Students in Grades 9 and 10 participated in a blanket exercise for Truth and Reconciliation. The blanket exercise involves a Canadian First Nations people history lesson that is experienced rather than heard and a look at First Nations peoples before-and-after colonization and a glimpse of the land before and after treaties were signed. Thank you to Mr. Schiebelbein and Mrs. Johnson for leading the exercise!

Terry Fox Run tomorrow @ 1:15pm. All students and staff are asked to bring in a Toonie for Terry - donating at least $2 each to the Terry Fox Foundation. Thank you for your support!

Tomorrow, September 29th is Orange Shirt Day at Senator Gershaw School. Wear orange and show your support for Truth and Reconciliation.

This weeks parent/guardian update, have a great week!

Gator of the Week - celebrating student character and leadership. This weeks Gator of the Week is Jasper displaying leadership on his Junior A volleyball team, helping with the Junior B volleyball team and working just as hard in the classroom as he is on the volleyball court! Great work Jasper!

<p>Over the past week there have been a number of changes related to the guidelines for schools for COVID-19. We wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of these changes and clarify information related to parent notification when a confirmed case of COVID-19 is shared with our schools by parents. We have also been made aware of social media posts that are circulating that make claims regarding mandatory student vaccinations which are based on misinformation that we would like to address and clarify with our families.</p><p><strong>Recent Changes to the Re-Entry Plan and Health Screening Guides</strong><br>On September 22, 2021, the government updated the guidance document for schools following the declaration of a public health emergency in Alberta. We have made changes to our Prairie Rose Re-Entry Plan to reflect the new guidance document. You can find it, along with government guidance and the CMOH order that supports the changes on our website under the tab <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/12HIeN3oaL24UpdR87fT-NGeKXoTXONIU/view?usp=sharing">COVID-19 Resources</a>. Of particular note, the new health screening guide added a new section related to household close contacts. Until now there was no isolation recommendation for members of a family when someone tests positive for COVID-19. The Chief Medical Officer of Health has added a new section that changes this position. It is now <strong>strongly recommended</strong> that anyone who is a household close contact of someone who tests positive for COVID-19 to stay home for 14 days if they are not fully vaccinated. We recognize that this change will have a significant impact on many families and we encourage you to discuss any questions about this update with your school principal. You can find the changes reflected in updates to our <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/12oedZgsqwxJlmL6yMMLlR86E4PeuvGMG/view?usp=sharing">Student Illness Guide</a> and our <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IJ8D-GrZniZOevr6tKsVJ0NGb-SRMChH/view?usp=sharing">Adult Illness Guide</a>.</p><p><strong>Reporting COVID-19 Cases in Schools</strong><br>As we committed to in our re-entry plan, we have been notifying school communities when parents and staff have self-identified cases of COVID-19 in schools. To date, 10 of Prairie Rose’s 18 public schools have received notifications. When a case is self-reported to a school, the following information is collected to determine if the positive individual was in contact with others:</p><ol><li>What was the first date of symptoms?</li><li>Did the individual attend school when symptomatic?</li><li>If they did attend school, what classes would they have been in contact with?</li></ol><p>When determining whether the individual attended school when contagious, we take the first day of symptoms and go back two days. For example, if we are notified that a student first had symptoms on a Friday and was in school each day that week, we would consider them a close contact of others in the school. However, if we are informed that the first day of symptoms was on a Monday morning and that student had not been in school since the Friday prior, we would not include them on the close contact list. This process of going back two days is the same we used last year when working with Alberta Health Services to identify close contacts. While we understand that families want to know as much information as possible, we also need to balance that desire with an individual’s right to privacy and whether the positive case has an impact on others. This is why we only add positive cases to our reporting when they are deemed to be a close contact with others in the school community. When positive cases are confirmed to have been in class, parents receive a notification via School Messenger informing them of the first positive case along with instructions for accessing daily COVID updates. All the cases are also listed on the Prairie Rose website which can be found here: <a href="https://www.myprps.com/covid-19-reporting">https://www.myprps.com/covid-19-reporting</a></p><p><strong>Social Media Misinformation</strong><br>This past week it was brought to our attention that a post was circulating on social media claiming that school divisions were being deceptive in terms of mandatory vaccines, suggesting changes would be coming after the enrollment count on September 29th. We would like to make it very clear that this is inaccurate and fear mongering information and there have been zero conversations or engagement with school boards about this direction. School boards do not have the authority to mandate vaccinations. Our role is to ensure every student in Alberta has access to a quality education in an inclusive learning environment, which we will continue to support while prioritizing the safety of our students and staff.&nbsp;</p><p>We would like to thank all of our school community for their understanding and support as we navigate another school year of uncertainty. Together we will continue to move forward with providing quality learning opportunities for students, despite the challenges that exist. If you have any questions about the information in this latest update, we encourage you to bring them forward to your school principal.</p><p>Sincerely,<br>Roger Clarke<br>Superintendent of Schools</p>

Reminder coupon books are due back to the school. Please return either the coupon book or $25. Thank you to all those who returned books or purchased them!

