Cowichan Secondary School
2652 James St. V9L 2X2 Duncan, BC, Canada

MACDOWELL RUGBY ACADEMY COMING TO COWICHAN VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT The Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley School District is thrilled to partner with Rob...in MacDowell to bring the MacDowell Rugby Academy to Cowichan Secondary School starting in the 2021/22 school year. With a proven track record of helping foster excellence in students, MacDowell Rugby Academy at Cowichan Secondary School will not only focus on building the skills for a successful career in Rugby and strong academics, but will also foster community leadership in all students. The program is open to students of all abilities and levels in grades 10-12. In addition to regular classes, students will also take classes on the principles of sport, athletic leadership, and rugby. As a Board we are committed to providing the highest quality of educational experiences to our students. Offering a world-class rugby academy for students in the valley and beyond truly fits that mandate, said Candace Spilsbury, Chair of the Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley. MacDowellRugby strives to develop athletes and people, by giving them the tools on and off the field to support their academic, athletic, and life aspirations. The MacDowellRugby team strongly identifies with the idea of developing an athlete to reach a potential that would otherwise be untapped. Their main goal for our aspiring athletes is to Dream big, Believe in themselves, which will ultimately help them Succeed in rugby and life! "I am thrilled that the Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley School District has approved our rugby program! First of all, I would like to thank International Student Program Principal Liz Hollands-Gamble for leading the initiative for the Cowichan Valley alongside her Vice Principal Kevin O'Donnell and Cowichan Secondary School Principal Darcy Hoff, they all have been instrumental in bringing this program to life. Liz was my Phys-Ed Teacher at Mt. Prevost Middle School and was the first person that lit a fire inside me and told me I could do anything I put my heart into, her impact on me at that time was life changing. As she moves onto retirement later this spring I am thankful that her last legacy was to inspire me to realize this dream to bring a fulltime academy to my hometown! offered Robin MacDowell. A COVID-safe student information session will be held at 11:30 am on February 17th in the Cowichan Secondary School gym for interested current students. Quamichan School students will have an information session on February 16th at lunch time in their gym. For interested families that are not able to attend the in-person event, a Zoom information session will be hosted at 7 pm on the 17th. The link for that session can be found on the Cowichan Valley School District, Cowichan Secondary School, and Quamichan School Facebook pages. The program will run out of Cowichan Secondary School and will safely host athletes from around the world. Registration information will be available by contacting [email protected] About Robin MacDowell Robin is an athlete centered coach who has been coaching sports for over 27 years. He was born and raised in the Cowichan Valley and moved to Europe at 19 years old to pursue a professional rugby career in France, and Italy. After returning to Canada he pursued his dreams of representing The Canadian 7s Team on The World Sevens Series. Aside from being involved with rugby at every level across Canada from grassroots, age grade, club, university (Uvic/UBC/University of Regina), provincial programs (BC/Alberta/Saskatchewan), and operating his own Canadian Academy based in Saskatchewan Robin was involved with Rugby Mexico for the 5 years at the international level. Robin has taken his 14 years in business in approaching how he operates his rugby programs. On top of leading Rugby Mexico Women to a historical Rugby 7s World Cup Qualification Robin has been fortunate to work with Rugby Canada in both the 2017 Youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas, the 2018 Youth Olympic Qualifying Champions in Las Vegas where the team went undefeated beating host USA in the Cup Final, Team Canada Men 7s World University FISU Games Naples, Italy, and most recently working with Rugby Canada as Lead Talent Identification Women's National Team Program, as well as Rugby Canada Development Academy in Langford, BC. Working with two rugby nations at the same time has helped shape Robin as a coach and giving him a unique perspective of challenges and opportunities.

Interested in Rugby? Join us on February 17th at 7 pm to find out about Cowichan Valley School District's Rugby Academy by MacDowell Rugby.

