COVID-19 information for parents

Dear parents/guardians,

We are excited to welcome students back for a new school year! After two years of ongoing pandemic control, we are preparing our schools for a return to more normal school life.

In accordance with Public Health guidelines and the Ministry of Education, students and staff do not have to wear a mask or maintain physical distancing in schools, including in classrooms and school transportation (unless otherwise prescribed by Public Health when presenting symptoms or during isolation/symptom monitoring period). Masks will continue to be available for students who wish to wear one. Physical Education, sports, extracurricular and interscholastic activities will resume with no restrictions. General assemblies will be held in person, and one of the two parent-teacher interview sessions will be conducted in person. You will receive more detailed information regarding pedagogical days from your school.

Schools will continue to enforce precautionary measures to ensure our staff and students remain safe. Students will be encouraged to wash their hands often, hand sanitizing stations will be posted in key locations,  and surfaces will be cleaned and sanitized frequently.

You are asked to monitor your child’s symptoms closely.  If your child develops COVID-19 symptoms and did not have this virus in the last two months, your child must stay home and undergo a self-test. Several boxes of self-tests will be distributed to all students in the month of September for usage at home.

For more information on COVID-19 SYMPTOMS and WHEN TO SELF-ISOLATE: https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-issues/a-z/2019-coronavirus/self-isolation/covid-19-self-assessment-tool

To help you determine which ISOLATION GUIDELINES apply to you or your child: https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-issues/a-z/2019-coronavirus/self-isolation/when-do-i-need-to-self-isolate

We work closely with Public Health. If we are directed to reinstate specific measures, we will take all appropriate steps to keep our schools safe. Rest assured that we will keep you informed at all times of any changes that we are requested to implement by the Ministry of Education and or Public Health.

For more information on the latest COVID-19 guidelines, please visit the following websites:

https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-issues/a-z/2019-coronavirus/basic-health-instructions

https://www.quebec.ca/en/education/guidelines-education-covid

On behalf of all EMSB personnel, we wish you and your family a safe school year!