Important Information
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Hello Rideau Families!
A Warm Welcome to the 2026-27 School Year
I am thrilled to continue as your principal for another school year. It is a gift to lead the transition from one school year to the next in the same school! Knowing the stories and experiences of the year prior and enjoying established relationships with staff, students and families are critical in this work. From my perspective, the initial days of our school year started quite smoothly! I certainly notice students that are happy to return to Rideau Park and there is calm readiness in the building. This speaks to thoughtful transition planning we engaged in together last spring as well as the high level of professionalism among our staff to ensure that classrooms and learning spaces were ready to return to work!
I am happy to report that for next year, we have already anchored key residencies and experiences for our students. Financial support for our guest speaker and residencies is generously provided by our Rideau Park Parent’s Association (RPPA). These include:
- Wellbeing Guest Speaker “Present Possibilities” (K-9 and parents!) – week of October 19
- Grade 8 and 9 Ski Trips – February 22 and 23
- Havana Cuban Dance Residency – February 16 – March 5 (performance day)
- Yellow Step Learning Place Based Residency – April 16 – May 4
- Camp Chief Hector – Grade 6 Eco School – May 10-13
There will, of course, be more to come as we continue to strengthen relationships and build experiences together. Thank you Rideau Park School families, for welcoming me to this special place. I look forward to continuing our work together.
2026-27 School Organization – Meet our Team!
Kindergarten (morning only) – Ms. Arianna Lovas
Grade 1/2- Ms. Emily Dockrill, Ms. Michelle Lee, Ms. Hayley Stasiewski (Ms. Alana Swereda parental leave)
Grade 3/4 - Ms. Taryn Cameron, Ms. Kerry Goodine, Ms. Taylor Williams
Grade 5/6 – Ms. Sharon Jacques (Ms. Soha on leave), Ms. Elena Cristea, Ms. Leslie Bronconnier (extra teacher position funded through class size reduction grant, awarded earlier this spring)
K-6 Classroom Complexity Team (CCT) Teacher – Ms. Lindsay Bliek (funded through the classroom complexity grant, awarded earlier this spring)
K-6 Classroom Complexity Team Education Assistants – Ms. Tamara Coleman and Ms. Trupti Gaikwad
Grade 7-9 ELA/SS – Ms. Jenn Kelsey, Mr. Carl Pocock, Ms. Julia Schmidlin, Mr. Ian Burns, Mr. Luke Gniewek (Ms. Gemma Rae parental leave)
Grade 7-9 – Math/Science – Ms. Nicole Kabat, Mr. Jeff Ball, Ms. Shawnalee Redwood, Ms. Margaret Wilson
Grade 7-9 Complimentary and K-9 Specialists – Mme. Ford (7-9 French), Ms. Emily Wegg (PE), Ms. Kayla Koshynsky (Music and Band)
Office/ Admin Team – Ms. Florence Janzen and Ms. Sarah Fatima (office), Ms. Heather Milojica (library)
Lunch Supervision- Ms. Barb Shannon (lead), Ms. Caitlyn Brown, Ms. Adriana Cifuentes, Ms. Laurie Picketts, Ms. Sarah Fatima
Meet you Rideau Park school K-6 and 7-9 Core Teachers
We are a safe, caring and welcoming community…
To maintain a consistent and supportive environment that fosters high expectations for all students, it is important to ensure that families and students are familiar with some key policies and procedures that are in place across the Calgary Board of Education. Namely, please take time to review the following items available on our website:
- Student Code of Conduct and Progressive Discipline https://rideaupark.cbe.ab.ca/conduct
- Personal Mobile Devices- Away for the Day https://rideaupark.cbe.ab.ca/student-personal-mobile-devices-k-9
- Scent-Free Environment https://rideaupark.cbe.ab.ca/health-wellness
Picking Up Early – Dropping Off
Returning families are familiar with our protocols for pick-up and drop-off. We thank you for continuing to follow our procedures to ensure safety and security for our students.
Early Pick Up
- For early pick up, please do your best to communicate plans directly to the school office (RideauPark@cbe.ab.ca) and cc your child’s homeroom teacher. This way we can have your child ready at the office.
- Please be mindful of how busy our office can get at dismissal time. Unplanned, early pick up within 20 minutes of dismissal (3:49 M-Th or 1:16) is discouraged.
- For all students K-9, parents are required to sign students out at the office. Students must not leave the school early without first being signed out.
Parking
- Parking is limited on our school property. Where possible, we encourage students to walk, ride or roll to school.
- Parents are asked to make a loop when driving students to school at Rideau. Please drop off on 30 Ave SW heading eastbound. Please do not park in or block the bus zone or block the alley. Please do not drive into the cul-de-sac in front of the school, as this is a heavy pedestrian zone. Never be in a hurry when near Rideau Park School. It is not worth the consequence.
- Parents who are picking up a student during the day are asked to park on the street in front of the school.
