· Sept. 26, 2025: Orange Shirt Day and Assembly @ 9:30 hosted by Grade 2 Team
· 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 - runs until Nov. 4
· Oct. 1, 2025: School Council meeting in staffroom or online
· Oct. 3, 2025: Tentative – Fire Drill #2
· Oct. 3, 2025: Healthy Hunger Fun Snack Day- Cobs Bread
· Oct. 8, 2025: Individual Student Photo Day
· Oct. 13, 2025: Thanksgiving Day– No School
· Oct. 20, 2025: Non-Instructional Day – No school for students
· Oct. 21, 2025: Healthy Hunger Fun Lunch - Subway
· Oct. 23 & 30, 2025: School Council hosted Family Costume Dance – more info to come
· Nov. 8 –12, 2025: Fall Break –No School for students
Dear Royal Oak School Families,
With Gratitude: Thank you to everyone who joined us for Meet the Teacher Night on Thursday! It was wonderful to see so many families in the building, filling our school with such energy and excitement. The evening was a great opportunity to share in the joy of learning, connect with teachers, and strengthen the important partnerships that support our students. We are grateful for the time you took to come in, ask questions, and get to know the classroom communities. Your presence and engagement make a big difference in helping students feel supported, connected, and confident as we begin this new school year together. We look forward to continuing to build these strong connections throughout the year and working alongside you to make it a year full of growth and success for our students.
A big thank you to all of our parent volunteers who helped make our Terry Fox Run a success—we couldn’t have done it without you! We are also so proud of our students for their energy, determination, and effort in the run. Together, our school community honored Terry’s legacy in such a meaningful way.
Orange Shirt Day at Royal Oak School – Sept. 26th: Staff and students will recognize National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on Friday, September 26, as there is no school on Sept 30th. Please wear an ORANGE (or Orange-ish) shirt on this day or your favorite shirt. Classes will take up the topic of the day in various ways that are appropriate to the age and maturity. This may include sharing a piece of literature of to help students connect and reflect on the Residential School experience, sharing a video to help students recognize the importance of Truth and Reconciliation, and/ or sharing an oral story that helps children recognize and express gratitude for the gift of a warm and loving learning community at Royal Oak School. Our grade 2 students will be leading us in thoughtful assembly that day at 9:30am. Due to the limited capacity of our gym, we will be unable to accommodate additional guests or family members in our audience.
Staffing Update: On Thursday afternoon, we shared the sad news that Kim Dawson will be leaving Royal Oak School to take on a new AP position at Prince of Wales School starting October 6, 2025. We wish her all the best in this exciting next step in her career as an educator and school leader. The next steps in filling this important position will occur over the next several weeks. The position must first be posted, short-listed, and interviewed for. Once a successful candidate has been selected, we will notify the school community and create a transition plan until that person is able to begin at Royal Oak School.
CBE Student Code of Conduct: Part of our opening school year requirements is to apprise families and students of the CBE Student Code of Conduct. Administrative Regulation (AR) 6005 provides in-depth information about how these matters are managed within the CBE. Additionally, Royal Oak School has established a method of supporting students to work through these situations. We hold the belief that we all make mistakes, that these mistakes do not make us bad people, and those mistakes are opportunities for learning. It is extremely important to distinguish the behaviour from the person. For more on our Code of Conduct visit our Royal Oak School website. For more on CBE Student Discipline Administrative Regulation visit www.cbe.ab.ca
Subscribe to Stay Informed: Due to Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), you need to subscribe online if you want to receive email or text messages on “commercial” school topics such as picture days, student fees, eld trip costs, yearbooks, fun lunches and more. If you do not subscribe, you will not receive these important messages (or any of my messages continuing such content) but you will receive emails on non-commercial topics such as absence and emergency notifications. In addition, if you want to receive any text messages from your school or the Calgary Board of Education, you need to opt-in for texts. To receive all messages from your school and the Calgary Board of Education, go to www.cbe.ab.ca/subscribe.
Attendance: It is important that you communicate with the school office (attendance line) and the classroom teacher if your child will be away. We use an automated attendance notification system. That means if your child is away and we have not been notified; an automated message will be sent by both email and phone. Once you receive this message, we ask that you either call the school office 403-777-6279 or email royaloak@cbe.ab.ca. Make sure to include your child’s first and last name, homeroom teacher’s name, and reason for absence and if it will be for a half or full-day (or longer).
Sincerely,
Michelle Ryskamp
Principal, Royal Oak School
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SCHOOL COUNCIL & FUNDRAISING SOCIETY NEWS – EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
· On behalf of School Council, thank you to all those families who came out to our community building Picnic in the Park event on September 12th. We were fortunate to have beautiful weather and enjoyed visits from the Calgary Fire Department and YYC Food Trucks. Thanks also to RRROCA for their support. Congratulations to the winner of our prize draw – Beckham in grade 3!
· Did you know? Royal Oak School has a Hug & Go drop off zone, located at the front of Royal Oak School. This is a dedicated traffic lane for a quick & safe morning drop off. Thank you to all our parents for your patience in the school zone and doing your part to keep our kids safe!
· Do you enjoy planning events and want to be part of a great team? Our event planning committee is always looking for volunteers. Email roschoolcouncil@gmail.com for more information.
· Interested in volunteering but have questions or don’t know how/what to get involved with? Email Bethany at ROSVolunteers@gmail.com
Mark your Calendars!
1. Cobs Bread Fun Snack – October 3
· Our First Healthy Hunger Event of the 2025-2026 school year will be Cobs Bread. This event is open to students in grades 1-4 as well as AM Kindergarten.
· Snacks will be distributed at the end of the school day and sent home with students.
· Place your orders by September 28, 2025, on https://healthyhunger.ca/
2. Apple Fundraiser
· Support the ROS Fundraising Society's Yumraiser by ordering fresh, delicious apples from Sun-Oka Farm! Place your orders before October 6 and help fundraise for our school while enjoying locally grown produce.
· Follow this Royal Oak link Sun-Oka and select “Buy now”
· Pick up will be October 22
3. Spirit Wear Sale
· Backpack flyer went home earlier this week. Sales open September 18 and will run until October 5.
4. School Council & Fundraising Society Meeting – Wednesday, October 1 @ 6.30pm
Coming Soon – Subway Fun Lunch (Oct 21) and Halloween dance (tentative dates October 23 and October 30)
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