The CDA, provides valuable support systems and advice to assist students and families with behaviour and emotional difficulties. The program offers a full range of services at the school which includes: proactive and preventative programs, as well as intervention with issues that have already been identified.
All students, parents & staff are required to remove dirty / wet footwear upon entry to the building. Proper athletic footwear, that will not mark the floor surface, must be worn for all Physical Education activities. No street shoes are allowed in gym classes. Appropriate, safe clothing and footwear is required for CTF & Science labs. Please ensure your child’s name appears in all footwear.
Students and staff are expected to wear appropriate, respectful clothing when at school.
For clarification:
- Clothing having racial, sexual, vulgar, unsafe or offensive slogans or images shall not be worn
- There is a two-shoe policy at Mitford. Outdoor shoes shall be changed for clean indoor shoes upon entering the building. Non-marking athletic shoes with laces or straps that fit well and provide good ankle support shall be worn in the school gymnasium.
If clothing is deemed inappropriate by teachers/administration, the student will be asked to change or phone home to request a change of clothes.
In an attempt to avoid congestion, students are expected to enter and leave school via their designated doorways. During the school day (when children are in class) the student doors are locked. This is a safety precaution to avoid unauthorized persons entering the building without clearance. All visitors must use the main entrance, report to the school office and sign in and out. They will be issued a “Visitor” badge to confirm the authenticity of their visit.
Parents, who are dropping off or picking up their child at regular bell times, are kindly asked to wait outside of the school at their child’s designated door.
The Mitford School weekly family communication is published on Friday and called "Beats & Buzz" It is sent to families via SchoolMessenger.
Throughout the month, other notices may also be sent home in order to keep everyone informed of upcoming events, field trips, meetings, etc. Mitford School Council information may also be sent home regularly. The school has its own website where a variety of up-to-date information is regularly posted.
Contact Information: If your phone numbers (home, work or cell), address, email or emergency contact information changes, please notify the school office immediately. It is very important that everything is current in case of a student emergency.
Phone use at the school: (It is important not to interrupt classroom learning)
- All calls for staff will be forwarded to their voicemail unless the teacher has indicated to the office that they are expecting a call.
- Students may use classroom/office phones for emergency situations and not for social arrangements.
- If a parent needs to get in contact with their child, we kindly request they contact the office and not the student directly via text message or call their cell phone, as this is very disruptive to the class. The office will pass the message along to the student at instructional breaks only, unless an emergency exists.
During the school year parents can assist teachers by establishing a quiet time each day where your child is encouraged to do his/her homework, read or review. Encourage your child to read regularly every evening. Formal written homework should amount to no more than approximately 20 minutes per evening for elementary age children and approximately one hour for middle years students. However, the quantity of homework will be influenced by the students’ use of class time. You can monitor your child’s work/assignments through your child’s agenda. For older students, you may access your child’s homework via their teacher’s calendar on their Moodle, Google Classroom or Plone page.
The Learning Commons provides students with opportunities to develop skills to find, access and utilize all forms of information. Please encourage your child/children to take good care of all books. Our Learning Commons Specialist usually arranges for book fairs in conjunction with Parent/Teacher/Conferences. At that time, parents and children can purchase books, pencils, erasers, posters, etc. for a reasonable cost. Proceeds are spent on new books, computer software, etc.
A Literacy program is offered to students in all grades. All students will be assessed according to their reading level and appropriate programming and supports will be put in place to support students who are experiencing challenges. Response to Intervention (RTI) sessions occur in all Language Arts classrooms to support students with identified areas of challenge. Teachers will work with small groups of students on various aspects to improve fluency, word decoding and reading and comprehension.
Lost and found articles of clothing and other items are placed in the lost and found area at the back of the school. Please be sure to check monthly. At the end of every month, the unclaimed items are packed up and donated to local charities. Smaller items (i.e. keys), money and jewelry should be handed into the office.
Teachers are like the old woman who lived in a shoe.
We have so many children, we don’t know what to do.
When the children wear boots, they all look the same,
So every single boot and coat should have a NAME.
And buy some name tags to sew in each hat,
Each sweater, each jacket and in mittens too,
This is a very wise thing to do.
Then in rain or snow or on days when there’s frost,
We’ll send children home with no clothes lost,
And a great big thanks will come your way,
From our happy staff each and every day.
To minimize risk to students with nut sensitivities we ask for no food items that contain nut products be sent/brought into the school.
Morning and After School Drop Off Expectations
Please do not arrive prior to 7:55 a.m. Supervisors come on at 7:55 a.m. and school starts at 8:05 a.m. School ends at 2:20pm and supervisors will be out until 2:45pm.
As a result of rapid growth, traffic congestion is a concern and we respectfully request that parents please walk their children to school. In front of the school, the drop off loop is now a drop and go area and vehicles cannot be parked or left unattended. Parents are asked to park on Quigley Drive and avoid West McDougall and the adjacent alley as the congestion complicates the exit of buses due to their limited turning radius. When parking in the community please do not block driveways or move garbage bins, as we would like to continue to build a positive relationship with our community neighbors. We understand that these are not easy requests, but traffic congestion often leads to unsafe conditions for our students and student safety is a primary concern. Please drive slowly, follow all traffic laws, and abide by parking and crosswalk signs in order to ensure the safety of our students and community members.