September 21, 2021

Sr. Girls Volleyball tonight vs. Foremost @ 6:00pm. Parents only as spectators in attendance, but we will have it live streamed right here on our Facebook page!

Student vote today at Senator Gershaw School. These Grade 12’s are learning to do it for real either this election or next!

This weeks parent update, have a great week!

Senator Gershaw Senior Boys Gators aka Kai are about to play their 3rd game tonight! They are red and Kai is #6. Let's go boys! Senator Gershaw School

<p><strong>Communications Report</strong></p><p>Director of Communications Angela Baron presented an overview of the main communication work that was completed across Prairie Rose during the 2020-2021 year and what was planned for 2021-2022. Some of the highlights of the report include managing COVID-19 communications (notifications, re-entry plans and inquiries), a rebranding of Prairie Rose School Division to Prairie Rose Public Schools, the launch of the new myPRPS (myprps.com) websites for all schools and the division, research and design of the new Home Plus Learning Network, an upcoming internal communications audit, a review of the cold weather section of the current inclement weather policy, and work as part of the design and implementation of the new assurance model that focuses on stakeholder feedback. The full report can be found here: <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tobjYVLxGbCRdpxAA5oDp7bcOntOnzKY/view">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tobjYVLxGbCRdpxAA5oDp7bcOntOnzKY/view</a></p><p><strong>New Brigden School Future Maintenance and Space Utilization</strong></p><p>The board discussed the next steps for maintenance and space utilization at New Brigden School following the board decision on September 2, 2021, to end the school review process and keep the school open beyond the current school year. Trustees discussed and approved on a number of items they would like followed up on including removal or redeployment of portables, continued funding/in-kind support from the community, the addition of a financial update (based on the new funding formula) of New Brigden and all small Prairie Rose schools to the annual board monitoring schedule, and consideration of required maintenance projects at New Brigden School to be added to the Capital Plan.</p><p><strong>Truth and Reconciliation Day – Sept 30, 2021</strong></p><p>The board discussed what was happening across the country and at other school divisions in Alberta in regards to the announcement that September 30, 2021, would be declared a national holiday to commemorate Truth and Reconciliation. As the 30th was not given consent as a provincial holiday, there are varying ways each school organization is handling the day. While some have made it an operational day for all staff and students, other school divisions have decided to make it a non-instruction day or a holiday day. There was some discussion about the difference and impact to the division under each scenario. It was also noted that due to the short timeline, there is some concern that teachers and staff would not be adequately prepared to provide the best possible educational opportunity for students around truth and reconciliation. The board voted 5-1 in favour of making September 30th, for the 2021-2022 school year only, a non-operational day with pay for all staff, to recognize the day for Truth and Reconciliation.</p><p><strong>Advanced Vote</strong></p><p>The board passed a motion authorizing Returning Officer Ryan Boser to hold and advanced vote for the upcoming October 18th trustee election, should there be a slate of candidates in any of the six Prairie Rose wards.</p><p><strong>Welcome of the New Deputy Superintendent</strong></p><p>The board and upcoming Superintendent Reagan Weeks welcomed Mark Heinricks to the meeting and congratulated him on being selected as the new role as Deputy Superintendent. See the announcement here: <a href="https://www.myprps.com/news/chief-deputy-superintendent-announcement-1630611979151">https://www.myprps.com/news/chief-deputy-superintendent-announcement-1630611979151</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>On Wednesday evening, the province declared a state of public health emergency due to the rising number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU admissions in Alberta. A number of additional public health measures were added as a result of the declaration, including a few for schools.&nbsp;</p><p>Starting Thursday, September 16, 2021, the following public health measures will be implemented all Prairie Rose schools:</p><ul><li>Mandatory masking for grades 4-12 in all public areas and when students cannot be spaced two metres apart. <i>Please ensure you send your child to school with a mask.</i> When students are working at their own work spaces, masks may be removed. This follows the same model as the masking requirement from the 2020-2021 school year.</li><li>Each student in grade K-12 is still required to wear a mask while riding the school bus, as per <a href="https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/4a60eb75-5986-4da2-98d0-b9462e46dfcc/resource/c566b20f-dc1e-4265-bbae-97b33ae43cc2/download/health-cmoh-record-of-decision-cmoh-order-34-2021.pdf">CMOH Health Order 34-2021</a>.</li><li>Cohorting will be implemented, where possible, across all grades. Limited seating in common areas will help support this measure at the junior and high school levels.</li><li>Limited seating for spectators who attend indoor sporting or entertainment events to ⅓ capacity. Masking is now required the entire time a visitor is at the school.</li></ul><p>The school division will continue to follow all the other guidelines as laid out in the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/12HIeN3oaL24UpdR87fT-NGeKXoTXONIU/view">2021-2022 Re-Entry Plan</a> including enhanced cleaning and notification to families when positive COVID-19 cases are reported from parents of individuals who attended school while ill. Our online re-entry plan will be updated tomorrow to reflect the new changes stated above.</p><p>We would like to thank all our parents for working with us to promote healthy and safe learning communities, despite the challenges we face, such as reviewing the daily health check each day and keeping your child home from school when sick. We would also like to thank our parents for keeping us well informed related to testing and student illness. Your cooperation promotes a collaborative community approach for maintaining a healthy school environment.</p><p>Roger Clarke<br>Superintendent of Schools</p>

