COVID-19

Updated June 3, 2020

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, UMEI Christian High School campus will remain closed until further notice. The Premier has announced that Ontario schools will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. Our utmost priority is the safety and well-being of our students, our staff and the community. We are closely monitoring the situation and will be providing updates as they become available. If you have any questions or concerns, contact us at office@umei.ca.

Important school updates:

• The roll-out of distance learning began the week of March 30, 2020, following March break. Classes are being offered online.
• In addition to their coursework, students participate in daily virtual chapel.
• School events and in-person community fundraisers are being cancelled or postponed for the safety of participants.
• In-person school tours have been postponed until further notice, but admissions is online.

Our prayers are with those who are suffering during this unprecedented time. We encourage all members of the school community to continue to protect themselves and others. Resources can be found on the Ministry of Health’s website.

“I have been very impressed with UMEI’s response to the current quarantine situation. UMEI staff did not skip a beat the first week back to study after March Break. That tells me that the staff and teachers spent their break preparing for online study. As a parent, I am so happy that they did!

It has been a very scary experience for us all, especially our children. My daughter received such an inspiring letter from one of her teachers stating that she was in this situation with them and would support her students through this trying time. We all needed to hear that! The students and parents very much needed reassurance.

UMEI has been able to maintain the school community even through a quarantine and the response to the situation is a testimony in itself to the benefits of a small school dynamic. I am so happy that my daughter is a student at UMEI!”
– Kathy Tiessen

“I am so impressed to see my daughter continue her studies throughout this COVID-19 crisis, almost without skipping a beat. This is even more impressive because she is doing without any other supervision at home as both my husband and I are essential workers. She still submits all of her assignments and meets with teachers almost without change from before the pandemic. I am so impressed with the teaching staff and their willingness and ability to adapt quickly to this unprecedented event in our lives.”
– Dr. Caroline Hamm

“In making the shift to online learning, it has been really important for the students to have structure similar to what we had in class. Because of our small class sizes, students are so familiar with my teaching style that it has been more manageable to translate our class community online. The trust that I was always available for extra help at school is now proving invaluable as they reach out to me virtually.”
– Chani Wiens

“Online learning has clearly demonstrated the resilience of our students at UMEI. Students in Canadian history class have displayed their initiative and resourcefulness in a whole new way, allowing the transition to an online platform to be seamless, bolstering their willingness to adapt to new situations and challenges they are presented with.”
– Darcy Bults

“Revision groups in my Writer’s Craft class have worked very well over Zoom. We share our writing ahead of time and are able to share our revisions with each other as we discuss the pieces.”
– Joel Warkentin

“E-learning is currently going very well and the transition from learning in-class to online has been seamless. Classes have been scheduled daily in specific time slots just as if we were at school and with the help of technology, my classmates and I have been able to interact with each other and our respective teachers. At UMEI, we usually have a flipped classroom style for mathematics where we learn lessons at home by video and come to class to complete the homework. I was already learning the content through online videos and since I was familiar with and engaged with this process, all of my courses have gone smoothly. There have been no major problems moving to online learning with my other subjects such as Chemistry, English, Recreation & Leadership and French. The workload for each class has been very reasonable and the teachers are working hard to provide us with all the necessary tools for success. Overall, this experience has strengthened my skills as a student. I have more responsibility and accountability for my own education and have also learned to better manage my time. Though I miss the extra curricular activities like sports and clubs, I really miss seeing my friends everyday. This being said, I have been able to focus more on my schoolwork and complete my workouts at home, I’ve even found time to explore new interests like cooking and gardening. Looking forward as a post-secondary student, I believe I am preparing myself and will be ready to take on any challenges that come my way.”
– Hannah, Grade 12 student