"Our advisors say there is, “No reason why schools should not look more normal next year,” and we share this optimism. Our plans are prudent and flexible; they place the safety of our students and community at the centre, while also anticipating that school life will more closely resemble what our families have come to know and love about The Grove."  Anne-Marie Kee, Head of School and Foundation

Dear LCS Families,

Our Safety First team and program leaders have been working hard to prepare for our September re-opening. With the continued progress of vaccination rollouts, there is a renewed sense of optimism and many are considering what that might look like for our students returning to campus.

We have been meeting with peer schools, consulting local, provincial, and federal health and education guidelines and professionals, and conducting important research on the impact the pandemic has had on students. Informed by the Ontario Ministry of Education’s recent Learning Recovery and Renewal memo, we have made a commitment beyond health and safety, to place extra focus on student re-engagement, their mental and physical health, as well as their overall well-being.  

Our advisors say there is, “No reason why schools should not look more normal next year,” and we share this optimism. Our plans are prudent and flexible; they place the safety of our students and community at the centre, while also anticipating that school life will more closely resemble what our families have come to know and love about The Grove.

Vaccinations will be key. Our draft COVID-19 Vaccine Policy for Students and Staff outlines important information for our families. Lakefield College School is a pro-vaccine community and we are strongly encouraging all members of our community to be vaccinated. At the time of writing, the vaccine is mandatory for all residential staff.  

Our comprehensive plan is organized into three sections outlining current protocols and how we will keep our students and community safe. Underpinning the plan are a number of important assumptions and initiatives designed to support student well-being, including the following:

Our People 
  • Our students will come together, every day, for face-to-face learning with their teachers in small classes. We can confidently offer our students the opportunity for meaningful learning and daily co-curriculars in the arts and athletics. Our students will also continue to enjoy a full range of all-community activities with their peers such as house meetings, house events, paper house and spirit events during the course of their program day.
  • Our dedicated staff will be prepared with additional mental health and wellness training (including a refresher to their Mental Health First Aid [MHFA] certification).
  • Our students and staff will have access to a dedicated and trained COVID-19 Care Team of nurses, able to provide individualized attention and care to assess, treat, and trace symptomatic and confirmed cases.
Our Place
  • Our beautiful waterfront campus and facilities are ideal for our students' health and well-being and to be outdoors every day. Between Northcote and our main campus, students have access to over 315-acres of natural and recreational outdoor spaces to enjoy healthy and active school life with their peers.
  • Our boarding houses are among the smallest of CAIS boarding schools providing us with a unique advantage to create and foster connections between students and staff. Our small residences allow us to cohort our boarding houses and enhance day-to-day community living.
Our Program 
  • Our students will have access to an individualized fitness and well-being plan designed to meet their needs and choices, under the guidance of a personal fitness coach (novice to high-performance athlete).
  • Our enhanced and innovative schedule creates greater opportunities for enriched academics and support. By offering three 95-minute-classes per day, and studying up to four courses at a time, students spend more time with teachers pursuing subjects in greater depth. 
  • Our schedule offers significant breaks between classes to reduce transitions and slow the pace, making for a healthier learning environment; and protects daily community time to strengthen our students' sense of belonging 
  • Our program leaders are making plans for our students to safely enjoy rich daily experiences in their arts, athletics, and co-curricular pursuits.
  • Our House Model will creatively ensure safe opportunities for meaningful connection between our day and boarding students and a full range of community activities.
We are a school that is passionately focused on Outdoors Every Day, Authentic Learning, and Community First. Last year, we added a new priority: Safety First. For the foreseeable future, every decision we make must still be guided by this commitment.

We also remain committed to our vision, mission, and values, especially our newest value, Joy; and many of us are working hard through the summer to plan for the very best possible experience for our students while prioritizing safety. The reality is that our fall term, and perhaps the full year depending on any shifts in the pandemic, may be different. However, we are beginning with the assumption that our job is to make the year as normal as possible, so our students can experience all that our campus has to offer.

The guidelines shared within the pages of this plan reflect current public health guidelines and standards. We anticipate that these may change, as greater percentages of the population become vaccinated and COVID-19 cases continue to decline; we may update certain sections, but please know that any and all major changes will also be shared by regular email communication. We continue to look forward, with optimism, to a new academic year. It will be great to have everyone back on campus, together, in person.  