Dropping students off in the staff parking lot is not permitted.
Limited visitor parking is available in the front loop of the school. If these spaces are all taken, you will need to park along Quigley Drive. When driving/parking on Quigley, please watch your speed (30km), please be aware of students walking along/crossing Quigley Drive, please refrain from making a U-turn on Quigley Drive to ensure the safety of all students.
After School Pick Up Expectations
If you are picking up (and staying in your vehicle), please park and meet your child at their designated doors. Please follow the same parking/driving rules as listed above for morning drop off.
*PLEASE NOTE- as the number of cars leaving the school area during morning drop off and afternoon pick up is so great, there tends to be a 'bottleneck' effect. This is when awareness and patience is extremely important. There should only be one line of vehicles exiting the Front Entrance loop at this time. Please alternate and allow parked cars and cars exiting to pull out. Check your speed and please watch out for students walking through the parking lots, across driveways and crossing the street.
Thank you for your co-operation in helping to ensure that our students are safe.
One of the primary reasons Mitford School has a unique PE program is that research has documented the importance of year-round activity for our health, especially for children in colder climates like ours. Learning to exercise in a variety of weather conditions and facilities is a part of the PE curriculum.
We can appreciate concerns about students going outside during colder temperatures. Running a safe PE program, both indoors and outdoors, is our primary concern. In colder temperatures we make sure that students are dressed appropriately for the weather (this includes a warm coat, toques and gloves). While outside, students are moving around in order to maintain a warm core body temperature. We modify activities as necessary in order to adapt to the weather conditions. On extremely cold days we limit our time outside (for example: we will explain the activity inside, so less time is spent outside). If the weather changes while we are outside and it is no longer safe to be outside, we bring the students in.
However we may be utilizing off-campus locations to enhance our PE programming. Students may be transported for additional programs at Spray Lakes Recreation Facility and other community facilities throughout the year to provide enhanced programming.
Use of fragrances including perfumes, colognes, and body sprays can cause difficulties for individuals who suffer from asthma, or other respiratory illnesses, and who are prone to headaches. To maintain an optimal learning and working environment, we are asking our students, and staff, to only use these fragrances in the gym change rooms and/or washrooms, and to consider others when using these products.
Mitford School is fortunate to have a number of agencies which support the school in many ways:
- RVS Psychologist: A chartered psychologist who provides cognitive, intellectual, and behavioral assessment upon request, after the Resource Team has reviewed the student’s needs.
- Program Specialist: A divisional resource specialist who provides academic assessments, program planning and oversees the implementation of IPPs. They act as a liaison between school and RVS Student Services.
- Speech/Language Pathologist: The SLP is contracted through Calgary Health Services to provide services to students with language and/or speech difficulties.
- REACH: A specialized team of therapists, contracted through Calgary, to provide services to certain high needs students.
- Nurse: A regular visitor who informs the school about infectious diseases, inoculates students and periodically liaises directly with parents.
- Family School Liaison Worker: A specialist who regularly visits school and works in conjunction with the school’s staff to
- monitor and provide social services to students and their families in the Mitford area.
Many students walk to and from school each day. They are expected to use the appropriate road crossing and to set a positive example for younger students to copy. Students are welcome to ride their bikes, scooters or skateboards to and from school, but they are expected to “walk” their bikes, scooters or skateboards when on the school property (for safety reasons). Bike racks are provided for securing bikes, scooters or skateboards, safely during the school day. Scooters and/or skateboards can be brought into the school; however, they need to be stored in lockers or classrooms (with teacher’s permission). Scooters and skateboards can not be left in the hallways, for safety reasons. Students who travel to and from school by car may be dropped off quickly in the front loop of the school.
Students within our school boundaries who live more than 1.5 km (ECS - Gr 8) from school are provided with bus transportation to and from school (no bus service is provided at noon for kindergarten students). Registration and payment can be completed online at www.rockyview.ab.ca/schools/busing-transportation. If you have any queries regarding bus service, please call 403-945-4104. The late bus line can be accessed by dialing 403-250-0016.
Parents are required to contact their Bus Contractor (403-932-5686) to receive authorization for their child to ride a bus other than their own, or to disembark at another stop. Parents should be prepared to indicate bus route numbers and the name(s) of their child(ren). Requests will be fulfilled based on seat availability. Please note: this service is not available during the month of September.
For security reasons, ALL visitors must sign in at the office and receive a visitor’s pass. Visitors of students may only be allowed on school premises with the consent of an administrator.
New to Mitford in 2024
Rocky View Schools commitment in keeping schools a safe place to learn and work for our students and staff has now been implemented. A camera and intercom have now been installed to allow office staff to buzz visitors in.
During school hours, all visitors are to proceed to the main entrance door and press the silver button on the security camera intercom panel located on the brick wall to the left of the front doors. (shown below). Our office staff will speak via the intercom and promptly provide you with access to the main office. All outside doors will be locked. Students arriving at the school during class time will also need to press the button and talk to our office staff to enter the school.
Parents are always welcome in our growing school
However, are you aware that we have this helpful rule?
If you want to observe the class or meet to discuss and look,
If you want to see your child or drop off a book;
Then please check in to the office first to see if we are free.
Drop off books and lunches there and, if possible, wait for me.
Or phone me first to set a time when we can freely chat.
We thank you for your consideration. We really appreciate that!