LORD STRATHCONA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Seismic Bulletin #1
Director of Instruction: Mr. David Nelson
Principal: Ms. Harjinder Sandhu
Vice-Principal: Mr. Jesse Brown
PAC Chairs: Ms. Francesca Benedetti & Mr. David Chen
School Liaison Trustee: Mr. Christopher Richardson

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MOVING AROUND STRATHCONA

DURING PHASE ONE OF CONSTRUCTION

Access to buildings

Currently it is not possible to walk all the way around the school grounds or through the court yard.
The Junior Building, Auditorium, Cafeteria, and Basketball Courts are no longer accessible.
The courtyard is now less than half of what it was.
To enter the Senior Building after 9:00 am during the school day, you must enter through the door located on Pender Street next
to the corner of Jackson Ave. The Senior Building is no longer connected to any other building.
To enter the Primary Building during the school day you must enter through the door on the east side of the building, beside the
parking lot, or from the courtyard, basement door.
The stair case on the west side of the Primary Building that leads into the courtyard is not to be used except in an emergency
situation as an evacuation route.
To enter Building E during the school day you must enter through the east stairwell just beside the office. E Building Classes will
enter and exit at the bells through both the east side and west side stairwells to help ease congestion. Depending on the
classrooms location in the E building, classes will be assigned their route (east side classes use the east side stairwell and west
side classes use the west side stairwell).
There will be no covered walk way to use to get around the school.
All movement to and from the Senior Building will be along Pender Street. There is a walk way created between the perimeter
fence and the blue construction fencing.
Access to the office and library remain the same.

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Pick Up, Drop Off and Parking

Please try not to drive to school. If you must, please check the map below to see where drop off is permitted. You are not
permitted to drop off or pick up in the School Staff Parking Lots.
We have always had limited parking available for staff. It is a real issue for us and over the years we have had parents who
come into the parking lot to drop off and pick up their children. This is not allowed. Parking is at such a shortage that staff is
often double parked. We cannot permit cars to double-park in the Upper Parking Lot as it will be a fire hazard and an
interruption to the schools Receiving Area is for deliveries. Also we need to keep a lane clear for emergency vehicles.
Only school staff are permitted in the parking lots. All school staff vehicles will be identified as such. Any unauthorized
vehicles found in the parking lots will be towed at the drivers expense.

Recess and Lunch Where do we play?

During unstructured play times, only Intermediate students will be invited to play around Senior Building on Jackson, Pender and
a short section on Keefer. The Pender Street pathway is not designed to handle high traffic!
All students can play in the limited courtyard space, on the playground equipment, the swings, in the community garden and on
the gravel field.
If congestion on the playground becomes an issue we will have primary only days.
During Rainy Days students may choose to stay in their building hallways to play with puzzles and games. Puzzles and
games will be made available.

Lunch Time Where and When to we eat?

Unfortunately this year the Lunch Program will only be equipped to provide a Cold Lunch. Lunches will be served to all
students in the new Primary Building Lunchroom. Students who were with us last year did have a trial run last June, eating in
this space.
In order to try to make the experience more enjoyable and less congested, we will be eating in two shifts.
Intermediate Students (Grades 4 to Grade 7) will eat lunch from 12:10-12:30 and then play.
Primary Students (Kindergarten to Grade 3) will eat lunch at the 12:30 hockey bell from 12:30-12:57. They will play
first from 12:10-12:30 and then eat.
Once primary students have finished eating they may be permitted to go back outside to play.

Support Staff and Supervision Aides will supervise children during the lunch break both while theyre eating and playing. We will
support the students as they learn this new routine.
Student who bring bagged lunches to school will also eat at the assigned times.
If you are able to take your child home for lunch, we think this is a great option. All students leaving the school, during school
hours, must be signed out by either you or themselves if they are in Grade 6 or 7 and upon their return to school they must be
signed back in. We do not want students going out on their own. If you would like your Grade 6 or 7 student to go home for
lunch, we would like you to send a note with your child each time, giving him or her permission to leave the grounds. We would
like them to go home to eat lunch and then return straight to school. We do not want students out playing with their friends off
the school grounds as we cannot be responsible for their supervision. Similarly please do not invite other children to your home
for lunch unless you are there to supervise and the other parent has also sent us written consent. In the situation that you are
inviting other children to your home for lunch, we would like you to come and sign the students out yourself.
In the past, Grade 6 or 7 students have left the school grounds during lunch time to purchase lunch. Please make sure that each
time you are permitting your child to do this that you send us a note that states where your child is going to purchase lunch and
that your child knows to bring his or her lunch back to the school, sign themselves back in at the office and then eat their lunch in
the lunchroom. Your child must present the note in the office when signing out. The note will be kept in the sign out book, in
case of an emergency when we need to account for all students.

Visiting and/or Volunteering during the school day

We very much enjoy your partnership in education and value your support. This year there will be many people on and around
our school site. Please do not be offended if we see you during the school day and ask you can I help you, we might not
recognize you. Please do identify yourself to us. We will be looking to make sure that all visitors have signed into the office and
have been issued a tag. When you are finished with your visit we ask that you sign out and return your visitors tag.

Who has moved rooms/where is there room?

Please check the staff list that was sent home for room numbers and then refer to the map in this bulletin to locate the building.
All rooms in the Senior Building begin with A (Grades 4-7)
All rooms in the Primary Building begin with D (Grades 1-2 and the Family Room)
All rooms located by the office are in the Community Building (to the west) and begin with E (Grades K, 3, some 2s and the
Aboriginal Education Enhancement Room)

Still have questions

Please email either Ms. Sandhu - hsandhu@vsb.bc.ca or Mr. Brown jessebrown@vsb.bc.ca

Attend the next PAC Meeting on September 16, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. Our Seismic Project Manager, Noel McNally, will be there to
answer questions. Dinner will be provided at 6:00 p.m. and childminding is also available.
Keep a look out for next Seismic Bulletin and check the school website

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