Topics covered in this post:
1. Gong Hei Fat Choi
Xīnnián hǎo
Chúc Mừng Năm Mới
Saehae bok mani badeuseyo
Happy New Year!
2. COVID-19 Update
a) JICS Daily Screening
Thank you to all parents for your diligence in completing the daily screening for children by 8:00am! Here is some recent data:
Monday, January 31: 80% compliance (completed by 8:00am)
Tuesday, February 1: 85%
Wednesday, February 2: 81%
Thursday, February 3: 82%
Students who arrive at school without the screening completed by 8:00am remain outdoors or wait in reception until the screening has been successfully submitted.
b) Vaccination Update for Eligible Students (182 students)
1st dose: 5%
2nd dose: 22%
The JICS Lab School strongly recommends that all parents get their children vaccinated as soon as reasonably possible. Please log into your SFO account to update the school regarding your child/ren’s vaccination status. Use the link provided to you at the end of the SFO form to upload your child/ren’s vaccination certificate. Even if your child currently is not vaccinated or partially vaccinated, please fill out the form now. When your child’s vaccination status changes in the future, please contact Shama Joshi, School Office Administrator, to re-assign the SFO form for you to update your child’s record.
All eligible JICS Lab School children must be fully vaccinated for the 2022-2023 school year and provide proof of vaccination.
c) Rapid Screening Program Participation (271 individuals)
Sunday, January 30: 90% compliance (results submitted by next day)
Wednesday, February 2: 86%
Thank you for your participation in this extra layer of security! We are hoping to receive our next shipment of Rapid Tests from CDL soon.
d) Reporting Cases
We are committed to reporting positive cases of COVID–19 (confirmed by PCR or RAT) and cases when children at school are sent home with COVID-like symptoms to JICS families who are directly impacted. Based on the new provincial guidance, being in the same classroom cohort is not considered a close contact because preventive and protective measures are in place.
3. Midterm Holiday
The Lab School will be closed (Nursery to Grade 6) on Friday, February 18 and Monday, February 21 (Family Day). We wish everyone a well-earned mid-term holiday. The Daycare is open for registered users on Friday, February 18. Please contact Daycare Director, Anne Marie for more information.
4. Parent Education Events
TONIGHT | 7:00-8:00pm
Book-Ticket Event with Jesse Wente
Thank you for registering and purchasing a copy of Jesse Wente’s new book, Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance. We look forward to the fireside chat moderated by Kerry Thompson, JICS parent and social justice warrior. If participants would like to send questions in advance, please feel free to email them to Kerry.
See full details on our events page
February 16, 2022 | 7:00-8:00pm
Parent2Parent Conference (The Mabin School)
JICS Parents are invited to this Mabin School Parent Education event, a “conference for parents, by parents.” For more information, visit www.mabin.com and click on the News & Events tab.
February 24, 2022 | 7:00-8:00pm
The Importance of Recognizing, Treating, and Preventing Concussions in our Children with Dr. Charles Tator
Concussions are important because there are so many of them, and they all don’t get better. We are fortunate in Ontario that the Ministries of Education, Health and Sports have come together to create PPM158 in 2014 and then Rowan’s Law in 2018 to reinforce to all Ontarians that they should know something about concussions to protect themselves and their children from the ravages of concussion. In schools, this means If we are informed about concussion we can recognize when a concussion has occurred, and we can institute early, informed treatment and we can prevent some concussions from happening and prevent others from progressing to long term suffering. You probably get the picture that concussion requires a multidisciplinary team and a coming together of people from schools, homes, and physicians’ offices to deal with this problem. I will be stressing teamwork in my discussion with parents and teachers at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Laboratory School, at OISE, U of T.
Dr. Charles Tator, Neurosurgeon
Dr. Charles Tator trained in Neurosurgery and Neuropathology and was Chair of Neurosurgery, at the University of Toronto. He was chief of Neurosurgery at the Toronto Western Hospital, and was a founder of ThinkFirst, Canada, a national brain and spinal cord injury prevention foundation, and Parachute Canada, a national injury prevention agency. He held two research chairs at the University of Toronto, and is an Officer of the Order of Canada, and an inductee of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. Currently, he is a Scientist in the Krembil Brain Institute and Director of the Canadian Concussion Centre at Toronto Western Hospital. His book on Catastrophic Injuries in Sports and Recreation was published by the University of Toronto Press, and his Practice Primer on Concussions appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. He is the author of 437 publications in peer review journals. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neurotrauma and the Neuroscientist and is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Concussion.
If participants would like to send questions in advance, please feel free to email them to Chriss.
Recording of Lunch & Learn with Ellie
If you missed last Thursday’s Lunch & Learn with Ellie (Riding the Waves: A review of recent literature on predictors of parental resilience and burnout during the pandemic), the recording is available on our Parent Education page!
5. Lice Check
One of the many initiatives the Parents’ Association funds are the annual (3 times a year) lice checks. The Lice Squad were in the building last week and we are very happy to report that JICS is lice free!
6. Upcoming February Events
African Heritage Month
Wed 16 – Parent Ed Event: Parent2Parent Conference (by The Mabin School). 7:00-8:00pm. More information
Fri 18 – Midterm Holiday (School closed. Daycare open)
Mon 21 – Family Day Holiday (School & Daycare closed)
Wed 23 – Anti-bullying Day
Thurs 24 – Parent Ed Event: Concussions with Dr. Charles Tator. 7:00-8:00pm. RSVP
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