Bussing

If you register your child at the registration meeting in April, and require bussing for your child, our coordinator will submit your legal land location and rural address to the Battle River School Division (which receives funding from Alberta Education to provide transportation for our rural students). This will enable the Battle River School Division Transportation Department to plan  efficient routes for all students in Hay Lakes ECS and Hay Lakes School prior to September.   Prior to the beginning of school, you will be contacted by your child's bus driver with your approximate pick up and drop off times.  If you register your child at Hay Lakes ECS after the registration meeting (or during the school year), you are responsible for contacting Battle River School Division to register for bus service by calling the Transportation Department at (780) 672-6131 or
1-800-262-4869.

Membership

Parents of students at Hay Lakes ECS have the unique opportunity to  have a voice in their child’s education in a warm and friendly environment.  A minimum of every second month, from August to June, there are general meetings held for all members of the ECS society.  If you have a child enrolled in the ECS program, you are automatically a member. Each family is allowed one vote per motion at each general meeting. It is highly recommended that you attend meetings as information is shared and discussed regarding our program, special events, field trips etc.  The Executive also counts on members to give feedback and assist them in operating a successful program. 

It is acknowledged that parents all have busy schedules; however, this is a parent-run kindergarten so your participation is essential to our success.

By reading, signing and initialing the registration form, you agree to the contract included in the Hay Lakes ECS registration form.  You also give permission for your child to go on field trips and for the Hay Lakes ECS to share information in various ways.

For your child to be considered registered at Hay Lakes ECS, you also need to:
- provide proof of your child’s citizenship (e.g. birth certificate or passport)
- provide your child’s Alberta Health card
- obtain and provide a vulnerable sector (VS) check from the RCMP (see below)
- agree to work as Parent of the Day (POD)
- pay registration fee, school fees and POD deposit

PLEASE NOTE: anyone volunteering on your behalf will need to provide a  vulnerable sector check from the RCMP (kept on file by Hay Lakes ECS) prior to volunteering in the classroom.

VULNERABLE SECTOR CHECK
As part of registering your child at Hay Lakes ECS and agreeing to volunteer as a parent of the day (POD), we require a Vulnerable Sector Check from the RCMP.  Please print the form, fill in your name and take it with you along with two pieces of ID to the RCMP detachment in Camrose.  No processing fee is required. 

Address:  6410 - 48 Avenue Camrose, AB T4V 3A3
Phone:      780-672-3342

Registration

When you enroll your child in Hay Lakes ECS, you are also committing yourself to be an involved parent.  The kindergarten program and its success is dependent on the support of parents of the enrolled children for its operation.  At the registration meeting (and the meeting in August), you have the rare opportunity to be even more involved in your child’s first school year.  You can volunteer or be nominated to be a member of the Executive.  The Executive (also called the board) make financial and administrative decisions that facilitate the operation of kindergarten. The new Executive meets with the outgoing Executive to review roles and responsibilities.  All members of the Executive sign a Confidentiality Agreement and agree to adhere to our privacy policy in safeguarding all information to which they are privy.  

Listed below are the Executive positions and Committees that are constant from year to year:

President - conducts all executive and general meetings of the Society and casts a deciding vote in the event of a tie vote; also ensures the orderly conduct of the business of the Society 
Vice President - assumes the duties of the President in his/her absence and coordinates any fund raisers
Secretary - takes notes and prepares the Minutes of ECS meetings; deals with correspondence of the Society Treasurer - receives monies of the Society, prepares cheques to pay accounts payable of the Society, presents financial records at meetings
Local Advisory Committee (2 parents) - make up parent/guardian-of-the-Day schedule and represent the total parent body if required

A complete list of all committees, positions (and their duties) and the policies, guidelines and procedures of the Hay Lakes ECS is available in the Policy Guidelines and Procedures Manual which is in the kindergarten classroom.  Kindergarten parents are welcome to look at it at any time.

Positions and Committees

To operate our program, the Hay Lakes ECS receives funding from Alberta Education based on the number of children enrolled. 

There is a $25 non-refundable registration fee due upon registration.  There is also a school fee due by the end of September which is reviewed annually.   The fee is currently $150. This fee covers any materials needed by your child in kindergarten including school supplies.

Fundraising is very important part of our private kindergarten. The Hay Lakes ECS depends on fundraising not only to support field trips and educational opportunities for our students, but also the other fun activities that make our kindergarten so unique.  Our main fund raisers are meat sales in the Fall and bulbs in the Spring.  We have also sold Christmas wreaths,poinsettias and planters. Many repeat customers and previous kindergarten parents look forward to our fund raisers, so selling meat and other products is usually an easy task.  Our co-coordinator and vice-president provide product descriptions and order forms and coordinate the fund raiser. Other fund raising opportunities may offered during the kindergarten year.  With parents participating in and supporting them, fundraising events are successful and the students and families benefit.

Funds

As we are a private kindergarten, we are able to offer reduced class sizes!  If enrollment is sufficient, as our budget allows, kindergarten students are placed into two classes (up to all year).  The executive board works together with the teacher and coordinator to create a budget that allows the lowest student to teacher ratio for as long as possible. For class placement, the following considerations are taken into account: gender balance, bussing, urban/rural balance.  Parent requests will be considered but are not necessarily possible to be accommodated. Final decisions on class placement will be made by the coordinator and teacher.

Class Size

The Hay Lakes ECS provides a kindergarten program that offers a minimum of 475 instructional hours. Hay Lakes ECS follows the same calendar and has the same days off as the Hay Lakes School with the exception of scheduled days off for our teacher's professional development and kindergarten ending in mid June. Our teacher prepares a yearly calendar for parents to easily track scheduled kindergarten days and keep track of days off for Hay Lakes School.

We offer full day kindergarten to accommodate the bussing needs of our rural students and help prepare the students for full days in grade one. Usually, kindergarten students attend school from 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. with students attending two to three days per week. With high enrollment, students attend either Tuesday/Thursday and scheduled Fridays or Monday/Wednesday and scheduled Fridays as our budget allows. When we combine classes (later in the school year), or with lower enrollment, students attend Tuesdays, Thursdays and scheduled Wednesdays,

We provide programming in accordance with the seven areas of child development outlined in Alberta Education’s Kindergarten Program Statement. Our teacher is fully certified to teach. Information about our kindergarten program is shared by our teacher on our website, through monthly newsletters, through Remind (text messages) and at ECS meetings throughout the year.

We are very fortunate to have an excellent working relationship with the Hay Lakes School.  The Hay Lakes ECS leases a classroom in the Hay Lakes School from the Battle River School Division.  Our students usually have access to the school gym, library and playground.  Our kindergarten students feel they are a part of the school community!