To report a student absence please call our Attendance Line Number:

250-360-0725

Student Placements for Next Year

In May, teachers will place Grade 6, 7 and 8 students in tentative classes for 2012 – 2013. These class organizations may change prior to school starting, but they give us a starting place for next year.
There are many factors that teachers consider, such as academic needs, social interactions, emotional needs, etc. Placing children in classes is a huge endeavor and there is tremendous thought and effort put into class placement. At this time of year, we invite parents to provide us with input that we may not be aware of, such as a child’s desire to be with a particular friend, a child’s need for structure, etc. You can outline if your child works well or does not work well with a particular student. Please do not request a specific teacher.
We cannot guarantee that we can honour your request, but we do our best to keep parental input in mind when making placements for next year.
If you have input that you would like us to consider, we must receive written input from you by May 4, 2012. Please address your letters or emails to Sean Powell at spowell@sd61.bc.ca.

Intentions for 2012 – 2013

If you are planning on moving next year, please contact the office as soon as possible.

An Important Note About Attendance

Attendance is a very important focus at Arbutus due to our commitment to 21st century skills and brain development.  To be a successful learner, your child needs to be here everyday to take part in the rich discussions and project work that go on at our school each day.  When your child is absent, they often can't "make up" the work because they have missed the on-going learning and discussions which are key parts of learning today.  Please consider this when making holiday plans, or should your son or daughter experience a more lengthy or frequent illness.

Our Attendance Line Number is

250-360-0725

Please note, if your son or daughter is away for any reason, it is important for us to know.  Please leave a message on the attendance line with your child's name, their division number and the reason he or she is absent.  If the student will be absent for a number of days due to injury or illness, please either call the line daily, or leave a message with the range of days.

If your son or daughter is late, he or she should sign in at the office so that attendance may be tracked.  Likewise, should a student need to sign out for an appointment or illness at any point during the day, he or she must sign out in the office as our attendance is taken twice daily and tracked.