Return to School Plan 2021-2022

Attending class online is available for:

In-person learning provides many social and emotional benefits, boosts interpersonal skill development and ensures ready access to Greenwood's various community building and learning opportunities. Greenwood strongly encourages students to learn in-person as much as possible.

Greenwood will take a semestered approach to timetabling for 2021-2022. Semestered timetabling minimizes direct and indirect contacts for both students and staff.

Each student will have four subjects timetabled per semester. 

Our Adviser program is a key support for student growth, well-being and community. As such, students will have scheduled contact with their Adviser all year, either through their Adviser course or Adviser sessions.

Students have been scheduled into classes with the goal of minimizing their number of contacts as much as possible while maintaining the school experience. Grade groups at Greenwood are around 100 students or less, and we will consider an entire grade level a single group which can interact. We are hoping that students will be able to interact with others in their grade in a way more similar to a typical school year.

Grade 7 and 8 students have been placed into class groupings of 15-20 students. 

Grade 9-12 students have been placed in classes primarily consisting of other students from their grade level or with a common course load. This scheduling, along with students having only 4 classes per semester, will limit student and staff contacts. 

Students will have an opportunity to socialize with others in their grade level outside of class time (e.g. during lunch).

As a contingency only, students have been assigned to cohorts for the 2021-2022 school year. These cohorts allow the school to move to alternating in-person and online days only if directed that we must do so by Toronto Public Health or the Ontario government. We do not anticipate needing to move to an alternating schedule.

Students in all grades may arrive in the following windows:

All students may use either of the front doors (north or south) when entering the building; the southeast door located near the bike racks may also be used and may be more convenient for students who bike or walk to school. Any door may be used to exit the building.

We are pleased to confirm that we can provide Grade 7 and 8 students with their selected Arts electives for 2021-2022, including instrumental music and vocal music (see “Music” for more information.)

Because we are considering each grade to be a single group which can interact, we have been able to schedule students into their Arts electives for Grade 7 and 8. Students will be mostly with other students from their class groupings in their Arts courses, in addition to some students from different class groupings.

Grade 7 and 8 students can find an updated version of their course enrollments, which includes their Arts Course Enrollments, through the Files & Forms page within the school’s website. The enrollments will be listed in a document titled “2021-22 Course Enrollment Review (August).” If a student has questions about or would like to change their Arts selections, please contact Heather Thomas, Vice-Principal, Deputy Head of School at heather.thomas@greenwoodcollege.org.

• Have COVID-19-related symptoms
• Have communicated the need to learn online in advance (before the date of the absence) AND have obtained approval

Online learning will be delivered using a synchronous learning model. In this model, courses are delivered both in person and online simultaneously by the same teacher(s). Teachers can see, hear and respond to the students participating online via web conferencing, and students can see their teachers and often their classmates as well. 

The goal of this model is to deliver a robust learning experience for students learning virtually from home. This model allows students who have to remain home for health reasons to be able to interact with their teachers and classmates in real time. We have ensured that our teachers and our classrooms have the technology needed to support this model, including:

Asynchronous learning, when students learning remotely may be working offline, will be used at times when it is considered to be the best approach for the student.

The dress code is a daily expression of community respect, togetherness and student professionalism. At Greenwood, it is a visible expression of school pride. Greenwood is exceptionally proud of the variety of items that students can choose to wear in order to ensure a comfortable learning environment.

This year, Greenwood will return to the use of approved school dress code items. A list of approved dress code items can be found here.

Uniform items can be ordered using the Top Marks Ordering Package. For assistance in ordering these items, please contact Top Marks directly at info@topmarks.ca or 1 800 667 7105.

Families are requested to ensure that their child’s school uniform is complete, clearly labeled, clean, and in good repair at all times. It is important to ensure that students have a sufficient number of uniform items to allow for cleaning/laundry. Parents/guardians will be contacted if there is a concern related to their child’s uniform. Students who fail to observe the school dress code will be coached towards an understanding of the importance of Greenwood’s dress code through a series of learning tasks. Students who repeatedly contravene the school dress code will be subject to further consequences as deemed appropriate by the school.

Throughout the school year, there will be various First Dress and Dress Down days. Students should expect to wear First Dress approximately once a month. Dress Down days will occur in association with various school spirit events, special events or fundraisers. Both First Dress and Dress Down days will be communicated to families and students in advance through Week @ A Glance and school announcements. 

All students taking Health and Physical Education should also have a Physical Education uniform (t-shirt and shorts). This uniform may be worn for physical education classes only. Changerooms will be available and monitored for safe use before and after class.

