Children and parents are being warned about coyote sightings near the playground of a Halifax elementary school.

A parent told staff at John W. MacLeod-Fleming Tower Elementary School on Wednesday that a coyote had been spotted in the wooded area on a hill adjacent to the school.

"That's very close," said principal Lynn Douglas. "We called the police, we called Natural Resources and also we ended up having staff down here. Students all came in, immediately."

When school staff called police, they were told that another person had made a similar call about a coyote in the neighbourhood.

Children were sent home with a letter telling parents about increased supervision in the outdoor area of the school.

"At this time of year, coyotes are in mating season, the yearlings leave their pack, the leaves are off the trees and with the drop in temperature, coyotes are in search of food," the letter says.

"Sightings are most common in the early morning or at dusk."

Simon Gadbois, a professor at Dalhousie University and an animal behaviour specialist, said something is happening to Nova Scotia's coyote population that is pushing them into urban areas.

"They're actually quite comfortable in suburbia, typically," he said. "For something to happen this suddenly, there's something … going on in the food chain."

There has been increased concern in the province about coyotes after a 19-year-old folk singer from Toronto died after she was attacked by two coyotes in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in October.