Lateness / Absences

We ask that all students arrive in time to line up outside with their classes at 8:30 a.m. Students, who arrive late, after the 8:35 a.m. bell and the 12:20 p.m. bell, will need to be brought to the office by a parent or guardian to sign in and receive a late slip. Parents/guardians must bring their child to the office to ensure the safe arrival of all students. Please do not escort your children to the classroom.

See parent letter below for new system to report student absences.

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Re:Elementary Safe Arrival UPDATE – REPORTING DAILY ABSENCES

In accordance with the TDSB Safe Arrival policy PR707A, “If a pupil is absent or late for any reason, the Parent(s)/Guardian(s) must contact the school immediately to report the reason for the absence”.

The Toronto District School Board uses SchoolMessenger as its automated call-out system for our Elementary Safe Arrival Program.

• Parent/Guardians may now call SchoolMessenger directly Toll-Free
  1-833-250-2290, (between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.) to report their child(ren)’s absence for the current day or a future date.

If Parent/Guardians do not report their child(ren)’s absence(s) prior to the start of school, they will be contacted by SchoolMessenger and must indicate the reason for the absence. The telephone number 1-833-250-2290 will display on the caller ID. * Update. The school number should show up now on the dieplay.

For unexplained absences, the system call-out will work as follows:

• Parents/Guardians identified in the TDSB’s student database who have access to student records and are an emergency contact with priority 1 or 2 will receive both e-mail notification and call(s) of the unexplained absence.
• When you receive the call, you are required to listen to the entire message and follow the prompts accordingly.
• You will be asked if you are aware or unaware of your child’s absence.
• If unaware, you will be asked to call the school immediately.
• If you are aware of the absence, you will be asked to enter the reason for your child’s absence.Reasons are the same for full day absences (new to School Messenger) or late arrival.The following options will be provided for you:

• Illness
• Doctor Appointment
• Dentist Appointment
• Family Matter
• Weather
• Other
• For a late arrival, you will be prompted to enter a time of arrival.Once the child signs in at the school office, the absence will be changed to a late (provided they arrive prior to the lunch hour).

• At the end of the message, you will have to press 2 to confirm you received the message.
• If you do not confirm receipt, you will receive a call on other phone numbers provided, with the exception of business numbers.
• If there is no response from a Priority 1 contact, this same process will be followed for Priority 2 contacts.
• If there is no response from either Priority 1 or Priority 2, this entire process will be repeated 3 times in 10-minute intervals or until call-out time is over (approx. 25 mins).
• A confirmation e-mail will be sent to both Priority 1 and Priority 2 contacts with the reason selected by one of the Parents/Guardians.

This same process will be followed for the afternoon attendance.

In the evening, all Parents/Guardians of students who were late (without a reason) that day will receive a call informing them of their child’s tardiness.

With this in mind, it is important that your contact information on file at the office is up to date.Please let the office know immediately if your contact information changes at any time throughout the school year.

We recognize that regular attendance is essential to the safety, academic success, and well-being of all students.Thank you for your continued cooperation with keeping your child safe and accounted for.

Sincerely,

Gary McGilvray

Principal 

Appointments / Messages During the Day

If children need to be picked up during the school day, parents are requested to send a note to school for the teacher. Please attempt to make appointments at natural breaks in the day, for pick up at recess or lunch so instructional time is not disrupted. Children cannot be called out of class to accept personal phone calls or to receive messages during classroom learning time. Please make every attempt to plan your day in the morning prior to sending your child to school.