Salmon Arm West Elementary School

Download pdf of poster here

Want to register your child for Kindergarten but want to do it online? Starting next week you can!

Beginning Tuesday, October 19 an online registration option will be available for parents registering their child for Kindergarten in September 2022.

Parents wishing to access this online tool should call their catchment area school, which will give you a link and information about registering. This will include a phone number for a Help Desk in case you run into any difficulties.

Not sure which catchment area you are in? Click here

New to SD83 and looking for more information? Click here

SD83 plans on expanding this online service to include all grades in January 2022.

The Ministry of Education is seeking feedback from parents/guardians on its draft K-12 Student Reporting Policy.

Director of Instruction Carol-Ann Leidloff comments SD83 is pleased to share the draft K-12 Reporting Policy, recently released by the Ministry of Education. “This follows four years of work across the province, where schools have worked to align teaching and assessment practices with our renewed curriculum.”

“The SD83 Parent Guide to Communicating Student Learning will help you understand the rationale behind some of the changes, and to clarify what information will be shared during each reporting period.”

Please read through both the Parent Guide and the Draft K-12 Student Reporting Policy, then share your feedback with the Ministry by November 5, 2021.

The SD83 Parent Guide to Communicating Student Learning

Draft K-12 Student Reporting Policy

Background Rationale

Read more from the Ministry here: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/govtogetherbc/consultation/studentreporting/

Go directly to providing feedback by clicking here: https://feedback.engage.gov.bc.ca/944758

Do you have a child who will start kindergarten in September 2022? Welcome!

Registration for regular kindergarten and the district’s two programs of choice opens at 9 a.m. today and remains open for the rest of the school year. We are looking forward to welcoming you and your child to North Okanagan School District No. 83!

You will need to register at your child’s catchment school (based on your physical address) or specialty school (Bastion – Early French Immersion or South Canoe – Outdoor Learning). To access our catchment school locator tool or find out more information about our specialty schools, Click Here. 

All Kindergarten registrations completed on Tuesday, October 12th are treated as “equal”, so there is no need for line-ups on that day. Registrations received after October 12th, will be date/time stamped and treated on a first come, first served basis. This information will be used to determine placement IF catchment area schools or programs are full. Students with siblings already registered in a Program of Choice (French Immersion or Outdoor Learning) will be given priority if there is limited space.

If you have any questions about the Kindergarten registration process, please contact: Jennifer Findlay, District Principal, at jfindlay@sd83.bc.ca 

In case you need it, here is a list of our elementary schools (click on the school name and the email address will pop up) and their telephone numbers.

Armstrong Elementary – (250) 546-8778
Bastion Elementary – includes English kindergarten & Early French Immersion program – (250) 832-3741
Carlin Elementary Middle – (250) 835- 4520
Falkland Elementary – (250) 379-2320
Grindrod Elementary – (250) 838-7579
Highland Park Elementary – (250) 546-8723
Hillcrest Elementary – (250) 832-7195
M.V. Beattie Elementary – (250) 838-6434
North Canoe Elementary – (250) 832-4950
North Shuswap Elementary – (250) 955-2214
Parkview Elementary – (250) 836-2871
Ranchero Elementary – (250) 832-7018
Salmon Arm West Elementary – (250) 832-3862
Silver Creek Elementary – (250) 832-8282
Sorrento Elementary – (250) 675-2311
South Broadview – (250) 832-2167
South Canoe Elementary – Outdoor Learning Program – (250) 832-3122

An important update to the Public Health Communicable Disease Guidance for K-12 Schools and the Provincial COVID-19 Communicable Disease Guidelines for K-12 Settings was announced on October 1, 2021 by Minister of Education Jennifer Whiteside and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry. Superintendent of Schools Donna Kriger would like to inform parents about this change and to update everyone on the notification process for school exposures.

Update to face coverings mandate

The provincial government has announced that beginning Monday, October 4, 2021, all students in B.C. schools will be required to wear a mask when inside a school building, including while at their desks and on buses. This builds on the existing guidelines that currently apply to all students in grades 4-12.

“We recognize that some students in grades K-3 may not be accustomed to wearing masks, as a result, school staff will spend October 4 helping children adjust to this change, with the goal of building mask wearing into student routines by Tuesday, October 5th. We suggest you send your K-3 child to school with a clean mask and a spare mask that they are used to wearing. Schools will have disposable masks available,” she reports.

As a reminder, provincial guidance advises that mask requirements do not apply to staff, students and visitors in the following circumstances:

• A person cannot tolerate wearing a mask for health or behavioural reasons;
• A person is unable to put on or remove a mask without the assistance of another person;
• If the mask is removed temporarily for the purposes of identifying the person wearing it;
• If the mask is removed temporarily to engage in an educational activity that cannot be performed while wearing a mask;
• If a person is eating or drinking;
• If a person is behind a barrier; or
• While providing a service to a person with a disability or diverse ability where visual cues, facial expressions and/or lip reading/movements is important.

Change to notification process for school exposures

The provincial government also made a change to the notification process for school exposures, directing local health authorities to begin posting general school exposure notifications to their websites. Exposure notifications for our school district and the Interior Health region more broadly can be found on the Interior Health school exposures page. For a helpful overview of the contact tracing process visit the BC CDC website.

“Thank you for your continued support.”