Weekly Update: September 25, 2015

Hello Robina Families,

Another busy week has come to an end at Robina Baker and with it the first month is almost over. Time is certainly moving quickly already. I want to sent a big THANK YOU to all the volunteers that came out for our Terry Fox Run this past Friday and to the Lions Club who came out to provide healthy snacks for RBES, Riverview and Holy Spirit. One of the members of the Lions Club came up to me at the end of the event to say that at least 90% of the students had good manners and said thank you to the members for their snacks. I was asked to mention this as he was very impressed. I would also like to send out a special THANK YOU to Mrs. Kaluza for providing the leadership on this event along with her committee members.

I shared a number of Terry Fox photos on our RBES FB page, however, you can click the link below this picture to see those and more photos of the event.

TERRY FOX RUN PHOTO ALBUM LINK

FRIDAY ASSEMBLY

This week's Friday assembly was our first Student of the Week assembly for the year. It was also the month end assembly where we have our monthly draws. As part of our Healthy Schools initiative, students who go to the LRC (Leduc Rec Center) can bring in their wristbands throughout each month and place them in the container in the office. We draw one wristband each month for a winner of a family swim pass to the LRC. This month we drew winners for the activity from our meet the staff night. Last but not least, Golden Garbage Can certificates were awarded. Miss Betty appreciates all the effort that everyone puts in to help keep our school clean. As always, all parents are welcome to attend any assembly. Teachers will notify the parents of the student of the week winners so that if you are able you can attend to see your child recognized. I take pictures of all of the winners, so if you are unable to attend, you can still have a photo of your child. This year I am going to do an online album of our Student of the Week photos so that parents can access them immediately.

STUDENT OF THE WEEK: SEPT 25 ALBUM LINK

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR ASSEMBLY WINNERS:

Golden Garbage Can Winners

Family Night Draw Winners

Wrist Band Challenge

PLEASE GET YOUR FORMS IN:

A number of forms were sent in a package to you during the first week of school. Mrs. Chiesa has until September 30 to get all your data updated and input into our computer system to AB ED, so please send all of your forms in. If you need new ones please let us know.

MILK DELIVERY STARTS ON TUESDAY, SEPT 29

There are 2 ways you can use your milk tickets:

1. Cut them up and send them all back to the school in an envelope or baggie — they will be kept in your child’s reading bag.   It will be up to your child to say when they will be used. 

2. Or you can send one back in your child’s reading bag on the days that you would like your child to have milk.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU

A very big THANK YOU to the Devon Bottle Depot for their generous donation to the school this month, as well as to everyone who has donated their bottles and cans to Robina Baker School when dropping off at the bottle depot.  Every donation makes a difference, and your support is very much appreciated!!

SCHOOL COUNCIL / FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE AGM

Reminder: Our AGM and elections are this Wednesday, September 30. All parents are welcome to attend. Come out and have a voice in our school.

2014/15 YEARBOOKS

The yearbooks from last year will be coming out closer to the end of October. I apologize as I took so many photos last year, that I had a tough time getting them all sorted and organized as time seemed to run away from me. I am just about done the layouts to send in. But not to worry, I am already more organized for this year. Thank you Mrs. Horrocks for doing all the class and individual photo pages!

Upcoming dates to note:

Monday, Sept 28: School Wide Lice check
Wednesday - Friday, September 30 - Oct 2.: Safely on Board bus presentations for each class

School Picture Days are coming soon! October 14 and 15. Mark your calendars!

Have a lovely weekend,

Weekly Update: September 18, 2015

Hello Robina Families,

It was wonderful to see so many of you out at our Meet the Staff Open House! Thank you for taking the time to stop by and participate in our community activity. I know our staff enjoyed meeting all who came out! Special thanks goes out to our event organizers and the following groups who had displays of information out: Merriott Youth Athletic Foundation; CAP mental healthy capacity building team; School Fundraising Team and our Power School Demo team.

