Vanier Catholic Secondary School
867-667-5901
vcs-office@yukon.ca
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News from Vanier - two important updates - April 8

4/8/2020

 
Dear Vanier students and families:

First, two important updates.  As you can imagine, things have been changing quickly over the last days and weeks and we had been making some specific plans without all the necessary information.  As a result some of our plans need to change.  We apologize for any inconvenience these changes may result in:

1.The distribution of locker contents and learning materials is postponed.   We had been advised to not provide families with any materials from inside the school to ensure the safest and most up to date recommendation are followed to prevent any possibility of the spread of COVID-19.  We don’t want to create any unnecessary risks and in an abundance of precaution, we will wait for official guidelines for the safe handling of all materials from schools as recommended by Yukon Department of Health and Social Services.

2.Home learning will start on Thursday, April 16.  Up until yesterday, we had been operating on the understanding that learning would resume on the 15th.  All communications from Vanier, including yesterday’s emails from teachers, reflected this.  The Department of Education has clarified that classes are suspended until the 15th, inclusive, resulting in the first day of learning at home being Thursday, April 16.
 
Yesterday, our Minister of Education announced that face-to-face classes with students would be cancelled for the remainder of this school year.  We are quite sad that this is the case, but absolutely understand the need to do so in order to limit the spread of COVID-19.  I’ve attached a letter and FAQ sheet – these were also sent out yesterday.

Since staff returned to school on March 30, we have been preparing for this possibility and will be ready to roll out our learning from home program next week as promised.

Each teacher has been asked to develop an educational program for their class to facilitate learning from home.  As mentioned in Monday’s email, the time allotments for this program are:
  • 10 hours per week for Grade 8 & 9 students (3 hours each for Scimatics and Humanities, 1 hour each for Religion, French, PE, and options class); and
  • 3 hours per week per course for Grade 10-12 students

Teachers will choose one of three methods for delivering and accepting assignments with the goal of these being ready for use on April 16.  On that date, you will be able to check what each teacher will be using by checking our school website next week.
  1. Email/posting assignment/instructions to website and collecting and communicating by email;
  2. Google Classroom (accessible through https://portal.yesnet.yk.ca); or
  3. Another technology that was in use prior to the cancellation of classes (e.g. FreshGrade)

In all cases, teachers and staff may host Zoom meetings to facilitate small-group or class-wide discussions or to provide additional support.

If you need help accessing the portal, please start here: https://www.vcss.ca/help.html and watch Mr. Biss’ very helpful video.  The link to the portal login is at vcss.ca under the ‘Portal’ menu.
  • The user name for every student is [student number]@yesnet.yk.ca (e.g. 1234567@yesnet.yk.ca)
  • Most students have a password in place.  If you need it reset, please call the school at 667-5901 any time after 1 pm today or email vcss@gov.yk.ca
  • If you need a student number, please call the school at 667-5901 any time after 1 pm today.  We will ask some questions to verify identity before releasing a student number.  We will not do this over email.
 
We will also be developing some structures to help students need additional support, especially those who were used to being supported by our Educational Assistants.  We are developing plans and structures to make additional help available to students.  Please keep in mind this may look and feel very different from what students are used to receiving in the school.
 
There are still many unknowns with regard to how the next days and weeks will go.  Our commitment to keeping you as informed as possible remains.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions and concerns.
 
Sincerely,
Ryan Sikkes, principal and Jeanette Gallant, vice-principal

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    Upcoming Dates

    ​​​​​​​​​​
    • Tuesday, May 10th - Grade 9 Retreat
    • Monday, May 16th - Grade 12 Retreat
    • Friday, May 20th - No School
    • Monday, May 23rd - Victoria Day, No School
    • Monday, May 30th - Grade 7 Retreat
    • Tuesday, May 31st - Awards 1 - 7pm
    • Thursday, June 16th - Grad Mass
    • Saturday, June 18th - Cap & Gown & Prom
    • Thursday, August 18th - Grade 7 Parent Info Night - 6pm
    • Friday, August 19th - Grade 7 Orientation - 12.30-3.00pm
    • Monday, August 22nd - First day of school
    • Monday, September 5th - Labour Day - No School
    • Thursday, September 8th - 9.40am - Fire Drill 
    • Wednesday, September 28th - Education Act PD Day - No School
    • Thursday, September 29th - School Council non-instructional day - No School
    • Friday, September 30th - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - No School
    • Monday, October 3rd - 12.00pm - Fire Drill
    • Wednesday, October 5th - Grade 8 Retreat
    • Monday, October 10th - Thanksgiving - No School
    • Monday, October 17th - 1:55pm - Hold and Secure
    • Wednesday, October 19th - Grade 10 Retreat
    • Friday, October 21st - 10.20 am - Earthquake Drill
    • Monday, 7.00pm - October 24th - Awards Night 
    • October 31st - November 4th - Grade 10 Literacy and Numeracy Assessment and Grade 12 Literacy Assessment 
    • Wednesday, November 9th - Grade 9 Retreat
    • Thursday, November 10th - 3.30pm - 7.00pm - Student Led Conferences
    • Friday, November 11th - Remembrance Day - No School
    • Friday, December 16th - Last day of school before Christmas break.  Classes will resume on Tuesday, January 3rd
    • January 9th  - Friday, January 13th - Exam Week
    • Monday, January 16th - Education Act PD Day - No School
    • January 23rd - January 27th - Grade 10 Literacy and Numeracy Assessment and Grade 12 Literacy Assessment 
    • Monday, February 20th - 6.00pm - Grade 7-8 Parent Information Night
    • Thursday, February 23rd - 2.50pm - Fire Drill
    • Friday, February 24th - Heritage Day - No School
    • Friday, March 10th - Last day of school before Spring Break.  Classes will resume on Monday, March 27th
    • Friday, April 7th - Good Friday - No School
    • Monday, April 10th - Easter Monday - No School
    • Friday, April 21st -3.30pm - 7.00pm - Student Led Conferences
    • April 24th - April 28th - Grade 10 Literacy and Numeracy Assessment and Grade 12 Literacy Assessment 
    • Monday, May 1st - School Council Non-Instructional Day - No School
    • Friday, May 12th - Grade 12 Retreat
    • Wednesday, May 17th - International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
    • Friday, May 19th - Day in Lieu for Student Led Conferences - No School
    • Monday, May 22nd - Victoria Day - No School
    • Tuesday, May 30th - 7:00pm - Awards 1
    Vanier Catholic Secondary School
    16 Duke Street
    Whitehorse, YT
    Y1A 4M2
    Fax: (867) 393-6370

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Photos used under Creative Commons from Robert S. Donovan, optictopic, jmlawlor, Tobyotter, Parker Knight, cathyse97