As January draws to a close, so, too, does Semester 1.

Parents and Guardians, I would be remiss to not express continued thanks, as expressed earlier this week for your kindness, patience and understanding in recent weeks, and during this transition time following my recent leave of absence.  Again, I would like to thank publicly our RPS team and our CBE team for all the hard (caring and thoughtful) work and stepping-up, necessary within this (and any) administrative transition, knowing each of us will continue to ensure that 2023-24's school year will be all that in can be: a school year filled with possibility within a school building and culture where each of us belongs.

This upcoming week is action-packed.  We look forward to Danc3Play across grade-levels, beginning on Monday.  We look forward to our upcoming School Council (and Parent Society) virtual meetings in one week’s time (more information on RSVP-ing, below).  It is the generous support of Parent Society that makes residencies such as Danc3Play possible, allowing Rams learners and staff new opportunities to break out of comfort zones, together as classroom communities. Our learning leader and teaching teams have welcomed these opportunities to continue to further a sense of belonging within our school development planning.

Enormous thanks to our teaching teams and office team for their hard work within an intensive report card time, ahead of report cards becoming visible on Tuesday, January 30 on MyCBE.

-Mr. T. Robertson

Upcoming | School Council & Parent Society Meetings

Our next School Council meeting is a virtual meeting a virtual meeting at 1:45 pm, to RSVP: https://bit.ly/RPSJan31SchoolCouncilRSVP

Parent Society meetings follow School Council meetings within the same virtual Microsoft Teams space.

Survey | Alberta Education Assurance Survey

This week, Alberta Education sent out a link to a survey to parents of students in Grades 4 and 7.  This is the annual Assurance Survey to gather feedback from parents about their child’s/children's school.  This is an important data measure which helps the school and school district set targets for improvement and provides feedback on what is going well in schools.  If you do not receive your survey log in link, please contact the school (jacochrane@cbe.ab.ca).

Students in Grades 4 and 7 will also be completing the Assurance Survey during class time the week of January 29

Regular Morning Entry – Kindergarten and Grades 1 to 9

Our regular morning entry has resumed this week, after being on hiatus last week due to the temperatures below –20 degrees.

Grades 1 – 9 students enter the building starting 8:45 am for a soft start, with lessons beginning at 9:00 am.  With the direct parent to teacher hand off requirement, entry time for the Kindergarten is 9:05 am.

2024-25 | Rideau Park School Registration and Lottery Information

Registration for the 2024 – 25 school year opened on Monday, January 15.  This will include Kindergarten registrations and any student who will be new to CBE for the next school year.  This is also an important date for students currently in Grades 1 – 8 who will be transferring to Rideau Park from a CBE school.

Rideau Park will have capacity limits for 2024-25.  All new registrations will be included in the lottery draw for placement in our school for next year.  To ensure that your registration or transfer is included in the lottery draw, it must be received via School Engage (new to CBE) or at our school office (Transfer Requests) by 12:00 pm on February 13, 2024.  Students attending our feeder schools designated to us for Grade 7 will automatically be registered in the lottery. 

Any registrations received after 12:00 pm on February 13, 2024, will be added to the callback list (based on the appropriate priority level) in the order they are received.

2024-25 | High School Registration

On Thursday, January 10, Grade 9 students will have a visit from WCHS counselor Albert Chieng.  Mr. Chieng will explain what students entering high school need to think about when choosing courses and the importance of earning high school credits for the official transcript.  Students will be touring Western Canada during the afternoon of January 30. 

Lottery Information: an email from CBE was sent on January 16 parents/guardians of Grade 9 students regarding the capacity limits at Western Canada for the 2024-25 school year.  The lottery will apply to all incoming Grade 10 students.  As Grade 9 students at Rideau Park are designated to Western Canada, they are automatically registered for the lottery.  Information about the lottery process is linked HERE.

High School Information Guide: The 2024-25 High School Information Guide is available at this link: Your Introduction to High School:  Get Ready – Get Set – Go For It

High School Transfers: For students thinking about transferring to a school not their designated high school, such as an alternative program, the high school transfer process will open on February 1, 2024. Online transfer requests will be accepted until March 15, 2024.  The online high school transfer form will be opening on February 1 to accept submissions.

Change of Address for High School: For students who will need to transfer high schools based on a change of address, the Change of Address for High School form should be submitted to the new designated high school, with accompanying proof of the new address.

