Winter Weather
With snow now making its way into the weather forecast in the coming months, it is timely to provide a reminder to parents and staff of communication procedures related to potential school closures.
All schools in the North Vancouver School District will remain OPEN, if at all possible during winter weather, including snowfalls. Any district-wide closure will be decided by 6:30 a.m. at the latest and will be announced via radio and television:
| CKNW 980AM |
CBC |
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| News 1130AM |
BCTV |
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| CHMJ 730AM |
City TV
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| CBC 690AM |
CTV BC
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| Fairchild 1470AM |
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| CHQM 103.5FM |
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Individual school closures due to unique circumstances (e.g., power outages) will be announced as early as possible in the same manner. Only closures will be announced. Please note that no announcement will be made saying that schools are open.
We are continuing to build the capacity to contact parents and staff more directly through our automated communication system. This allows for the efficient distribution of phone and e-mail messages in a timely manner. We will be continuing to employ this system as needed to provide parents and staff with important information in a timely manner.
Things to remember:
- Parents/guardians are responsible for their children's safe travel to and from school. If for any reason there is concern that a child cannot travel safely, other arrangements should be made by the parent(s). Parents are also encouraged to establish an emergency plan for their children in the even that schools are closed, start late, or dismiss early. Please ensure that your child(ren) are dressed appropriately to get to and from school. Your cooperation is much appreciated!
- Most likely there will only be a single lane plowed along major feeder roads to the school
- Parking will be virtually non-existent along feeder roads
- Stress will cause a high degree of anxiety and frustration on the part of drivers when regular driver patterns and access routes are compromised by significant accumulations of snow
- Walk your child to school if at all possible
At school:
Every effort will be made to clear pathways to the two main entrances to the school (lower undercover entrance and the main foyer entrance). Other entrances to the school will be unlocked at the usual time but access to them may not be shoveled.
Our Facilities Department has worked with our snow removal contractors (parking lots) to develop 'snow dump zones' at each school site. Our local municipalities have established snow removal and clearing priorities. The clearing of access roads to schools is a second level priority, following arterial roads and bus routes. Each of the Municipalities of North Vancouver has provided useful information on their respective websites to assist our community to prepare for and manage conditions related to snow and ice.
