Attendance Line: 403-777-6030 ext. 1

If your child will be absent or late from school, please phone the school at the number above. The line is available 24 hours a day, including weekends.

When leaving an absence message, we request that you :

• speak slowly and clearly
• provide your child’s first and last names, spelling each name if required
• provide their grade and teacher
• provide the reason for your child’s absence as well as the anticipated length

 If we have not heard from you and your child is absent, we will take the time to contact you to assure the safety of your child. With such a large school population, we need everyone’s cooperation in reporting their children’s absence from, or late arrival to, school before the start of each school day.

Phone Calls

The safety and security of students is our priority at Dalhousie School. We need the support of parents to ensure that students understand, prior to coming to school, how they will be going home and with whom. This is helpful for your child so they do not need to wonder/worry about this during their school day. Predictability helps children feel secure. Without this in place, the volume of calls received during the school day about such matters quickly becomes unmanageable and at the end of the day it is not always possible to locate a child regarding a last minute change. 

To that end:

• Please do not use the office to change your end of day plans, except in an emergency situation.
• If you decide to pick up your child/ren who normally takes the bus, please write a note for them and be waiting for them at their bus prior to 3:50 pm. If you are not there on time (buses leave at 4:00 pm sharp!) and your child did not have a note in their agenda, they will be sent home on their regular bus. Please note, the school is unable to orchestrate play dates, extra-curricular activities, or group work involving busing changes.
• If you always pick up your child, please have them meet you outside at their designated door; please do not use the Creative Playground or field as your meeting spot. Please teach your child to come to the office if you are not at your designated meeting spot. In this way, should you be late, your child will wait for you at the office where it is safe and they are supervised. Bus supervisors will bring all children into the school after buses have left.
• Phone calls to students will not be put through to classrooms. If you must speak to your child before the end of the school day, we will take a message and have your child call you back when it is not disruptive to the classroom learning time. If it is an urgent call, we will call your child down to the office to speak to you.
• Phone calls from students: We have a student phone outside the office but children are not allowed to use it without supervision/permission. If you have made arrangements with your child to have them call you during one of their breaks, please provide a note for your child to give to the office so we can facilitate these calls seamlessly. Any other necessary calls to home regarding sickness, injury, or other matters will be made by a teacher or office staff.