School Procedures

Bell Schedule 2023/2024

Entry Bell: 8:50am

Instructional Time: 8:50am

Dismissal: 3:00pm

Absences & Lates

If your child will be late or absent from school, please notify the office & the classroom teacher prior to 8:30am. If your child will be arriving after the bell, please visit the office when you arrive to sign them in.

Emails may be sent to skwowech@sd40.bc.ca

Calls may be made 24 hours a day through our voice message system at 604-517-6090

Please include the following in the message:

  • Student’s first and last name
  • Teacher’s name
  • Division number
  • Grade
  • Date(s) of absence
  • Reason for absence

 

The school is not able to provide supervision after school. We suggest contacting friends, family or classmates parents if you are unable to arrive by the 3:00pm dismissal bell due to extenuating circumstances.

If your child is going to be picked up by someone different than usual at the end of the day, whenever possible parents/guardians should communicate this to the teacher in the morning (in person, in a note/email, or in your child’s planner) and also explain this to your child. Please ensure the person picking up your child is listed as an Emergency Contact at the office.

Our Safe Arrival Program is a key component to student safety. Twice daily a reason for each child’s absence must be recorded so that all students are accounted for. This is a difficult task if parents of absent children do not contact the school. If your child is absent from school, please phone the school and leave a message on the answering machine or send us an email. Students arriving after the second bell must report to the office and get a late slip. We appreciate your co-operation!

Traffic & Parking

For student and adult safety, please ensure that you are using the sidewalk and crossing only at the marked cross walk.

Please do not drop off in the staff parking lots. Children are not to walk through the staff parking lots.

When possible, please park your vehicle a block or two away from the school and walk your child to the building. Vehicle drop off is available only at the upper end of School Street and the portion of Devoy Street which runs behind the school. The suggested route for drop off is to travel North on Devoy Street toward School Street, turn right on School Street and to load and unload in the Passenger Drop Off Zone. We ask that Parents do not drive down Archer Street for pick-up and drop off due to congestion (there is no safe location to turn your vehicle around.)

Please also remember to help us be good neighbours by refraining from blocking driveways and crosswalks.

We need the assistance of each and every family to ensure that all children arrive and leave from school safely; it is everyone’s responsibility. Thank you for putting student safety first!

Inclement Weather

Please remember to send your child to school with the appropriate outerwear. It is always preferable to have the students go outside at recess and at lunchtime for some fresh air and exercise. Although we are very lucky to live in this beautiful province, it does rain a lot this time of the year! A raincoat and rubber boots make outdoor play much more fun. Children will be sent outside to play – rain or shine. We ask parents for your support and ensure that your children are dressed appropriately for the weather. In extreme weather, children will remain inside.

In the event of severe weather, announcements regarding school closures will be made over radio stations CKNW AM 980 and CKWXAM 1130 by 6:30 am to give parents time to make alternate arrangements.

Lunch Drop-Off

All lunches are to be left on table beside the aquarium for pick-up by your child. Please be sure all lunches are clearly marked with the student’s name and division.  Please let your child know that you will be dropping a lunch off before he or she leaves for school. Parents should not go to the classroom directly to drop off lunches. Please remember to send the proper utensils with your child.

Helmets

It is the Policy of our school that if any students arrive with a skateboard, scooter, bike, or anything with wheels, that a helmet must be worn. This is for the safety of your child and we appreciate your attention to this. Please remember that skateboards are not to be ridden on school grounds during school hours and will be left in the classroom during the day.

Security Check In

In concern for the safety of the children, it is our policy to have all visitors entering the school to sign in at the office and wear a Visitor/Parent tag, identifying that you are a visitor. We also ask that parents waiting to pick up their children wait outside for their children to come out.

Washroom Facilities

We would ask that adults NOT use the children’s washrooms, for security reasons. For emergency use, please ask at the office and you will be directed to the adult washroom facility.

Peanut/Nut Aware School

There are several students at Skwo:wech who have a SEVERE allergy to many different kinds of nuts and peanuts. Any contact with even a small trace of nuts could be LIFE THREATENING to some of our students. To avoid such an emergency, we are asking for your cooperation as we are trying our best to be a PEANUT & TREE NUT AWARE SCHOOL.