BOARD CONVENES AD-HOC COMMITTEE ON ANTI-RACISM At the Open Board Meeting on Tuesday, February 2, the Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley School District ...announced the formation of the Board’s Ad-Hoc Anti-Racism committee. The Board is committed to equity among students and staff, and strives to be a model for our community at large. The Board knows that our schools reflect the community we serve and recent world-wide and local events have shone a light on racist attitudes, policies, and practices that still occur within our communities. The Board is committed to providing each of our learners the best opportunity to create a world of their choosing and to ensure each staff member has a place to work that honours them. This commitment was the basis for the Board’s ‘Community of Care’ pledge. To further that goal and to add action to words, the Board is creating an Ad-Hoc Committee on Anti-Racism. The purpose of this Ad-Hoc committee will be to: - Critically examine our own biases, attitudes, beliefs, values and practices to facilitate truth and reconciliation - Create anti-racism policy for our schools and workplaces that: - Supports a safe environment for all - Establishes a mechanism that supports representation of Indigenous, Black, and persons of colour within schools and workplaces for the District - Create a fair and transparent process when responding to incidents of racism within our schools and workplaces. - Create a Restorative Justice model for dealing with incidents of racism that is inclusive of community organizations and partner agencies. More information will be shared with our communities in the coming weeks and months. The Board is committed to a transparent process and will regularly report to the community on this Ad-Hoc committee.

At last night’s Open Board Meeting, the Board of Education for the Cowichan Valley School District signed the ‘Community of Care Pledge’, putting in writing the...ir commitment to combating hate in all its forms. The pledge is one concrete way in which the Board is responding to the many incidents of racism and injustice. From global Black Lives Matter advocacy to local racism faced by Cowichan Tribes members, the Board wants the community to know they will stand up for all races, cultures, faiths, socio-economic diversities, sexual orientations, and gender identities. The Board has signed this pledge and is opening it up to the community at large to join them in their declaration. Members of the community who want to sign the pledge can simply go to www.sd79.bc.ca/pledge and add their name to the list of community supporters. We truly hope the signing of this pledge signals to our community that we will stand up for what is right and we recognize the specific struggles of so many groups that have been traditionally marginalized we see you, said Candace Spilsbury, Chair of the Board of Education. It is our hope that others will sign the pledge alongside us and send a strong, unified, signal and work towards creating a community of care. The pledge is but one of a number of initiatives the Board is undertaking to bring our community together.

Provincial Scholarship Opportunities for Grade 12 students:

There will be Zoom tomorrow at 2:00 supporting the well being of the self, supporting our well being during online learning and ways of coping from past CSS students who are now in post secondary. The intended audience is for grade 12 students. Please use the following link: https://sd79.zoom.us/j/62151720014

Dear CSS School Community, With reference to the last post, classes are still in session tomorrow at Cowichan Secondary. Island Health is contact tracing and will be contacting any individual who needs to self isolate.

Cowichan Secondary School Community, We have been informed by the Island Health that a member of our school community has tested positive for COVID-19. The individual is isolating and is being followed by Island Health. Please see the letter below:

BC Ministry of Education Learning Surveys: Each year the BC Ministry of Education conducts a Learning survey for students (in grades 4, 7, 10 and 12), staff, and parents for each school in the Province. This feedback is used by the Ministry, Districts and schools. If you have a child in Cowichan Secondary in grade 10 or 12, please complete the survey by going to https://www.awinfosys.com/SurveyFul/central/main/access.asp... Once there, choose the "Direct Access" option so that you will not require a code. Thank you for taking the time to complete this.

Parents......please click the following link to read a letter from Island Health regarding food in schools during Covid 19: https://css.sd79.bc.ca/2020/10/30/island-health-letter/

Please use the following link as a fantastic resource for students and parents to use for community/mental health resources in our community: https://css.sd79.bc.ca/courses-resources/student-support/ Thank you Megan Rimbey for putting this together

Wow.....what a week! Click on the following link to see this week's Friday File: https://css.sd79.bc.ca/2020/10/02/friday-file-for-oct-2/

Orange Shirt Day Today the staff and students recognized Orange Shirt Day - a day where we stop and reflect on the impact the Residential School system has had on Indigenous communities for over a century. The theme of today is that CSS is a safe and inclusive school for all.

We thank the quick and professional response from the local volunteer fire departments and the RCMP this morning for the small fire at CSS. The fire was in an unoccupied out building before the beginning of classes. Some classes were relocated due to smoke that entered a nearby annex.

