


Roger Neilson P.S. Review
Family Edition - Jan. 20th - 24th, 2025
Weekly Principal's Message!
Dear Parents/Guardians,
I hope everyone had another great weekend. Last week saw some fun moments for our students. Many junior students enjoyed skating at the new Miskin Law Community Centre on Wednesday and on Friday, it was fun to see how many students supported their favourite sports team by wearing a jersey, shirt or hat!
The forecast looks to be a bit colder again this week. Please ensure students still dress appropriately with boots and snow pants to help them have fun learning and playing outdoors on our schoolyard! We continue to go outside up to -20 C.
Next Thursday evening (before PA day on Friday), school council is hosting another Movie Night for our kindergarten to grade 4 families. Please see the flyer in the newsletter below!
For interested families, it's still not too late to sign-up for a community science club that happens at RNPS after school on Thursdays. You can sign up using the link in the article below. Note: there is a cost associated with this club.
Finally, the Peterborough Health Unit sent home some immunizations letters for those students requiring them on Friday. Please make sure that your child's immunizations are up-to-date and that the Health Unit has this on file. You need to call them directly if you have any questions.
I hope you have a good week,
~Mr. Coulter
Looking Ahead!
Jan. 23rd - School Council Meeting at 5pm
Jan. 30th - Jr. Basketball Tournaments
Jan. 30th - Family Movie Night (K-4) - "Trolls 3" - 6pm
Jan.31st - PA Day - No School for Students
Feb. 17th - Family Day Holiday - No School
Feb. 19th - Jimmy Chapman Breakdancing Day
Feb. 20th - Term 1 Report Cards Go Home
UPCOMING DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE THIS WEEK For January
January is recognized as Tamil Heritage Month
Jan. 21 - Lincoln Alexander Day
Jan. 24 - World Day for African and Afrodescendant Culture
Skating at Miskin Law Community Complex
Thank you to all staff and parent volunteers who supported with last week's skating opportunity for many of our Jr. students at the Miskin Law Community Complex Opening Ceremony! It was the first time skating for many of our students and it was great to see them persevere! Everyone had a lot of fun!
School Council Update
Our next school council meeting will be Thursday, Jan. 23rd at 5:00pm 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 "Microsoft Teams" 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: RNPS Virtual Council Option at 5pm on the 28th.
If you have any questions please contact Mr. Coulter. We hope to see you!
Family Movie Night for K-4 students!
Community After School Science Club Opportunity:
The 2nd Session of the after School Science Club for Roger Neilson Public School is January 16th to March 6th (8 Week period), every Thursday from 3:30-4:30pm on the school stage.
Session 2 Science experiments will consists of; Take a deep breath, elephant toothpaste, Engineering Bridges, DNA: Banana split, Digestive system: Plate to poop, pumping heats, Dr. Bones, purple power pH, Vicious volcanoes, Pigments of imagination & lots of fun, hands on science experiments.
Children are supplied with lab coats, goggles & all science equipment. They make & take home their own experiments from science club.
If you have any questions please contact us by Email: junioreinsteinsseontario@gmail.com
Bookings can be made through the below link:
Warmest Regards & Explosive Bubbling Potions,
Laura Duffy
Owner Operator, Junior Einsteins Ontario
Durham Region & Peterborough
JK (Y1) Kindergartens interested in French Immersion!
JK (Y1) students have the option of going to French Immersion in SK (Y2). The French Immersion opportunity for Roger Neilson PS students is at Prince of Wales PS and transportation will be provided to qualifying students. If you are interested in registering your child for this program, please fill out this link. An information session about this program will be coming soon.
Hot Lunch Opportunities:
This year we will offer, through Lunchbox on School Cash Online a different “hot lunch” every Wednesday. All money raised from our hot lunch program will go to our school nutrition program. LINK TO SCHOOL CASH ONLINE
We Love Volunteers!
If you are interested in volunteering at Roger Neilson PS, this is great news! However, you do need to have a police check on file with us. These last for one year from when they were issued. We have a letter that you will need from us in the school office. The link to get a police check can be found here: Link for Police Check
The Children's Breakfast Club! - PLEASE consider a $5 donation!
We would like to thank the "Children's Breakfast Clubs" for their support with our morning nutrition program. This started last week! 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. However, running a school wide program comes with a cost. We are hoping that families can donate 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!
If your child is going to be Absent...
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
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.
Busing Information
Visitor Protocol at RNPS
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.
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!
NEWS FROM OUR KPR BOARD OFFICE!
Accomodation and Boundary Planning Update for RNPS!
Dear KPR families,
As you may be aware, this past spring we launched a broad consultation with families, students and staff, to consider the best ways to balance student enrolment in Peterborough City and County schools.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this extensive consultation process, either through our online platform or by attending one of the community engagement meetings.
At the December 10 Regular Board meeting, Trustees approved Concept A.2, with implementation beginning September 2025.
The approved concept includes the following changes for the Roger Neilson PS community:
Roger Neilson PS will become a JK to Grade 8 school, feeding directly into Kenner CVI for Grade 9, with Grade 7 students remaining at Roger Neilson PS starting in September 2025.
Students in Grade 8 as of September 2025 will remain at Kenner Intermediate.
A full summary of all changes and impacts by school is available here.
We appreciate that these changes are of significant interest to families, and we are committed to working with impacted school communities on transition planning to ensure success for all students. More information about the accommodation planning process is available at www.kprschools.ca/ptbo-accommodation.
Thank you for your continued support of students and public education.
Sincerely,
Rita Russo
Director of Education
Code of Conduct:
Here is a link to our: School Code of Conduct
From The Community!
School Bell Times this Year!
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)
Key Contacts:
Kevin Coulter
Email: kevin_coulter@kprdsb.ca
Website: rogerneilson.kprdsb.ca/
Location: 550 Erskine Avenue, Peterborough, ON, Canada
Phone: 705-745-6456 Twitter: @rogerneilson_ps
RNPS School Council Chairs 2024 - 2025:
Amanda Bush
Superintendent of Student Achievement:
Jodi Sepkowski
(705) 742-9773 ext. 2061
Trustees:
Rose Kitney
Steve Russell