School News for September 7, 2025

What a busy first week of school, but also what a great first week of school thanks to a caring and understanding group of students, parents, teachers and support staff.  It all bodes well for a wonderful school year! And, just in case you were wondering about the highlight of my week? Well, it involved a Junior Kindergarten student asking me, “Who are you? Someone’s grandpa.” Ouch!

I hope you find the information below helpful.

Have a great week,

Paul Gautreau

~ Principal

ROUTINES are the foundation for productive classrooms and a safe school.  During the first week of school, students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 have been learning about and practicing classroom routines, lunchtime routines, washroom routines, and many more. When students know what to do, and are able to do it automatically, classrooms hum.  Predictable routines are also a big comfort to students who may feel a bit anxious when things are uncertain.

BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL:  Speaking of routines, we would like to remind parents who drop off their children in the morning to stay off the school yard.  This really helps us with supervision and makes our children feel safe.  Also, if you are picking up your child at the end of the school day, please wait along the sides of the pavement.  This will make it easier for students who take the bus to get to their buses.

MEET & GREET OPEN HOUSE:  On Thursday, September 18th, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm, we are opening our doors for families to drop into the school for our “Meet and Greet Open House”.   There won’t be any formal presentations. Instead, the hour is intended to give you a chance to tour the school and meet some of the educators who work with Holy Redeemer students everyday. We hope to see you there.

SCHOOL COUNCIL:  The first meeting of the Holy Redeemer School Council will be taking place on Wednesday, September 24th in the Learning Commons. All parents are encouraged to attend.  If you are interested in taking on a role on this year’s School Council please fill out this Google Form. 

BOOMERANG SNACKS AND LUNCHES:  As you may have heard, schools in Ottawa no longer recycle glass, plastic or metal. For this reason, we will be following the Boomerang snack and lunch program again this year.  What this means is that all packaging and any food children don’t eat during the day will be sent back home at the end of the day.  We also encourage your child to pack their snacks and lunch in reusable containers.  Through the Boomerang Program we hope to help the environment out a bit, and perhaps more importantly, help everyone to see themselves as stewards of God’s creation. 

TERRY FOX FUNDRAISER:  This year, our school is proudly taking part in the annual Terry Fox School Run to continue Terry's dream of a world without cancer. On September 26th we will lace up our shoes for a school-wide walk/run.  Then, on October 9th, if we meet our fundraising goal, students will celebrate with a special Outdoor Activity Block.  Please support our school's fundraising efforts today by donating online at https://schools.terryfox.ca/105149.

ON THE CALENDAR:

Sept. 8 ~ Grade 2 & 6 Sacramental Prep Information Sessions (with Cathy from Holy Redeemer Parish)

Sept. 13 ~ Sacramental Prep Information Sessions at Holy Redeemer Church

Sept. 18 ~ Meet & Greet Open House

Sept. 23 ~ Photo Day

Sept. 24 ~ School Council Meeting and Elections

Sept. 25 ~ Grade 6 Retreat (Led by Cathy from Holy Redeemer Parish)

Sept. 26 ~ Terry Fox Fundraising Run

Sept. 30 ~ Orange Shirt Day

Oct. 7 ~ Lunch Program Starts

Oct 9 ~ Terry Fox Outdoor Play Block Celebration

Oct 10 ~ PD Day (No School for Students)

School News for August 29, 2025

Dear Holy Redeemer Families,

All summer long, our school has been buzzing with activity, including summer programs, deep cleaning, and improvements to our school yard. Over the past few days, our dedicated teachers, EAs, ECEs, caretakers and office staff have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on preparations for the year ahead. While we’re not quite at 100% just yet, by Tuesday morning, everything will be in place to welcome students back for another great year of learning!

With the first day of school only a few days away, I hope the information below will help everyone get off to a great start. Have a wonderful Labour Day Long Weekend.  See you on Tuesday!

God Bless,

Paul Gautreau
and the 2025-2026 Staff of Holy Redeemer School

THE FIRST DAY

• Morning: On Tuesday morning at 8:15 a.m., teachers will be in the school yard ready to meet their new students.  Signs will be posted on the back wall of the school with “Class Numbers” to make it easy for children to find their teachers. Teachers have emailed or soon will be emailing “Class Numbers” to families.  If you haven’t received an email, have no worries, we’ll have plenty of extra staff on hand on Tuesday morning to make sure everyone gets to where they need to go.  At 8:30 a.m. teachers will lead their students into the school. Also, please help keep congestion in the school yard to a minimum by saying “Goodbye” to children at the edge of the school yard. There are plenty of staff will be on hand to help guide children to where they need to be.

• If it Rains on the first day of school, children will be brought directly into the school when they arrive, and then helped to find their classes.

• Afternoon Dismissal: At the end of the day (a few minutes before 3 p.m.), students who aren't in EDP will be brought around to the Kindergarten side of the school.  Walkers will start heading home, and teachers will help other students to get to their bus or to find whoever is picking them up.  

