Braemar Bulletin
Special Edition! September 2, 2022
Our Mission
A Warm Welcome Back!
Dear Braemar families,
We hope that the first bulletin of the 2022-2023 school year finds you well, relaxed, and rejuvenated. Whether you stayed local or travelled near or far, we hope that you have collected many joyful memories of time spent with family and friends. It has been a great summer!
In the coming week, Ms. Ham and I look forward to meeting new Braemar families and reconnecting with returning families. As the school's administration team, we welcome feedback from the school community, and are committed to working together with all of you. Our "why" are the students and families we have the great good fortune of working with every day.
Teaching staff have been in the school this week in preparation of a great school start! The staff is excited to welcome everyone back on September 6th! By now, you will have received additional information regarding school start up procedures and the shape of the first week back. Please be sure to thoroughly review this information.
We understand that life is busy; that said, we hope that you will stay connected to the school community. One key way to do this is keeping informed through the Braemar Bulletin. The bulletin is a bi-monthly newsletter which serves as one of your primary sources of connection to the school. The bulletin is usually published on the first and third Monday of the month with the exception of a long weekend when it will be sent on Tuesday. Additionally, throughout the school year, when necessary, important and timely communication will be sent from the school office via School Messenger. Please be sure to regularly check your email box.
We wish you all a great long weekend! Enjoy the sun, have fun, and remember that the first day back is from 9-11 am!
Until the next bulletin!
Sandra Singh, Principal & Cheryl Ham, Vice Principal
2022-2023 School Hours
School hours:
8:43 Entrance Bell
8:48 2nd Bell
10:25-10:45 Recess
10:45 Class commences
12:05 Lunch (students eat in their classroom)
12:20 Students go outside to play until 12:55
1:00 Afternoon class commences
3:00 Dismissal
School District and School Permission Forms
School District Forms Update
- From Thursday, August 25 to Tuesday, August 30 (business days only), families would have received information required on how to register/sign in to School Cash Online and complete the following three forms:
- Impromptu Walking Field Trip Informed Consent
- Personal Information Consent for School District Publications*
- Student Acceptable Use of Technology Agreement
Please ensure that these forms are completed in a timely manner. Should you have any questions pertaining to permission forms, please contact our school office.
School Forms:
On Wednesday, September 7th, your child will bring home a package regarding Emergency Release Forms. Please complete these forms and return them to your child's teacher no later than Wednesday, September 14th. Thanks for your cooperation.
Staffing Updates
We are pleased to share that Mme Sacha Lee, French Immersion Teacher, and her husband Brandon celebrated the birth of their baby daughter in July.
We would also like to extend a warm welcome to the following teaching staff who are joining Braemar:
- Mme Sarah Plaisant, intermediate French Immersion teacher
- Ms. Judith Hope, intermediate English teacher
- Ms. Carolyn Taylor, school psychologist
- Ms. Jane Pike, school counsellor
- Ms. Claire McLaughlin, registered speech-language pathologist
Additionally, we welcome Ms. Susana Rolin back as a supervision aide.
We wish Ms. Julie Block all the best in her new position in the school office at Highlands Elementary. We also would like to welcome Mme Maya Zwart back after her leave of absence.
Comfort Kits
For families new to Braemar see letter attached at the bottom of this bulletin regarding what to include in the comfort kit.
Thank you for your cooperation and support with this.
Safe Arrival Absence Reporting System
Ensuring students arrive safely at school each day is one of our top priorities.
SafeArrival, which is part of the SchoolMessenger platform, is designed to enhance our existing absence-checking procedures by making it easier for you to report your child’s absence (e.g. illness, vacation, appointment), reducing the time it takes school staff to verify student attendance, and making it more efficient for staff to respond to unreported student absences.
With SafeArrival, you will be able to report your child’s absence in advance using any of these three options, which are available to you 24 hours/day, 7 days a week:
* SchoolMessenger app. Use your mobile device to download the SchoolMessenger app, available at the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store or go.schoolmessenger.ca.
* The first time you use the app, select Sign Up to create your account. Important: Use the same email address your school has on record.
* Select Attendance, then Report an Absence.
* SchoolMessenger website. Open your browser and go to go.schoolmessenger.ca.
* Select Attendance, then Report an Absence.
* Automated phone system. Call the toll-free number 1-833-259-7295 and follow the prompts to report an absence.
SafeArrival Resources
Video. Click HERE to watch a short video that demonstrates how to use SafeArrival to report your child’s absence.
