The aim of Educara Montessori is to remain open, whenever feasible, to provide service to our families. The purpose of this closure policy is to transparently share the factors that will determine a closure and establish a method and process for administration to make decisions around closures and communicate closure decisions to staff and families.
Safety is the priority.
Educara understands that our decision to open, close or delay school opening often disrupts family schedules. We also understand that our children are better served – academically, emotionally, and socially – by being at Educara. But, as always, our top priority is the safety of our children, families and staff, so the decision to close or delay opening is not an easy one. The process is complex and involves many factors.
Factors for potentially deciding to close Educara are:
- Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and/or Ottawa Catholic School Board school closures due to inclement weather (Note: effective March 2023 Educara will no longer follow bus cancelations as the only criteria for closure)
- Environment Canada, the City of Ottawa or the Ottawa Police have issued an “avoid all non-essential road travel warning”
- Emergency Circumstances —Refers to a variety of inclement weather occurrences, including power outages, flooding, tornado/hurricane warnings, ice storms etc
- Ministry of Health/Ottawa Public Health/Ministry Education and Early Childhood Development, the Government of Canada, The city of Ottawa, Ottawa police or Fires services directives.
- Insufficient staff to safely operate the program due to the inclement weather or other factors stemming from above circumstances (*it is illegal to operate a Childcare facility short staffed*__)
When an inclement weather event occurs that results in an Educara closure, Educara staff will communicate the decision for closure to all Educara families by email before 6:15am via email.
In the event of emergency circumstances or Directives that results in the closure of Educara Parents and staff will be advised of the closure as soon as possible. However, Educara Parents and staff could possibly arrive at Educara and be informed of a closure without prior knowledge. Educara recognizes that when all means of communication are down (phone, internet), Educara staff have no means to communicate closures other than in person. Should an emergency circumstance take place post drop offs parents will be contacted by Educara staff via telephone and email and are required to pick up their child immediately.
Who makes the decision?
Educara’s directors are responsible for the final decision based on the above factors and recommendations from Environment Canada, the Ministry of Education, Government and or Emergency services.
Will we close Educara if conditions worsen?
If conditions worsen throughout the school day there may be the need to have an early dismissal, but we will give as much notice as possible through the standard methods of communication.
Although we do our best in this process, we know that often no perfect decision exists. If you do not feel that it is safe for your child to attend, use your best judgment on whether your child should attend. On days where we are experiencing inclement weather and you decide to have your child remain at home, we request that you notify us as soon as possible as it will have an impact on staffing requirements.
