Mark Your Calendars:
· May 19, 2025: Victoria Day – No School for Students
· May 20, 2025: Fun Lunch
· May 22, 2025: Plant Fundraiser Pick-up
· May 23, 2025: Open House for New Students and Families 1:30-2:30pm & Used Book Sale
· May 28, 2025: Bike & Roll to School Day
· May 29, 2025: Grade 2 Field Trip to Heritage Park
· June 6, 2025: Sports Day 10:00-12:00
· 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,
I hope this message finds you well, enjoying some of the few hours of forecasted sunshine this May long weekend. As we look ahead to the remaining 28 days of school this year, there is still so much packed into this last month.
Bike & Roll to School Day is Coming Wednesday, May 28: Join us in riding your bike, scooter, rollerblades, skateboard to school on May 28th. Wheels will be stored securely in the gym for the day. Drop off and pick up - for ALL grades - is the back compound/gym doors. LOTS of volunteers are still needed to make this event run! Sign up here to help out:ROS Volunteers: Bike & Roll to School Day Our Kindergarten students are welcome to participate too! Tags will be coming home after the long weekend and will be needed to identify wheels at the end of the day. Have your student clearly write their first/last name, grade #, and teacher (see photo for example) and bring it with their wheels on May 28! One participating student from each class will be chosen to receive a gift card from Tim Horton's , (courtesy of the Royal Oak School Council). For those students who ride the bus and are unable to ride to school, we ask that you leave your wheels at home. Instead, we invite parents to take a photo for their child biking, rollerblading, skateboarding or scootering. Please send this photo with your child’s name (first and last), classroom teacher, and grade to Ms. Kim Dawson, at kadawson@cbe.ab.ca by no later than Tuesday, May 27. One student from this group of bus riders will be selected and receive a gift card as well.
Sports Day is coming! Our annual Sports Day is Friday June 6th from 10:00 –12:00. We are once again looking for an enthusiastic group of volunteers to help run games and activities on this exciting day! Mark your calendars and come out and play! We need volunteers to help with setup, running stations, take down and distributing treat to students afterwards. Please consider volunteering your time for this fun event: ROS Volunteers: 2025 Sports Day
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.
Dressing Appropriately for School Reminder: Students should be dressed to go outside for recess and lunch - rain or shine. Our temperature within the school can also vary, from area to area, so please remember to dress your child in layers that enable them to cool off (especially during a PE class) and warm up if they are in a classroom that is set at a cooler temperature. We also remind all students that dress and grooming at Royal Oak School should reflect that this is a place of work and learning. As such, we request that student dress respects: safety in all areas, and appropriateness for the school environment: i.e., no revealing clothing, no bare stomachs, or any items that have messages that could offend others. We thank all parents/guardians for their support with this.
Wishing you a great week ahead!
Sincerely,
Michelle Ryskamp,
Principal, Royal Oak School
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SCHOOL COUNCIL & FUNDRAISING SOCIETY NEWS – EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
· Our Volunteer of the Month for April is…Kelly (Youngkyung) L!! Kelly has been a regular volunteer around ROS and always has a smile on her face. She has students at both ROS and up the hill at Pratt. Kelly, THANK YOU for being a welcoming member of our volunteer community!
· The ROS Used Book Sale is Friday May 23! Join us between 12:30 to 2:30pm outside in front of the school (main entrance) for our used book sale. This is a great chance to grow your home library. Books are just $1 and puzzles for $3. Credit, debit, or exact change accepted. All proceeds go back to our school.
· The 2024/2025 school year is starting to wind down, but there are a few year end events still coming! Don’t have your police clearance yet? Head over here to start the process now – there’s still time: Volunteer - Royal Oak School
o Clearances are valid for 5 years, transferrable 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 delivery truck and assist with accurate order pick ups. Sign up here: ROS Volunteers: Plant Fundraiser Pick Up
3. May 28: Bike & Roll to School Day! 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 6: Sports Day! One of the most anticipated events of the year, Sports Day brings together our whole school to participate in various sport stations. We need many volunteers to help our school staff with this event. ROS Volunteers: 2025 Sports Day
5. June Events Coming Soon! Year End Carnival (June 25)