Dear Parents/Guardians,

I hope you all had a restful weekend and had a chance to recharge. We are looking forward to another busy week at Roger Neilson PS as we finish our first month of school. A reminder that our School Open House is WEDNESDAY from 5:30-7pm and that Friday is PA day while school staff are in meetings all day and working on a variety of initiatives.

We would also like to thank all families for supporting our Terry Fox Campaign this year! Students were actively participating in the Terry Fox events on Friday! So far we have raised $873 for this great cause. What an amazing day! If students forgot to bring in a donation on Friday, they are still welcome to contribute a donation tomorrow. Thanks again!

This coming Saturday is the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (Orange Shirt Day). We are requesting that our students wear orange on Thursday 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.

I will continue to send out weekly newsletters on Sunday evenings. Please check your emails and see all the updates in the newsletter below.

Have a great week!

~Mr. Coulter

Sept. 26 - Jr. Soccer Practice 3:40-4:30pm

Sept. 27 - Lunch Box Day - Papa John's Pizza

Sept. 27 - School Open House - 5:30-7pm - Stay Tuned for more information

Sept. 28 - Orange Shirt Day to recognize "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation"

Sept. 28 - Jr. Soccer Practice 3:40-4:30pm

Sept. 29 - PA Day - No School For Students

Sept. 30 - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Oct. 5- Jr. Soccer Tournament

Oct. 6 - Ms. Barry / N. Harris Class Trip

Oct. 9 - Thanksgiving Holiday - Schools Closed

Oct. 10 - Bus Evacuation Drills

Oct. 11- Lunch Box Day - Pita Pit

Oct. 12 - School Council Meeting at 5:30pm

Oct. 13 - Picture Day

Sept. 24-25 - Yom Kippur (Judaism)

Sept. 25 - Franco-Ontario Day

Sept. 28 - Anant Charturdashi (Hinduism and Jainism)

Sept. 29 - Kshamavani/Daslakshan Parva ends (Jainism)

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

The Jr. Soccer team has been established and coaches would like to thank everyone who came to try out. Making a team is not easy and we hope students continue to try out for all sports throughout the year.

Congratulations to those students who made the team. The practices this week will be on Tuesday and Thursday after school from 3:40-4:30 p.m. in order to prepare for the fast-approaching tournament on Oct. 5th.

Thanks for your ongoing support! ~ N. Harris and K. Sundup

"Terry Fox certainly modeled the following values: heroism, strength, perseverance, courage, determination, integrity and most of all hope." Our students were reminded of this on Friday when we recognized everything Terry Fox did with our own assembly and walk/run in his honour. It was a fantastic afternoon and we are excited to announce that we surpassed our $500 goal and were able to collect $873. If students would still like to bring in a donation on Monday, that would be great! We will be sending all money to the Terry Fox Foundation soon. I believe you can still donate through school cash online or even the actually Foundation website at: https://schools.terryfox.ca/37657

Thanks for the support of a great cause!

Our first school council meeting was last Thursday and at the meeting, the following positions were determined. Co-Chairs: Amanda Bush, Brooklyn Sinclair, Treasurer: Julia Wiegard, Secretary: Tina Hobart, Teacher (ETFO) Rep: Jen Robertson, (CUPE) Rep: Tara Lutz

Our next school council meeting will be held this Thursday, Oct. 12th, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. in our school library. Any parent interested in being part of the 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 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!

Our school OPEN HOUSE is happening this Wednesday from 5:30-7pm. We hope all families are able to attend. This is an opportunity to meet school staff and put a face to a name! Classrooms will be open for visits between 5:30 - 6 p.m. and then the school council will be selling pizza slices and beverages outside in the back schoolyard from 6 - 7 p.m. Pizza slices will be $2 and drinks $1. All proceeds going to support a variety of school initiatives. We hope to see you there!

Get ready to be cozy and warm for the fall with Roger Neilson Spirit Wear! Choose from 4 different colours of fleece hoodies, zip up or pull over, toques and sweatpants. Also available are short-sleeved cotton t-shirts and a cotton 3/4 sleeve baseball tee.

There will be a booth with sample sizes at our Open House and clothing will be available for purchase until October 16th through "school cash online" and ready for the holidays!

Show your school spirit this fall with new Roger Neilson apparel!!

"Lunch Box" on school cash online is back for its second year at Roger Neilson PS and this year we have "Pita Pit" available. Please see a copy of the flyer below that was sent home. Proceeds from all lunches ordered go to your school council for a variety of iniatives. The flyer below explains how to order. First up... Subway lunch on Wed. Sept. 20th!

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!

Thanks to all the families who have returned these important forms. If you still have not had a chance to look them over, please do and return them to school as soon as possible. The sooner we get all these forms back the better! Thank you for your support with this!

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.

All students should bring a refillable water bottle to school labelled with their name. Our water bottle filling stations are open, but the drinking fountains remain closed. We have limited supply of water bottles left in the office, but if your child is needing one, please let your classroom teacher know.

Thanks to the generosity of the United Way. We 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!

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

Annual Parent Conference

Save the date – KPR's Annual Parent Conference is returning the morning of Saturday, October 21 as a virtual event, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Jean Clinton!

Through the context of building resilience and healthy relationships, Dr. Clinton will share practical strategies to empower parents and caregivers to support their children during important transitions and create conditions to help them thrive throughout their educational journey and beyond!

More details and registration information are coming soon!

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)

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