More information and a detailed visual explanation are available on our website: https://rideaupark.cbe.ab.ca/parking
Annual Student Health Plan – Medication at School
If your child has a health condition that requires medication to be taken while at school or that may need to be taken while at school (i.e. EpiPen), a Student Health Plan form will need to be completed and submitted to the office. Any medication that needs to be taken at school must be labelled and for student safety, stored securely in the office, unless specific safety planning requires that it remain with the student. Please review https://rideaupark.cbe.ab.ca/illness-medical or contact our office directly to make this arrangement.
Annual Volunteer Clearance
The Annual Volunteer Registration Form is valid for the current school year only. All volunteers, including returning volunteers, must complete a new registration form each school year before participating in volunteer activities. This form is located through the SchoolEngage tab in your MyCBE account.
New This Year: Community members who do not have a child registered with CBE must complete their volunteer registration in person at the school where they wish to volunteer. This change allows school staff to verify that volunteers have reviewed and acknowledged their privacy obligations under Alberta's Protection of Privacy Act (POPA).
To learn more about volunteering opportunities at Rideau Park School, please join us on Friday September 11 at 11:00am in our learning commons for a presentation led by your principal, Ms. Riquelme.
Gym Strip – Top Marks and Spirit Wear – Summarized Designs
The fall ordering window for our Rideau Gym Strip supplier, Top Marks, is open from September 7 – September 16. To view the catalogue of items and place and order, use the following link: https://topmarks.ca/
All students in Grades 7 to 9 are required to change into a gym strip for PE classes. We
suggest the following for a Junior High gym strip:
- Rideau Park T-shirt (required)
- Rideau Park shorts or jogging pants (required)
- Rideau Park hoodie (recommended)
Summarized Designs will be our supplier for our Rideau Park School spirit wear again this year. This new vendor complements our fall offering of gym strip by making Rideau Park “R” logo t-shirts and other active wear gear available throughout the year.
Secure online ordering and payment are available at: https://www.myschoolzone.ca/rideaupark
An overview of all our gym strip and spirit wear options are available on our website: https://rideaupark.cbe.ab.ca/merchandise
Rideau Park Parents Association – School Council Update
We look forward to welcoming returning and new attendees to our School Council & RPPA meetings. Our first meeting of the year will take place on Wednesday Sept.16 at 6:00pm, in person
in the school Learning Commons.
2026-2027 Meeting Schedule:
- Sept. 16 – In person, 6:00pm
- Oct. 21 (Virtual): 1:45pm
- Nov. 18 – In person, 6:00pm
- Jan. 20 (Virtual): 1:45pm
- Feb. 24 – In person, 6:00pm
- Apr. 21 (Virtual): 1:45pm
- May 19 – In person, 6:00pm (AGM)
Hot Lunch Returns for 2026-2027 - Healthy Hunger is Back!
Parents, do you want to support Rideau Park School AND pack one less lunch every other week?
Healthy Hunger, hosted by the Rideau Park School Council and Parent Association, offers delivery of lunches to the classroom every other Thursday!
Our first Fun Lunch will be held Thursday, September 10.
- Orders must be submitted on the Saturday BEFORE the lunch
- Order lunch by lunch, or multiple dates in advance
Visit www.healthyhunger.ca to order your student’s lunch and support our school!
Volunteers Needed!
We need parent volunteers to help organize lunches and deliver them to classrooms. It’s easy, anyone can help, and
the time commitment is usually just 30 minutes!
Sign up to help here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C044FA4AD2FA3F9C25-65125505-healthy
Lunches Coming Up:
- Sept 10 - Subway **Orders close this SATURDAY SEPT 5!
- Sept 24 – Boston Pizza
- Oct 8 - Edo Japan
- Oct 22 – Little Caesar’s Pizza
- Nov 5 - Mary Brown's Chicken
- Nov 19 – Mucho Burrito
The Rideau Park School Parents' Association is sponsoring Fresh Picked BC Apples or Pears, including Honeycrisp!
Orders must be completed by 8:00 PM, Monday, September 7 (Labour Day), to be delivered to the school on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
Pick up will be organized at the school on that date, with parent volunteers handingout the apple boxes.
Please see link to order and pay: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/rps-apple-shop (note: say no to the extra Zeffy fee)
Save the DATE – Casino Fundraiser, November 5-6, 2026
This is a critical fundraising event for Rideau Park School and our turn has come up once again to infuse much needed dollars to enrich and enhance programming/resources for our students.
- Where: Elbow River Casino
- Hosted by: Rideau Park Parents Association
- Dates: Thursday November 5 and Friday November 6, 2026.
Link to sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080E4DA4A72AA4FF2-64600096-elbow
No experience is needed, everyone gets trained on site and meals are provided. Please consider signing up to
contribute to our biggest fundraiser of the year.
We appreciate you and your support! Sincerely,
Andrea Riquelme
Principal, Rideau Park School
IG: @principalriquelme @cbe.rideaupark Website: https://rideaupark.cbe.ab.ca/