Dear Balmoral families,
I hope that all of our students and staff have had an enjoyable and relaxing summer. We welcome Greg Brewer, Rodney Walker, Kel Spoering, Christy Lindsay, and Jay Reilly to our Balmoral Teaching Staff. Also, we welcome Linda Best as Administrative Secretary, Jocelyn Laron as Education Assistant, and Hana Kadri as ELL Assistant.
We have had a great start up together as a school community. I am very excited to be a part of Balmoral School, with energetic staff, an inclusive TLC community, and an active school community. Our first couple of weeks together we have embedded more time to get to know each other better through team building activities. I have seen many students taking part in different classroom challenges, trying out for sports teams, and learning how to use combination locks again. There is a beautiful energy in our school, and I look forward to experiencing that throughout the year as we have shared experiences. There will be many opportunities to take part in extracurricular clubs/teams as the year progresses, as this is an important part of middle school - take advantage of these opportunities as they will enhance student learning.
It has been a pleasure connecting with parents and families during school start-up. I look forward to connecting in different ways throughout the year. Thanks to everyone for your flexibility and kindness.
Please visit our website should you be uncertain as to school hours.
All buses are currently running. Students must be registered with CBE Transportation to ride a school bus. If you have not already registered, it may take 4-6 weeks for your child to be registered for CBE Transportation.
We ask all parents to be considerate of family's homes and student safety when picking up and dropping off their children at the bus stop. Please do not make illegal u-turns in the intersections near our school. Please obey all signs and park, or drop off your students, in the appropriate areas.
Balmoral does not offer cafeteria services. Students are expected to bring a lunch and snack with them. All lunch items; bag, bottle and left over food are to be taken home on a daily basis. Students eat in designated areas and are to behave appropriately during the lunch break. Students need to bring a lunch that does not require heating and the appropriate utensils with which to eat their lunch. Grades 5-7 must remain on campus for the lunch break. Grades 8-9 are allowed to leave the school campus during the lunch break. Although Grades 8-9 are not restricted to the school campus for lunch, students are responsible to their parents and the school for their behaviour in the community.
We have a NO CELL PHONE policy in classrooms. Students who choose to bring cell phones to school will be asked to leave their cell phones in their locker during class time. Cell phones are a distraction to student learning and therefore should not be in class. Students who forget to leave their cell phones in their locker will have a designated place in the classroom to store their phone during the class. Should parents/guardians need to be in contact with their child, they can call the front office and we can either get the message to your child or have them call home.
As we head towards cooler temperatures please be sure your child has appropriate clothing so that they are prepared in coming on and off the bus, and for lunch outdoors. We will be opening the school at 7:40am for students who arrive in the morning. Students will be expected to head outside for part of lunch unless they are supervised by a teacher or we have inclement weather (which will be announced).
Balmoral Student Picture Day will be held on Monday, September 19, 2022. All Students are to be in their Formal Uniform.
An information package of important documents for all students will be sent home during the first week of school. Some of these documents may be done electronically and others must be a paper copy. More information will be sent to families during the first week of school. Please be sure to read this package and return all forms by the required date.
While we may be returning to a more “normal" school year, we continue to as parents/guardians to keep your child at home should they be feeling ill.
We look forward to a great school year and are excited to welcome everyone back to school.
Regards,
Rakhee Vijairaghavan Principal, Balmoral School
