News

WOW TBay Photovoice Contest - EXTENDED THROUGH MAY 27, 2022

It's Spring! and Spring means it’s time to get outside and get active! Schools across Ontario are promoting walking, biking, scooting, skateboarding, and other fun ways to get to school or around their neighbourhood. Now is the perfect time to get active outdoors!

WOW TBay is helping motivate students to engage in active school travel by running a Photovoice Contest. The WOW TBay Photovoice Contest is a photography based active school travel promotion initiative that is organized by WOW TBay which is led by the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU) and EcoSuperior Environmental Programs.

How to enter the contest:

Use a digital camera or cell phone to take pictures that relate to the active school travel categories described in the contest information sheet and write a caption or short description of the story behind your picture
Download and fill out the Participant Entry Information and Consent Form
Email your photo, photo caption, and completed Participant Entry Information and Consent Form to wowtbay.photovoice@gmail.com
Each student may submit one entry.

The contest will run from April 1- May 27. Each participant is eligible to win a maximum of one (1) prize. All submissions received before 11:59 pm April 19, 2022 will be eligible for an early bird draw with one (1) prize available (bike accessory kit). The early bird winner will be eligible to win a maximum of one (1) of the three (3)remaining prizes. A total of four (4) prizes will be available. All other prize winners will be drawn randomly on May 30,2022. Your chances of winning depend on the number of other participants in the contest.

Prizes include: Cycle computer, a wearable fitness tracker, 1 of 2 bike accessory kits including a Yeti water bottle.

2022-2023 Apply for Transportation Extended through May 8, 2022

Last chance to confirm SENIOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL or a SECONDARY SCHOOL busing requests for September 2022. Students who are not assigned to a bus on the first day of school will be waitlisted until later in September.

This is an annual requirement that applies to all students entering grades 7 and 8 at a Senior Elementary School and grades 9 through 12 at any Secondary School in September 2022, including current Grade 12 students who plan on returning for an additional year.

School bus transportation applications for eligible students attending the following schools in September 2022 must be submitted at https://www.ststb.ca/en/apply-transportation by May 8, 2022 in order to be considered in preparing routes for next year. Late applications may result in delays in being assigned to a bus until after the start of the school year.

Bishop E.Q. Jennings Senior Elementary School (gr 7-8)
Bishop Gallagher Senior Elementary School (gr 7-8)
Pope John Paul II School Community (gr 7-8)
ESC de La Vérendrye (gr 7-12)
Hammarskjold High School (gr 9-12)
Superior Collegiate & Vocational Institute (gr 9-12)
Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute (gr 9-12)
St. Ignatius High School Thunder Bay (gr 9-12)
St. Patrick High School (gr 9-12)

Only eligible senior elementary school or high school students planning to attend one of the schools listed above are required to apply for school bus transportation annually. Returning students to other schools (LDSB JK-8 schools, TBCDSB/CSDCAB JK-6 schools) are assumed to be requesting the same transportation arrangements as this year for next and do not need to re-apply. If you need to make a change for students returning to these schools for next year, please contact your elementary school office directly.

Extreme Cold Weather Procedures

⚠️ Extreme Cold Warning ⚠️

If the AMBIENT temperature reaches -34°C or lower as recorded by Environment Canada at the Thunder Bay Airport at 6:00am, student transportation may be cancelled. A decision to cancel service would be sent out no later than 6:30am.

Notifications of an Extreme Cold Cancellation will be sent through the Bus Status app (be sure to download to your mobile device and subscribe to weather cancellations!) and posted on our website and social media accounts as well as media releases to local radio stations.

Please note:

Windchill, or what it "feels like" is not a consideration in determining when to cancel transportation
When there are no other factors affecting the decision, if the temperature is expected to rise above -34°C in time for the end of day bus times, PM buses will be scheduled to run and confirmed at the time of the AM cancellations.
When student transportation is cancelled only due to extreme cold temperatures, all schools (including rural) remain open.
Students should always be dressed and prepared for current and forecasted weather conditions.
Parents are reminded that they are responsible for the safety of their children to, from and while at the bus stop and ultimately make the decision on whether to put their children on the bus when buses are running during inclement weather.

Walk or Wheel Thunder Bay Newsletter #2

The next issue of the Walk Or Wheel Thunder Bay newsletter highlighting recent local active student travel initiatives is now available here.

Mandatory Masks for LDSB & TBCDSB Kindergarten Students on School Buses

As per the Lakehead District School Board and the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board and as a result of an increase in the recent number of positive COVID-19 cases impacting Kindergarten students in our service area, non-medical/cloth masks or face coverings will be mandatory for all students in kindergarten attending these board’s schools while boarding, riding, and disembarking any school bus, effective Monday, January 3, 2022. While it remains non-mandatory for kindergarten students attending Conseil Scolaire de District Catholique des Aurores Boréales to wear non-medical/cloth masks or face coverings while boarding, riding, and disembarking any school bus, it is highly recommended.