Dear Banff Trail School Families,
Banff Trail School's operational hours of 7:58am to 2:30pm have been in effect for many years now. School start and end times are subject to changes each year, and are centrally assigned to schools by CBE Transportation (based largely on bus scheduling and pairing with other schools and routes). To be clear, I have heard of no adjustments specific to Banff Trail School's hours, for the coming year or beyond. Normally, Principals hear in either the Fall or the Spring season about any adjustments that are to be made for the following school year. In addition to this, standard practice has been that when bell times are adjusted by the CBE by more than 30 minutes from the existing time, an extra year's notice is provided, to allow families some time to make accommodations in their personal lives, but there is no guarantee that this practice will continue in the future.
Just over one week ago, Principals in alternative programs (including French Immersion) were invited to attend a meeting held by CBE's Transportation team. In the Spring of 2023, Alberta Education announced some large changes to funding school bus transportation and service levels for school boards. Note that current understanding is that enhancements are targeted by the provincial government towards regular school programming only, and not to alternative programs, but the impact of these changes will touch many alternative program schools. On November 29th, 2023, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced that due to an ongoing, North American shortage of bus drivers, implementation would now occur by September 1, 2025 (meaning AFTER the NEXT school year). You can read about this further here. During this meeting, Principals were advised that this change will impact the bell times of a very large number of schools (without yet knowing specifically which schools would be impacted).
Though at this point I don't anticipate any significant bell time changes for next school year, I never know with 100% certainty until around April. I know how challenging it can be for some families to arrange for coverage of before and after school childcare, and pick-up and drop-off at the school, and how any potential changes in timing can greatly impact established routines. If I hear of any changes, I will be sure to let our community know as soon as possible. Moving forward into the year beyond next year (ie the 2025-26 school year), based on this meeting, I would think that it is much more possible to have changes implemented for the bell times at our school than in any other year in the previous decade or so. What those changes may or may not be, though…we will have to wait to see…
Any potential large changes in bell times, as you can see, seem to be at least a couple years away, if at all. However, I figured it is always best to be as informed as possible, as early as possible (even if the information is vague and quite opaque), since, moving forward, this could impact other CBE schools that your children attend as well.
In the meantime, I wish everyone some respite from some of the complexities of our world during this Winter Break. Hopefully you are able to carve out some quality time with family and friends, sharing smiles, stories and laughter, and enjoy some of the wonders that surround us in the outdoors of our great province. Though I have many things for which to be thankful, I feel very fortunate to be your Principal at Banff Trail School. I look forward to sharing many more great memories with the staff, students and families at our gem of a school.
For Your Consideration:
Action for Happiness December Calendar: If you are looking for ways to promote good character and mental health in your children over the break, consider printing off a copy of the Action for Happiness calendar here. The website is an excellent resource relating to the promotion of positive mental health in self and others, and very accessible to work through as a family.
Illness: This has been another challenging fall season of illness in schools across the CBE, whether in relation to staff or students. Just as I encourage staff to stay home when ill, thank you for continuing to keep sick children at home; overall, our families have been very diligent about doing so! I appreciate how challenging this can be for some families to arrange, but your support in this helps to keep our school a healthy place to learn.
Food Drive—Your support and generosity in donating food items during our Mayor's Annual Food Drive was very appreciated and will help to provide for those less fortunate than us in our city. Class boxes of food were absolutely overflowing.
Upcoming Dates:
December 23-January 7, inclusive: School Closed for Winter Break
Monday, January 15: Non-instructional Day (no school for students)
January 22-29: K-5 FitSet Ninja obstacle course residency (in-school)
January 30: Report Cards Visible in MyCBE Account
February 15-19, inclusive: School Closed (Teachers' Convention, Family Day)
We all look forward to welcoming students back to the school on Monday, January 8th, 2024.
Merry Christmas, and wishing you the best of health and happiness in 2024.
Ryan Turner
Principal, Banff Trail School