November 12, 2020

Dear Students and Families of Port Colborne High School,
Upon review of both the fall schedule and our class sizes, and in consultation with the Ministry of Education and Niagara Region Public Health, I am pleased to share that Port High will be included as one of six DSBN secondary schools who are moving to a further revised in-person schedule to better support student learning. The key information about this revised change are as follows:
• Cohorts A & B will be combined.
• This combined cohort will attend together in-person every day (5 days per week) instead of on different days.
• Students will follow the same schedule with the same teachers currently on their timetable.
• There will still be one period per day running from 10:05 a.m.-2:05 p.m. • This change will take effect on Monday, November 30.
• This is in addition to the schedule change to one-week mini-blocks that was shared on November 5.
• NSTS will be updating bus routes accordingly and will commence daily pick-up of students currently eligible for busing starting Nov. 30.
• Both the Ministry of Education and Niagara Regional Public Health were consulted and have no concerns with this new in-person schedule.

Without a doubt, in-person teacher led instruction provides the best learning environment for students, more normalcy during this pandemic and a more regular schedule to help students and families with a more regular daily schedule. I want to stress, however, that while I am excited to welcome students to school every day, student and staff safety is still paramount to us and the DSBN. In preparation for this transition, our dedicated teachers will work together to prepare their classrooms and to support student safety, success and well-being. It is also important that students continue to be vigilant about adhering to the public health guidelines put in place at school and complete the COVID self-assessment tool daily. The self assessment can be found on the home page at www.dsbn.org.
Students in cohort O can continue with fully online learning, but as mentioned in a previous communication, this model is adaptive so families can choose to have their child attend in-person. As we move into this model, the health and safety of your child will remain our top priority. If you have any questions, please contact me at the school.

Sincerely,
Paul Taylor