Dear Niagara Catholic families:
As you have likely heard by now, this afternoon, Premier Doug Ford, Education Minister Stephen Lecce, and Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams announced that schools would not reopen on Monday, April 19, following the spring break. This is an open-ended school closure, with the reopening date directly tied to the community's transmission rates.
We understand that this information conflicts with messaging sent out by the Minister of Education over the weekend. However, in response to the escalating number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario, which have now grown to levels beyond what was seen in January during the month-long school closure and have exceeded the projections for a worst-case scenario for the third wave, we believe that this is a safe, responsible decision for everyone.
We understand that this is challenging for families and are grateful that the announcement came early in the week to allow parents time to plan for the pivot to virtual for what we hope is the last time this year.
Our Senior Staff and the Board's COVID leads will meet early Tuesday to finalize plans for the coming weeks of learning at home. As you already know, schools will be open for students with complex special education needs who do not learn well online. We also understand that there are families that will require technology for your child(ren) to learn successfully from home. We will provide more information to these families, and all families, about how the return to school will look on April 19 in the coming days.
In the meantime, we hope that you and your family enjoy the change of the break's pace and are safe and well.
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Good afternoon:
A short while ago, Premier Doug Ford announced that Ontario will enter a modified version of the grey/lockdown zone for 28 days, beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, April 3.
There had been much discussion about the potential for a return to virtual learning, but the Premier has advised us this will not happen after Easter or the upcoming spring break, which will continue as planned.
However, if there is one thing we have learned in this past year it’s to be prepared for any possible changes, including a return to virtual learning after the April break if case counts do not significantly decline during the lockdown. We ask you to please be prepared for any eventuality, but hope our schools will remain open for in-person learning.
Minister Lecce has indicated he will send a letter home to families after Easter, in advance of the spring break, and we will share that letter with you when we receive it. For now, we are happy to communicate that our schools will be open to students learning in-person on Tuesday, and through the rest of the week.
Please do all you can this Easter weekend to relax and safely enjoy the break. Please follow the lockdown guidelines so that this one, hopefully, is the last one.
God bless, and Happy Easter
Camillo Cipriano
Good evening Niagara Catholic families.
As you may have heard by now, Premier Doug Ford is scheduled to make an announcement about enhanced safety measures in Ontario in an effort to reverse the trend of rising case counts of COVID-19 in the province tomorrow, Thursday, April 1. While we don’t know the specifics, we do know that Niagara has seen a disturbing trend in rising cases of COVID-19, and we believe it is important to be prepared for the possibility of returning to virtual learning after the long weekend.
With that in mind, we ask parents to please remind their children to please bring home all personal items and learning materials they may need for remote learning when they leave school for the Easter weekend.
As we have in the past, Niagara Catholic will continue to provide assistance with technology to families in need, if we are directed to pivot to online learning.
We will ensure all families are aware of the information from Premier Ford’s announcement through our School Messenger, Board website and social media platforms as soon as it becomes available.
This year has presented many challenges, and as I mentioned in my letter prior to the start of Holy Week, I am so proud of all you and your children have done to make the best of a very difficult situation. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do.
We all have an important role to play in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in Niagara, and I encourage to you please do your part by following the local and provincial guidelines this weekend so that our schools and sites continue to be safe, healthy places for our students and staff when we return.
Have a peaceful Easter.
God Bless
Camillo Cipriano
By Bernie Puchalski - BP Sports
For the past 32 years and counting, Agi Mete has been influencing students in the classroom, and on basketball courts and lacrosse fields.
The 53-year-old Welland native started teaching in April 1990 at Notre Dame until the end of that school year and then spent the next 15 years at Lakeshore Catholic. The law, civics, and economics teacher is now in his 17th year of teaching at his alma mater, Notre Dame, where he continues to coach and serve as the student council advisor.
At Lakeshore Catholic, the Western economics and Niagara University masters of education graduate, coached midget, junior and senior boys basketball for several years and launched a boys lacrosse program at the Port Colborne high school. He spent several years coaching senior basketball there with good friend, Steve Atkin.
He continued on when he arrived at Notre Dame.
“They already had a pretty successful boys lacrosse program so my first year I started a girls lacrosse program.”
He has continued to run the lacrosse program and has also coached junior and senior girls basketball for the past five or six years.
“Coaching and teaching go hand in hand,” Mete said. “The relationships in the classroom are one thing and I love getting to know kids on an academic level but, to me, the real relationships start in the after-school hours in those opportunities where you are working with kids in something they are very passionate about.
“It really is about those special relationships you form with kids when they are participating in a sport they passionately love and will remember doing for the rest of their lives.”
He feels coaching is about much more than just sports.
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