Good morning Parent/Guardian,

We are looking forward to welcoming students back into the building next week. A huge thank you to our custodial and clerical teams who have worked tremendously hard over the summer to get the school ready. Our staff are extremely excited about the upcoming year and having students back in classes. We wanted to send a note to remind families about our start up plan and a few expectations. 

• September 8  - September 11 : 
  • Tuesday, September 8th:  Grade 9’s ONLY (bring paper and writing utensil)
    • 12:00 pm Parent/School bus drop off 
    • 12:00 - 12:15 pm: All grade 9’s meet and greet in the front of the school.
    • 12:15 pm: Grade 9 assembly in the Theatre.
    • Grade 9’s will go through an abbreviated block rotation of 15 minutes to see their classrooms and meet their teachers.
    • 3:12 pm: Grade 9’s dismissed for the day.
• Wednesday, September 9th: ALL students (bring paper and writing utensil)
  • 12:00 pm: Parent/School bus drop off 
  • 12:15 pm:
    • Grade 9’s go to their block 1 classes
    • Grade 10’s and 11’s - Assembly in the large gym with Mrs. Laws and Mr. Earnshaw
    • Grade 12’s - Assembly in the Theatre with Mr. Braun
  • 2:50 pm: Students WITHOUT outside-the-timetable courses are dismissed.
    • Students WITH outside-the-timetable courses will see a list of rooms posted on their schedule.
  • 3:12 pm: The whole school dismissed.
• Thursday, September 10th: ALL Students
  • Regular schedule of 9:00 am to 3:12 pm beginning with block 1.
  • Regular bus schedule before and after school for those families who have previously enrolled with transportation. To register or view the schedule for Saanich District Transportation, click here.
• Friday, September 11th: ALL Students
  • Regular schedule of 9:00 am to 3:12 pm beginning with block 1.
  • Regular bus schedule.  To register or view the schedule for Saanich Transportation, click here.
  • Block 4 - Grad 2027 - Welcome back BBQ

Timetables

All students will be provided with their updated schedule (uploaded to Brightspace on Friday, September 4th at approximately 4 pm). If students are new to SD63 or unsure about how to login they can wait until the first day of school for their schedule. 

Grade 9’s will leave the start up assembly (on Tuesday) with their block 1 teachers. They will receive their timetables which will include rooms and teachers. 

Grade 10/11/12’s (on Wednesday) will need to check Brightspace to receive their schedule and room numbers. Lists will be posted around the school for their block 1 classes. 

Course Changes

It is our hope that there will be minimal changes with student timetables.  Those students who requested timetable changes last June should see the changes made to their new timetables if they were possible.  Those wishing for any changes to their semester one timetable must have this completed no later than Friday September 11^th.  All course changes must now be completed by filling out a course change form and submitting it to the main office in the blue bin on the front counter.

Transportation - Busing for Orientation Days (Tuesday Sept 8th / Wednesday Sept 9th):

Students will be picked as per their regular morning route with arrivals at Claremont by 12:00 pm. 

To help families determine their morning bus pick-up time for the first two days of school:

If a student normally catches the bus at 8:35 a.m. to arrive at Claremont Secondary for a 9:00 a.m. start, they should plan to be at the bus stop approximately 30 minutes before the special 12:00 p.m. start time on Tuesday and Wednesday. In this example, the expected pick-up time would be around 11:35 a.m.

Since bus loads will be lighter than usual during the first two days, routes may run slightly ahead of schedule. We recommend that students arrive at their bus stop 7 to 10 minutes before their estimated pick-up time to ensure they do not miss the bus.

BUS SCHEDULES FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 8, 2026 

AM Times:     Claremont ……11:30-12:00            PM Times:     Claremont ……Regular PM Schedule  

BUS SCHEDULES FOR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2026 

AM Times:     Claremont ……11:32-12:00            PM Times:     Claremont ……Regular PM Schedule  

***Regular AM and PM schedules start Thursday Sept 10th, 2026*** 

Students are required to register to ride the school bus, through the following link:

https://saanichschools.ca/resources/studentsfamilies/transportation

Cell Phones

As a reminder, the Ministry of Education has specific guidelines for cell phone use in school. The link to the ministry guidelines can be found here. 

At Claremont, we have the following expectations:

1. Phones are not to be used or be out in class unless the teacher specifically allows it for educational purposes. Students are encouraged to use the phone holders provided. 

2. Phone use in the hallways or washrooms during class time is not allowed.

4. In the Hallways at Break & Lunch:  students are allowed the use of their phones in the hallways at break & lunch, but they should wait until they are out of the building to be on them for extended periods

5. While on a Spare (11’s/12’s):  Students are permitted to use their phone in the student lounge or tables in proximity to the lounge. No phone use should take place in the Learning Commons.

6. Phone use is not permitted in any assembly or presentation. 

We will review these expectations with your student but please help us reinforce them at home. 

We will explain that if your student does not meet these expectations, their phone will be held in the office.  

E-Scooters/E-Bikes

In and around our area, we are seeing an increase in e-scooter/e-bikes being used. We just wanted to remind families of the legal requirements around these vehicles. 

Attached to this email is a one page document provided by Central Saanich Police but also approved to share by Saanich Police. 

ICBC regulations for electric mobility here.

As an Admin team we are very excited and proud to work at Claremont Secondary. It is a fabulous school, with outstanding programs and phenomenal staff. Please reach out to us with any questions you may have. We also want to acknowledge, thank and wish best of luck to outgoing administrators, Mr. Aaron Buckham and Ms. Meaghan O’Brien who will be sorely missed by the Claremont community. 

Enjoy the long weekend. 

Sincerely, 

Ryan Braun    Wendy Laws Jason Earnshaw

Principal             Vice-Principal            Vice-Principal

rbraun@saanichschools.ca      wlaws@saanichschools.ca       jearnshaw@saanichschools.ca