To see more pictures from this event, please click here: Meet the Staff BBQ

HOUR ZERO EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

We had our second fire drill on Thursday. All staff and students are utilizing last year's new protocol and our drill went very smoothly yesterday. Just a reminder that you can read more about Hour Zero and this protocol here: HOUR ZERO EMERGENCY INFO FOR PARENTS

Come for Ice Cream Floats 

Robina Baker Fundraising Committee will be selling ice cream floats in front of Town Office from 4:00 - 10:00, at the Town of Devon's 65th Anniversary on Saturday, September 19th!  Come on down and enjoy the festivities with us!!


We would like to thank Independent Grocers for their generous donations of supplies for our booth!

** There's word that Mrs. Kloschinsky will be at the pie throwing booth, be sure to stop by and see the action.

TERRY FOX RUN - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

All parents are welcome to join us next Friday, September 25 at 1:00 pm for our Terry Fox Run. A huge THANK YOU to the Lion's Club for providing snacks for RBES, RMS and Holy Spirit. We are asking our students to donate a Toonie for Terry if they can. What a fabulous community event! Here is a copy of the route map for your reference.

UPCOMING DATES TO NOTE

Friday, Sept. 25 - 8:45 am - First Student of the Week assembly
Wednesday, Sept. 30 @ 6:30 pm -  School Council and RBES Fundraising Group AGMs
Friday, Oct. 2 Assembly - Special guest presenter - Devon Bears Ski Program

Have a fabulous weekend,

Weekly Update: September 11, 2015

Hello Robina Families,

Fall is definitely upon us. The leaves have really changed over the last couple of days. Please read the following weekly update carefully as there are a number of important informational items.

MEET THE STAFF ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

***IMPORTANT NOTICE OF CHANGE FOR MEET THE STAFF EVENT:

Due to a conflict in time with the Riverview Awards night, our Meet the Staff event will be open to parents and public from 5:00 - 7:00. We will not be dividing up our evening as originally planned and this will allow families that have children in both schools to attend the two events.

KANGA POUCHES

All students who are new to our school and / or starting Kindergarten receive a complimentary Kanga Pouch / Book Bag. These bags are passed on year to year for each student and when they leave in grade 4 they take them home with them. These are a great organizational tool for the student, parent and the classroom. If your child has lost theirs, they can choose to have a used one for free or purchase a new one at the replacement cost of $9.00. 

FIELD TRIP FORMS

There are currently a number of field trips that have been posted to Power School. Please make sure field trip forms are filled out in advance of these events to avoid chaos on the day of the field trip or event. If you need help logging in, please contact Cheryl or Maureen in the office - 780-987-3705 and they will be happy to assist you.

ASSEMBLIES

On Friday, we started on the theme of respect. Our assemblies are divided up differently this year to accommodate some of the curriculum we would like to teach. On Tuesday mornings from 9:40 - 10:10 the grade 3s & 4s come to the gym for a short mini assembly and the the Grade 1s & 2s come on Wednesday mornings for the same time frame. We will still have our K-4 Friday assemblies beginning at 8:45 to do student of the week and to bring together the learning of the week. These assemblies will be finished by 9:40. 

Students will learn the majority of their health curriculum during this time as well as have movement activity breaks and learn to work together as a school community. In the smaller weekly assemblies the students will work on the concepts at a more age appropriate level. The Friday assemblies will allow for celebrations, guest speakers and class or individual presentations. Parents are always welcome to attend assemblies.

This week we read the book: Respect is Correct as part of our introduction to the RESPECT theme.

UPCOMING EVENTS / DATES:

Please check our online calendar regularly along with your classroom blogs to keep up to date on events and deadlines. RBES Online Google Calendar

Monday, Wednesday and Friday at lunch: Cross Country practices

NO SCHOOL - FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 - PD DAY

September 23: Hot Lunch Orders are due

September 25: Student of the Week assemblies begin; TERRY FOX RUN @ 1:00 pm

September 30: AGMs for School Council and Fundraising Council - starting at 6:30 pm

TOWN OF DEVON 65TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Everyone is invited to take part in the celebration!

