Getting to school
Northlea encourages WALKING TO SCHOOL. Try walking to school EVERYDAY. Every Wednesday is Walk to School Day. The kids love to walk. Live too far away to walk? … Park a block away – enjoy the exercise!!
International Walk to School Day – Wednesday, October 3, 2019
School yard safety For safety reasons, bikes, skateboards or scooters must be walked through the school yard during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Students who do not abide by these rules risk having the item confiscated. Heelies and roller blades must be removed when entering school property.
Safe Arrival
One measure of keeping students safe is ensuring students have safely arrived at school. It is imperative that if your child is going to be absent or late for any reason, you leave a message on the Safe Arrival line (416) 396-3775.
If your child is going to be absent or late, please call Safe Arrival at 416-396-3775
The Safe Arrival voice mail system is available 24 hours a day to take your message. Please call before 8:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. for a same-day absence or late arrival. Remember that messages left for a busy teacher may not get transferred to the Office Staff, especially if the teacher is sick that day.
We are on an automated call-out system for our Safe Arrival Program. If there is no message about the absence, the system will make attempts to contact you to determine the reason for the absence.
Parents/Guardians of students who have an unexplained absence (one where the school has not been previously notified) will be contacted to verify the reason for the absence.
The system call-out will work as follows:
- Parents/guardians identified in TDSB’s Student Information Systems who has access to student records, and emergency contact with priority 1 or 2 will receive a call.
- When you receive the call, you are required to listen to the entire message and follow the prompts accordingly.
- You will be asked if you are aware or unaware of your child’s absence.
- If unaware, you will be asked to call the school immediately (416-396-2395).
- If you are aware of the absence, you will be asked to enter the reason for your child’s absence. At the end of the message, you will have to press 2 to confirm you received the message.
- If you do not confirm receipt, you will receive a call on your mobile phone.
- If there is no response from a Priority 1 contact, this same process will be followed for Priority 2 contacts.
- If there is no contact with either Priority 1 or Priority 2, this entire process will be
repeated 3 times in 10 minute intervals.
Should the school be unable to determine an unaccounted student’s whereabouts the police will be notified to assist.
In the evening, all parents/guardians of students who were late that day will receive a call informing them of their child’s tardiness.
With this in mind, it is important that your contact information on file at the office is up-to-date. Please let the office know immediately if your contact information changes at any time throughout the school year.
We recognize that regular attendance is essential to the safety, academic success, and well-being of all students. Thank you for your continued cooperation with keeping your child(ren) safe and accounted for.
Traffic and Parent Safety Program
WALK: The optimal choice is to walk our kids whenever possible. Exercise, a couple minutes chatting together and no traffic hassles. Who can beat that? PARK: If you can’t walk, there is plenty of legal parking available where you can park and be on the school property within minutes. A map with all (100s) of parking spots is available at the end of this page. Please observe the parking signs to help keep our students free from harm and teach them respect for the law. Rumsey Parking Lot: Please note that the small parking lot located at the North West side of the school is designated for Northlea Child Care Centre drop off and pick-up only! It is closed to all parents between 8:30 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Staff Parking Lot: Also note that there are no designated parking spots for visitors in the larger parking lot at the back of the school. All spots have been assigned to Northlea staff. Parents are not permitted to park in this lot for any reason during school hours. SAFETY: In the event that we need to drive our children to school – Safety is Key!
Parent Safety Program (PSP)
To address the ongoing traffic issues around the school, Northlea has partnered with the Toronto Police Service to run a pilot of a Parent Safety Program (PSP) program – one of many in Toronto. A PSP is a parent run initiative. Its motto is ‘Choose Safety Over Convenience’. The goal of the PSP is to eliminate the traffic hazards near the school using volunteer visibility and education. The PSP also offers a Kiss and Ride program, to offer a legal, safe drop off for student’s arriving to school in a vehicle. The Kiss and Ride operates from 8:30 to 8:45 in the morning. It will be staffed by parent volunteers. Cars will queue at the designated spot on the south-west side of the school on Sutherland Ave. When cars pull up between the pylons, volunteers open the car door and assist the students (who are ready to go!) from the car. They will then safely direct the student into the school yard. Each car will wait (patiently!) until it pulls up to the front of the queue where the volunteer is waiting. Enforcement: Police Officers provide increased supervision and enforcement at the school. Anyone who stops in the bus zones and no stopping zones, or parks in no-parking zones, may be ticketed.
How to Use the Kiss and Ride
The drop off zone is on the West side of Sutherland just South of Divadale. The zone will be marked by orange cones on the sidewalk and will be located just north of the entrance path to the school grounds. Drop times: 8:30 to 8:45
- Have your kids ready to go. Backpacks on laps, kisses already given. If you have to get something out of the trunk, do not use the Kiss and Ride – park in one of the legal parking spaces on Broadway, Donlea or Divadale. Please note that your child needs to be old/mature enough to walk independently into the school yard from the car drop off.
- Be patient and wait your turn. Cars will be queuing to drop off, so please head south on Sutherland and join the back of the queue. Follow the instructions given by the PSP volunteers (wearing orange safety vests). Obey the stop sign at Divadale and watch for kids crossing.
- Do NOT stop in the Divadale intersection. If the line is long, please wait at the Stop sign until you can proceed completely, and safely, through.
- When it is your turn, remain in your car and unlock your doors. The volunteer will open the passenger door.
- Once the door is closed, please check for traffic and exit the drop zone slowly and carefully.
- Don’t forget to smile and thank your volunteer.
For your own convenience and everyone’s safety please try to avoid driving northbound on Sutherland during the Kiss and Ride period.
Volunteers are urgently required. If you can donate 15 minutes of your time for even one day a month your help would be greatly appreciated.
More Information
Lateness & Children Leaving the School
Students must sign-out at the Office if they are leaving during school hours. A note is required from a parent or guardian if the departing student is not accompanied by a parent or guardian. Kindergarten, Primary and Junior students will only be released to a parent, guardian, or designated caregiver/babysitter. If the adult picking up a student is not the parent, guardian, or designated caregiver/babysitter, documentation to verify identity will be requested (e.g., Driver’s License, etc.).
In the case of lateness, students arriving at the start of morning announcements may proceed directly to class and the teachers will mark them late on the attendance records.
Once the announcements are over and the attendance folder has been sent to the Office, students are required to sign-in at the Office. Students may be asked to make up time missed due to lateness. Parents will be notified in the case of persistent lateness.
