Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope you enjoyed the mild weather this weekend and Happy Lunar New Year to all those who recognize it! It looks like the cooler weather returns this week, but our yard and field continue to have areas of ice and water depending on the day. We will try our best to make sure students stay out of the puddles when playing outside, but an extra pair of clothes in the backpack is still a really good idea!

Report Cards will be going on this Friday. Please see the message in the newsletter below regarding Language only having "one" mark now.

A reminder that this is the last week for the "Little Caesars Pizza Kit Fundraiser". All orders are due by Sunday, Feb. 18th. Information on how to order is in the newsletter below. Thank you to everyone who has ordered already.

A note to families of Jr. Basketball players. The new date for these tournaments is now Friday, March 1st. Details about schedules and locations will be shared shortly.

Have a great week and a wonderful upcoming Family Day weekend!

~Mr. Coulter

Feb. 14th - Valentine's Day - Student are invited to wear red/white/pink!

Feb. 14th - Lunch Box - Pita Pit

Feb. 15th - School Council Meeting @ 6pm

Feb. 16th - Term 1 Report Cards Go Home

Feb. 18th - Little Caesars Pizza Kit Orders are Due

Feb. 19th - Family Day Holiday - No School

Feb. 21st - Lunch Box - Subway

Feb. 29th - Term 2 IEPs Go Home

Mar. 1st - Jr. Basketball Tournaments - Location TBD

Mar. 5th - Little Caesars Pizza Kits arrive for pick-up

Mar. 8th -17th - March Break

February is Recognized as Black History Month!

Feb.10 - Lunar New Year - Year of the Dragon

Feb. 14 - Ash Wednesday (Christianity)

Feb. 14 - Vasant Panchami (Hinduism)

Feb. 14 - Valentine's Day

Feb. 15 - Sakyamuni Buddha's Nirvana Day (Buddhism)

Feb. 15 - National Flag Day

Valentine's Day is on Wednesday. Please connect with your child's classroom teacher to find out any specific activities that will be happening in the class. All students are invited to wear Red, White or Pink on Wednesday!

As shared in the email from our board office, families of elementary students will be receiving their child’s Term 1 Report Card (Grades 1-8) or Communication of Learning (Kindergarten) between February 15-20. Roger Neilson PS will be sending report cards home on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024.

One change that families of Grade 1- 8 students may notice is that Language learning will be shared as one mark (as opposed to what was previously separate marks for reading, writing, oral communication and media literacy). This change is due to the release of the revised Grades 1-8 Language curriculum, which was implemented in September 2023 across Ontario. The curriculum outlines what students should know and be able to do by the end of each grade in Language, reflecting new strands of learning and new expectations that differ from the previous Language curriculum.

In all grades, the Language curriculum has been intentionally designed to ensure that students:

• build solid foundations in language and literacy.
• develop their analytical and critical thinking skills, and reflect on their learning.
• acquire knowledge and skills across the four strands in order to understand, respond to, appreciate, and create a full range of texts.

This shift aligns with the use of one mark in other areas such as Math, Science and Social Studies over the past few years. As always, as part of intentional planning and instruction, educators will be able to speak to the curriculum expectations addressed this term and how students demonstrated this learning.

For more information, please follow the Ministry link for a Guide for Parents regarding the new Language Curriculum.

Our School Council meetings are held on Thursdays in our school library. Our next scheduled meeting is Thursday, February 15th, 2024 at 6:00pm. Any parent interested in being part of the school council is welcome to attend the meetings. 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

If young childcare is a concern, we do have a few mature students available to help with that during the meeting too!

If you have any questions please contact Mr. Coulter. We hope to see you!

It's that time of year again!! Make Little Caesars world-famous pizza in your own kitchen! Have them on hand for quick dinners, parties or entertaining! This School Council fundraiser started January 22 and orders will be accepted on School Cash Online or through pizzakits.ca (Fundraiser ID #437059) until February 18. The kits will be delivered and ready for pickup on March 5, just in time for March Break. A flyer was sent home last week!

As we begin to plan for next year, please let your friends and family know they can visit kprschools.ca to register for Kindergarten and to learn more about KPR’s awesome Kindergarten classrooms, where children, and their learning, are supported by caring, professional educator teams.

Families planning for Kindergarten next school year are invited to attend our free virtual information series! Our Kindergarten team will guide you through everything you need to know about starting Kindergarten at the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.

The first virtual session is Wednesday, February 21, 2024 from 6:30pm - 7:15pm. Registration is now open: https://www.kprschools.ca/en/learning-and-programs/kindergarten-virtual-information-series.aspx

The Jr. Basketball Tournaments have a new date of Friday, March 1st. Schedules and Locations are being determined and will be shared with players shortly. Please hold this date!

Each day ALL students are offered something to eat in the morning when they come into the school. Not all students choose to take something to eat, but many do. We recognize the importance nutrition has on learning. We would like to thank the "Children's Breakfast Clubs" for their support with our morning nutrition program. However, running a school wide program comes with a cost. We are hoping that families would consider donating to our program if their child is accessing it in the mornings. Look for this opportunity on school cash online this week. $5 per month, which is roughly 25 cents a day would really help us out.

Thanks for considering!

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 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.

All busing information and issues happens through STSCO. Please use the link below if you have any questions or concerns.

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.

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!

A reminder, 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

Report IT!

The Office of the Commissioner of Human Rights, Equity and Accessibility (COHREA) is fully accessible and available to all students, staff and families to report any issues of concern, and in particular human rights-based issues of discrimination and harassment that involve a breach of the Human Rights Code, and barriers to accessibility under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. The Commissioner’s Office promptly reviews, assesses and determines necessary next steps for addressing all complaints. While we continue to encourage students, staff and families to first address concerns directly with those involved in the situation, e.g. the teacher, principal, manager or superintendent, concerns may also be reported confidentially, through the online reporting tool – Report IT! More information about the COHREA is available on the Board website or by contacting the office directly at cohrea@kprdsb.ca

New Language Curriculum Grade 1 to 8 – A Guide for Parents

Ontario’s language curriculum for Grades 1 to 8 was updated last spring by the Ministry of Education for implementation beginning this September. The parent guide below provides an overview of the knowledge and skills that students will learn in each grade. Language, Grades 1 to 8: a guide for parents (gov.on.ca)

-if your child is currently 7 they are eligible to register. If your child is turning 7, they will be eligible after their birthday

-pick up is at this address:

All Saints’ Anglican Church

235 Rubidge Street

Peterborough, ON K9J 3N9

(the music program does not have a religious connotation; it is just using the space)

-the registration is to be put on a waitlist for November start

-your child does NOT require a letter of recommendation

If you have any further questions, please contact Rose Sanderson (rose_sanderson@kprdsb.ca) or Teresa Laton (teresa_laton@kprdsb.ca)

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)

Principal, Roger Neilson Public School

Email: kevin_coulter@kprdsb.ca
Website: rogerneilson.kprdsb.ca/
Location: 550 Erskine Avenue, Peterborough, ON, Canada
Phone: 705-745-6456
Twitter: @rogerneilson_ps