Have a great week,

Weekly Update: September 6, 2015

Hello Robina Families,

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all students and parents back to RBES and to extend an extra warm welcome to our new students and families! We are happy to have you all as a part of our Robina Baker Community. What a wonderful "Back to School" week we have had with your children. It was so great to see everyone after the Summer Break and see how much some of the students have changed and to hear all about their summer adventures.

STAFF UPDATES

I would also like to extend a warm welcome to Miss Clark who is new to us in Grade 1 this year and Ms. Garlough who is teaching Kindergarten (M/W class). Of course we also have a new Assistant Principal, Mr. Larson, whom a number of you met in June and we are happy to have him as part of the Robina Family!

It is with a heavy heart that I share this next bit of news. The Robina Baker Staff learned that we had to bid farewell to our beloved Mrs. Becker last week. She has gone on to a new adventure and we wish her nothing but the best!! We will all miss her very much as no one reads a story quite like she does with all those fantastic voices. Farewell and Best Wishes Mrs. Becker! 

In the meantime, Mr. Larson and I will be interviewing at the beginning of next week for a new librarian and our library program will be underway shortly. Some of the teachers have been learning to check out books and so some students may have already had the chance to get a library book. We will let you know as soon as we have hired our new librarian.

STAFF LIST FOR 2015-16

PK (at RMS) - Ms. Wilson, Mrs. Warrell, Mrs. Forchuk

ECS (AM/PM) - Mrs. Waters, Mrs. Pennycook

ECS (M/W) - Mrs. Garlough, Mrs. Boida

ECS (T/TH) - Mrs. Mullen, Mrs. Pigford, Mrs. Boida

1A - Miss Clark

1B - Mrs. Kaluza, Mrs. Thorsen (am), Mrs. Warrell (pm)

1C - Mrs. Luciw

1D - Mrs. Nutall, Mrs. Collings

2A - Ms. Angell, Mrs. Ostonal

2B - Mrs. Murtha-Toles

2C - Mrs. Suter, Miss Ostonal

3A - Mrs. Ferguson / Mr. Larson

3B - Mrs. Forchuk / Mrs. Tewitz

3C - Mrs. Milson

3D - Mrs. Rothfos, Ms. Rowland

4A - Mrs. Fleming

4B - Mr. Henderson, Mrs. Courtemanche

4C - Mrs. Spreen

Music - Mrs. Stanski

LST (Learning Support Teacher) - Ms. Wilson

Secretaries - Mrs. Chiesa, Mrs. Horrocks

Custodians - Ms. Betty St. Louis, Ms. Helene Rose

Please visit our website for regularly updated information: http://rbes.blackgold.ca/

As well each teacher in our school has a classroom blog that will be updated on a weekly basis. You can see a list of the blogs here: http://rbes.blackgold.ca/about/staff-contacts/ then scroll down to your child's teacher and you can choose to email them directly from the link below their picture or click on the word link to go their blog. You can also access their blog from the main website page by clicking on About and then choosing Staff Contacts/Blogs from the drop down menu.

CLASS TIMES / SCHEDULE

Grade 1 - 4 - * Line up in designated class lines at main entrance in the morning. The remainder of the day, students use their designated boot room and exit from those doors.

8:25 - Doors Open / First Bell

8:35 - First class begins

10:10 - Morning Recess

11:55 - Lunch Recess

12:20 - Eating time

12:45 - Classes resume

3:06 - End of the day Bell

ECS - AM

8:30 - 11:15 - *Students line up at NW entrance (closest to the parking lot)

Mrs. Waters opens door for students at 8:25

ECS - PM

12:20 - 3:05 - Students line up at NW entrance (closest to the parking lot)

Mrs. Waters opens door for students at 12:15

ECS - M/W and T/Th

Same schedule as the 1 - 4 students, except *Students line up at NW entrance (closest to the parking lot) and Mrs. Garlough and Mrs. Mullen open door at 8:25

SCHOOL MAGNET

Each family should have received one school magnet with the oldest child on the first day of school. If you did not receive one, please contact the office.

