Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope you had another great weekend and that students had a productive and fun PA day. Staff were busy on Friday working on school initiatives for the year around math and literacy. It was great to see so many families out at our Open House last Thursday evening. I've included a small picture collage in the newsletter below from the evening.

A reminder that tomorrow is the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (Orange Shirt Day). We are requesting that our students wear orange, if they have something, to stand in solidarity as we recognize the truths of our collective history and the devastating effects the residential school system had on so many of our Indigenous peoples. Our goal is to learn to listen to the voices of history so that we can begin to understand the truths of the impact of colonialism. Learning is an important first step in moving towards reconciliation and this learning will be embedded in the curriculum throughout the year.

This week, we also want to wish the Jr. Soccer team the best of luck as they compete at the area soccer tournament on Wednesday. Thanks to Ms. Drummond and Ms. Larocque for coaching this year's team.

Please see all the other messages in the newsletter below!

Have a great week!

~Mr. Coulter

Sept. 30 - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - Orange Shirt Day

Oct. 2nd - Jr. Soccer Area Tournament

Oct. 11th - Picture Day

Oct. 14th - Thanksgiving Holiday

Oct. 16th - Earth Ranger's Presentation

Oct. 17th - School Council Meeting at 5pm
Oct. 24th - Jr. Hallowe'en Dance presented by School Council 6-7:30pm.

Oct. 25th - PA Day

Sept. 30 - National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

Oct. 2 - National Custodial Workers Recognition Day

Oct. 2 - International Walk to School Day

Oct. 2-3 - Rosh Hashanah (Judaism)

Oct. 3 - Sharad Navratri (Hinduism)

Oct. 4 - National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People

Oct. 5 - World Teachers' Day

As we head into the month of October, it is a month of significance for many groups. October is known as 2SLGBTQIA+ History Month, German Heritage Month, Islamic Heritage Month, Latin American Heritage Month and Women’s History Month

A big thank-you to all families who came out to last Thursday's Open House. It was wonderful to see everyone! School Council would also like to thank everyone for the support by buying a slice of pizza! Please see some upcoming school council events below!

Our first school council meeting was last Thursday and at the meeting, the following positions were determined. Chair: Amanda Bush, Treasurer: Julia Wiegard, Secretary: Brooklyn Sinclair

Teacher (ETFO) Reps: Dawn Barry and Angela Hibbs, (CUPE) Rep: Tara Lutz, Community Rep: Torri Schapp

Our next school council meeting will be Thursday, Oct. 17th 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 17th.

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

-We are happy to announce that World’s Finest Chocolate is returning to Roger Neilson

-Cases are available for pick up from Oct 8th until Oct 21st between 3.30pm and 5.30pm daily,

1 case per family at a time

-Funds are being raised for a new buddy bench for both the kindergarten and big kid yards, as well as Jimmy Chapman visits.

-For every case sold there will be a ballot for a chance to win some cool prizes.

For any interested grade 4-6 students, please see the flyer below. This will only be for Roger Neilson PS students. Parents/Caregivers must be present to drop-off/sign-in your child and pick-up/sign-out your children at this time.

This year we will offer, through Lunchbox on School Cash Online a different “hot lunch” every Wednesday. Up next, Subway on October 2th and Papa John’s on October 9th. All money raised from our hot lunch program will go to our school nutrition program. LINK TO SCHOOL CASH ONLINE

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

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!

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

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. REMINDER - ALL STUDENTS WHO QUALIFIED FOR A BUS HAD TO OPT-IN TO RIDE THE BUS THIS YEAR THROUGH THE PARENT PORTAL.

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.

Thanks to the generosity of the United Way. We still 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!

All students should bring a refillable water bottle to school labelled with their name. We have water bottle filling stations and drinking fountains throughout the school. We have few water bottles available for those students requiring one, but supply is very limited.

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!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first phase of the Peterborough City and County Accommodation Planning consultation. Feedback was carefully reviewed and considered as we move into the second phase of this process. School board administration is presenting two refined Accommodation Concepts for further consultation. To review the new concepts, along with the updated background information, the summary report of the feedback received to-date, and information about upcoming opportunities to share feedback, please visit kprschools.ca/ptbo-accommodation.

Here is a link to our: School Code of Conduct

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

RNPS School Council Chairs 2024 - 2025:

Amanda Bush

Superintendent of Student Achievement:

Jodi Sepkowski

(705) 742-9773 ext. 2061

jodi_sepkowski@kprdsb.ca

Trustees:

Rose Kitney

rose_ kitney@kprdsb.ca

Steve Russell

steve_russell@kprdsb.ca