会随着我们学习的深入而发展和扩展。在不久的将来，我们将继续与您保持联系，以便让您了解最新情况，并了解我们我们在为学生在学校学习和其他教育规划。

Thank you in advance to everyone for your support and your ongoing patience moving forward. Stay well.

提前感谢大家对我的支持和耐心。祝身体健康。

Sincerely,

Lisa McCullough

Superintendent of Schools

此致

海天教育局局长

丽莎·麦卡洛