Balaclava Update – Week of November 25

Thank you to all of the parents, guardians and caregivers who participated in progress report interviews last week. While progress reports provide some information, speaking with your child’s teacher(s) gives you an even better understanding of their progress and challenges and goals for the rest of this term. If you didn’t get a chance to speak with the educators last week but still would like an update, please reach out directly to your child’s teacher(s) for more information.

Lockdown Drill

This week we will have our first of two Lockdown drills, as required by HWDSB Secure Schools protocol, which can be found here:  https://www.hwdsb.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Secure-Schools-Protocol-FINAL.pdf

During this drill, students, staff and visitors shelter in classrooms and offices with doors locked and blinds drawn. During the drill, an announcement is made indicating it is a lockdown. School staff (Principal and Caretaker) check for locked and secured entrances before unlocking doors and announcing that the school can resume regular operations.  While the drill is in progress, no entry or exit from the building may occur. Please be patient if you are waiting at the door; the drill typically takes approximately 15 minutes. Barring any other emergency, our drill is planned for Thursday at around 10 a.m.

Movie Night

We are looking forward to our first Family Movie Night showing “If” this Thursday from 5 until 7. Sign up for this event is closed, but if you missed it, we hope to do another one in the spring. Watch for that information in the new year!

Umbrella Before/After School Professional Activity Day

Please note that there is no before/after school care on Friday November 29th due to a city-wide after care educator professional activity day. If your child normally attends this care program, please make alternate arrangements for drop off and pick up, and please let the office or your child’s teacher know of these plans.

Playground Supervision Reminder

A reminder to all families – our playground is supervised in the morning beginning at 9 a.m. until our 9:15 entry only. Please refrain from dropping students on the playground off early as they will be unsupervised. In the afternoon, we dismiss at 3:35 and only provide supervision until 3:50 (barring late buses). Again, please ensure your child is picked up in this window of time.  Thank you for your assistance.