Guide. Click HERE to download the Using the SchoolMessenger App for SafeArrival guide. The guide explains how to sign up, log in, report and modify an absence, and how to manage PIN settings.
SchoolMessenger Communicate
In addition to SafeArrival, schools will continue to use SchoolMessenger Communicate, an automated notification system, also part of the SchoolMessenger platform, to contact you when your child is absent and the absence was not reported in advance. The automated notification system will attempt to contact you at multiple contact points until a reason for the absence is submitted. If our system is unable to reach the designated contacts, school staff will follow up.
The contact points for automated notification for unreported absences are:
* Email/push notifications (SchoolMessenger app). Upon receipt of an email/push notification, you will have five minutes to respond using SafeArrival (app, website or toll-free number).
* SMS text message*. If five minutes pass with no response, a SMS text message will be sent. You will have five minutes upon receipt of the SMS text message to respond using SafeArrival (app, website or toll-free number).
* Phone call. If five minutes pass with no response, an automated phone call will be made. Automated phone calls will be sent up to four times and you will be able to respond using SafeArrival (app, website or toll-free number).
Once the automated notification cycle above is complete, you will be unable to respond using SafeArrival, and must contact the school directly regarding the unreported absence.
Please note:
* If you report your child’s absence in advance using SafeArrival (app, website or toll-free number), you will NOT receive automated notifications for an unreported absence.
* You can determine the type(s) of notifications you would like to receive by setting your preferences using the app or website.
* *You must opt in to receive SMS text message notifications (regardless of preference settings). Instructions on how to opt in can be found HERE.
* As an additional layer of security, you may choose to require a 4-digit PIN be entered before an absence can be reported or explained when using the SafeArrival phone system. Refer to page 9 of the Using the SchoolMessenger App for SafeArrival guide for more information.
Next Steps
Going forward, please ensure you report your child’s absence in advance using SafeArrival instead of contacting the school. School staff will use SchoolMessenger Communicate to let you know if your child is absent (when the absence hasn’t been reported in advance).
Thank you for ongoing support and cooperation as we implement this new system for elementary schools across the North Vancouver School District. Should you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the school directly.
Traffic Safety
We continue to emphasize the importance of road safety at the school to ensure that our students and families are safe. If you drive your children to school, please park on Evergreen Place and walk to the school. At Braemar, vehicles are not permitted to enter the cul de sac between 8:30am-9:30 am and 2:30-3:30 pm. (Please see photo below). Daycare providers with visible signage may drop off in the cul de sac.
The staff parking lot is available only to staff between 8:00am and 4:00pm. There are no drop offs and pick-ups of students in the staff parking lot. As a result of this arrangement, traffic is kept at a minimum when children are in attendance.
Please be respectful of the neighbours and their property (e.g. by limiting the amount of noise in the area, not blocking their driveways, and not double parking on the street.
Please be mindful of the North Vancouver District street signage; specifically areas that have limited or restricted parking. See photos below.
Other things to note:
- Please do not stop at the three way intersection of Mahon and Evergreen Place to your drop your child off.
- Please do not have your child exit from the driver's side into oncoming traffic
- Please do not park alongside curbs where parking is not permitted.
- Please do not reverse your vehicle, stop or block drive ways on Calder or Silverdale. We continue to receive complaints from neighbours specifically living on these two streets.
If you are interested in volunteering some time to school traffic, please contact Mme Singh at ssingh@sd44.ca
Please be a responsible driver, and kindly assist in keeping all children at Braemar safe! Thank you for your cooperation.
Upcoming Dates
September 6: Students return for two hours. 9:00-11:00 am
September 7: First full day for students 8:43-3:00
September 7: Gradual entry for Kindergarten students begins
September 19: Braemar Bulletin
September 19: First full day for all Kindergarten students
September 20: Individual Student Photos
September 23: Terry Fox Run: More details to come in September 19 Braemar Bulletin
September 28: Staff Collaboration Day 2 pm dismissal
September 29: Orange Shirt Day
September 30: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: Schools closed
October 3: Braemar Bulletin
October 5: Curriculum Implementation Day: Schools closed
October 10: Thanksgiving: Schools closed
October 21: Province Wide Professional Day: Schools closed
Please click here to access most current school calendar.
Contact Us! Braemar Administration Welcomes Your Feedback!
Email: braemar@sd44.ca
Website: http://www.sd44.ca/school/braemar/Pages/default.aspx
Location: 3600 Mahon Avenue, North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Phone: 604-903-3270
Twitter: @BraemarElem