Reminder Parents/Guardians School Council is tonight @ 7:00pm. It will be a combined BIE/SGS meeting and is virtual through Google Meet only. You can find the link on the agenda below! Hope to see you virtually there! https://drive.google.com/file/d/175tA9n4pVitJLapnyPdObrjWgyi-cs8d/view?usp=sharing

<p><strong>2021-2022 School Calendar Adjustment - No School September 30th for Staff or Students</strong></p><p>Earlier this month, we shared with parents that a decision would be made by the board at the next public meeting regarding how to approach the newly announced September 30th federal holiday to recognize Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. The day commemorates and remembers residential school survivors and their families. At the public board meeting held Tuesday afternoon, the Prairie Rose Public Schools Board of Trustees voted in favour of making September 30th a non-operational day, which means that students and staff would not attend school on September 30th.&nbsp;</p><p>Key considerations for the board included:</p><ul><li>It was important for Prairie Rose to recognize September 30th in an official manner, especially considering the new information that Canadians learned this past summer in regards to residential schools.</li><li>Could the day be appropriately recognized and coordinated by staff, under short timelines, to ensure curricular activities reflective authentic and acceptable reconciliation actions?</li><li>Would the Alberta Government move to adopting the national holiday in the future?</li><li>What are other school jurisdictions and organizations in Alberta doing?</li></ul><p>The board felt that it was important to ensure that any student-led activities should be appropriately researched and led by those with knowledge and experience of truth and reconciliation. As such, it was decided that due to the short timelines for implementation, September 30, 2021, would be shifted from an instructional day to a non-operational day for the current school year. The decision does not mean that Prairie Rose has established September 30th as a statutory holiday in the future. When the 2022-2023 calendar is created later this school year, the Board of Trustees will research an appropriate path forward. In the meantime, staff will research and plan for appropriate activities that can be utilized across Prairie Rose classrooms for both future Truth and Reconciliation and the June Indigenous Peoples Day.&nbsp;</p><p>We recognize the short notice for families, but also believe that teaching our students about truth and reconciliation is important work that must be done carefully and appropriately.</p><p>Stuart Angle<br>Board Chair<br>Prairie Rose Public Schools</p>

This weeks parent/guardian update! Have a great week!

Students in Grade 7 set up our mini tipis this week. Great work as they all stayed standing!

<p>On Thursday, September 2, 2021, the Prairie Rose Public Schools Board of Trustees held a special board meeting to discuss the &nbsp;‘consideration of closure of New Brigden School’ process. A motion to discontinue the review was put forward by Board Chair Stuart Angle and passed unanimously. As such, the community consultation meeting that was previously scheduled for September 21, 2021 at 7:00 pm will be cancelled and no further action will be taken towards a feasibility review of New Brigden School.&nbsp;</p>

Do you have 5 gallon buckets with lids you are willing to donate to Senator Gershaw School? Our Farming/Agriculture option is going to create a bucket garden within our greenhouse! We are in need of 5 gallon buckets with lids. If you have any extras you are willing to donate (preferably rinsed) please drop off at Senator Gershaw School anytime or send with your child. Thank you in advance!