Mark Your Calendars:
· Mar. 9, 2025: Daylight Savings Time begins – roll clocks ahead an hour
· Mar. 3 -16, 2025: Read-a-Thon Continues
· Mar. 10, 2025: School Council Meeting at 6:30pm – Online Join the meeting
· Mar. 19, 2025: Snack Day & Dress as your Favorite Book Character Day
· Mar. 20 & 21, 2025: Student-led School Conferences
· Mar. 22 - 30, 2025: Spring Break
· Mar. 31, 2025: Back to School
· Apr. 1, 2025: Gr. 3 Fieldtrip to Telus Spark
· Apr. 4, 2025: Wonder Hour #3
· Apr. 16, 2025: School Spirit Day – Favorite Hat Day
Dear Royal Oak School Families,
On-Going Registration and Returning to Royal Oak Survey: Kindergarten registration is ongoing as is registration for students new to Royal Oak entering grades 1-4. If you know of families looking to enroll at Royal Oak School for the upcoming school year, please have them contact the school at 403-777-6279. To help us get an accurate count of students returning to Royal Oak School for the 2025-2026, we ask that parents complete this survey for each child in the family. Accurate enrolment data is key to ensuring we staff accordingly for the next school year. We are currently projected at 585 students for the 2025-2026 school year. As such, an early understanding of our enrolment numbers will be beneficial as we look at grade configurations and school organization beginning next month. We kindly ask that you complete this form no later than March 17, 2025.
School Conferences: With labour action by CUPE Local 40 members limiting access to CBE schools after hours, the decision has been made by the CBE leadership team to move March parent/teacher conferences online. Based on this system directive, on March 20 and March 21 2025, we will be shifting our school learning conferences online. Thursday, March 20 is a regular school day for students in grades 1-4. There is no school for all Kindergarten students. Conferences will run online Thursday evening from 4:30 -8:00pm. Please note that teachers will be holding these meetings from their homes as they are not permitted to be in the school building in the evening. We ask for your understanding if at-home meeting conditions are not ideal. Friday, March 21 there is no school for all students. On this day, conferences will be held from 8:00am -1:30pm. Teachers will be able to hold these meetings online from the school. All conferences will be held online using Microsoft Teams. Conference time slots will be 15 minutes. The link to the Teams meeting for your interview will be in the email response you receive when you book your conference time. To book a 15-minute online School Conference with your child’s classroom teacher, please login to your MyCBE/PowerSchool parent account and click the link for School Conferences. The booking system will open to parents at 4:30pm on Tuesday, March 11th and close at 6:00am on Wednesday, March 19th. We look forward to connecting with students and families to celebrate growth and set next steps in learning together.
Communication with Royal Oak School Teachers: We appreciate open dialogue with you as parents to support your child/ren’s educational experience here at Royal Oak School. Please be aware that if you are emailing a teacher during the school day, they may not have an opportunity to read your message until the end of the day as they are busy working with students. If you require a faster response or want to provide information about changes to pick-up plans, please call the front office for assistance. Additionally, please allow our teachers 24 hours (during the work week) to respond to your emails. If you are requesting a teacher to complete additional forms/ letters for doctors, pediatricians or counselors, they will need at least one week’s notice to do so. We appreciate your support in helping our teachers manage their workload and priorities
Alberta Assurance Survey: Parents/guardians of children in grade 4 have received an email from the CBE on Feb. 25, 2025, regarding the Alberta Education Assurance Survey (AEA). We encourage participation in this survey as it informs our planning for the coming school year. All staff and grade 4 students will be completing a version of the same survey at school. The deadline for survey submissions is March 21, 2025. Thank you in advance for your time and participation.
Lost and Found: Our lost and found continues to grow! If your child is missing an item of clothing, please pop into the school. We also kindly remind you to label your child’s belongings with your child’s name, so that when items go missing and are found, they are easier to return to their rightful owner. Please note that after Friday, March 21, these items will be collected and donated to charity in order to clear up our school’s front vestibule.
March School Council Meeting is Online: Due to CUPE labour actions, all School Council meetings in the CBE have been shifted online. Please join us for this online meeting on Monday, March 10 at 6:30pm. I will be sharing the annually mandated School Development Plan and Fees presentation and survey. Join the meeting
Sincerely,
Michelle Ryskamp
Principal, Royal Oak School
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SCHOOL COUNCIL & FUNDRAISING SOCIETY NEWS – EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
· March 10: School Council & Fundraising Society Meeting @ 6.30pm. Click over to the School Council - Royal Oak School page to check out the minutes and future agendas (when posted). **Please note that this will be VIRTUAL MEETING due to current CBE strike. See the Royal Oak School Parents Group | Facebook or Ms.Ryskamp’s email update for the link to join! **
· What a great turnout at the Crowfoot Library! Thanks to all the families who came out for story time and crafts and to sign up for new library cards. Congratulations to our raffle prize winner!
· The Read-a-Thon is on! Students are encouraged to read every day and track their reading time. The Read-a-Thon runs until March 16. Completed Read-a-Thon Time Logs must be handed to teachers by March 20. Donations for the Read-a-Thon will be accepted all month long. Prizes will be awarded after Spring Break. READ. DONATE. WIN!
· Book Drive! Please donate any new or gently used children’s books and puzzles by bringing them to the office or sending them with your child. These will be available for purchase at a TBD later date with proceeds going directly back into Royal Oak School.
· We need readers of all languages! Did you know there are 37 primary languages spoken within our ROS community?! Classroom readers are needed throughout the month of March. Email ROSVolunteers@gmail.com to sign up as a classroom reader.
· ROYAL OAK, YOU STILL ROCK! We have had 174 FANTASTIC volunteers (plus our great Grade 4’s) supporting students with the Alien Inline residency over the last 3 weeks – Only three more days to go! We continue to be incredibly grateful for how this community comes together. Thank you ROS!
· Planning for the Spring Dance has been postponed due to ongoing CBE strike. As always, email ROSVolunteers@gmail.com to get involved with planning of our community events.
Mark Your Calendars!
1. EVERY SCHOOL DAY until March 12: Alien Inline! Take a look at the sign up to see where you can help – Kinders and Grade 1’s are especially needing some extra support! ROS Volunteers: 2025 Alien Inline Skating
2. NEW! March 19: Tim Horton’s Fun Snack (11-12pm)! FIVE parent volunteers needed to sort snack orders into classroom bins. Sign up here: ROS Volunteers: Winter 2025 Fun Lunch & Snack.
3. Place your students order by March 14 at Healthy Hunger
4. NEW! April 4: Staff Appreciation Potluck! It’s that time to shower our ROS team with some food love! Drop off will be at the front doors between 11.45am-12.30pm or in Royal Oak and Rocky Ridge on April 3. Check out the sign up for more information: ROS Volunteers: April "Shower our Staff with Love" Potluck
5. New Date/Location TBD: Second Annual Used Book Sale! Stay tuned for more information