Dear, John MacNeil Families.

As part of our preparation for the reopening of school, I am pleased to share the following information:

• Our shared health is our shared responsibility. All families and staff members must complete the daily Covid Screening Tool before coming to school each day.  You can find the checklist using this link: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/docs/Daily-COVID-checklist-en.pdf  and it is also available on our webpage.  Please keep your child at home when they are ill, even if their symptoms are mild, and contact 811.  By monitoring daily, we are all doing our part to protect our shared health.

• All students will be required to wear a face mask when travelling on the school bus. 

• All students in grades 4, 5, and 6 will be required to wear a face mask in the school when they are unable to physically distance.  This includes Grade 3 students in a 3/4 combined class.

• We will be giving two cloth facemasks to each student on the first day of school.

• Staff have been busy reorganizing classrooms and common areas to maximize space to support physical distancing.

• Our scheduled Curriculum Night and Ice Cream Social will not occur on September 4th as planned. Classroom teachers will be contacting all families on the 3rd or 4th to welcome your child to their class.

• Students will be spending a significant amount of time learning outside when possible.  Please be sure to dress for the weather.

• We will be spending a significant amount of time in September teaching routines for handwashing/sanitizing, wearing masks and ‘Cough and Sneeze etiquette’.  Having these discussions at home and practicing before school starts with help everyone feel more comfortable with these routines.
             
• All students are asked to bring their own water bottle each day.  New students to JMES, including primaries, will be given new JMES water bottles to match the ones that were distributed last year. 

• Please label ALL belongings and masks.  We will not have a LOST & FOUND area this year.

I will share another update on Monday, August 31st.

We understand that you have many questions and concerns, and it can be frustrating when we don’t have all the answers right away.  But we can assure you, that your child’s safety is our number one concern as we plan for a very different new school year.   Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to finalize plans for re-opening.  Please reach out if you have any questions.

Neil Daigle, Principal