Welcome back after a wonderful Winter Break! While the students had a few extra days of sleeping in (??) and relaxing (??) <grin> our teachers were busy at Teacher's Convention going to multiple professional development sessions. Time for them to decide whether the new ideas and strategies they learned is a good fit for their students & their classroom. Either way, it allows teachers the opportunity to collaborate with others and improve learning opportunities for students. On our first day back (Feb 27) was the 100th Day of School this year! How fast it goes.

The OP Reading Challenge has reached it's official end - and we suggested the week of Winter Break as the 'catch-up' week of reading. We had almost 260 students participate in the FIRST week of the challenge - which equates to 44,100 minutes - or 735 hours of extra reading in the FIRST WEEK ALONE!!! WAY TO GO ORIOLES!!!!! We are planning our WHOLE SCHOOL Hot Dog, juice box & cookie lunch on March 8th. We will have both regular and halal hot dogs for our students that day. Please ensure you send enough other food for your child that day as they will still need a morning snack (and perhaps more food at lunch if one hot dog is not enough). We'll wrap up all other weekly prizes for the students this week (Feb 27 - March 3) and then celebrate together on March 8.

Although we haven't quite hit our spring thaw yet, it is coming - and with that comes a very wet and often muddy playground. Please double check the fit of your child's rubber boots as they will be a necessity very soon. Extra socks in the bottom of the backpack might also be a good idea - 3 recesses and outdoor Phys Ed can mean wet feet if the student's aren't dressed for the thawing snow & ice.

March brings the end to our second term of instruction and with it our next reporting period. OP will provide parents with the opportunity to do either Student Led Conferences (held on Wednesday March 15 from 4 - 6 pm) or you can come in (or phone in or google meet) for an in-person interview on Thursday March 16 from 10 am - 5 pm. Student Led Conferences on Wednesday afternoon provides an opportunity for your child to show you their work and demonstrate their learning. The teacher will be there to help facilitate, but since there could be 2-4 other students & parents in the room at the same time, there will not be an opportunity for specific interviews on Wednesday. If you prefer individual interview time, there will be plenty of spots available for that on Thursday and you can book through schoolinterviews.ca. Instructions for booking interviews will follow in the newsletter.

We look forward to continuing our focus on literacy and numeracy as we approach the final four months of the 2022/2023 school year! Keep reading Orioles!

We are so happy that three of our teachers decided to take a whole crew of OP Students to the RDPSD Annual Cross Country Ski Loppet on Feb 7 at Riverbend. Open to students in Red Deer Public & Catholic Schools from Grades 4-12, the Ski Loppet has a long history of fun and comaraderie - and makes for many great memories. This year, two of our OP Students placed in the top 5 - and when there are more than a hundred kids at the starting line, that is quite a feat! Way to go Matthew in Grade 4 boys and Georgia in Grade 5 Girls for placing in the top 5!!! And huge thanks to Mme Beebe, Mme Rudge and Mrs. Beurerlein for all your hard work and practice with the students and taking over 35 students to the Ski Loppet!!!

Every year, Alberta Education sends out a survey (now called the Assurance Survey) to guage the level of satisfaction regarding education in schools. The survey is completed by students in specific grades (this year, by students in Grades 4, 7, and 10), by staff, and by parents. Schools with smaller student populations may include other grades to complete the survey. This year, our students in both Grades 4 and 5 completed the survey prior to the Winter Break. Parent surveys are mailed out by Alberta Education to families with children in those grades as well. This year, Alberta Ed mailed the surveys out in mid-February and parents have until March 17, 2023 to complete the survey. Your opinion is very important to us and we welcome your input. If you need any help with logging on to the survey or help understanding the survey questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at the school. Surveys are available in multiple languages for parents to complete.

Now that we are not under any COVID restrictions, we can return to a format of interviews that we have not done for a couple years. Student Led Conferences are an important way for students to demonstrate their learning by providing an overview of their work samples and what they have accomplished and learned in the term. After discussion at our last Staff Meeting, OP Teachers felt it was important to provide families with the option to choose either the Student Led format OR a traditional Parent-Teacher Interview.

