Winter Break 

On Friday, December 20, classes will break for the annual Winter Break.  Classes will resume at 9:00 am on Monday, January 6, 2025.  On behalf of the staff of Rideau Park School, we wish all of our families a safe and joyful holiday season.

We look forward to seeing our students and families again in the new year.   

School Spirit Days 

The Leadership Club has one remaining School Spirit Day for December: 

• Friday, December 20 – Pyjama Day - Wear your comfiest PJs for the whole school day. 

For every Spirit Day, Leadership Club students have visited K - 6 classes in period 1 to count the number of students participating.  The class with the most participation for all 5 days will have a special visit on Friday, December 20 from Rocky, our school mascot.  An "official" class photo with Rocky will be taken and displayed on the Leadership Bulletin Board and/or the winning classroom. 

Also from Leadership Club: the Door Decorating contest was a big hit with all classrooms participating to bring holiday cheer into the school’s hallways.  Congratulations to Mr Brush’s Grade 5 / 6 class for winning the Door Decorating.  The prize – hot chocolate for the whole class – will be much appreciated during this cold weather snap. 

Winter Concert 

Thank you for attending our Winter Concert last Thursday evening.  It was so wonderful to see so many of our families attend.  Our student performers practiced their songs and choreography to put on an excellent show for you. 

 Thank you to our staff who coordinated the performances:   

• Mr Doherty for working on the choral, handbell, and instrumental band performances with our students 
• Ms Dockrill for putting the choreography together and making the videos to make practicing the movements easier for our students 
• Ms Goodine for ensuring our sound system is working  
• Elementary teachers for the stellar artwork all around the gym 

Thank you for all your efforts to ensure that our students could shine so brightly while performing at the concert.   

Learning Commons | Library Books  

Snowflakes are white,  

the sky is blue  

Last day of classes is Friday December 20,  

library books are now due :) 

Athletics | Volleyball Try-outs 

Volleyball try-outs will resume the week of January 13 for all teams.  The website calendar has been updated to reflect this change in scheduling.  Students who are trying out for volleyball should be committed to attending all practices and playing in all games until the end of the season.  If a conflict does arise, it’s the student’s responsibility to speak with their coach.   

Information | High School Programs 

Applications are being accepted for the Performing and Visual Arts (PVA) program at Central Memorial High School. Applications are due by January 15, 2025.   

More information at this LINK   

Western Canada High School is hosting an Open House on January 27, 4:00 - 6:00 pm. 

More information at this LINK 

Fun Lunch, Healthy Hunger | on behalf of RPS’ Parent Society 

The Rideau Park Parent Association is once again coordinating bi-monthly ‘Fun Lunch’ with Healthy Hunger.  This is also a great fundraiser for the school with a portion of sales being returned to the school.  Participation is completely voluntary with a variety of healthy lunch vendors to choose from. 

Parent Volunteer Opportunity: for each fun lunch Thursday, parent volunteers are needed to help sort orders and deliver them to classrooms.  The time commitment is about an hour, with the start time at 11:00 am.  If available to help on one or some Thursdays, you must complete the annual volunteer registration, which includes a valid Police Information Clearance. 

Volunteers are needed for: 

• January 9 – 1 volunteer 
• January 23 – 2 volunteers 
• February 6 – 1 volunteer 

 Sign Up to volunteer for the above dates and/or future dates.   

Student Drop-off & Pick-up  

For students being driven directly to school, the drop-off zones are labeled on this map on the school’s website.  There is no car-accessible front door drop-off availability at our school entrance, the alley or the staff parking lot.  The same applies for student pick-up at dismissal time (ie front of school, alley & staff parking lot is not available for pick-up).  

 More information at the Parking & Drop-off page.   

Looking ahead – Calendar of events