Week of Sept 23-27, 2019

Ridgemount Families,

A reminder that we will be having a Lockdown Drill at Ridgemount this Tuesday.  Students will be informed beforehand and staff will review procedures as this is a mandatory component of the HWDSB Health and Safety protocol. We are also hosting our Terry Fox Run this Thursady, Sept 26th that all students will take part in. We are asking students to doante to the Cancer Research Foundation as our school goal is to raise $2000.00 which we have successfully done the past 2 years.  We are asking students to wear our school colours (Blue and Yellow) and appropriate running attire on this day.

Thank you to all staff, parents and volunteers for assisiting with our 3 pitch tounranments this past week.  Our students represented us very well and had a lot of fun!

We have been informed that we will be adding a Kindergarten class to our school due to high numbers. This class will have 15 students as there will be no DECE.  We are pleaseed to announce that Ms. Caton (current Gr 1 teacher) will be teaching this Kindergarten class. We are also excited to share the Ms. Adamson will be taking over Ms. Caton’s Gr 1 class and we look forward to having her join our team!  Due to these changes there will be a need to move some students into the new Kindergarten class from the exisiting clases and a few other class moves. If your child is giong to be moved to another class pyou will receive a letter and may also be contacted directly by the Principal or Vice Principal. We will attempt to have the least amount of disruption possible however, there will be some adjustments to class  timetables to accommodate these changes. These changes will take place on Monday, September 30th. Thank you for you patience and cooperation as we proceed through the school organization process. With this process there are also some changes for teachers. Mr. Hampel will be leaving his assignment here at Ridgemount and taking on a full time assignment at Rousseau. We wish him all the best in his new school as he will be missed by everyone at Ridgemount. We are thrilled to annoucne that Ms. Filipovic will be increasing her time at Ridgemount to full time assuming her postiton as instrumental music and primary/junior coverage teacher. We are also saying goodbye to Mr. Clarke, our afternoon caretaker as he has been successful in securing a position at Lincoln Alexander School. He will be missed by all and we thank him for all that he has done to make Ridgemount a safe and clean place for everyone!

Please continue to  inform and update teachers regarding your children (i.e., medical, allergies, special education needs, parent/guardian changes, address / phone) and to complete the Student Package of forms that will be sent home during the first few days of school.  If your child will need to have medication administered at school, there are mandatory forms to be completed and signed by the treating physicians so please request these forms from the office and have them completed as soon as possible. (NOTE: WE CANNOT ADMINISTER ANY FORM OF MEDICATION INCLUDING OVER THE COUNTER MEDICATIONS WITHOUT THE APPROPRIATE PAPERWORK COMPLETED).

If you require assistance or have any questions about completing these forms please contact your child’s teacher or the school office ( 905 575 1535).  Accurate and updated completion of these forms helps us to communicate better with you and to stay updated.

A reminder that playground supervision begins at 8:30 am and goes until the bell at 8:45am. Do not leave students unattended before this time please.  Supervision is also provided from 3:05-3:20pm so be sure that all students are picked up by 3:20pm. Kindergarten families will pick up their children just outside of the Kindergarten Area.

We ask that parents and guardians avoid entering the classrooms unless you have made an appointment or need to speak to a staff member. Please come by the office and we will do our best to accommodate you.  This ensures the safety of all students and allows our staff to successfully carry on their responsibilities with as little disruption as possible.

Families may request a Courtesy Transportation form from the office but there is no guarantee that this will be approved as many of our assigned buses are already quite full.  We will begin to approve courtesy transportation forms this week. If your child has been granted busing but you have not heard anything from the Transportation Dept. please contact them at 905 523 2318.

In order to ensure the safety of everyone at Ridgemount please adhere to the traffic / parking signs posted around the school premises. There are designated parking spots and areas that must be kept clear for our buses. Our buses stop on Hester Street and on Ronaldshay Avenue so please keep these areas clear at all times. There is parking/stopping on the East side of Ronaldshay and further up Ronaldshay adjacent the staff parking lot. We ask that parents/guardians not enter the school parking lot during entry and dismissal as we also have our students with special needs loading and unloading buses in the parking lot.  The City By Law officers do monitor our school and will ticket so please be diligent in abiding by these rules.

Be sure to subscribe to our school website at:  www.hwdsb.on.ca/ridgemount  (under the school photo is the link to “Subscribe”) to keep updated on upcoming school events and news!! Follow us on Twitter at @Ridgemount_hwdsb

We will attach the upcoming Week at a Glance in each website post on Sunday evenings. Please click on the link below to view the Ridgemount Week at a Glance for the week of Sept 23-27, 2019 – Week at a Glance – Sep.23-27

We will have Pizza available weekly on Wednesdays starting Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019.  Pizza will be available for $1.25 per slice. Order forms will go home soon and must be returned by the deadline dates. Our first Sub Day will be Tuesday, Oct 22nd. Subs will seel for $3.00 each and orders will be due on Thur, Oct 17 in order to give time to process all orders.  Pizza and Sub Order forms will be sent home with students and made available on our webiste. More information will be posted once it is available.  Ridgemount will also be introducing cash online this year as well so families will have the option of paying for not only field trips but pizza and sub days online as well. Details about this will be shared next week,

We are also hoping to have our snack program up and running starting Oct 1 along with milk sales.  Grab and Go bins will be provided on 3 days of the week (Tues, Wed and Fri) and bins filled with healthy snacks will be distributed to classrooms for students to eat at the beginning of these 3 days.  Please stay tuned for information on milk sales as white and chocolate milk will be available to students for 75 cents each (an increase of 10 cents from last year).

Be sure to mark your calnedars for Thursday, October 3rd from 5:00-7:00 PM as Ridgemount will be hosting our Meet the Teacher night. We will have food trucks on site and you will have an opportunity to meet our staff!

A reminder that if you need to stop by the school you will need to enter at the front entrance on Hester St. As we are a secure facility you will need to push the doorbell button and wait for an office staff to identify you and then open the door.  If you are dropping off lunches for your child you can place it on the lunch cart outside the office labelled “Student Lunches”. Be sure to prearrange this with your child so that they know to come to the office at the Nutrition Break to pick up their lunch as we are unable to keep lunches in the office area.

Our school day schedule is as follows:

8:30-8:45am – Supervision begins on playground

8:45-9:45am – Period 1

9:45-10:25am – Period 2

10:25-10:45am – Lunch in classrooms / 10:45-11:05am – Recess outside

11:05-12:05pm – Period 3

12:05-12:45pm – Period  4

12:45-1:05pm – Lunch in classroom / 1:05-1:25pm – Recess outside

1:25-2:25pm – Period 5

2:25-3:05pm – Period 6

3:05-3:20pm – Dismissal and supervision provided on playground

A reminder to all Grade 7 and 8’s – Students MUST complete the form that is being sent home to be granted permission from parents/guardians to go off the school premises for lunch on Thursdays and Fridays during the Second Nutrition Break ONLY (12:45-1:25pm). Students are reminded to follow the school code of behaviour while off school grounds. Phone calls and notes will not be accepted as permission. PARENTS MUST COMPLETE THE PERMISSION TO GO OUT FOR LUNCH FORMS AND RETURN TO THE SCHOOL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE FOR US TO ALLOW STUDENTS TO LEAVE.  

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child,  please see your child’s teacher.

Mr. G. Carey – Principal

Mme. N.  Kucic – Vice Principal