Reminder 

Tomorrow, Friday, February 28 is a non-instructional day, and therefore there is no school for students.  

School Grounds - Take Care

With the continued freeze overnight and thaw during the day, the school field and sidewalks can be very icy. Encouraging students to wear proper footwear and take care in icy areas can help reduce slips and falls.  At the same time, the school playing fields and play equipment can be super muddy and/or wet by lunch time and the afternoon session.   

We recommend tucking an extra pair of socks and perhaps even bottoms into students' backpacks for students in case of wet feet and/or pants in the afternoon from wet and muddy conditions

Labour Action - CUPE strike 

All schools will be open throughout the labour action by CUPE employees. CBE is prioritizing in-person learning for the duration of the labour action. The system has emailed some information to families. 

To highlight a few items: 

• school will be open during our regular hours 
• any planned off-campus trips, such as the upcoming ski trips for Gr 8 & 9 & the Kindergarten trip to the Little Red Reading House will continue as planned 
• Guest Experts will continue as planned, such as the upcoming activity for Grade 9  
• volleyball practices and games will continue, with the goal of finishing by 6:00 pm 
• for volleyball home games: Attendance at athletic games will be limited to parents/guardians of those athletes directly involved in the event. Student spectators will not be permitted to attend athletic games unless they are the siblings of one of the athletes and are accompanied by a parent/guardian. Access will be limited to the gymnasium; no access will be permitted to other parts of the school. 

For more detailed information, refer to the news story on our website.

2025 - 26 Québec Trip  

For parents of interested participants, there is a mandatory virtual meeting TODAY (Thursday, Feb 27) at 6:00 pm. Mme Ford has emailed the virtual meeting link for parents/guardians to attend this online meeting. If you have not received the meeting link, contact Mme Ford.  

Overdue | High School Registration & Course Selection  

The deadline to enter course choices into PowerSchool and to return the signed paper registration form to the office was February 24.  Ms Cochrane will be emailing students and parents/guardians of students for whom we still need to receive them.  

2024-25 Yearbook 

It looks as though the 2024-25 yearbook will be going ahead. You can purchase a yearbook for your child/ren with MyCBE.  As the yearbook is an optional purchase ($35), you will need to navigate to the optional purchase section and add it to the cart.  Support the viability of the yearbook by pre-purchasing in March and April.   

Yearbook Cover Contest - we are searching for beautiful student-created art for the cover of our 2024-25 yearbook.  The yearbook cover contest is open to all students in Grades Kindergarten to Grade 9.  Entries are due next Friday, March 7 and can be submitted to the office on paper, or via email at the highest possible resolution to Mme Ford 

Lost and Found

Our Lost and Found is overflowing with items such as shoes & boots, hats & mittens/gloves, sweatshirts & jackets, reusable lunch containers & water bottles. Please encourage your child to check the Lost and Found if a personal item or items have not made it home.

On Thursday, March 6, we will donate items left in the Lost and Found area (south stairwell landing).

Kindergarten – Grade 2: Toys are best kept at home

While we know how much students love bringing their favorite toys to share and play with, we have noticed they are becoming a distraction in class and cause challenges during learning times and transitions.

To help keep our focus on learning (and to avoid any lost or damaged treasures!), we kindly ask that students keep their toys at home from now on. We appreciate your support in reminding your child about this change. No personal belongings brought to school. Examples include:

• stuffed animals
• Pokemon cards
• drawing supplies (e.g. markers)
• small toys or fidgets*

This school rule applies to all K-2 classes, regardless of whether students are in a classroom, the hallways, or outside on school grounds for recess

Will there be exceptions made? No exceptions on regular days. There may be instances where toys will be permitted, such as Show & Tell days or special days, like "Pajama Day" where children would be permitted a stuffy. *Students who have an IPP and may require a fidget toy for regulation or for focus, should get in touch with their child’s teacher.

What personal items can my child bring to school? Clothing appropriate for the weather, backpack with snack and lunch, and reusable water bottle.

Questions? Contact Ms Dockrill

Leadership Club – February Activities 

The club has done a great job with Kindness month and shirt week.  Today’s theme was: 

• Place Connections (a shirt indicating a favourite place: city, park, country, cottage, lake, mountain, etc) 

 It will be great to find out what the students have planned for March. 

Absent for Celebration Photos or would like a Retake? 

If your child was absent last week for the celebration photos or if you would like a retake photo, you will need to make an appointment at the Prestige by Lifetouch Studio at #30, 5329 72 Avenue SE on Saturday, March 22, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.  

Book an Appointment 

• Choose ‘Kindergrad and 5-9 Farewell’ 
• Choose ‘Calgary Studio’ 
• March 22 will light up blue > click on it 
• Select appointment time and make the booking  

Moving schools for 2025-26? 

For students in Kindergarten to Grade 8, if you know that your child will be moving schools for the 2025-26 school year, please email the office with the following information: 

• Full name of student 
• Current grade 
• What school your child will be attending, if known  

Parent Volunteer Opportunities 

If you are available to volunteer to assist with the trips and/or events below, please contact your child’s teacher or as indicated below.  The Annual Volunteer Registration with a valid Police Information Check is required: 

• Calgary Zoo Trip, Grade 8 – March 10: contact Mr Ball 
• Little Red Reading House, Kindergarten - March 14: contact Ms McDonald 
• Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Gr 5 & 6 – Apr 7, 9 & 17: contact Mr Brush 
• Fun Lunch, every second Thursday starting 11:00 am – see below  

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

The Rideau Park Parent Association is again coordinating a 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 to classrooms.  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: 

• Mar 6 – 3 volunteers 
• Mar 20 – 2 volunteers 
• Apr 10 – 2 volunteers 

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

Student Drop-off & Pick up Reminders 

For the safety of the students who walk down the alley to the school, please, please, please, there should not be any students dropped off or picked up in the staff parking lot nor in the alley in front of the school.   

Student drop-off and pick up location is on 30 Ave SW, students then walk down the alley to the school OR 30 Ave SW closer to the crosswalk, where students would use the steps and the footpath to walk to the school. 

For a map of the drop-off & pick-up route, refer to this map.  

Looking ahead – Calendar of Events