SCHOOL FEES

School fees are due by the end of September. ECS fees are $110 which a number of you have already paid - THANK YOU! Gr. 1 - 4 fees are $60 per child. School Fees can be paid using the parent portal on Power School, which is our preferred method or you can bring in a cheque to the school office. If there are any hardship issues and you are not able to pay this fee, please let us know in the office. We are also able to set up a pay schedule for you, so that the whole fee doesn't have to be paid at once. 

CROSS COUNTRY

Cross country has started! Practices will be Monday, Wednesday and Fridays at lunch. Mr. Henderson is coaching along with some other staff volunteers. If you have any questions, please let him know. He can be reached by email at: trevor.henderson@blackgold.ca 

MEET THE STAFF / COMMUNITY PICNIC

Meet the Staff event along with a 65th town of Devon Celebration event. Open to all RBES families and community members.

Date: September 17
What: Community Picnic
When: 5:00 – 6:30 pm Hot Dog Bar-b-que
6:30 – 7:00 pm Meet the Staff
Where: Robina Baker Field and Open House to the School

COMMUNICATION

School and office communication is virtually paperless. There will be the odd item that goes home on paper, however, most communication is done through Power School through Alert Solutions 2. Please make sure that you let the office know when your contact information changes so that you are always in the loop. As well, we keep both our blog and our website up to date. We keep our google calendar (that everyone can subscribe to) updated daily (http://rbesnews.blogspot.ca/p/calendar.html) - this is just one of the spots you can find our calendar. Most teachers have a link on their blog and the calendar is also on our main website. Mrs. Horrocks also creates digital announcements that run on the tv in our foyer.

School website: http://rbes.blackgold.ca/

Office blog: http://rbesnews.blogspot.ca/

Office Email: 

Mrs. Kloschinsky: kathy.kloschinsky@blackgold.ca

Mr. Larson: erik.larson@blackgold.ca

Mrs. Chiesa: cheryl.chiesa@blackgold.ca

Mrs. Horrocks: maureen.horrocks@blackgold.ca

STUDENT ATTENDANCE

Student attendance and lates are recorded twice per day. Please contact the office to let us know if your child is going to be absent or late. You can call and leave a message at 780-987-3705 or email maureen.horrocks@blackgold.ca . All attendance phone calls are now done by our automated system and you will receive a voice message, email and/or text when your child is absent or late if you have not given us advance notice. Please call in to let us know why your child is absent as soon as possible after receiving automated contact. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with your child's attendance.

PAC (Parent Advisory Council) and RBES Fundraising Committee Update

As you are aware our RBES Fundraising Committee has already started the SUTP fundraiser. Information and a sample book came home last week with one of your children. This fundraiser ends on Thursday, October 15. All proceeds go to help out with various Robina Baker projects. Last year our fundraising committee worked hard to get established and we had a late start to our fundraising efforts. That money has been put aside and a motion was passed to pay for the Student Agendas. A big thank you goes out to all of our parents for their support in fundraisers. A regular monthly update will be posted after each monthly meeting so all parents can be kept up to date on what is happening with both our PAC and fundraising committee.

Our first AGM for the year for both groups will be held on Wednesday, September 30 at 6:30 pm in the staff room. We will start with the Fundraiser meeting first at 6:30 followed by the PAC meeting at 7:30. All RBES parents are welcome to attend. You don't have to sit on the executive to attend meetings. We would love for you to come out and have a voice in our school.

If you have any questions or concerns, please be sure to contact us in the office.

Warmest Regards,