Dear DAA High School Families,

We are so very excited to see your children in just a few short weeks. We understand that the start to this new year is so very different from every year before.  We can promise you that we have spent the summer planning for a safe and organized structure to our academic year to ensure each and every student is maximizing their learning whether in school, or following at home remotely. We will be stepping outside our comfort zones together.

How COVID-19 has had a positive impact on our learning environment.

The teaching profession is one of the hardest professions on earth because you can always find new and better ways to positively impact student learning.  COVID has pushed us all out of our comfort zone and created opportunities for personal growth and innovative pedagogy using education technology. I’d like to share with you a video clip from one of our outstanding teachers, Mr. Anthony Egan (IB economics). He spent the summer learning how to build a light board from scratch to ensure all of his students, either learning at home or on campus, have a high quality learning environment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0kxd9x29xg&feature=youtu.be

We look forward to welcoming over just under 200 new students in the high school this year. Our orientation will take place on August 26th, from 1:00-2:30pm. We will welcome all students in the main gym, then move into student-led school tours and program specific information sessions. Additional details will be shared to all new families next week. 

Below you will find a visual to explain when each ‘group’ of students will be in school.  We are currently working on grouping students into an A and a B side, taking into consideration our family groupings within and across divisions. We aim to get that out to you as soon as possible for your personal planning purposes. Please know that these groups are fixed as we chose to prioritize family needs so groups cannot be changed. 

We have staggered timings to allow smaller groups of students flowing into the school.  The high school start time is now 7:20am, instead of 7:40am.  We have utilized this gift 20 minutes of extra time in the schedule will be beneficial to the overall academic program.  

We have incorporated a ‘teacher office hour’ into the schedule to accommodate students, either in school or virtually to connect with their teacher to clarify any misconceptions/questions.This addition to the schedule during e-Learning proved essential in keeping our students connected to their teachers and school community. 

With the staggered start schedule, we are asking help from our parents to also stagger drop-off times to help keep social distance protocols in place.  High school students will enter through the pedestrian gate at 7:10.  After passing through the thermal scanner, students will go directly to their MEA class.  Please see the map below:

There are a couple of items we wanted to make you aware of as you prepare for the beginning of the year.

• • Lockers - during the time of social distancing, lockers will not be in use.  Students will carry their items in backpacks to each class.

  • Bring your laptops charged each day along with the charger. Due to covid restrictions students will not be provided school laptops.

  • Pre-packaged lunches will be available for purchase for lunch. Students are encouraged to bring their own lunch from home. 

  • If students have PE while at school, they should wear PE uniforms all day. School bags will be kept in the area in which the class is occurring as change rooms are not in use at this time. 

  • Students may bring water bottles to drink throughout the school day. Due to covid restrictions there will not be water coolers available.

  • Students are encouraged to bring extra masks & writing utensils daily.

  • Don’t forget to make an appointment at Threads for your new school uniforms!

We look forward to providing additional information as we move closer to the official start of school. If you are a new family, we look forward to welcoming your child to the family on August 26th at 1pm in the main gym. Despite the unusual circumstances, we are so excited to start the new year and know that with your incredible support we will continue to learn, grow and achieve great things together!

Wishing you all the best,

Tammy Jochinke

High School Principal, DAA