Dear parents and friends,
We hope you and your families remain safe and are rigorously adhering to the directives from the public health agencies. We are starting to see the light in this coronavirus crisis but we still have a way to go.
As we have mentioned, École Socrates-Démosthène (including our principals, teachers, educators and support staff), and the Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal remain by your side, and are fully committed to providing educational and administrative services to our families to the best of our ability in this new reality.
In addition to the incredible efforts our teachers are making to educate your children from a distance, the Ministry of Education (MEES) has introduced new tools that could also supplement these efforts (please refer to Minister Roberge’s letter at the end of this message). They include:
– The l’École ouverte website, created by MEES, where you can choose from thousands of resources to learn, create and have fun with your children.
– The trousses pédagogiques (educational kits) consist of a menu of fun learning activities allowing students to maintain their skills by school level (preschool, elementary and secondary). They will be personalized by Faculty before being transmitted to you.
– Télé-Québec en classe offers original contents to students from prekindergarten to high school on television and on the Web (please refer to the poster at the end of this message).
Furthermore, the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Children’s Art Gallery of Greece in collaboration with the Greek Section of the International Board on Books for Young People – The Greek Children’s Book Circle, are organizing an International Student Painting Competition: “Near or far, WE are all ONE”, from 10 April to 5 July 2020. Our School and your children, led by our Greek teachers, will be taking part in this, as will thousands of children from around the globe confined to their homes because of the COVID-19 situation.
Also, as mentioned, Socrates-Démosthène is now part of a new radio show Ta Molivia Ston Aera on MikeFM 105.1. Thanks to an incredible collaborative effort by HCGM, our Greek teachers and our students, their families and MikeFM, every Wednesday from 12:00-1:00 pm, we can all witness and hear first-hand what makes our School, and particularly our students, so special. The topic next week will be about Easter.
With the approaching of Easter, we believe it is important for everyone to celebrate this occasion. Therefore, please take note that there will be no educational services offered on Catholic and Orthodox Holy Fridays and on both Easter Mondays. During Orthodox Holy Week, April 14-16, our School will be offering only limited educational services.
We would like to remind you that MEES has ordered schools across Quebec closed until at least the 1st of May because of COVID-19. All Socrates-Démosthène campuses will remain closed during this time as our administrators and faculty are required to work from home.
Faculty has been instructed to use every possible tool at their disposal to educate and communicate. Please keep in mind that no evaluations will be conducted during the school closure. Our School encourages all its students, with the help of their parents, to follow along to the best of their capacity and capability.
Should schools not re-open this year, our students’ final evaluation will be based on the first two completed terms. All ministerial exams have been cancelled for this year. MEES has made it clear that there is no possibility of extending the school year.
Meanwhile, most special activities and outings have also been cancelled until the rest of the school year. We are still hopeful to be able to stage our grade 6 graduation gala in June as well as the grade 6 and high school trips to Greece. These three activities are being reassessed.
As for the school uniform for next year, fitting trials have been cancelled. Our new supplier, Maison d’Uniformes Lemira, is preparing on-line ordering forms that will be available soon.
Finally, please note that every campus has been completely disinfected and will remain so until students and staff return. In addition and until further notice, we have been instructed by MEES not to open campuses to allow anyone to pick up anything.
We would like to take this occasion to wish all our families Happy Easter as we celebrate in these extraordinary circumstances.
The Director General,
Chris Adamopoulos
#Ça va bien aller
