Parent Council

Welcome back River West Park Community! September, 2021

Now that we have a few weeks under our belts and most are in the swing of things again,

we thought it was time to reach out and share our plans for the 2021-2022 school year.

Our goal, along with our school leaders, is to keep the school a safe zone for the kids, so

Parent Council will continue with monthly meetings remotely, using Zoom. We will

email the meeting’s link for each meeting closer to the meeting date, that way you can

join us from the comfort and safety of your home. We had our first meeting on

September 13th and it was great to see such a large turnout. Our school has grown

significantly with lots of new families moving into the area, and we hope that the parental

involvement continues to grow!

Fundraising

This year, our fundraising efforts are aiming to help purchase new home reading books

for the early year’s classes and to also help purchase a digital sign for the front of the

school. The new sign will be an easy way for the school to relay up-to-date news and

information to the students and community.

This year for fundraisers, we are pleased to be bringing back some favourites, but we are

introducing some new ones too! Our first fundraiser will be the ever popular Fundscrip.

Fundscrip is a one-stop gift card shopping experience, where numerous retailers offer

their standard gift cards, but also gift us with a percentage of the sales – a win win for

you and us! We will run this mid-October, with delivery of the gift cards in mid-

November – just in time for Christmas!

Leading directly into the Christmas season, we are partnering with Shelmerdine and

offering poinsettias, door swags and their gift cards. There will be six spectacular colours

of poinsettias to choose from and they are offering us 10% profit on all gift cards sold –

that is a huge donation from Shelmerdine! Their gift cards never expire, so you really

can’t go wrong with them! Delivery of these items will be early December, perfect timing

for your holiday decorating needs!

In the spring we will be selling Archie’s pizzas again, so fair warning – start making

room in your freezers now!

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that we have an ongoing open fundraiser with

Mabel’s Label’s (https://mabelslabels.ca/en_CA/fundraising/support). It’s a super easy

option when you are already buying labels or return address stickers. Simply select the

River West Park Parent Council (RWPPC) while shopping, and you’re done! Great

items, shipped directly to your home, while supporting the school.

Landscaping

Last week, two concrete picnic tables were installed in the back school yard, near the

playground for student and community use. This was the final addition to our landscape

project. We would also like to thank the nine families who offered their time watering the

garden boxes and flower beds throughout the summer. It is because of their efforts that

the flowers bloomed all summer long and that produce was able to grow in the garden

boxes. Thank you to all that helped transform and revitalize the entire school yard!

Hot Lunch

This year the hot lunch program is up and running again. This is an optional lunch

program for families that would like to participate in a “fun lunch” twice a month. Lunch

is delivered at 11:45 for Gr. K-5 and at 12:15 for Grades 6-8. Students are welcome to

pick up their hot lunch and take it home if they don’t stay for lunch. Please see our hot

lunch website for the schedule and details (https://rwp.hotlunches.net) and email us if you

have any questions.

RWP Yearbook

Last year we saw the return of the River West Park School yearbook. This was a great

success and many families were glad to be able to “see” into the school during a time

when we have not been able to be there in person. The yearbook is running again this

year and families are encouraged to order one through https://ybpay.lifetouch.ca using the

code 14289222. Please reach out to Parent Council if you have any school pictures to add

to the yearbook.

Social Media

As always, follow us on social media for River West Park School updates and

information: Facebook: River West Park Parent Council, Instagram: rwp_pc

Thanks for a great start to the school year! Take care and stay safe!

Megan Brown & Robyn Clarke

RWP Parent Council President

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June 2021

Dear RWP Families,  

As we close the book on yet another unprecedented school year, we want to reach out to the students and families of RWP and thank you for your patience and cooperation as we navigated through the 2020-2021 school year. Although the year ended with remote learning, we were fortunate to be in the school for most of the year.

Despite the challenges, we have a lot to celebrate and be thankful for. This year saw the completion of our three-phased landscaping renewal project. This $125,000 project was a huge effort by many in our Community over several years. The funding was provided in the form of generous family donations (16%), Parent Council fundraising (19%) and grants (65%). The garden boxes, trees and landscaping behind the school, and most recently the extension of our existing playground, were all part of this legacy project. Phase three was voted on by the student body to extend the current playground and add additional features that would allow them to play the much-loved game “Grounders”. The installation on the playground extension is happening this week and the addition will be ready for children to enjoy all summer. Two picnic tables will also be added later this summer as the finishing touch. With that, we can happily report that the Landscape Project is now complete! Thank you again to all the families who have donated to this project. We are in the process of finalizing the recognition pieces that will showcase our community’s generosity and will have that ready in the fall. This landscaping project is something we can all be proud of, and will continue to benefit the students and RWP community for many years to come.

Thank you to all the families who supported our fundraisers throughout this school year. We raised over $8,000 in fundraising initiatives from cookies to pizza to gift cards and greeting cards.  With this support from the school families we were able to purchase 15 Dell Chromebooks for the school so students were able to socially distance and still have access to technology.   The community also came forward and contributed over $2,600 for a special staff recognition which was put towards staff appreciation baskets. The baskets recognized the school staff to show our appreciation for everything they have done during this challenging school year.

We are also very pleased to bring back the RWP School Yearbook and look forward to it as a reminder of the wonderful people that make RWP such a special place.

This year, we say good-bye to three wonderful staff members:  Mrs. Recksiedler (Librarian), Mrs. Stephenson (Gr. 4) and Mrs. Hagues (Support Services). Thank you for your time and commitment to the students at River West Park School. We wish you all the best in your retirement! We would also like to welcome Ms. Garson (Library), Mrs. Daniel (Gr. 4) and Mrs. Megalaa (Student Services) to the school. We’re looking forward to getting to know you all!

We also want to say good luck to all of the Grade 8 students graduating from River West Park School. Thank you for your leadership and for contributing to the positive school climate. We wish you all the best as you move on to High School!

Lastly, a big thank you to Mr. Oughton and all the staff at the school.  Thank you for your work in keeping the school a safe and happy place for the students to learn. We appreciate all the things you normally do and all the extra things that this year required too. Enjoy your summer!

As we look to next year, we hope that we can bring back some of the wonderful activities we’ve come to enjoy over the years such as the hot lunch program and school BBQ! Please mark September 20th 2021 on your calendar as our first Parent Council meeting in the fall.   Join us to keep up to date with events happening within River West Park School and to contribute to our school community. With that, we hope that you have a wonderful summer! 

Thanks,

Megan Brown & Robyn Clarke

RWP Parent Council President & Vice President

rwppc@hotmail.com

Parent Council Meeting Minutes November 2019

Parent Council Meeting Minutes October 2019

January PAC Meeting Minutes

treasurer report jan pac

treasurer report b jan PAC

Principal's Report Jan PAC