Further information about the uniform expectations can be found in the Greenwood Family Handbook.

Students may bring a bagged lunch and snacks from home. Please note that all food items must be nut-free. Microwaves are available.

All students are encouraged to bring their own refillable water bottle, which they may refill from our hydration stations.

In keeping with the recommendation that students spend time outside during the school day, students in Grades 9-12 have the opportunity to leave campus for lunch at the discretion of their parents/guardians. Students in Grades 7-8 have recess, including the opportunity for supervised time outside in fair weather.

We have added more seating to the Grad Lounge. Only Grade 12 students may eat in the Grad Lounge and they should eat at the tables.

Classroom protocols and practices will continue to be adjusted in order to adhere to health and safety guidelines. Greenwood teachers remain committed to providing a personalized learning environment to, and building a strong relationship with, every student. Some ongoing adjustments students will notice include the following.

As per Ministry of Education guidelines, co-curricular activities are permitted. Greenwood has resumed a more fulsome extracurricular program this year, with increased opportunities for students to participate in person in athletics, arts, clubs and service learning. All activities are carefully planned to reduce the possibility of COVID-19 transmission.

We are currently looking into local outdoor day trips that we hope to offer in the spring, pending Toronto Public Health and Ministry of Education guidelines at that time. We are also planning programming to encourage students to get outside and interact with others safely at the beginning of Semester 2.

Planning for the multi-day outdoor education trips in June, including the trips to British Columbia, also continues.  

As per Ministry guidelines, field trips are permitted. All field trips will be carefully planned to reduce the possibility of COVID-19 transmission. 

We recognize that regular outside time is critical to mental and emotional health, and that being outside greatly reduces the possibility of COVID-19 transmission. We plan to give students as many opportunities as possible to get outside during the school day in fair weather. These include:

Students and staff who begin experiencing symptoms are eligible for take-home PCR test kits, which are available at the school. Point-of-Care Molecular (POC NAAT Assays) tests will also be available onsite for symptomatic individuals who wish to be tested at the school. All staff and student COVID test results must be shared with the Principal and the school nurse. 

Students may return to school if their symptoms have been improving for 24 hours AND they have tested negative on a PCR test or two rapid antigen tests taken 24 to 48 hours apart. Read more details here.

Students and staff awaiting test results who are symptomatic or who have been advised to self-isolate by TPH should remain home. 

The Ontario government has removed masking requirements for schools. As such, masking is no longer mandatory for Greenwood students and staff members. Greenwood highly recommends that students and staff members continue to wear masks while in the school building.

 

 

Greenwood will adhere to provincial guidelines regarding the maximum number of people in any space and physical distancing will be routinely encouraged.

The use of shared spaces (e.g. the Lodge, Learning Commons) is staggered and monitored to ensure that public health guidelines are followed. 

Students and staff should not use physical greetings such as handshakes, fist bumps and hugging. We look forward to when we can do this again, but distanced gestures such as waves and “air high-fives” will have to do in the meantime.

Within classrooms, desks have been arranged to face in one direction and class sizes have been limited to allow as much space as possible between students when seated. 

Student mental health and well-being is an important element of the return to school. Supports for student mental health and well-being will include the following:

Greenwood’s Director, Student Well-being will continue to ensure that we augment our social-emotional wellness programs to address any student anxiety, stress, and emotional response to COVID-19 and the changing learning environment and health protocols. Our Social Worker and School Nurse will also be available as a source of support for students as needed.

Visit Greenwood’s Resource Board and click on “Mental Health Resources” for links to helpful websites and documents.

Our ventilation infrastructure has been recently upgraded and updated in conjunction with our renovation and expansion. 

Our high-quality air filters are replaced quarterly. Our three make-up air units are in excellent working order; one unit was brand new last year, and another is brand new for the 2021-2022 school year. These units replace air exhausted by the building by conditioning fresh air. 

HEPA filters are highly effective at catching particles much smaller than the average virus. For this reason, we have added high-performance HEPA filters to our classrooms and common areas to provide an added layer of filtration and protection for staff and students. 

We have confirmed that our HVAC system is balanced with the appropriate ratio of fresh air.

Some classrooms and spaces have been renovated to support physical distancing. In addition, we have made the following changes throughout the building.

High-touch surfaces (washrooms, doorknobs, light switches etc.) will be cleaned and disinfected regularly. 

An electrostatic sprayer using an approved bleach alternative will be used nightly to disinfect classrooms. Shared objects will be limited and cleaned between uses. 

Students may also wish to have their own disinfecting wipes to wipe down surfaces as an additional precaution.