Roger Neilson P.S. Review
Welcome Back Family Edition - Sept. 5-8th, 2023
Action / Information
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Welcome back to another school year! I hope all of you had a wonderful summer and are excited to get started with the 2023-2024 School Year! I’m very excited to be returning as principal of Roger Neilson PS. and to get the opportunity to work together with you and our incredible staff to support our students on their educational journey! I would also like to welcome some new staff to our Roger Neilson community. Please join me in welcoming Angela Hibbs who will be teaching our grade 5/6 class this year, Melissa Bowman who is teaching Kindergarten and Teri Campbell who will be here 3 afternoons per week in a variety of classes covering various subjects as overlay. They will make a great addition to our school team! There is a great sense of optimism for this new school year.
A big thank-you to our custodial team who has our school looking great to start the year and to all staff who have been working hard to prepare for the return of our students on Tuesday.
If your child is going to be absent, you can use the "very user-friendly" School Messenger app (a free download), to let us know. You can also call the student absence reporting system at 1-844-434-8119. This number is available 24 hours a day. Complete attendance information can be found at this link: https://www.kprschools.ca/en/our-schools/attendance-and-absences.aspx
Please see all the information in the newsletter below. I will continue to send out weekly newsletters on Sunday evenings. Please check your emails.
We hope that you and your children have a great first week back and we look forward to working with all of you throughout the school year!
~Mr. Coulter
School Bell Times:
8:55am - School Gates Open and students can enter yard
9:10am - Morning Bell - Students Enter School
10:50 - 11:30 - Nutrition Break #1
1:10-1:50pm - Nutrition Break #2
3:30pm - Leaving Bell (Gates Open for Parents to Pick Students up on Yard)
Staff and Classroom Updates:
Once again as we work through this school year there may come times when the school will require further reorganizing based on enrollment changes and Cap sizes needed to be adhered too. We ask for your patience and understanding in this process. At this time please see the list below for up to date classroom teaching assignments.
First Day Drop-off and Picking up After School!
Our school gates will be locked in the morning and opened at 8:55am when supervision begins on the yard. Students will have an opportunity to play on the yard before entering the building at 9:10am. We kindly ask for parents and caregivers to remain off the yard (except for day one) in the morning. On the first day of school, students will meet their teacher at the assigned spot on the picture below when the bell rings at 9:10am. Staff will welcome their students and begin the routine of showing their students where to go.
At the end of the day, our gates will open at 3:30pm and parents and caregivers can find their child at the same assigned spot in the picture below as they line up to say good-bye to staff and friends before heading home!
Our Parking Lot Before and After School
We recognize that our parking lot is a concern. We sometimes do not have enough spots for our staff. The bus company has also asked that we continue to have room for them to safely enter our parking lot. We kindly ask families to not enter our parking lot with your car as it becomes crowed and unsafe for our school buses. We know this is not ideal, especially in inclement weather, but we thank-you for your support with this!
Before and after school can be very busy with picking up and dropping off students with many little ones around. We have also been asked to remind everyone to watch the language we use during this time around our students. Thank-you!
ARRIVING AT SCHOOL...
Arriving by car? Cars will not be permitted in the school parking lot BEFORE OR AFTER SCHOOL. Students are to be dropped off on one of the side streets and can use the sidewalks to walk to a designated entrance.
Arriving by bus? A staff member will be at the bus drop-off location to assist students getting off of the bus and to greet students. Students will go directly to their designated entrance.
Arriving by foot? Students are to use the marked crosswalks when arriving at the school. A staff member will be monitoring the entrances.
Arriving by bike or scooter? Please park your bike/scooter at the racks on the left side of the front of the school and then proceed to the sidewalks to enter the yard. For safety reasons, students are NOT ALLOWED to ride bikes or scooters in our parking lot. Please make sure to walk them to the rack when on school property.
Late to school? If you arrive after the gates have been locked, please go directly to front of the school, press the buzzer and wait for further instructions.
FIRST WEEK FOR KINDERGARTEN!
-This year we have 2 classes of Kindergarten students. Both classes have a combination of Year 1 (JK) and Year 2 (SK) students.
-ALL Year 2 students will start on Tuesday, Sept. 5th and continue each day throughout the week.
