Absence and Lateness
University Highlands School, like all other elementary schools in Burnaby, has the ‘Safe Arrival Program’. This means that if a child is marked absent, and the office has not received a note or a telephone call from the parent advising of the absence/tardiness, a phone call home will be made to ensure the child is safe.
If your child will be absent or late, please call the school office at 604.296.9036 to advise the secretary, or leave a message on the absence line.
If your child is late, even by a few minutes, please come to the office to obtain a “late slip” to give to the teacher. This is simply a way for the homeroom teacher to know that the child has checked in, and no phone call will be made home.
Please call the office, even if you have already advised the teacher, so that we do not bother you at home.
Cell Phones and Calling Home
Students are not permitted to use cell phones in the school during instructional time except for learning purposes directed by a teacher. Students may use their phones before or after school. Cell phones used inappropriately will be taken away and returned at the end of the day.
In the event of an emergency when you need to reach your child, please call the office (604.296.9036).
If a child needs to call home, we ask that he/she gets permission from the teacher, and uses the office phone to call home. Office staff often assist children who are sick or injured.
Please note that we discourage the use of school phones to set up after school “play dates”. These arrangements must be made with parents in the morning before the child comes to school.
Emergency Contact Information
It is the family’s responsibility to make sure the school has up-to-date emergency contact information. If your phone numbers change, or if an emergency contact person is no longer available to pick up your child in the event of an emergency, please advise the school.
Your child’s safety is of utmost importance to us. Having current phone numbers and contact information allows us to properly care for your child.
Family Late Picking Up Child
If you are unable to pick up your child at the end of the day, or have plans for someone else to pick up your child, please call the school to advise us (604.296.9036), or please let your child’s teacher know in the morning.
There are times when the parent is running late due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g. traffic). Don’t worry, just call us to let us know. If we do not hear from you, we will phone until we reach a parent or an emergency contact. Your child will be safe at the school.
Important: If you know you cannot pick up your child on a daily basis at the time of dismissal, please arrange for your child to go home with a friend or relative.
Leaving School Grounds
Students are not permitted to leave the school grounds during the lunch hour to purchase lunch from local vendors, unless they are accompanied by an adult. A note from parents allowing students to do so will be accepted for special circumstances only.
Students are welcome to go home for lunch, with a permission note to the teacher. Students must sign out at the office, and then sign back in once they return to the school.
Moving
If you have plans to move, but your child will continue to attend University Highlands, please advise the office of your new address. We will require two new pieces of proof of residence. Please contact the office for details (604.296.9036). Please note that your child’s enrollment at the school will not be affected if you move, even if your new address is out of catchment.
If you have plans to move and you will be registering your child at another school, please call the office and advise us of the expected date of withdrawal and the name of the new school.
Parking
Our school is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold School. To achieve LEED Gold status the school was designed and built to meet strict environmental criteria. Encouraging walking or cycling to school, using public transportation and carpooling meet such criteria and with limited parking, are more likely to be chosen as transportation options. University Highlands is situated within UniverCity – a community built on principles of sustainability. The residences around our school were located so that families could walk to school in less than 5 minutes.
Occasionally, parking is required. We have a designated 2 minute parking zone on University High Street. You may also park under Nesters Market for 1 hour for free! Bring your ticket to the cashier for reimbursement. More parking and sustainable mobility information can be found at https://www.sfu.ca/parking.html
Vacation / Extended Absence
If your child will be absent from school for an extended period of time, i.e. for vacation, please contact the office. We will need to know the date your child will be leaving, and the date s/he is expected to return to school.
