Message to Parents
Hello Parents,
RIBMS wants to provide you with some information regarding the COVID-19 virus (aka Coronavirus) and its impact on RIBMS and Palliser. It is important to know that Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Alberta Education are taking the lead and directing the response to this virus. Palliser is following their guidance at all times. Central Office personnel have been in contact with AHS officials to help manage the response and they have been relaying updated information regularly to us.
As you know we are a busy school with many experiences outside the building. RI Baker also welcomes many international students and exchanges. We will be following the direction of AHS officials when it comes to school trips and excursions. Our communication will be strong with parents and students who are involved in our trips. At this time we have postponed exchanges planned with schools from Ukraine. We will not be receiving any students from Asia for the remainder of the school year. Our annual Marine Biology experience will continue as of now, but we are always monitoring AHS and travel recommendations daily.
Alberta Health Services is emphasizing action to minimize the spread of the virus. Schools have been asked to:
- Keep up to date with official information from AHS;
- Prioritize cleaning and disinfecting high touch areas (e.g. door knobs, desktops, etc.) as part of the cleaning process;
- Encourage the use of techniques to prevent the spread of the virus such as:
- Proper hand washing protocols;
- Cover coughs and sneezes with something other than hands (e.g. elbow or tissues);
- Avoid touching eyes nose and mouth with unwashed hands;
- Stay at home if you are feeling ill;
- Reinforce no-sharing protocols (e.g. no sharing of food or water bottles).
We also want to make sure we are doing as much as we can to lower the level of anxiety related to the virus. We can all help with this by remaining calm and providing timely information from official sources such as AHS. Please continue to monitor your children for signs of anxiety related to this virus and help them address those feelings. We will also do this at the school level.
In terms of taking care of yourselves and your children, we ask that you follow the guidelines listed above (handwashing, covering coughs, staying home if you feel sick, etc.) As well, if you have medical questions, we would encourage you to call the Alberta Health Link by dialing 811 or visit the link below.
https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/topics/Page16944.aspx
We are grateful for the outstanding students and parents we have at RIBMS. We appreciate all that you are doing to lower anxiety in our students and minimize the spread of any germs.
Mr. Prebs.