Bike to School Day - June 4

Royal Oak School Parents and Guardians,

Our annual Bike to School Day is fast approaching. On Tuesday June 4th Royal Oak School Families and Staff are encouraged to participate in the Bike to School Day come Rain or Shine. 

Bike tags and further information (including a map) will be sent home with Kindergarten students on Thursday May 30th, and with Grade 1-3 students on Monday June 3rd. Bike tags must be brought to the school on your student's handlebars for ease of organization and storage in the School Gym. Students are welcome to drop off their bikes from 8:40am - 9:10am. PM KG students can drop their bikes off to the Gym before class, between 12:50pm and 1:03pm.

A snack of Orange slices will be available between 8:40am and 9:10am. Don't forget to bring your water bottles!

***NOTE: Different Locations for KINDERGARTEN PICKUP***

All Kindergarten Bike to School participants (AM & PM) will be dismissed through the Gym door closest to the houses at the back of the school and Non-Participants will have a regular dismissal at the KG doors.

Grade 1 & 2 students can pick up their bikes on the compound at the back of the school following the afternoon dismissal. 

Grade 3 students will be dismissed through the Gym, and will pick up their bikes on their way out to the compound.

If you would like to volunteer at this event please use the Sign Up Genius Link Below.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0A4FA9AE2CA5F94-bike

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Stampede Breakfast this Friday!!

Royal Oak School Stampede Pancake Breakfast!

We are excited to announce that the Calgary Stampede Downtown Attractions Breakfast Committee will be hosting a free Stampede Pancake Breakfast for our entire school community and their families on Friday, May 24, 2019. This event will begin at 7:00 a.m. rain or shine and will run until approximately 9:00 a.m. Families are encouraged to come early to enjoy this free yummy event.

This year we are excited to partner with William D. Pratt Middle School and will be bringing the communities together on the basketball courts and the Pratt soccer fields. Families are invited to bring a blanket or camping chair to sit on as they enjoy a breakfast picnic on the basketball courts and the adjacent Pratt fields. In the event of rain families will be invited inside the gym at W.D. Pratt School.

There will be no teacher supervision provided at the Stampede Pancake Breakfast, so families are responsible for the supervision of their children for the entirety of the event. Our teachers will resume their regular supervision on the school grounds at 8:55am and our regular school bell will ring for student entry at 9:10 am.

All families are encouraged to wear their best western attire to show their Stampede spirit!

Jump Rope for Heart

Our annual Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser is now underway. Royal Oak School held our kick off assembly last Thursday and students have brought home their fundraising envelopes. Your envelope explains everything that you need to know about the fundraiser. You can also register and fundraise online at JumpRopeForHeart.ca. It’s an easy way to raise money and earn great bonus prizes! Our fundraiser will run until May 29^th. On Wednesday, May 29^th we will collect fundraising envelopes and have our JUMP DAY. All classes will participate in fun skipping activities and we will have bubbles, sidewalk chalk, music and a healthy snack provided by parent council.

**Please note that PM kindergarten students will have their jump day on Thursday, May 30^th**

Did you know that when you jump rope for others, you are also jumping for yourself? Get the exercise your heart needs while raising money to help all kids grow up healthy!

Helen Hennick

Physical Education Specialist, Royal Oak School

Calgary Board of Education

t 403-777-6279 ext 7237

hdhennick@cbe.ab.ca

This is the last week for home reading books to be sent home.

    Home Reading Ends this Week!

Thank you for your support of our Home Reading Program this year.  We know that the work you do at home, reading with your children, helps their confidence and abilities as readers to continue to grow. As we near the end of the school year, we need time to collect and inventory all of our Home Reading Books so that we have a full library of texts ready to send home with our students next fall.

This week (May 21-24) will be our final week sending Home Reading Books home with students. You should see the final books of the year come home this Thursday May 23^rd.  After that, we will begin the process of collecting the books and making sure any lost/damaged books are accounted for.  Missing Book Notices will continue to come home over the following few weeks.

As has been the process throughout the school year, notices will be sent home for books that were taken home by your child and not yet returned to school.  We appreciated your support in continuing to hunt for these books.  If the books are not recovered, the school will ask that you pay a $5 charge per book that is missing.  This can be paid in cash, or applied to your PowerSchool Account if it is $10 or more. The fees help us to replace missing and damaged books so that next year’s students can continue to benefit from the support of this program.

Although our Home Reading books will no longer be coming home, students are still encouraged to read with their families daily.  There are a variety of places that they can access books at their ‘just right’ reading level including our school’s Learning Commons, Little Free Libraries, online with RazzKids, and at the Calgary Public Library.  If you would like recommendations about books to access with your child, please reach out to their classroom teacher for ideas.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns about the Home Reading Program, please reach out to your child’s teacher, or contact the Resource Teacher, Heather Mitschke at hmmitschke@cbe.ab.ca        

Happy Reading!

Wetlands visit - May 21 Volunteers needed!!!

Dear Parents,

At the beginning of the school year, in the welcome package you received, was a letter regarding trips within walking distance of Royal Oak School.  I have attached part of that notice to the bottom of this email.  Ms. MacDonald’s and Ms. Cook’s Grade 2 classes will be taking a walk to the wetlands on Tuesday, May 21 from 1:00 – 2:00 looking for signs of a healthy wetland community.  As a part of this study we will be completing some water testing with the students.  Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any concerns regarding this walk.  To support this walk we require two parent volunteers per class.  Please use the following link to sign up if you are available to help with this exciting learning opportunity. 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508044CAFAB28A2FA7-wetlands

Sincerely, 

Kim Cook

Amanda MacDonald

Trips within walking distance

The CBE values the educational benefit of off-site activities and we want to ensure students have opportunities to go out into the community around their school with their teachers to complement their classroom learning. To allow this to happen more easily, we have simplified our process for trips that are within walking distance of the school.  This change does not include restricted activities such as swimming.

As parents, you will no longer need to fill out a consent form for your child to go on a class trip that is walking distance from the school, e.g. to a local park. Instead, your school will send a letter outlining local sites and what potential risks may be at the start of each school year. 

Teachers will let you know when they plan to include a trip to a local site. We believe that this change will allow teachers to more easily take advantage of places close to the school.

Potential Risks of trips within walking distance from school:

Slips, Trips, Falls

Getting Lost or Separated from the Group

Pre-existing medical conditions