May 1st, 2020

As we embark upon the month of May, we want to take this opportunity to thank our students and their families for their efforts over the past four weeks of distance learning. We know this has been an adjustment and challenge for all – thank you for your patience, feedback and contribution.

And because we are a month into distance learning, now is also a good time to seek your feedback. The WRDSB will be reaching out to families, students and staff next week to hear from you how we can better support you and your child (children) through distance learning. Please look for that communication next week.

This week we are announcing a few new resources that we hope will help you.

Distance Learning 101

Learning from a distance is not the same as learning in a classroom, and has taken some getting used to. To help, we’ve created the Distance Learning 101 guide to help understand the basics of distance learning.

If your child has special learning needs, or if English is not your first language, for example, you’ll find information that can point you to supports and resources.

Don’t forget about our Tips for Learning at Home, for some ideas as you look at supporting your child’s learning from home.

Tech@Home: Chromebook Support Site

You are also invited to check out a new online resource for families and students: Tech@Home: Chromebooks. This website contains resources to help students and families troubleshoot technical problems they may be experiencing with their Chromebooks. Stay tuned for more topics – the Tech@Home site will continue to grow to support your distance learning needs.

Supporting Well-being

We know many of you may be feeling increased anxiety and stress as we navigate these uncertain times, so please don’t let any school work become a burden for you or your child. We have listed some resources to support mental health for children and adults and hope you will reach out to your child’s teacher or other school staff who will be able to support you during this difficult time. Your well-being and the well-being of your family needs to be the priority.

We continue to look towards the future, and plan for our eventual return to our schools and classrooms. Please know we will communicate about this as we learn what the next steps may be.

Thank you for continuing to work with us and we look forward to connecting with you again in a week’s time.