Welcome to the St. Angela Merici Catholic School

To help ensure a safe, organized, and successful school year for all students, please review this comprehensive handout detailing our daily policies, routines, and school expectations.

⏰ Daily Schedule & Attendance

Arrival: Supervision begins at 8:25am. Students are not allowed on school property until after the bell. For safety, do not leave your child unattended until staff is on duty after the bell. Please say goodbye to your child at the gate, as parents are not permitted in the schoolyard. School begins promptly at 8:40am.

Dismissal: Dismissal is at 3:00pm. Please meet your child at your pre-arranged meeting spot (do not wait at the office or inside the schoolyard). Promptness is highly appreciated as staff are involved in meetings immediately after school.

Absences & Lates: If your child will be late or absent, call 289-231-2085 (Option 6) or report it online via the Home2School Connect link under Quick Links on our school webpage. Do not email staff or the general school email address, as messages may not be seen in time. Unreported absences will trigger an automated safe arrival call.

🚗 Parking Lot & Pick-Up Policies

Early Pick-Up Procedure

Advance Notice: Send a note or email to the classroom teacher before 9:00am with the date and approximate pick-up time. If someone else is picking up your child, please explicitly state their name in the notice - they must be someone the school has listed on your child’s emergency contacts.

At the School: Ring the doorbell and speak through the speaker. Office staff will call your child down at that time. To limit disruptions and to ensure students are properly supervised, students will not be called down to the office in advance, and the office will not call classrooms to remind teachers of a scheduled pick-up.

Delays: Arrive early for appointments as some students take longer to pack up. Unscheduled pick-ups during nutrition breaks (10:40–11:20am & 12:40–1:20pm) or after 2:30pm will take significantly longer.

Please no unscheduled pick-ups after 2:40pm. 

Parking Lot Safety

Pylon Closures: The parking lot closes daily at 2:30pm with pylons. Once in place, do not move pylons to enter. Vehicles already parked inside must not move until the pylons are officially removed by staff.

Designated Parking: You must park in designated spots only. Curbs and areas near the portables are strictly reserved for emergency access/fire routes. If the lot is full, you must find legal street parking. Local police and town bylaw officers actively monitor the surrounding streets and will issue tickets.

🎒 Drop-Off Policy for Lunches, Snacks & Forgotten Items

If you must drop off an item during the school day, please follow these strict guidelines to maintain office privacy, school safety, and ensure the item reaches your child:

Label Everything: All items must be clearly marked with the student's first and last name, as well as their

teacher's name. Stickers and pens are provided on the drop-off table.

Drop and Go: Leave the building immediately after placing the item on the drop-off table to keep the busy office area clear.

Communication: You must notify the classroom teacher via email or voicemail that the item has arrived. Ensure your child knows before school that they need to check the office for a dropped-off item.

No Office Calls: To respect classroom learning and to limit disruptions, the office staff does not call students to the office for items on the pick-up table. 

Important Reminder Regarding Outside Food & Deliveries 

Specialty Drinks: Please refrain from dropping off midday treats like slushies, frosties or iced coffees, etc. These often lead to classroom distractions, energy crashes, and messy spills on school work and carpets. Please save these special treats for after-school pickup! 

Delivery Apps (Uber Eats / Skip the Dishes / etc): For safety and security reasons, we do not permit ordering food to the school via third-party delivery apps. Our front office is focused on student safety and cannot verify the identity of outside couriers, meaning we cannot allow these deliveries into the school. Any orders sent to the school will be turned away. Only family members can deliver forgotten items and lunches.

If your student forgets their lunch, we will always ensure they get something from the school office. Thank you so much for partnering with us to keep our school safe and focused on learning!

🍏 Nutrition Breaks & Recess

Our school follows a balanced-day schedule with two 40-minute breaks divided into 20 minutes of eating time and 20 minutes of play:

Nutrition Break 1: 10:40am – 11:20am

Nutrition Break 2: 12:40pm – 1:20pm (Pre-ordered hot food items are delivered during this break).

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Nut-Aware Policy: St. Angela Merici is a nut-aware school. Do not send any foods containing peanuts, tree nuts, or peanut butter substitutes (such as Wow Butter), as multiple students and staff suffer from severe, life-threatening allergies.

Recess & Weather Clothing

Outdoor play is scheduled daily. Please monitor the weather and dress your child appropriately:

As temperatures drop, hats, gloves, boots, and snow pants are essential.

Rubber boots are highly recommended for rainy days and the spring season.

Label everything (including indoor/outdoor shoes and individual winter gear). Labeling items helps prevent confusion, as many children's clothes look identical.

👟 Clothing, Shoes & Bags

Label Everything: Mark all clothing, shoes, and lunch bags with your child's first and last name.

Indoor Shoes: To keep our learning spaces clean, outdoor footwear must be removed inside. Parents must supply an extra pair of non-scuffing running shoes with safe, non-slip soles to be left at school for indoor use.

Spare Clothes: Recommended for primary grades. Provide a full backup set (shirt, pants, socks, underwear) in a labeled, large Ziploc bag to keep at school. Keep extra mittens and socks in their backpack during wet/snowy weather.

School Bags: Backpacks should be large enough to independently hold your child's daily school creations, a separate lunch/snack bag, and standard school materials.

📱 Personal Mobile Devices (PMD) Policy

Personal Mobile Devices (cell phones, tablets, etc.) are not permitted to be used in the classroom or anywhere on school property, unless strictly required for medical reasons or documented special needs accommodations.

Liability: It is strongly recommended to leave devices and items of value at home. The school is not responsible for replacing lost, stolen, or damaged personal items.

Enforcement: A progressive discipline approach is enforced for students found using or possessing a PMD:

The device will be confiscated by an adult and placed in secure storage.

Repeated offenses will require the device to be turned in to the main office for the duration of the day.

Continued breaches of the policy may result in a formal school suspension.

Acknowledgement Form: Parents and guardians will be required to sign a digital technology acknowledgement form at the start of the school year through School Day. 

Responsible Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT

🏫 Health, Safety & Environment

Fragrance-Free School: We strive to maintain a scent-free environment to protect sensitive staff and students. Please ensure your child does not wear scented hair products, body lotions, or perfumes to school. This expectation applies to all parent volunteers and visitors as well.

Medication & Medical Conditions: Please notify the school of any allergies or medical diagnoses. All medications must be stored and administered through the main office. Office staff cannot dispense medication without completed medical authorization forms filled out in advance. Students are strictly prohibited from carrying medication in their backpacks, desks, or on their person.

Life-Threatening Medical Needs: Contact the front office immediately if your child requires an Epi-Pen for anaphylaxis or an emergency inhaler for asthma.

Toys from Home: Please leave personal toys at home to avoid lost/damaged items and classroom distractions.

Classroom Contributions: Parents are asked to send one box of tissues and two rolls of paper towels

with their child to help navigate the cold and flu season.

📱 School-Day Online Portal

St. Angela Merici utilizes the School-day secure online platform to minimize paper waste and streamline home-to-school communication. Once registered, parents can use the system to:

Approve digital permission forms and submit payments instantly.

Register students for extracurricular activities.

Order and pay for the school hot lunch program.

Contribute to ongoing school fundraisers.

Note: Once your child's enrollment is active at the start of the school year, you will receive an email containing a unique 10-digit "Secure Match Key." Both parents/guardians can use this key to link accounts and register at www.school-day.app.

Updated: June 2026