THIS WEEK

Hello everyone! A couple of reminders for you:

1. Please complete verification forms if you have not already.

2. Please check PowerSchool and pay school fees as they are due.

Great news for RBES! Happy Kids Childcare will be ready to start offering service on Monday, October 3. See more details further below. BYOED devices should be sorted and ready to send home on Monday, September 19 for those grade 3 and 4 students that received an email.

TECHNOLOGY

All students in grades 1-4 will use technology, on an almost,  if not daily basis, as one of the tools in their learning. Students will all use a basic learn-to-type program throughout the first 6 weeks of school. They will also learn basic login skills, how to use the Google platform, and how to navigate through various programs that they utilize to support their learning.

TECHNOLOGY FEE

All Grade 1-12 Black Gold students pay a Technology Fee. The fee is available now for payment on your PowerSchool account.

How much is the technology fee?
Grade 1-3: $20
Grade 4-12: $50

What does the technology fee cover?
The BGSD (Black Gold School Division) technology access fee will cover a variety of new software tools for students. The first such tool is assistive technology software, this will help students by reading text on the screen from websites they visit and documents they create, listening to your work read back to you helps catch writing errors, and having text read from other content helps with understanding. The program also provides word prediction for struggling writers, standard and visual dictionaries, highlighting and organization tools, and speech-to-text abilities. A second new software application will be a self-assessment tool that uses machine learning to provide writing feedback for the student to help improve spelling, grammar, and sentence structure and provide suggestions for improvement. Lastly, we will be providing creative publishing and charting tool to enable students to increase creativity and capability beyond a standard document or drawing.

Another use of the technology fee is for internet access. The funds will help manage that access, provide increased bandwidth for BYOED and improve protection for students accessing the internet.

FAQ: Do I have to pay the technology fee if my child participates in the BYOED (Bring Your Own Educational Device) program?
Yes. As noted in the above section on what the technology fee covers, the fee helps offset the cost of software and internet access for all students, not hardware (device).

TERRY FOX WALK / RUN

RBES will be hosting it’s annual Terry Fox Walk / Run on Friday, September 23.

Verification forms include a walking field trip agreement that gives each student permission to participate in this and other walking field trip events.

All verification forms must be completed by September 22 in order to participate in the Terry Fox Walk / Run.

We are thankful that the Lion’s Club will be providing our students with a healthy snack when they complete the walk.

If you are interested in joining any of our Grade 1-4 students on their walk, please contact your child’s teacher. All volunteers must fill out a volunteer form. You can see the map and the schedule below. Kindergarten students have a field trip on Friday, but they will do a short walk on the school grounds in the morning before they leave.

If you would like to support cancer research and donate to the RBES Terry Fox Fundraising page, please click on the button below. We don’t encourage students to bring money to school, however, if that is your preference, we will collect toonies or cash donations on Friday, September 23 only.

REPORTING AN ABSENCE

With a focus on student safety, we appreciate you taking the time to let us know when your child will not be at school. To make it easier, we have this quick form you can use, or call the office and leave a message at 780-987-3705.

Can’t remember where the form is? Use the search bar trick on the website to get the dropdown menu with the link to the form … easy peasy!

VERIFICATION FORMS

Thank you so much Robina Baker, for completing your verification forms so quickly! Just over 80% of our forms have been done. If you haven’t had a chance, please do your forms as soon as possible – it would be very much appreciated! Mrs. Horrocks has started emailing, calling, and texting all remaining parents and will not stop until we are at 100%.

Your PowerSchool information will reflect any changes you noted in the verification process by the end of September.

WATER BOTTLE REMINDER:

All students are asked to have a labeled water bottle to use and fill throughout the day. Some students have been forgetting them when they take them home to be cleaned and so we have been encouraging our students to have 2 water bottles in rotation, so they are never without. This is not necessary, but a suggestion for those that are struggling to remember to bring it back after it has gone home to be cleaned. Providing water bottles for those who forget is a strain on our budget and increases the amount of recycling that needs to be done in the school. Thank you in advance for your support with this!

HAPPY KIDS CHILDCARE

We are excited to announce that Happy Kids Childcare will be ready to start childcare services at RBES on Monday, October 3. There is some information below followed by a registration link. If you have any questions, please contact Mansi Patel directly at [email protected] or 780-716-5437.

SCHOOL COUNCIL / FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE

Don’t have time for meetings, but are willing to volunteer for events? Use the QR code below or click on the button below to take you to a link to sign up to let us know!

UPCOMING EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

Please click on the images below for more details.

COMMUNITY EVENTS:

Please click on the image below to take you to the Devon & Area Community Events page