School Operations
Safety and security procedures:
Emergency situations: The most likely serious emergency situation that might arise is a fire within the school itself. There is an evacuation plan for this contingency, and regular fire drills. Clearing the building is crucial, but the difficulty is reduced because of the low numbers of students in the building, and the many exits. The school has taken the 'normal' fire drill procedures one step further because of the extreme temperatures that do occur. The evacuation plan calls for teachers to remove their classes from the school to a designated spot, check to ensure that all students are accounted for, then, in the event of inclement weather, to proceed directly to the community hall. The community hall is large enough to hold the entire school populace in warmth and security - and has the added advantages of being equipped with a telephone and washrooms, and being close to the nursing station.
Other emergencies will call for a somewhat similar response - if there is a serious chlorine leak from the chlorination plant near the school grounds, or if there is a flood etc. the students will take 6th Avenue, cut through the Forestry yard, and then turn north up the Elsa road to high ground, and the Grader Station. We are equipped with a satellite phone, and a good collection of emergency response equipment provided by the Department of Education.
Non-emergency situations: The school (as most Yukon workplaces) is required to have a safety representative. This person has a responsibility to identify any areas of the building that might be considered unsafe, and to report these for repair. Security of the building is promoted by the work schedules of the staff - there is someone in the building from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Monday to Friday). Activities in the school are restricted to these times, unless there is a special activity scheduled such as a weekend soccer tournament. In such case, other arrangements are made to ensure that the building is safe and that supervision is adequate.
An agreement has been worked out with the Village of Mayo for use of the building during non-school times. Briefly, this permits the use of the facilities only under the direct supervision of a previously designated Village employee, and with the Village of Mayo accepting full legal and moral responsibility. In addition, an agreement was worked out whereby the village has taken over operation of the Fitness Room completely independent of the school.
Cold weather - elementary recess and lunch time: When the temperature outside is colder than -30'C, taking the wind chill into account, elementary students will not be sent outside for recess or after eating their lunches. Instead, they will be kept inside, and will be supervised appropriately.
School maintenance: Maintenance at the local level operates on a system of work requests that allows for a quick response for minor repairs. The YTG maintenance staff can go to work as soon as they have the proper school-generated form. They do repairs to the building, but not to equipment eg. lights, but not desks.
Health and first aid:
Sick room: A child who is suffering from a temporary ailment, such as a headache, can be sent to the sickroom to lie down. The sickroom is immediately adjacent to the office, so the secretary can monitor it. Often it is best to contact the parent and have them come and take the sick student home. (This also helps cut down on misuse of the facility.) In general, a child who is too sick to be in class is too sick to be in school. This guideline extends to elementary students staying in at recess and lunch: a student too sick to go out should probably not be at school.
Administration of drugs: The simplest and best guideline here is "school personnel do not give students drugs of any sort." This includes the range of medications all the way from aspirin, through cough syrups, to prescription medications. This is too simple, of course: students will sometimes bring medications that need to be taken on a regular basis, eg. just before meals, every three hours etc. and often they will need help. There is quite a difference between reminding a student that it is time to take a pill and actually administering the medication. If there are any doubts, teachers have been instructed to err on the side of conservatism: phone the parents, phone the nurse, take (or arrange for the child to be taken) to the clinic, or whatever seems most appropriate.
One exception to this general rule is the administration of medications to those exceptional students who require prescription medications to help them stay focused and on task. Paperwork must be completed in accordance with the Department of Education Administration of Medication Policy.
If a child is taking any sort of medication and teachers notice a reaction, they should contact the office, parent, or public health nurse. They are not medical professionals and should not try to act as such.
First aid: For minor scrapes, cuts, bruises, slivers etc. the school keeps a supply of first aid materials in the main office, where the secretary can dispense band aids, etc. as necessary.
Signing Out: A student may need to leave the school during school hours for any number of reasons. It is necessary that the school know where all students are at all times, so there must be a careful record kept of the comings and goings of all students.
In Grades K-6 the homeroom teacher will ensure that all students leaving the school grounds during school hours have legitimate reason, and parental permission, to do so, unless they are under the direct supervision of a staff member. Students should not leave the school grounds at recess as they cannot be supervised, and they are very likely to return late.
