Dear Parents/Guardians:

We are aware that, from time to time, parents/guardians have concerns about their child’s progress at school and/or about the various practices and procedures which are established at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Elementary School.

We want to ensure that concerns or questions about your child’s education are addressed in an efficient, effective and respectful manner. In order to do this, when you have a concern about something that is happening at school, please take the following steps based on HWCDSB protocol:

• Contact the classroom teacher through a note or a phone call to the school secretary.
• Arrange to speak with the teacher via telephone or by scheduling a meeting with them.
• The classroom teacher will respond to a parent concern via phone or in-person meeting.
• If the concern cannot be addressed by the classroom teacher, or if a solution is not acceptable, the teacher will involve the Principal and a meeting will be arranged if necessary.

Please note that if the Principal receives a parent concern, they will refer it back to the classroom teacher and the teacher will contact the parent. The parent will be notified that the teacher will be contacting them to arrange a meeting/phone call.

We trust that this clarifies the process for you. However, if you wish to obtain more information about how to proceed when you have a concern about your child’s education, please refer to the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board’s website (www.hwcdsb.ca) which includes the a “Respecting Home-School Relationships” document under the Policies, Protocols and By-Laws section.