Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope everyone had a good weekend and that students had a good PA day on Friday! Even though it was a 4 day school week last week, it certainly was a busy one. Grade 3 and 6 students finished up writing the provincial EQAO assessments. Any students that missed it will have an opportunity to catch up Monday and Tuesday this week.

Our School Council also hosted a successful family food night on Thursday evening. Thanks to everyone who attended. There is a great collage of pictures below from the evening. Prizes from the draw will be handed out to students on Monday!

A BIG congratulations to Jackson Bush who competed at the Board Wide KPREAA Track and Field meet on Thursday. Jackson won second place in Grade 5 Boy's Long Jump! WAY TO GO and Congratulations Jackson!!!

Things continue to be pretty busy this week again. The grade 6 trip happens on Monday, there is a Lacrosse Clinic hosted by the Peterborough Laker's on Tuesday for grade 3-6, the area Jr. Frisbee Tournament on Wednesday, an author visit also on Wednesday for K-3, Swim to Survive for grade 3 on Thursday and we will be finishing off the week with a RNPS Fun Day Event on Friday which includes a performance from our Dance Club (more info below).

Please see all the dates, flyers and articles in the newsletter below.

Have a great week,

~Mr. Coulter

June 10th - Gr. 6 Year End Trip

June 11th - Lacrosse Clinic Gr. 3-6

June 12th - PTBO Area Jr. Frisbee Tournament

June 12th - K-3 Author Visit

June 13th - Gr. 3 Swim to Survive

June 14th - Roger Neilson Fun Day with Critter Visit

June 17th - Jr. Boy's 3-Pitch Tournament

June 18th - Gr. 6 Transition Visit to Kenner

June 19th - Earth Rangers Presentation Gr. 1-6

June 20th - Primary Class Trip to Zoo

June 21st - National Indigenous People's Day

June 25th - Gr. 6 Leaving Ceremony @2pm with Clap-Out to Follow

June 25th - Report Cards Go Home

June 26th - Volunteer Appreciation Tea @ 10am

June 27th - Last Day of Classes

June 28th - PA DAY

June is Recognized as National Indigenous History Month, Filipino Heritage Month, Portuguese Heritage Month, Italian Heritage Month Month and also Pride Month!

A big thank you to everyone who turned out for last Thursday's healthy eating session in our school gym. As you can see from the pictures, it was a big success. A big shout out to School Council for all the work that they put into planning this evening! Draw prizes will be handed out to students on Monday! Thanks again!

We had an amazing time at the LLS Kiwanis Picnic last Thursday. The day started off with a bit of rain but then clear skies and smiling faces!

Big thank you to Karen Bird and the KPR organizers for a fun day, the RNPS School Council for the cost of transportation, Four Lanes Wide Band for keeping us entertained, and the Kiwanis Club of Peterborough for a delicious lunch!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Please join us in wishing the Jr. Ultimate Frisbee team the best of luck as they participate at the area tournament at Beavermead Park on Wednesday this week. There will be a practice after school on Monday for all players and the final game schedule for Wednesday will be finalized tomorrow too. A big thank you to Ms. Nansi for coaching this year's team!

On Friday, June 14 we are celebrating what would've been Roger Neilson's 90th birthday (June 16th)! Students will take part in a variety of fun activities outdoors during 2nd block (11:30-1 pm). We will start it off in our gym with a performance from our Dance Club and then head outside for activities hosted by our grade 6 students! Parents are welcome to come and watch the Dance Club performance at 11:30am in our gym!

Thanks to School Council, one of the stations will be a "Critter Visit" from Woolley Wonderland Farms. They will be bringing their collection of critters including their bunnies and rabbits, kids and goats, lambs and sheep, goslings and geese, mini piggies, and ducks for all students to meet and pat. It should be a great event!

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.

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

School Year Calendar – 2024-2025

At this month’s Board meeting, the 2024-2025 School Year Calendar was approved. It will now be submitted to the Ministry of Education for final approval. Highlights of the approved calendar include:

1st day of classes – Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Last day of classes – Thursday, June 26, 2025

Winter Break – Monday, December 23, 2024 through to Friday, January 3, 2025
(Friday, Dec 20, 2024 will be the last day of school and Monday, January 6, 2025 will be the first day of classes)

March Break – March 7 to March 14, 2025

Final approval by the Ministry of Education is expected later this spring.

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)

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