If a student brings a note from a parent, or there has been a phone call requesting the release of a student at a particular time, the office should be notified ahead of time that the student will be leaving. If there has been no contact from the home, the student will not be released. If necessary, someone will phone to verify with the parent.
In Grades 7 - 12, students leaving the school should be signed out on the sign-out sheet at the office. This is a record that the student is not skipping out of a class, but has left the school with permission. In some cases a teacher will want to sign out a student to go home for forgotten assignments, to go to the town Library, or any other activity that is part of an assignment.
In many cases, a student will ask to be signed out because he/she is not feeling well, to go to the clinic, to go to court etc. etc. As a general guideline, teachers will deny such requests unless the student brings a note, or there has been contact with the home. Teachers have been requested to refuse any other requests, or refer them to the office. Office staff can verify reasons, check with the home, or do whatever monitoring is necessary.
Departmental Exams / Language Proficiency Index / YAT Tests
Departmental Exams are written at the completion of selected Grade 10, 11 and 12 subjects. Grade 10 students must write three exams, English 10, Math 10 and Science 10; grade 11 students write one exam in Social Studies and grade 12 students write one exam, English or Communications 12. These are set by B.C., and neither the content nor the timetable for writing can be altered at the local level. Even though the numbers of students writing exams have been very small, the results do show students and staff how our students compare to the larger student body.
Grade 11 and 12 students also write the Language Proficiency Index, a standardized test with Canadian norms which is often used as a test of English skills for university or college entrance. While it has a number of minor parts (Sentence Structure, Usage, Reading Comprehension) the most significant result is that obtained for writing an essay. It is the essay score alone that is used as an entrance requirement. Our students generally perform better than other comparable student groups.
Departmental Exams/Language Proficiency Index (LPI)/ Foundational Skills Assessment (FSA)
FSA tests are written by students in Grades 4 and 7 on literacy and numeracy performance. The FSA’s originate in B.C. where they are written by all students. Thus, our performance can be compared to a larger group.
Download a copy of School Operations
Emergency situations: The most likely serious emergency situation that might arise is a fire within the school itself. There is an evacuation plan for this contingency, and regular fire drills. Clearing the building is crucial, but the difficulty is reduced because of the low numbers of students in the building, and the many exits. The school has taken the 'normal' fire drill procedures one step further because of the extreme temperatures that do occur. The evacuation plan calls for teachers to remove their classes from the school to a designated spot, check to ensure that all students are accounted for, then, in the event of inclement weather, to proceed directly to the community hall. The community hall is large enough to hold the entire school populace in warmth and security - and has the added advantages of being equipped with a telephone and washrooms, and being close to the nursing station.
Other emergencies will call for a somewhat similar response - if there is a serious chlorine leak from the chlorination plant near the school grounds, or if there is a flood etc. the students will take 6th Avenue, cut through the Forestry yard, and then turn north up the Elsa road to high ground, and the Grader Station. We are equipped with a satellite phone, and a good collection of emergency response equipment provided by the Department of Education.
Non-emergency situations: The school (as most Yukon workplaces) is required to have a safety representative. This person has a responsibility to identify any areas of the building that might be considered unsafe, and to report these for repair. Security of the building is promoted by the work schedules of the staff - there is someone in the building from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Monday to Friday). Activities in the school are restricted to these times, unless there is a special activity scheduled such as a weekend soccer tournament. In such case, other arrangements are made to ensure that the building is safe and that supervision is adequate.
An agreement has been worked out with the Village of Mayo for use of the building during non-school times. Briefly, this permits the use of the facilities only under the direct supervision of a previously designated Village employee, and with the Village of Mayo accepting full legal and moral responsibility. In addition, an agreement was worked out whereby the village has taken over operation of the Fitness Room completely independent of the school.
Cold weather - elementary recess and lunch time: When the temperature outside is colder than -30'C, taking the wind chill into account, elementary students will not be sent outside for recess or after eating their lunches. Instead, they will be kept inside, and will be supervised appropriately.