How the week has flown by! Click on the following to see our Friday File: http://css.sd79.bc.ca/2020/09/25/friday-file/

Click the following link to see this week's Friday File: https://css.sd79.bc.ca/2020/09/18/12269/

Due to the ongoing wildfire smoke health advisories, and conversations with our Medical Health Officer, all schools are being asked to monitor outside play time... throughout the day. If outside time is the norm, strenuous activity is not recommended. Staff will be checking on any children who may have a known pre-existing condition. If your child(ren) have any specific health concerns that could be exacerbated by exposure to smoke, please advise your school this morning. All of the school and District-based COVID-19 strategies will continue to be used in all schools and workplaces. Those include keeping in your learning cohort, practicing proper hand washing techniques and frequency, physically distancing when outside of your cohort, and wearing a mask when you are not able to physically distance. It is recommended that if classes are inside, windows and exterior doors remain closed. School based health and safety plans account for inside time and are applicable if outside play or free time is not possible throughout the day. If you have any further concerns, please contact your school directly.

We are just finishing our second of two days with students back in classes. Click on the following link to see our Friday File: https://css.sd79.bc.ca/2020/09/11/friday-file-for-sept-11/

CSS Community.......Do you plan on buying a yearbook this year? If so, can you please complete the quick survey monkey on the following link to help plan for this: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PFZVGB3 Thank you

**This letter was sent to all families today** ‘Uy’ skweyul (good day) Parents, Guardians, and Families, The first day of school is coming up next week and we a...re excited to be welcoming students back. Staff throughout the District have been working hard over the summer, and especially over the last few weeks, to ensure our schools are ready for students and staff. Yesterday, the BC Ministry of Education announced the allocation of new educational funding from the Government of Canada. These funds are a welcome addition to our Return to School Plans and will let us provide further options to your families. The learning options already announced in our Return to School plan will continue to be offered to families. Those include regular In-class instruction, our Distance Learning option through The Grove, the two newly-announced blended learning programs (Inquisitive Design and Technology and Mill Bay Nature School Blended Learning Clans) and our Hospital Homebound program. No matter what option your family chooses, your spot in your home school, or District program, will be guaranteed next year. Additionally, we are now able to offer a Remote Learning Transition Program for K-7 that is connected to your home school. This program will see learners supported through a Remote Learning Transition Teacher who may be attached to a group of schools. The program’s focus will be on bridging the gap between in-class instruction and full-time remote learning, while working to transition students back to their home school. While space in your class will be reserved for you, a Remote Learning Transition Teacher will be your regular teacher until such time as you transition back to your school. For our Indigenous families, we are coordinating an outreach service that will be developed in collaboration with our various Nations. We hope to create a culturally responsive service that will provide additional flexibility for our Indigenous families. Regardless of whichever option you think is best for your family, you should first connect with your Principal or Vice-Principal in your home school as they will always be your best point of contact and someone you can count on to support you and your family. Our Return to School Plan will be updated in the coming days with these new programs. If you have not seen the District or school plans, and supplemental Health and Safety Guidelines, you may want to take some time to familiarize yourself with those documents. We have also attached a Frequently Asked Questions document to assist you in better understanding your options. It is important to remember that no matter what learning option you choose for your family, the first week of school will look different than years before. We know that this, coupled with the previous months of ongoing disruptions, may have caused stress and anxiety for your child(ren). Our staff is working to ensure that they prioritize a warm welcome back to school that will support our students’ and staff’s mental health and well-being. During these first weeks, it will take time to become accustomed to new procedures and their new classes. We know how important it is for us to take this transition slowly, carefully, and respectfully. A large part of this transition will have to do with creating new routines. Families can help with this by incorporating similar adjustments in their day-to-day lives. The Daily Health Assessment is one routine that families will need to make a regular occurrence. The Daily Health Assessment will help families ensure that their loved ones remain safe and healthy, and will also protect the school community and the community at large. We will continue to work to ensure the health and safety of our students and our staff as we collectively navigate this unique school year. Huy tseep q’u (Thank you all), Robyn Gray, Superintendent I acknowledge that for thousands of years the Malahat, Lake Cowichan, Quw'utsun, Halalt, Penelakut, Stz'uminus, & Lyackson Peoples have walked gently on the unceded territories where we now live, work, and play. We are committed to ensuring a healthy educational environment for our xe’xe’smun’eem, our sacred children, that is based on science and inclusive of traditional knowledge and history.