Late Student Pick-ups from the Office 

Recently, Mr Robertston messaged families to request that students are not picked up from school to leave early after 3:15 pm. Kindly consider picking up your child before 3:15 pm if it’s required for your child to leave school before our 3:35 pm dismissal time. 

We are renewing this request this week, as we are still experiencing a high volume of student pick-ups close to dismissal time.  As teachers are finishing up the day with students, it can be very disruptive to the art project clean-up, science lab materials put away, securing Chromebooks, and other routines that happen during the last 15 – 20 minutes of instructional time.  Our front office is also finishing up tasks for the day, often time-sensitive tasks.  We appreciate your cooperation in helping us maintain optimal learning experiences and an efficient front office.   

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, such as today’s picketing. 

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.  

Assurance Survey 

Each year Alberta Education conducts the Alberta Education Assurance Survey with students in Grades 4, 7 and 12 and their parents.  All teaching staff also complete this survey. Alberta Education uses the Assurance Survey as a way for school authorities to measure their success and assess their progress towards meeting their learning goals. 

Grade 4 & 7 students are completing the survey during class time this week. Parents / Legal Guardians of children in grade 4 and 7 will have received their codes to log in to the online survey via system messaging. Your voice matters. Your participation in the survey helps provide important information on the quality of education your child is receiving. 

School Council & Parent Society Meeting – Mar 12, 7:00 pm - Virtual 

On March 12 at 7:00 pm the next School Council and Parent Society meeting is scheduled. It will be a virtual meeting due to the ongoing CUPE labour action.  Contact Mr Robertson for the meeting link. 

Parent Teacher Conferences 

Parent Teacher conferences are scheduled for Friday, March 14 during the afternoon for junior high teachers only.  For all teachers, the dates are Thursday, March 20 – afternoon & evening and Friday, March 21 during the morning and afternoon. The conference booking system will open to book appointments on Monday, March 10 at noon.  

To book an appointment, log into MyCBE. 

School Planning Engagement 

The school development plan is an action plan that outlines how student learning will be improved over time. It communicates to staff, students and parents key actions our school takes to address learning gaps and improve student learning. Each fall, our school updates the school development plan and posts it on our website. 

Our school budget helps us meet the goals outlined in our school development plan and provide a quality education to our students. Each spring, our school prepares a school budget for the upcoming school year and sets school fees for some activities and services. 

At the upcoming School Council virtual meeting on March 12, Mr Robertson will be sharing the current school development plan and budget and gathering feedback.  The link to the presentation slides is posted on our website. 

Lost and Found 

Our Lost and Found is overflowing with items such as shoes & boots, hats & mittens, 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.   

2024-25 Yearbook 

It looks as though the 2024-25 yearbook will be going ahead. The fee management system is not quite ready for purchasing the yearbook.  When the system is ready, a yearbook can be purchased for your child/ren with MyCBE. The total cost with tax will be $37. 

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 on Friday (Mar 7). They can be submitted to the office on paper, or via email at highest possible resolution to Mme Ford 

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  

Kindergarten – Gr 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. From now on, there are to be no personal belongings brought to school. Examples of this 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. 
 
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 calming or to focus attention 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, reusable water bottle. 
 
Questions? Contact Ms Dockrill 

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 2, 7 & 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 – no volunteers have signed up. Please consider volunteering 
• 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