School maintenance: Maintenance at the local level operates on a system of work requests that allows for a quick response for minor repairs. The YTG maintenance staff can go to work as soon as they have the proper school-generated form. They do repairs to the building, but not to equipment eg. lights, but not desks.
Health and first aid:
Sick room: A child who is suffering from a temporary ailment, such as a headache, can be sent to the sickroom to lie down. The sickroom is immediately adjacent to the office, so the secretary can monitor it. Often it is best to contact the parent and have them come and take the sick student home. (This also helps cut down on misuse of the facility.) In general, a child who is too sick to be in class is too sick to be in school. This guideline extends to elementary students staying in at recess and lunch: a student too sick to go out should probably not be at school.
Administration of drugs: The simplest and best guideline here is "school personnel do not give students drugs of any sort." This includes the range of medications all the way from aspirin, through cough syrups, to prescription medications. This is too simple, of course: students will sometimes bring medications that need to be taken on a regular basis, eg. just before meals, every three hours etc. and often they will need help. There is quite a difference between reminding a student that it is time to take a pill and actually administering the medication. If there are any doubts, teachers have been instructed to err on the side of conservatism: phone the parents, phone the nurse, take (or arrange for the child to be taken) to the clinic, or whatever seems most appropriate.
One exception to this general rule is the administration of medications to those exceptional students who require prescription medications to help them stay focused and on task. Paperwork must be completed in accordance with the Department of Education Administration of Medication Policy.
If a child is taking any sort of medication and teachers notice a reaction, they should contact the office, parent, or public health nurse. They are not medical professionals and should not try to act as such.
First aid: For minor scrapes, cuts, bruises, slivers etc. the school keeps a supply of first aid materials in the main office, where the secretary can dispense band aids, etc. as necessary.
Signing Out: A student may need to leave the school during school hours for any number of reasons. It is necessary that the school know where all students are at all times, so there must be a careful record kept of the comings and goings of all students.
In Grades K-6 the homeroom teacher will ensure that all students leaving the school grounds during school hours have legitimate reason, and parental permission, to do so, unless they are under the direct supervision of a staff member. Students should not leave the school grounds at recess as they cannot be supervised, and they are very likely to return late.
If a student brings a note from a parent, or there has been a phone call requesting the release of a student at a particular time, the office should be notified ahead of time that the student will be leaving. If there has been no contact from the home, the student will not be released. If necessary, someone will phone to verify with the parent.
In Grades 7 - 12, students leaving the school should be signed out on the sign-out sheet at the office. This is a record that the student is not skipping out of a class, but has left the school with permission. In some cases a teacher will want to sign out a student to go home for forgotten assignments, to go to the town Library, or any other activity that is part of an assignment.
In many cases, a student will ask to be signed out because he/she is not feeling well, to go to the clinic, to go to court etc. etc. As a general guideline, teachers will deny such requests unless the student brings a note, or there has been contact with the home. Teachers have been requested to refuse any other requests, or refer them to the office. Office staff can verify reasons, check with the home, or do whatever monitoring is necessary.
Departmental Exams / Language Proficiency Index / YAT Tests
Departmental Exams are written at the completion of selected Grade 10, 11 and 12 subjects. Grade 10 students must write three exams, English 10, Math 10 and Science 10; grade 11 students write one exam in Social Studies and grade 12 students write one exam, English or Communications 12. These are set by B.C., and neither the content nor the timetable for writing can be altered at the local level. Even though the numbers of students writing exams have been very small, the results do show students and staff how our students compare to the larger student body.
Grade 11 and 12 students also write the Language Proficiency Index, a standardized test with Canadian norms which is often used as a test of English skills for university or college entrance. While it has a number of minor parts (Sentence Structure, Usage, Reading Comprehension) the most significant result is that obtained for writing an essay. It is the essay score alone that is used as an entrance requirement. Our students generally perform better than other comparable student groups.
Departmental Exams/Language Proficiency Index (LPI)/ Foundational Skills Assessment (FSA)
FSA tests are written by students in Grades 4 and 7 on literacy and numeracy performance. The FSA’s originate in B.C. where they are written by all students. Thus, our performance can be compared to a larger group.
Download a copy of School Operations