Mark Your Calendars:
· May 12, 2025: School Council / Fundraising Society AGM Meeting 6:30-8:30pm
· May 16, 2025: Professional Learning Day – No School for Students
· May 19, 2025: Victoria Day – No School for Students
· May 20, 2025: Fun Lunch
· May 22, 205: Plant Fundraiser Pick-up
· May 23, 2025: Open House for New Students and Families 1:30-2:30pm
· May 28, 2025: Bike & Roll to School Day
· May 29, 2025: Grade 2 Field Trip to Heritage Park
· June 6, 2025: Sports Day
· June 13, 1025: Volunteer Appreciation 11:15 –12:15
· June 20, 2025: Wonder Hour 9:40-10:40
· June 25, 2025: Grade 4 Farewell & School Council Year-End Family Picnic and Carnival
Dear Royal Oak School Families,
As we step into May, the energy around our school is buzzing with excitement! This is a special time of year, filled with memorable experiences such as community walks, buddy activities, field trips, and inquiry learning. We’re so proud of our Grade 1 students, who represented Royal Oak School at the Calgary Zoo to celebrate their hard work and commitment as part of the Conservation Champions initiative. Their efforts to care for our environment, including plants, insects and wildlife in Alberta, have been inspiring. This celebration recognized their learning and leadership in environmental stewardship.
School Council/ Fundraising Society AGM: The 2025 AGM is coming up on Monday, May 12th at 6:30pm in the staff room at Royal Oak School. All parents are invited to attend in person or online via Teams. Join the meeting now
2025-2026 Transportation Pre-Registration: The 2025-2026 bus transportation pre-registration has been delayed until May 23. On this day, families can begin to register for yellow school bus service for the upcoming school year through their MyCBE account. Families are encouraged to register early to ensure their address is included in the routes our transportation team builds over the summer. This year, more families may be eligible for transportation as a result of changes made to align with Alberta Educations’ School Transportation Amendment Regulation. To confirm eligibility, families will be able to view the “Find a School Tool” on the CBE website. At that time, this tool will show the new ‘travel distance’ of 1.6 km for K-6 or 2 km for 7-12 which must now be used to calculate the driving distance from a student’s home to the front door of the school. In the past, CBE calculated the shortest walking distance from your house to any corner of the school property to determine transportation eligibility.
These changes to transportation have also resulted in changes to our bell times next year. For the 2025-26 school year, Royal Oak School will have the following start and end times for grades 1-4 (Kindergarten is yet to be determined): 8:46-3:13 Monday to Thursday and 8:46-12:39 on Fridays.
My First Ride Program- Helping Students Feel Confident Riding the Bus: The Calgary Board of Education, along with our partners, are pleased to offer a school bus orientation program called My 1st Ride. This program is designed to familiarize students with the experience of taking the yellow bus to and from school on a regular basis. The orientation is aimed at first-time riders, students with special transportation needs and older students who are using transportation for the first time. Each group is offered an orientation session to meet their diverse needs. The orientation consists of a 20-minute presentation followed by a short ride on a school bus. Each new rider will be given a certificate of completion. Participants must register in advance. Spots are limited and are on a first-come, first-served basis. When registering for My 1st Ride orientation, please select one ticket per student attending, parents and siblings do not require a ticket. The sessions run every half hour between 9 am - 3 pm. Each session will take approximately 1 hour. There is no cost for this event. Please find registration information by using this link.
School Fees: If you have not yet paid your school fees, please log into your PowerSchool parent account and pay any outstanding fees. If you need to apply for a fee waiver, you must do so before the end of the current school year. If you wait until September, it will be too late. More information about fee waivers can be found at How to Apply for a Fee Waiver .
Class List Creation for 2025-2026: In the upcoming weeks, we will begin creating our class lists for the 2025-26 school year. It is important to note that significant time and attention goes into the creation of class lists. As teachers and the admin team meet, we aim to balance our classes based on the learning needs of students, gender and student complexity. We ask that you trust in the process. Should you feel there is a particular educational situation the school is not already aware of regarding your child’s placement for next year, please contact Michelle Ryskamp via email at mcryskamp@cbe.ab.ca no later than May 19, 2025, indicating your request and reasoning. While all requests will be reviewed, please note that we may be unable to accommodate all of them.
Wishing you a great week ahead!
Sincerely,
Michelle Ryskamp,
Principal, Royal Oak School
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SCHOOL COUNCIL & FUNDRAISING SOCIETY NEWS – EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
· Thank you to those students and their families who came out to our family yoga event on May 8 – what a way to celebrate wellness! Thank you to Johan from Ease yoga for hosting this event.
· The 2024/2025 school year is winding down, but there are a few year-end events still coming and we need your help! Get your police clearance in just a few short weeks by filling out this form: Volunteer - Royal Oak School
· Clearances are valid for 5 years, transferable between CBE schools and the cost is covered by a voucher provided by the CBE
Mark Your Calendars!
1. May 20: Subway Fun Lunch (12-1.15pm)! Help sort lunch orders into classroom bins, plus be part of the excitement handing them out to students. 5 more volunteer spots available. ROS Volunteers: Spring 2025 Fun Lunch & Snack
2. May 22: Plant Fundraiser Unloading/Order Pick Up (NO POLICE CLEARANCE NEEDED)! Help needed to unload plants from the delivery truck and assist with accurate order pick ups. Sign up here: ROS Volunteers: Plant Fundraiser Pick Up
3. NEW! Bike & Roll to School Day (May 28)! Volunteers (with CBE registered police clearance) needed at morning drop off, kindergarten pick up/drop off and then after school pick up to load all kinds of wheels into the gym then unload them back onto the compound! This is a HUGE team effort and upwards of 30 people will be needed throughout the day! Sign up here: ROS Volunteers: Bike & Roll to School Day
4. June Events Coming Soon! Sports Day (June 6) and Year-End Family Picnic in the Park and Carnival (June 25)