Welcome Back
The staff at Baltimore School welcomes all students back to a
new year. We hope that each and everyone of you had a relaxing
and fun-filled break. The winter season is also upon us and
with that we can expect some delays and cancellations. As was
posted in the Newsletter before Christmas, parents and students
are advised that all announcements of delayed openings and
school closure will be done through Synrevoice. The call will
be made to each home at 7:00am and it will also be carried on
VOCM, along with updates on the weather central icon on the
School Board’s website at www.esdnl.ca
If you have not been receiving the Synrevoice messages, please
contact the school.
Reminder
A reminder to
students and parents that students participating in
extra-curricular activities will not be permitted to wait
in the school for extended periods of time. This is due to the
fact there is no supervision available after 3:00pm in the
general school area. The support staff is very busy at that
time and the students are at risk.
Picture Retakes and Grad Photos
Pictures for all students who missed Picture Day before
Christmas, and those who would like to have retakes, will have
the opportunity on Wednesday, Feb. 1.
All
Kindergarten Grad and Level III Grad pictures will be taken on
this day also.
New Front Door Intercom System
As most
of you who have visited the school since the Christmas Break
have realized, the school has had a video intercom system
installed at the front entrance. During class hours, all
outside doors to the school will be locked. All visitors will
have to buzz the main office in order to gain entry to the
building. This measure has been taken in all Eastern School
District schools and it is done so with the safety of your
children in mind.
Afterschool Physical Activity Grant
During this past Spring, Baltimore School in conjunction with
the Community Youth Network, applied for an afterschool grant to
enable our students to gain better access to activities provided
after school. We were successful in our endeavour, and were
able to obtain $23,000.00. There will be more details of the
programs offered after all activities have been finalized.
Encounters With Canada
This year Baltimore
School has the honour of having a Senior High student selected
to attend the Encounters With Canada program in Ottawa.
Nicholas Arsenault will be spending a week in Ottawa during the
last week of February. We hope you have a great trip.
Evaluation Policy
The school evaluation policy is posted on our website. A note
containing the important points was sent home earlier this
year. It is important to know that a student is allowed to only
miss one test due to sickness. The second time they are absent
for a test, a doctor’s note must be provided upon arrival back
to school, otherwise the mark is a ‘0’ for that test.
For a copy of the
Student Evaluation Policy - click here
Cell Phone Use
Until this year cell phones have been a non-issue at our school,
however, with improved technology we now have cell phone service
at the school. This has created a problem in that student use
of the cell phone during class time generated undo distractions
to others. The school policy is that for the first offense,
students will have the phone confiscated by the teacher and sent
to the office. The phone will only be returned when a
parent/guardian drops by the school to retrieve the cell phone.
The second offense will result in the suspension of the student
for one day. The purpose of this policy is not to enforce
punishment, but to ensure the classroom learning environment is
safe from disruptions. Students are encouraged to use their
cell phones during recess, lunch and after school.
Phone Use:
The school has a public pay phone in its lobby area. This is
the phone that students are expected to use. The phones in the
general office are for teacher use only, except in cases where a
student is sick and needs to call for a parent to pick them up.
The school has only two lines and neither of these should be
tied up with students placing orders at restaurants and calling
home asking for permission to leave school early and the like.
Cell phones are becoming more of an issue each year. The cell
phones are not to be used during class time. They become a
distraction for all students. Please do not phone or text your
child during school time. If a student is using the cell phone
during class time, the phone will be confiscated by the teacher
and it will only be returned to a parent/guardian. We must work
together to ensure this issue does not become a distraction.
Scholarship Information
A reminder to grade 12 students and their parents, that there
are many scholarship opportunities for students that intend to
pursue post-secondary studies next year. Please contact the
Guidance Counsellor, Ms. Gosse, for more information.
Parents Dropping off Students at School
To ensure the safety of all students, we ask that parents not
drive onto the school parking lot during arrival and dismissal
times for students. No private vehicles are permitted to travel
on the road at the rear of the building. Busses are expected to
arrive at school at 8:15 in the morning and depart at 2:55 in
the afternoon. For no reason is any vehicle to be parked in the
fire lane at the front of the building. Parents have often
neglected this emergency lane as they park there to pick up
their child or to drop something off at the general office. Any
vehicle found to be parked in this emergency lane, with a driver
still in the vehicle or not, and for any length of time, will be
reported to the local RCMP. The safety of your children is our
greatest concern.
Severe Allergies
We have students and teachers with severe allergies at our
school. A reaction to certain products and foods could prove to
be very harmful for several of our students, and in some cases
they could even prove to be fatal. For this reason the school
has been declared free of any source of peanuts, all fish and
all perfumes, aftershaves and colognes.
