Hello Rideau Sept. 13 | Autumnal Equinox, Meetings, School Grounds, Band, Fun Lunches, Gym Strip/Spirit Wear, Health Nurse

Hello, Rideau!

With Saturday, September 23 being autumnal equinox, we are now heading into our last days of ‘official summer’ welcoming these warmer days.

As autumn now officially approaches, we all look forward to having families in our building to highlight our learning spaces at Meet Your Teacher (from 5-6:30 PM on Thursday, September 21). Our upcoming week’s provides a relaxed atmosphere for informal time to discuss general classroom information and routines. As a reminder, Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences are November 23 & 24 for students in grades 1-9 (with an additional day for grades 7-9 families to sign-up on November 17). It is these more private October conferences where student achievement, progress, etc. can best be discussed.

We also invite each of you to our in-person first School Council meeting at 7PM, on Wednesday September 20. This meeting follows a 5PM virtual meeting for band parents, hosted by Mr. Eric Osborne (more information below).

It continues to be heartwarming to see our Rideau Park young people and families settle into routines and to get to know one another as our school year, takes off. Our entire team wishes each of our families a great “end of summer”, as we all look forward to seeing what Autumn (and beyond!) will bring.

Mr. T. Robertson

Safety Protocol | Guests to our School

Rideau Park School, like each Calgary Board of Education school, is closed campus. All guests must sign-in immediately upon entry into the school building.
In the mornings, or throughout the day, students are dropped off outside of the main entrance.

Reminder | Attendance

Parents are requested to inform their child's Homeroom teacher as a primary contact about attendance decisions (i.e., reporting absences) in kindergarten and grades 1 to 5, and the Learning Leader as primary contact in grades 5-9. Learning Leaders are teaching staff with administrative designations.

The more specific you are as parents/guardians with teachers/learning leaders, the more specific the attendance code applied will be.

Kindergarten to Grade 5:

Teachers' contact information is also available, here.

Please also include as a carbon copy (CC) within attendance e-mails learning leaders (listed below) for each grade-divisional-level division, too:

Grades 6-9 (primary contacts, below):

Our student information system, MyCBE provides parents, guardians and students with access to detailed attendance information. For help creating an account or signing in, please visit Technical Support for Students & Parents.

Reminder | Volunteer Clearance

Don’t miss out on an amazing field trip because you haven’t updated your Police Clearance.

Please make sure that your Volunteer Clearance is up to date: https://www.cbe.ab.ca/get-involved/volunteer/Pages/volunteer.aspx

If you have any questions, you can contact the office at RideauPark@cbe.ab.ca

Clarification | School Grounds within Instructional Days

Our supervising staff ask that during lunchtime (and outdoor recess and physical education activities), with large numbers of our own students outdoors to tend to, that:

  • Deliveries (forgotten lunches and homework/school items, etc.) occur through the front office.
  • Pets are not to be brought onto school grounds.
  • Visitors (adults, siblings, etc.) refrain from entering/using school grounds (sport court, playground, field, etc.) alongside staff-supervised students.

Classroom teachers and school administration remain available as questions arise.

Upcoming | Instrumental Music (Band) Save-the-Dates

Please save the date as we will be hosting a virtual informational meeting for band parents on Wednesday, September 20 at 5PM. The meeting will take place on Microsoft Teams. Mr. Osborne will be providing a meeting link to all parents/guardians of students in Instrumental Music (Band). For band students in Grades 7-9, our overnight Band Camp is being planned at Camp Chestermere for Tuesday, October 17 to Thursday, October 19, 2023 (two nights). More exciting details are to come.

For Wednesday’s parent/guardian meeting and discussion:

  • Firstly, we will be discussing: instrumental rentals, band fees and concert plans (Grades 6 though 9). Following this initial discussion, parents/guardians with students in grade 6, are free to leave our virtual discussion.
  • Parents/guardians in grades 7-9 will remain in our virtual discussion for important details relating to our upcoming overnight band camp trip to Camp Chestermere, including: further details, logistics & fees. Opportunities for questions and answer will be provided within our virtual discussion.

Parent Volunteer Opportunity | Fun Lunch Thursdays

Fun Lunch – we require some assistance with sorting the Fun Lunch orders from the Healthy Hunger vendors every second Thursday. Time commitment would be 30 – 45 minutes starting at 11:05 AM. We ask for assistance in sorting the individual orders and ensuring they get to the students. Please note that all lunches are marked with the child’s name and classroom, and all classes are grouped together when they are delivered to the school front doors by the restaurant at 11:20 AM on the date of the order.

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.

Rideau Gym Strip & Spirit Wear

The online ordering window for Rideau Gym Strip and Spirit Wear via Top Marks is September 18 to 22.

Website link: http://www.topmarks.ca/
Password: RID01

Please measure your child and double check the sizing chart on the order form. You can also provide your child's measurements on the 'profile page' after logging in to your online account. Select 'sizing by Top Marks' when looking to select a size, and Top Mark sizing technicians will help you figure out the size using the measurements provided.

Top Marks does not accept returns for mis-sizing.

Online orders from September will arrive at the school for distribution to students at the end of October 2023.

Gym Strip

All students in Grades 7 to 9 will be required to change into a gym strip for PE classes. We recommend the following for junior high gym strip:

  • Rideau Park shorts and T-shirt (or equivalent) - required
  • Rideau Park hoodie (or equivalent) - recommended cooler weather
  • Rideau Park jogging pants (or equivalent) - strongly recommended & can be worn instead of shorts

Spirit Wear

Top Marks offers sizing for younger students as well. For students in Grades K – 6, parents may want to purchase Rideau Spirit Wear from Top Marks.

A Rideau t-shirt/sweatshirt is a great way to show school spirit, especially on Spirit Days.

On behalf of Public Health Nurse

Below are the links for the September parent newsletters (available for download as a PDF as well if needed).

Children: Back to school, the active way!
Teens: Bike walk, roll: Active travel tips for your teen

Looking Ahead – Upcoming Calendar of Events

Sept 11 – 15

Mon -
Fri

SOGO Adventure Running Residency – all grades
During PE classes

Sept 13

Wed

Fall Quebec Trip: Student Meeting 12:00 – 12:30, Rm 36

Sept 14

Thurs

Healthy Hunger Fun Lunch– Subway (Parent Society)

Sept 19

Tue

Apple Fundraiser – delivery day (Parent Society)

Sept 20

Wed

School Council 7PM (in person)
Parent Society meeting follows School Council

Sept 20

Wed

Terry Fox Run & Walk (observed at RPS)

Sept 21

Thurs

Meet the Teacher
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

Sept 25

Mon

School Photo Day

Sept 22

Fri

Non-Instruction Day (no classes)

Sept 25-29

Mon-Thurs

This week will honour:
Every Child Matters & Reconciliation through Educations

Sept 27

Wed

Fall Quebec Trip: Student Meeting, 12:00 – 12:30 pm, Rm 36

Sept 27

Wed

Fall Quebec Trip: Parent Meeting, 6:30 – 7:30 pm

Sept 28

Thurs

Healthy Hunger Fun Lunch – Cedar’s Deli

Sept 28

Thurs

Orange Shirt Day (observed at RPS)

Sept 29

Fri

No School
(day-in-lieu for National Day for Truth & Reconciliation, Sat., Sept 30)
Sept. 30 Sat National Day for Truth and Reconciliation