News Board

With cooler weather approaching, we encourage all families to review the HDSB Inclement Weather Reminders. A printable version of this information is also available. If your child is bused to school, please ensure you know which transportation zone you are located in. Please note that when schools are closed due to inclement weather, both in-person and virtual schools will be closed.

The Halton District School Board will once again host the Human Rights Symposium on Thursday, Dec. 9 and Friday, Dec. 10, 2021 to engage in vital conversations and challenge thinking. The theme of this year’s event is Identity and Human Rights to explore how intersecting identities impact one’s access to and enjoyment of Human Rights. This year’s Symposium will be a virtual event for HDSB students (Grade 7-12) and staff to hear keynote speakers Janice Makokis and Spencer West in their classrooms. For more information, visit the Human Rights Symposium webpage or email symposium@hdsb.ca.

The COVID-19 Symptoms - Guidelines for Parents/Guardians has now been translated into the following languages:

العربية (Arabic) हिंदी (Hindi) ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (Punjabi) 中文 (Simplified Chinese) Français (French) Español (Spanish) اردو (Urdu)

Celebrating its 16th Anniversary, The Gift of Giving Back educates and empowers thousands of young male and female athletes and high school students to compassionately give back to their community to support seven member agencies in the Halton Region who need us more than ever.

We encourage our Burlington Central Community to safely collect non-perishable food items and stock the shelves of our beneficiaries this holiday season! From December 2-19, The Gift of Giving Back and Burlington Centre are partnering to host Help Us Feed Kids: Holiday Food Drive to stock the shelves of Burlington food banks and ensure our most vulnerable neighbours are served. #donate

All HDSB schools now provide free menstrual products for students in all female and gender-neutral washrooms. Students can now access menstrual products at no cost in our washrooms.

Access and availability of menstrual products in schools impacts the dignity and self-esteem of menstruating students and can impact class attendance and student achievement. The HDSB Free Menstrual Products initiative is an attempt to address some of the gaps in access to menstrual products to promote awareness and alleviate the stigma of menstruation. Free access to menstrual products supports both gender and economic equity and raises awareness of and destigmatizes menstruation. The Free Menstrual Products initiative aligns with the HDSB’s Equity & Inclusion and Mental Health & Well-Being goals in the 2020-2024 Multi-Year Plan, along with Environmental Leadership goals as the initiative involves the responsible use of menstruation products.

We’ve got you. Period.

Do you have children starting school in Fall 2021? Families are able to register their child online through the HDSB website (hdsb.ca) by visiting the Student Registration page. Please share this information with families who are new to your neighbourhood and those who have children starting school in the fall.

This year, the HDSB Summer Reading Program is going on a road trip across Canada -- virtually, that is, through lots of fun books, events and activities! This program is designed to encourage all students to continue their love of books and reading throughout the summer months. Visit the program website to learn more.

Also, check out the Virtual Author Visits happening this summer!

The HDSB is conducting virtual focus groups with secondary students during the month of June to gather student insight into the HDSB’s response to racism. The purpose of these focus groups is so we can gather your insight about how the HDSB has responded to incidents of racism in our schools. Gathering this information supports the Board’s ongoing accountability to its equity goals, as outlined in the 2020-2024 Multi-Year Plan and the Human Rights Equity Action & Accountability Plan: The Way Forward.

If you are interested in being a part of these focus groups, please complete the Student Insight Conversations on HDSB’s Response to Racism Registration Form by Monday, May 31 at 4 p.m.: http://bit.ly/StudentConversationsHDSB. Participation is voluntary.

The virtual focus groups will take place between 1 - 3 p.m. or 4 - 6 p.m. on the following dates:

• Oakville schools: Wednesday, June 2

• Halton Hills schools: Monday, June 7

• Milton schools: Wednesday, June 9

• Burlington schools: Thursday, June 10

Once students have completed the registration form, students will be emailed a link to a Google Meet for your selected time slot and date. Students who are younger than 18 years of age will need parent/guardian consent to participate. The parental consent form will be emailed to students and can be found here.

The focus groups will be facilitated by HDSB staff in the Equity and Research departments, with school social workers available. The information and insights received will be reviewed over the summer and a report will be developed with recommendations to guide and inform a plan of action and enhanced accountability beginning in the fall.

The HDSB engagement survey Have Your Say is available from April 26 to May 24, 2021. Students are asked to complete the survey during school time and we invite parents/guardians to complete the parent/guardian survey when you have time.

Parent/guardian feedback and support is integral to the success of our students. Your participation in the Have Your Say survey will help us identify opportunities to improve schools and ensure student achievement and well-being are at the center of everything we do.

Visit haveyoursay.hdsb.ca to take the survey now.

The Have Your Say survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. The survey is completely anonymous and individual responses will be grouped together for analysis. For parents/guardians, the survey is available in seven additional languages: Arabic, French, Hindi, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Punjabi, and Urdu.

The HDSB is committed to sharing the results of this engagement survey with the community. A summary of what we hear from parents/guardians, students and staff will be shared by Fall 2021.

Thank you for participating in this survey to provide us with information to support school and system improvement planning.

If you have questions about the survey, please contact Dr. Rossana Bisceglia, PhD, Research Specialist at biscegliaro@hdsb.ca.

This inaugural video features Farah Mohamed (Class ‘89), interviewed for this year’s virtual Excellence Awards.

Listen to her story: Farah inspires our students to imagine, empower and achieve.

We are very proud of our young Trojan who helps put Central in the Community through her fundraising and leadership!

With gratitude! #trojanpride

Brush up on online safety tips by checking out the HDSB's Technology & You resources on the HDSB website (www.hdsb.ca) search: Technology & You, or search #TECHandU on Twitter for technology tips.