· Sept. 15, 2025: Grade 1 –3 Alberta Education Early Years Assessments begin
· Sept. 18, 2025: Meet the Teacher/ Open House @ 4:30 –5:30pm for families with last names starting with letters M-Z, AND @ 5:30 –6:30pm for families with last names starting with letters A-L. More information to come.
· Sept. 19, 2025: Terry Fox Run – 11:00am
· Sept. 26, 2025: Orange Shirt Day and Assembly
· Sept. 29, 2025: Non-Instructional Day – No school for students
· Sept. 30, 2025: National Day of Truth and Reconciliation – No School
· Oct 1, 2025: Nature Play Residency Begins
· Oct. 8, 2025: Individual Student Photo Day
· Oct. 13, 2025: Thanksgiving Day– No School
· Oct. 20, 2025: Non-Instructional Day – No school for students
Royal Oak School Meet-the-Teacher / Open House: As a way to connect with all our families, we are hosting a Meet- the-Teacher night / Open House on Thursday, September 18th, 2025.
4:30 –5:30 Families with Last Names beginning with the letters M-Z
5:30 –6:30 Families with Last Names beginning with the letters A-L
You will have the opportunity to see your child’s classroom and connect with your child’s teacher.
Terry Fox Run: The students at ROS will be participating in the 45th annual Terry Fox Run on Friday, September 19th at 11:00am. This is an AM kindergarten attendance day. Our PM Kindergarten students are welcome to join the run but must be accompanied by a parent. Parent volunteers are needed to help with this event. Your presence will provide safety and motivation for our runners. Parents will be outside, standing at strategic points along the route to help the children along. Please use this Sign-Up Genius link to register as a volunteer for this event. A current valid police security clearance is required as well as a current year annual volunteer registration (to be completed online through School Engage). If you do not yet have a valid police clearance, we will not be able to process the request in time for this event. Please contact Mrs. Milne in our front office if you have further questions. Please sign-up using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0A4FA9AE2CA5F94-58396474-terry If you are able, here is the link to donate to Royal Oak School’s efforts (online donations will receive a tax receipt) https://schools.terryfox.ca/97897. You may also send a cash donation to the school that will be collected daily by classroom teachers and Ms. Weber.
Staffing Updates: Each year, classroom organizations are determined by projected student enrollments. Currently, we are experiencing lower than anticipated student enrollment across the grades, by approximately 30 students. As a result of this decrease in enrollment and our given budget, we need to reduce our teaching staff. Based on classroom sizes, we made the hard decision to decrease our Grade 4 classrooms from six down to five. Based on staffing seniority, we are sad to say that we are unable to retain Miss Brooklyn Hatch on our staff. We want to thank her for all she has done here at Royal Oak School and wish her the very best in her teaching career, as she has already been able to secure a temporary position at Buffalo Rubbing Stone School. Change is never easy, and we deeply appreciate our grade 4 teachers’, students’ and parents’ understanding and support as we work through this adjustment.
Safety Reminders: Ensuring the safety of our students, especially during their commute to and from school, is a top priority. We kindly request your support in reinforcing the importance of pedestrian safety with your children. Please remind them to always use designated crosswalks, obey traffic signals, and remain vigilant while walking near the school zone. As parents, you also have a vital role to play as drivers. Please adhere to speed limits, be extra cautious in school zones, and avoid any form of distracted or reckless driving. Together, we can create a secure environment for all our students and pedestrians in our school zone. Thank you for your cooperation in fostering a culture of safety. With your help, we can ensure students safety on the way to and from school.
Student Belongings: Please remember to label your child’s lunch kit, water bottle, indoor shoes and outdoor clothing. As this makes it very helpful when these items inevitably go missing and need to be returned to their owner. For our younger students, it would be important to put an extra set of clothing in a plastic bag in the bottom of your child’s backpack, in the event of an accident or getting wet outside.
Sincerely,
Michelle Ryskamp
Principal, Royal Oak School
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SCHOOL COUNCIL & FUNDRAISING SOCIETY NEWS – EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
THANK YOU, ROYAL OAK SCHOOL FAMILIES
· Great discussions at our first School Council & Fundraising meeting of the year – Thank you to all the parents who came out! Next meeting is Wednesday October 1, 2025, at 6.30pm
· Keep up the GREAT work with demonstrating safe parking and using crosswalks! We recognize that our school streets are busy and protecting our children should ALWAYS come first. School Council would like to share two quick reminders:
o For quick drop offs, use the HUG & GO located at the front of Royal Oak School Pull all the way forward, let your student out and then safely pull back into traffic
o The cul-du-sac at the end of Royal Birch Blvd is for turn arounds only
§ There is no parking in the middle of the street – two tires must be touching the curb to be legally parked
§ Let’s also respect our neighbours by remembering not to block driveways
o Do you have the time to help monitor crosswalks and traffic safety? No police clearance needed. Meet us at the front of the school around 8.15am!
Mark your Calendars!
3) NEW! Apple Fundraiser
a. We have the most delicious ways to support the school this fall! Sun-Oka apples are available for purchase with a mid October pick up, the best time to bake apple pies or just enjoy the freshness of freshly harvested Canadian produce. Sun-Oka
3) COMING SOON! ROYAL OAK SPIRIT WEAR
a. Look out for flyers in student’s backpacks this week. Sales open September 18 and will run until October 5.
3) COMING SOON! FUN LUNCH AND SNACK DAYS
a. Our fun lunch and snack day events will begin in October.
b. Register your student at https://healthyhunger.ca/index.php
Are you interested in volunteering but have questions or don’t know how/what to get involved with? Email Bethany at ROSVolunteers@gmail.com
For any in-school events (e.g., field trips, Terry Fox Run, helping sort fun lunches/snacks, classroom help, etc.), volunteers must be registered annually with Royal Oak School/CBE. You can access the volunteer registration form through your parent account, along with your other annual forms under “Online forms” (Click here: Student and Parent / Legal Guardian Sign In (cbe.ab.ca)). Please reach out to RoyalOak@cbe.ab.ca with questions.
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September Dates of Significance:
September 1 – Labour Day
September 7 – Ukrainian Canadian Heritage Day
September 12 – 21 – Welcome Week
September 19 – National Trades Day
September 21 – 27 – Gender Equality Week
September 22 – Treaty 7 Day
September 22 – Fall Equinox
September 22 –24 – Rosh Hashanah
September 30 – National Truth and Reconciliation Day/ Orange Shirt Day