Open House | Western Canada & Elboya French Immersion

• Tuesday, January 30 – Western Canada High School
• Information Evening for Regular Program, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
• Thursday, February 1 – Elboya School
• Information Evening for French Intensive (Grade 6) & Late French Immersion (Grade 7) programs, 6:00 – 7:30 pm

Parent Volunteer Opportunities | Fun Lunch, Field Trips

Fun Lunch – we require some assistance with sorting the Fun Lunch orders from the Healthy Hunger vendors every second Thursday, starting 11:05 am for approximately 45 minutes. We are asking for assistance in sorting the individual orders and ensuring they get to the students.

Additionally, for upcoming dates, volunteers are needed for:

• February 8 - 1 volunteer needed
• February 22 – 1 volunteer needed
• March 7 – 2 volunteers needed
• March 21 – 2 volunteers needed
• And more dates in the spring months.

If you can help with one or some of these Thursdays, please use this link, on behalf of Parent Society, for sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0E49AFA72DA7F49-funlunch . Thank you for your support.

Campus Calgary Open Minds: Library School:  There are 3 CCOM off campus trips upcoming where parent volunteers will be needed to assist with supervision.  Please contact your child’s teacher if you are available to volunteer.

• Grade 1 / 2, Feb 26 – Mar 15

Grade 8 & 9 Ski Trips, March 4 & 5:  Information for parents and permission forms will be sent home with students in February.  Parent volunteers will be needed. Please contact Mr Yackulic if you are available to volunteer.

Important | Student Pick-up and Drop-off

With the colder weather, we have increased congestion with cars trying to drop off closer to the school.  Even with the colder weather, we ask your cooperation for the same procedures with pick up and drop off. 

Due to increasing safety concerns of neighborhood residents and our student community, policing of city bylaws relating to parking and traffic restrictions will be more strictly enforced in the coming months. Unfortunately, there is no car-accessible front door drop-off or parking availability directly at our school entrance nor from the t-intersection at the front of the school. Continue Reading

Looking Ahead – Upcoming Calendar of Events  

Jan 26	Fri	Grade 9 Outdoor Education – Wall Climbing (rescheduled date)
Jan 29 – Feb 2		All Grades: Danc3play – school residency
Jan 30	Tues	Grades 5 – 9: Science Fair Club, Lunch, Rm 11
Jan 30	Tues	Grade 9:  High School Tour at Western Canada High School
Jan 30	Tues	Last Day of Semester 1
Jan 30	Tues	Report Cards are viewable in MyCBE
Jan 31	Wed	Semester 2 Begins
Jan 31	Wed	Term 2 Complementary Courses begin
Jan 31	Wed	School Council, virtual meeting, 1:45 pm RSVP: https://bit.ly/RPSJan31SchoolCouncilRSVP
Feb 1	Thurs	Homework Hotel, Grade 7:  3:45 – 4:15 pm
Feb 6	Tues	Grades 5 – 9: Science Fair Club, Lunch, Rm 11
Feb 8	Thurs	Healthy Hunger Fun Lunch – Coco Brooks
Feb 8	Thurs	Homework Hotel, Grade 7:  3:45 – 4:15 pm
Feb 13	Tues	Grade 6 Orientation - am
Feb 13	Tues	Grades 5 – 9: Science Fair Club, Lunch, Rm 11
Feb 13	Wed	Lottery Registration Deadline, 12:00 pm (noon)
Feb 15 Feb 16		Teachers’ Convention – no school for students
Feb 19	Mon	Family Day
Feb 20	Tues	Grades 5 – 9: Science Fair Club, Lunch, Rm 11
Feb 22	Thurs	Healthy Hunger Fun Lunch – Edo Japan
Feb 22	Thurs	Homework Hotel, Grade 7:  3:45 – 4:15 pm

Looking Ahead - Dates of Significance

Dates of Significance

Jan 24	Fri	World Day for African and Afrodescendant Culture
Jan 25	Thur	Mahayana New Year
Jan 27	Sat	International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Jan 27	Sat	Family Literacy Day
Jan 29	Mon	National Day of Remembrance of the Québec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia
February		Black History Month
February 1	Thur	World Hijab Day
February 7	Wed	Winter Walk Day
February 7	Wed	World Read Aloud Day