Hello Royal Oak School Families,

The staff at Royal Oak School, are very excited to welcome you and your children to the new school year. We want to take this opportunity to share some important back-to-school information to help alleviate any worries that you or your child might be experiencing at this time of new starts and changes. Our staff is committed to creating a safe, welcoming, and caring learning community for our students. We are also committed to providing students with multiple opportunities to grow and learn, to knowing them as both a learner and a person, to cultivating wonder and a love of learning, and making this school year fun and engaging. Our teachers will work with each student to ascertain where they are in relation to the grade level curriculum and will take each student forward from where they are at.

Please note that our school office is already open from 8:30am – 3:00pm, however teachers do not return to work until Wednesday, August 27.

Class Placement: Teachers will be emailing families by Thursday afternoon to introduce themselves and provide first day of school information to their students and families. Additionally, we have assigned new entry doors for all grades.

School Organization: We look forward to welcoming back students and meeting and welcoming many new students this year. We are hoping that all registered students will return to school by the first week and that we will not need to make any changes to class configurations or school organization.

Please be aware that due to student enrollment, staffing and student needs, we are moving our Kindergarten classes into our beautiful library space.  Our Learning Commons will therefore be moved into our lovely Gathering Space area. 

Please see below our list of classroom teachers and room numbers. We are excited to welcome some new staff members to our teaching team this year.

Start of Day: New Start Time- 8:46 am! Supervision will be provided starting at 8:31 each morning. Students are asked to line up at their entry doors. The entry bell will ring at 8:43 and students will be welcomed into their classrooms. Instruction begins at 8:46. Any student arriving after 8:46 are considered late and must check in at the main office.

Supervision: School staff will be on supervision every school day beginning at 8:31am and will be visible in their yellow vests. We encourage as many parents as possible to drop their students at the edge of the school grounds (once they become familiar with their entry doors) each day. Similarly, at the end of the day, we encourage families to create a meeting spot to receive their child after school.

Entry and Exit Doors:

Front (Office) Doors– Kindergarten

West Compound Doors (by bike racks) - Grade 1

East Front Doors – Grade 2

West Doors (stairs) - Grade 3

East Compound Doors – Grade 4

School Hours:

Student School Supplies: Students will be provided with basic school supplies. These may either be individual or shared supplies. Students are asked to bring a pair of non-marking athletic shoes that can be left at school and that are appropriate to wear for Phys. Ed. Students will also need to bring a snack, a water bottle and a lunch (if staying at school during the lunch break).

The Learning Commons/ Library will be moving to our Gathering Space. We will work to get this set up and running as soon as possible. Students will be permitted to sign out two books at a time, for a one-week period.

Parking and Traffic: At this time of year, we want to be mindful of our driving and parking habits to ensure all of our students arrive safely and depart safely from school each day. Please honor the 'Hug and Go' area in front of the school spanning from the crosswalk to the staff parking lot, as this area is designated for a quick student drop-off. Please note that there is no student drop-off or pick-up in the staff parking lot and families are asked not to park along the road by the staff parking lot, as this is a bus zone. We understand that many parents want to ensure their child knows where to go in the first few days of school and we expect increased traffic flow around the school this coming week. We suggest that you plan to walk or bike, if possible, to help with congestion. Please pack your patience!

There will be so much more to share in the coming days and weeks. Individual teacher communication as well as communications from the school will come via School Messenger, so please ensure you are signed up to receive school emails (including those with commercial content) and are checking your email regularly.

For any further information, we invite you to browse our school website at https://royaloak.cbe.ab.ca/

We wish everyone a restful last few days of summer holidays and look forward to seeing you Tuesday, September 2, 2025 beginning at 8:31 am! This is going to be a great year!

Sincerely,

Michelle Ryskamp, Principal