Until then, I hope you will have the opportunity to rest, reflect, and recharge.


Anne-Marie Kee
Head of School and Foundation



Lakefield College School is committed to ensuring a safe campus environment for all to enjoy.

In accordance with direction from the Peterborough Public Health Unit, and many other community advisors, and following the Ontario Ministry of Education guidelines, LCS is confident that we’ve achieved our objectives to uphold the highest standard of community health and wellbeing for our students; while fulfilling our mission as a school.

List of 4 items.

  • COVID-19 Updates

    COVID-19 Updates will be communicated directly to parent and LCS community member emails and made available for access online.

  • Local Active COVID-19 Cases

    Lakefield, Peterborough and the surrounding area continue to be one of the safest areas in Canada. The Peterborough Public Health Unit reports the following as of November 25, 2021: Confirmed positive: 1997, Active cases: 39 Resolved: 1934

    LCS reports the following as of November 25, 2021: Individuals tested: 230, Confirmed positive: 0, Active cases: 0, Resolved: 0

  • On-Campus COVID-19 Testing

    LCS nursing staff are trained and able to test students under our school doctors’ or public health directive.  Students or residential staff members who are symptomatic will be required to have a test.

    Read more about our COVID-19 Testing Protocol.

  • LCS Self-Assessment Tool (L-CAT)

    LCS is making the required daily Ontario Public Health Self-Assessment simple and easy. All students and staff are required to complete L-CAT, right from their phone, before starting their day on campus.  L-CAT can be easily accessed at https://lcat.lcs.on.ca/. Current LCS username and password required.

General Requirements: Keeping Our Community Healthy

We are committed to ensuring a safe and healthy campus environment for all to enjoy. Although LCS cannot guarantee a SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) free school, we will do our utmost to keep our community healthy by strictly adhering to the safe practices and risk mitigation habits outlined in the following guidelines:

Please note that these guidelines are subject to change at any time based upon local, provincial and federal rules and regulations. The school also reserves the right to change these guidelines to better ensure the health and safety of our community.

List of 8 items.

  • Vaccination Policy

    Lakefield College School strongly encourages all students and staff to be fully vaccinated by one of the Health Canada approved vaccinations; Johnson and Johnson, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.  Students are asked to report (in confidence) confirmation of their vaccination to the Wellbeing Centre by emailing Health@lcs.on.ca.  Staff are asked to report (in confidence) confirmation of their vaccination to Human Resources by emailing Assistant Head, Human Resources, Tracy Reid (TReid@lcs.on.ca).

    The school’s full Vaccination Policy can be found at this link: LCS Vaccination Policy.

  • Screening

    Students and staff will be required to complete the Lakefield College School Assessment Tool (LCAT) prior to coming to school every morning.  If a student or staff reports a symptom on the LCAT they are to remain at home (if day) or in their room (if boarder) and follow the instructions provided by the LCAT. (LCAT Screening Protocols)

    Lakefield College School also requires all members of our community to download and use the Covid Alert App.

  • Hand Hygiene

    Perhaps the single most important precaution one can take to avoid illness is proper hand hygiene.  Students and staff will be trained on proper hand hygiene upon their arrival to campus during orientation.  However, everyone is encouraged to practice proper hand hygiene prior to their arrival to school.  Though the school will provide ample sanitizing stations, staff and students are requested to bring at least one bottle of their own hand sanitizer to campus. 

    Watch the Video featuring Jack Campbell '21, Fatima Shahbaz '21 and Harper McGowan '21

  • Respiratory Etiquette

    Respiratory etiquette refers to the appropriate method of covering a cough or sneeze.  Ideally, individuals will cough or sneeze into a tissue that is covering both their nose and mouth. If a tissue is not available one must cough or sneeze into their upper sleeve or elbow.

  • Physical Distancing and Masks

    Public Health Ontario requires that all non-immediate family members keep a physical distance of at least 2 metres from one another. When physical distancing is not possible, Public Health Ontario requires face masks to be worn.  

    Lakefield College School requires all staff and students to wear face masks when in a school building and when outside with others.  Students of the same residence may cease wearing their masks in their own residence once they have completed their residential cohorting protocol.