BUSES AND VANS: If your child rides in a school van or schoolbus, please check the OSTA Parent Portal prior to the first day of school for possible changes to your child’s transportation information. 

BUS COLOURS FOR 2025-2026: For simplicity sake, we will be assigning colours to identify each of our school buses. This year’s bus colours are as follows:

V 113 AM / A 04 PM ~ Pink

V 66 AM   / V 76 PM ~ Red

A 01 ~ Blue

A 23 ~ Green

V 28 ~ Purple

FLIPPED LUNCH:  This year we are moving to a “flipped lunch” schedule.  What’s a flipped lunch? During the lunch hour, instead of children eating lunch, then going outside, children in Grades 1 to 6 will be going outside from 11:15 until 11:55, and then coming back inside and eating lunch from 11:55 until 12:15. The flipped lunch model is used in many OCSB schools as a way of streamlining the transition from the lunch hour to afternoon lessons.  Teachers will also be adjusting morning snack times as children will be eating lunch a bit later in the day.

ABSENCES, LATES, ETC:

• Reporting absences: Please let the office know if your child will be absent or late. Send an email to holy.redeemer@ocsb.ca or simply reply to THIS EMAIL. Include your child’s first and last name and the date that your child will be absent. The office will reply to confirm receipt of your email.

• Signing In and Signing Out: When dropping off or picking up your children from school, bring your cell phone to fill out our Online Sign In & Sign Out Form. The link can also be found on our school website (red.ocsb.ca).

• Early pick up by 2:30 p.m.: In order to make the end of day process go as smoothly as possible, we ask that anyone who is picking up their child at the office for an appointment, practice, or other event, do so by 2:30 p.m. Having office pick ups end at 2:30 p.m. each day will help ensure that all students get home safely and efficiently. 

STUDENT HEALTH:

• Illness:  Our school follows Ottawa Public Health’s guidance with regard to infectious diseases, including Influenza, gastroenteritis, pink-eye, COVID-19, etc. To help reduce the spread of such illnesses in school, hand washing is encouraged, and the school’s ventilation system is optimized.  If your child does become ill this year, please keep them at home until they are better.

• Lunch and Snack Allergy Alert: We have several students at our school who have severe life-threatening allergies brought on by contact with even the tiniest traces of nuts or peanuts. As such, we ask for your assistance keeping these food items out of the school. Your child’s teacher may share further classroom-specific information regarding allergies as the school year progresses.

• Care Plans for Prevalent Medical Conditions: If your child has asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, anaphylaxis, has had a recent concussion, or has any other significant medical conditions please let us know so that we can put an appropriate care plan in place. 

• Administering Medication: Wherever possible, the timing of when prescribed medication is administered to students should be adjusted to avoid school hours. When this is not possible, a ‘Request and Consent for the Administration of Medication’ form needs to be completed. We are not able to administer non-prescription medication.

• For More Health Information, please visit the OCSB Student Health webpage.

TO DO LIST FOR PARENTS:

• Parent Portal Forms: Several online forms are now available on the Parent Portal.  Please complete the Photo Consent form, Technology Agreement form, the Student Verification form and the Off Site Permission form as soon as possible.  If you don’t yet have a Parent Portal account, you will need to register first before completing these forms. For more information accessing  the Parent Portal, please visit https://red.ocsb.ca/parents 

• School Messenger: School Messenger is the platform used by our school board to communicate with parents. Please check your School Messenger preferences to ensure that you have selected “General” so that you will continue to receive school and board newsletters, notices and reminders.

• School Cash Online: School Cash Online is the platform we use to collect payments for field trips, our lunch program, and special events.  Be ready for the school year ahead by creating a School Cash Online account today!

• Volunteers: If you are hoping to volunteer during this school year, please start the application process sooner than later - especially if you’re thinking of helping out on field trips or with our lunch program.  While the volunteer application is straightforward, and while there is no cost to get a vulnerable sector check from Ottawa Police, it does take time.  Visit the OCSB Volunteer webpage to start the process of having your name added to our volunteer list.

ON THE CALENDAR:

• Sept. 2 ~ First day for Grade 1 to 6 Students

• Sept. 2 ~ Senior Kindergarten Orientation Visits

• Sept. 3 ~ First day for Senior Kindergarten Students

• Sept. 3 ~ Junior Kindergarten Orientation Visits (Group 1)

• Sept. 4 ~ First day for Junior Kindergarten (Group 1)

• Sept. 4 ~ Junior Kindergarten Orientation Visits (Group 2)

• Sept. 5 ~ First day for Junior Kindergarten (Group 2)

• Sept. 8 ~ Grade 2&6 Sacramental Prep Information Sessions

• Sept. 13 ~ Sacramental Prep Information Sessions at Holy Redeemer Church

• Sept. 18 ~ Meet the Teacher Open House

• Sept. 23 ~ Photo Day

• Sept. 25 ~ Grade 6 Retreat

• Sept. 26 ~ Terry Fox Fundraising Run

• Sept. 30 ~ Orange Shirt Day

See you on Tuesday!