-ALL Year 1 students will have an orientation visit on either Wednesday or Thursday. Kindergarten staff will make contact with Year 1 families. If you have not heard anything by, please contact our school.
-ALL Year 1 students will attend their first full day of school on Friday, Sept. 9, 2022.
We looking forward to meeting all or our youngest students to school!
Busing Information
All busing information and issues happens through STSCO. Please use the link below if you have any questions or concerns.
Visitor Protocol
Please ring the buzzer when arriving at the front door of the school and sign-in at the main office. We kindly ask that parents and caregivers not be in the hallways or going to classrooms during school hours unless they are volunteering.
Should you wish to speak with a teacher regarding your child’s progress, an appointment can be made by contacting the office or the teacher directly by email. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation. Your child’s safety and education is our number one priority.
Needing Backpacks??
All students should bring a refillable water bottle to school labelled with their name. Our water bottle filling stations are open, but the drinking fountains remain closed. We have limited supply of water bottles left in the office, but if your child is needing one, please let your classroom teacher know.
Thanks to the generosity of the United Way. We have some backpacks available in the office with start-up school supplies. If you are interested in obtaining one for your child, please contact our office and we are happy to help!
Verification Forms and Plan of Care Documentation!
VERIFICATION FORMS will be coming home for families to check over to make sure we have the correct contact information in our system. It is really important for us to be able to connect with families in case of an emergency. If a phone number has changed or there are new emergency contacts, please make sure that our school office is informed. Return these forms as soon as possible.
PLAN OF CARE FORMS: (formally known as their Individual Emergency Response Plan) will be sent home this week with all known students with medical needs, allergies etc.... An updated Plan of Care is crucial as it provides the staff at Roger Neilson P.S. with the reasonable precaution(s) and action(s) to take to support the health and/or medical needs of your child. Please review the Plan of Care to ensure all the information is correct. After you have reviewed the Plan of Care return it to the school. We will be in contact with you to discuss your son/daughter’s medical needs if we have any further questions. Note: If your son or daughter requires a Plan of Care and he/she did not receive a Plan of Care please contact our office.
RELEASE FORMS: Will also be part of this package going home. This is where you sign off to inform us of what you are allowing your child to do or be part of (ex. pictures taken, walking trips, etc.)
The sooner we get all these forms back the better!
School Council Update
Our first school council meeting will be Thursday, Sept. 21 at 6:00pm in our school Library. Any parent interested in being part of school council is welcome to attend this meeting. We are always looking for new members. We meet once a month and there are a variety of roles and tasks that we need support with. Some don’t require much commitment at all. We will also offer a virtual drop in if you can meet the first meeting via Cisco WebEx as the platform. If you do not have the use of a computer, a free app can be downloaded to most Smart Phones. To access the meeting, please use this link: https://kprdsb.webex.com/meet/kevin_coulter at 6pm on the 21st.
If you have any questions please contact Mr. Coulter. We hope to see you!
Looking Ahead:
August 31 - PA Day
Sept. 1 - Board Holiday - No staff at school, office is closed.
Sept. 4 - Labour Day!
Sept. 5 - First Day of School (ALL SK (Y2) to Gr. 6 Students start)
Sept. 6-7 - JK (Y1) visits are scheduled
Sept. 8 - All JK (Y1) students attend school
Sept. 21 - School Council Meeting at 6pm
Sept. 22 - Terry Fox School Activities
Sept. 28 - Orange Shirt Day to recognize "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation"
Sept. 28 - School Open House - 5:30-7pm - Stay Tuned for more Information
Sept. 29 - PA Day - No School For Students
Sept. 30 - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Oct. 9 - Thanksgiving Holiday
Information about School Cash Online
Communication from Roger Neilson P.S.
Most communication from Roger Neilson and our KPR board office is delivered via text messaging or email. If you have not opted into these services and would like to, please do so. For text messaging, your cell number must be in our system. You can opt into text messages by simply texting the word “yes” to the number 978338. If your phone number or email is not registered in the school system, or you have changed your number, please call the school to update: 705-745-6456.
This Weekly Newsletter will be sent via email every Sunday evening, please check it for weekly updates!
Kevin Coulter
Principal, Roger Neilson Public School
