Dealing with Poor Weather and School Closure
InnovOak School does not follow the same regional protocols as the WRDSB and WCDSB. We are not obligated to follow their methodology for closure and we will balance our needs, the safety of our students, parents and staff when monitoring poor weather events.
Our parents are our best indicators of safety and we respect parental decisions to avoid travel during a poor weather event. Parents should make the decision to keep their students at home and if the school is open, we will work to ensure we can meet the needs of those who could not attend.
We may choose to be proactive and ensure major events like exams are postponed even if the school was to open for the day
When severe weather is forecast or occurring, we will monitor the weather conditions, the road conditions, and what public safety bulletins are issued
We will monitor and evaluate what other public institutions are planning and announcing as part of our decision-making process
Full closures of institutions across the region will result in InnovOak School being closed (e.g. the Universities, Conestoga College, or other schools in our local neighborhood as this indicates a level of safety concern that will affect everyone)
If there are bus cancelations but institutions remain open, we will evaluate the impact on our parents, students, and staff.
If the school is closed for any reason, we will post a message in the appropriate parent space, update our social media feeds, and send an email. If this is before school, our goal is to have this information shared before 6:45 am. Parents should make family decisions that are independent of the final school decision.
If the weather deteriorates suddenly, parents are more than welcome to come early for pick up. We ask that you call the school and we can have your student ready. We may initiate a closure based on what we are learning and begin to have all parents come for early pick up. While a rare occurrence, we would follow our internal safety protocols and have staff remain in the school until every child has been picked up safely.
These are unusual events, and we work to ensure full and transparent communication as things develop so families can decide as things develop.
During severe weather conditions, parents have the option of picking up their child(ren) early, even if the school remains open