If you want to bring your child to Student Led Conferences and have them demonstrate their learning - please book a 20-minute slot on Wednesday March 15 from 4 - 6 pm.

Log into schoolinterviews.ca and use the code: vbuea to log in to OP's Student Led Conference times to book a slot for you & your child.

If you prefer the traditional Parent-Teacher Interview, please book a 10-minute interview (in person, phone or google meet) on Thursday March 16 from 10 am - 5 pm.

Log into schoolinterviews.ca and use the code: wa8wr to log in to OP's Parent-Teacher interview times.

Interviews will OPEN on Thursday March 9 to begin bookings. We suggest you set a reminder in your March calendar to remember to book an interview time or a student-led conference slot.

If you have any problems booking or need any assistance, please call Jacki or Sandy in the office.

Grade 5 basketball has started! We are so excited to see the number of students want to participate in basketball. We have enough for 3 teams and students practice 2X/week. We will work with the students through the month of March working on basic basketball skills and culminate with a tournament on March 28 at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School. Students will be transported to LTCHS but will require parent pick up at the school at the end of the tournament (approximately 6 pm). There is no cost for students to play basketball.

We are so blessed to have amazing businesses in our community that go above and beyond to help others. Earlier this year, we received an email from STEP Energy who, through their compassionate and generous employees and corporate head office, raised thousands to support Breakfast Programs in a number of Red Deer Schools as well as to support the Ronald McDonald House - Red Deer. On February 10, the STEP Energy Manager and Office Administrator came to OP and presented a cheque in the amount of $5000 to our school to help fund our Breakfast Program. We were speechless (and that doesn't happen very often!!!) We serve almost 100 students every morning a healthy breakfast snack and as everyone knows - the cost of groceries is astronomical. Children cannot learn if their basic need for food is not met. This donation will certainly help us as we continue to ensure our students are fed each day and ready to learn in the classroom. Thank you so much STEP Energy Management & Employees!!! We are so very grateful!!!!

The following students were nominated by their teacher in the previous month for one of the RDPSD Values for Learning & Life (Student names are celebrated and recognized on OPN, delivered to the student in their homeroom class and celebrated in front of their peers and receive public recognition in the monthly newsletter).

VALUE: Respectful

Grade K: Nev (Ms. Baird)

Grade 2: Youseff (Mme Konan)

Grade 5: Willow (Mme Beebe/Mme Rudge)

Grade 5: Sofia (Mme Beebe/Mme Rudge)

VALUE: Responsible

Grade 2: Amalia (Mme Konan)

Grade 4: Jackson (Mr. Hart)

VALUE: Curious

Grade 4: Lamar (Mr. Hart)

VALUE: Resilient

Grade 2: Braxton (Mme Konan)

Grade 2: Hendrick (Ms. Stemmler)

Grade 2: Khing Harry (Ms. Stemmler)

Grade 2: Mahmoud (Ms. Stemmler)

Grade 5: Nya (Mme Beebe/Mme Rudge)

VALUE: Collaborative

Grade K: Otto (Ms. Baird)

Grade K: Jacob (Ms. Baird)

Grade 2: Freyja (Ms. Stemmler)

Grade 4: Kaylee (Mr. Hart)

Grade 5: Keinan (Mme Beebe/Mme Rudge)

VALUE: Healthy

** Student name not listed due to FOIP

Please click here for information on upcoming events &/or activities for your children &/or family.

Email: op@rdpsd.ab.ca
Website: https://www.rdpsd.ab.ca/oriolepark
Location: 5 Oldbury Street, Red Deer, AB, Canada
Phone: 403-347-3731
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OrioleParkElementaryRDP

All parents are welcome and encouraged to attend School Council Meetings held on the 3rd Monday of the month (typically). Our next meeting will take place on:

Monday March 20, 2023 @ 3:45 pm in the OP Library

Please join our Oriole Park School Parents & Council Facebook Group - Linked here

If you have any questions or would like to connect with OP School Council, please email us:

op-schoolcouncil@rdpsd.ab.ca

Please support our School Council Fundraiser by ordering Hot Lunch once/month through Healthy Hunger!

Link here to healthyhunger.ca