Good afternoon Balmoral families,

We hope you had a happy and safe Halloween over the weekend! We enjoyed seeing our students back at school last week, and appreciated the students getting back into their learning routines quickly. Please note this is a full week of school and Fall Break starts next week (Nov 10 – 12).

Please read this newsletter carefully as it contains important information that impacts all students at Balmoral School.

Remembrance Day – November 7

We will be commemorating Remembrance Day in a different way this year, due to limited planning time. Each homeroom will watch a presentation about Remembrance Day that was created by some of our leadership students, and participate in an activity during their Character block on Friday. There will also be a minute of silence in the school at 11am on Friday.

Students who participate in Cadets, Scouts or Guides programs are welcome to wear their uniforms to school on Friday.

School fees

Over the next couple of weeks, school fees will be added to student accounts for their complementary courses. There are varying fees for all CTF courses and Art for Grades 7-9, up to $20 per semester. The fee for instrumental music (Grade 7/8/9 Band) is $55 for the year. These fees allow us to purchase the consumable supplies needed for students to work on their projects and assignments. We ask that parents please pay these fees in a timely manner so that we can continue to offer these opportunities for students.

Basketball Season - UPDATE

We wanted to share an update regarding our middle school basketball season. After discussion among schools in our athletic division, a decision has been made to cancel the remainder of the regular basketball season games.

With only two weeks left in the final season (with the fall break in between) and playoffs originally scheduled to begin on November 13, there was not enough time to fairly complete the remaining games or standings. Unfortunately, no teams were able to play any regular-season games this session, except for the junior boys. 

We know this is disappointing news for our student-athletes and families who were looking forward to finishing the season. We truly appreciate the effort, dedication, and enthusiasm our players and coaches have shown throughout this challenging time.

Our focus now will be on practices and a possible student vs. teachers game to celebrate the end of basketball. We will be meeting with each team this week to determine student interest in practices, and we will continue to hold practices if there are enough students who want to participate.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support of our students and school sports programs.

Casino fundraiser – thank you

Thank you to all parents who volunteered at our casino fundraiser last week! This is a major fundraiser for our school and will give us about $70,000 to use towards school expenses. We are grateful to all volunteers for your time and dedication to our students. A special thank you to our school council and key council members for your work in organizing and managing this important fundraiser! We appreciate you so much.

Grade 7 Band Camp Update

At this time, Grade 7 band camp is cancelled. We are looking for alternate dates to offer this camp but cannot guarantee this will be possible. We are also exploring other options for our Grade 7 students to refine their music skills, such as in-school band clinics with professional musicians. We will keep you updated as plans are made.

Next School Council meeting – Nov 6

Our next school council and parent society meetings will be held on Thursday, November 6 at 6:30pm. This meeting will be held in person at Balmoral School. We encourage all parents to attend and be part of the important conversations that impact all students at school.

Pickle Jar

Students are able to buy food from the school cafeteria during their lunch break. Most meals are $6 or $7, and there are always sandwiches and salads available as well. The cafeteria is CASH only.

Important dates

• November 4 – Fun Lunch for Grades 5/6
• November 5 – Fun Lunch for Grades 7/8/9
• November 6 – School Council meeting at 6:30pm at Balmoral School
• November 7 – Last day of classes before Fall Break
• November 10 to 12 – Fall Break
• November 13 – Classes resume
• November 27 – Parent-Teacher conference (evening 4pm-8pm, in-person)
• November 28 – Parent-Teacher conferences (daytime 8am-2pm, online)
• December 3 – Photo re-takes

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the school office.

Regards,

Balmoral Administration