    The school strongly recommends teachers wear medical masks and eye goggles or shields while teaching in an indoor classroom. The school will provide this personal protective equipment upon request. Students and staff are requested to bring at least three of their own cloth face masks or a box of medical masks to campus. 

    In the event that a student’s or staff member’s mask is lost or damaged during the school day, a replacement medical mask will be available in the Assistant Heads’ office.


  • Cleaning and Disinfecting

    In accordance with Public Health Ontario guidelines, all common touch surfaces and washroom areas will be cleaned and disinfected at least two times daily.

  • LCS COVID-19 Testing Protocol

    Health Ontario, under the recommendation of Peterborough Public Health, has permitted Lakefield College School to be a point of care (POC) testing site as a result of the fact that the school is also a congregate living setting.  With this permission comes very specific guidance and public health recommendations to ensure that our tests are completed at the highest of standards.  

    Lakefield College School was provided with two Abbot ID Now units and two of our nurses have been trained on the proper use of these units.   These tests are referred to as molecular Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs).  The units are quality tested weekly for accuracy and effectiveness. 

    The school only tests using the gold standard nasopharyngeal swab (NP) specimen collection process.  

    Under our school doctor’s directive, Lakefield College School will test any boarding student, residential staff member and residential family member (excluding those who are pediatric) who is symptomatic or by request. In these cases, the nurse will schedule a test during a time when the Wellbeing Centre is open.

  • Surveillance Testing Before Coming & Upon Arrival to Campus

    Prior to arriving on campus after an extended break (of more than 5 days) boarders will be required to have a PCR (NP) test within 72 hours of their arrival to campus. They will then be required to have a rapid (RDT) NP test immediately upon arrival to campus and again on day 5. This is required to ensure that all opportunities for viral loading are captured as best as possible. 

    Students who leave the school for less than 5 days will be required to have a rapid (RDT) NP test immediately upon arrival to campus and again on day 5.  This is required to ensure that all opportunities for viral loading are captured as best as possible. 

    It is important to note that this testing protocol is based upon an assumption that viral loads will be measurable on day 5 of exposure. As viral loads vary from individual to individual and with the ever-changing variants, this protocol may be adapted in order to better ensure measurable testing results.
 
 

Safety First Plans

Our People, Our Place and Our Program

Read each of the sections below for more details on how we will be practicing safety first while providing our students with a rich educational experience.

Parent Communications Archive

References and Resources

Contributors and Advisors

One of our many priorities is to ensure that we uphold the highest standard of safety while ensuring minimal impact on our ever-important culture.  We are so fortunate to have a network of professionals in our parent, alumni, and friend community who understand how important relationships are to our core values and the delivery of an outstanding academic and cocurricular program. We are grateful to the many individuals who shared their insights and advice as we prepare to open our beautiful campus to those who rightly deserve to enjoy it, our students!
 
  • Johanna Kruger ‘97, Health Counsellor, Perm. Mission of Canada to UN in Geneva, Canadian Representative at the World Health Organization
  • Dr. David Fisman, Epidemiologist Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto 
  • Andrew Muirhead ‘85, Origin Merchant Partners
  • Mary-Pat Cannon, RN, Public Health Nurse, LCS liaison to PPHU
  • Brian Sammon, Public Health Inspector, Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, PPHU
  • Jessica Andrews, RN, PHN, Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, PPHU
  • Claire Townshend, RN, Public Health Nurse, PPHU
  • Stephen Grey, CEO Medical Associates of Port Perry, Co-Chair COVID-19 Durham Region Steering Committee, LCS Parent (Sophie ‘21)
  • Dr. Merrilee Brown, Medical Associates of Port Perry, Physician Advisor, LCS Parent (Sophie ‘21)
  • Dr. David Hamilton, Emergency Physician St. Joseph’s Health Care, Hamilton & William Osler Health System, Physician Advisor, Co-Founder EduSafe Predict Technologies, Self Assessment Mobile App. Developer
  • Dr. Michael de la Roche '73, Emergency Physician Belleville General Hospital, Assistant Professor (Adjunct) Queen’s University, Physician Advisor
  • Eric Roher, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, legal consultant

School Information

4391 County Road 29, Lakefield Ontario K0L 2H0   705.652.3324   admissions@lcs.on.ca

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Lakefield College School is a private, coeducational boarding and day school for students in grades 9 through 12, located in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada.

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