Holy Redeemer School

September 7, 2026

Dear Holy Redeemer Families,

While we’ve only just begun the new school year, it really feels like we’re on track for a great year. It hasn’t been entirely tear-free, of course. Starting kindergarten can be emotional for parents, too! But there have also been plenty of smiles and lots of excitement along the way. Many thanks to each of you for helping us get off to such a positive start. It’s been great to see everyone settling in and getting down to the business of teaching and learning.

I hope you find the information below helpful.

Have a great long weekend!  See you on Tuesday.

Paul Gautreau and the Holy Redeemer Staff

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 SCHOOL ROUTINE:  Speaking of routines, if you bring your child to school in the morning, or if your child walks to school on their own, aim to arrive at 8:15 a.m. This will give your child a chance to meet up with friends before classes start and will help them get to class on time!

MEET & GREET OPEN HOUSE:  On Thursday, September 17th, 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 at 6:30 p.m. 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: Once again this year, we will be following the Boomerang snack and lunch program.  This means that all packaging and any food children don’t eat during the day will be sent back home at the end of the day to be composted, recycled or discarded.  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. 

POPCORN IS BACK:  Our Grade 6 students and their teachers will be running a Kernels Popcorn Fundraiser again this year.  The profits from this fundraiser will go towards supporting their year end leave taking celebrations.  To order, please go to School Cash Online.  Many thanks from our Grade 6 team!

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 25th we will lace up our shoes for a school-wide walk/run.  Then, on October 1st, 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/135670.

THE INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGES PROGRAM offers a welcoming environment where students in JK to Grade 6 can explore a new language or strengthen their home language through engaging language learning and activities. Registration for the Elementary International Languages Program is on-going throughout the school year. 

ON THE CALENDAR:

Sept. 7 ~ Labour Day (school closed)

Sept. 10 ~ Grade 2 & 6 Presentation about Sacraments (led by Cathy and Sharon from Holy Redeemer Parish)

Sept. 10 ~ Come Skate with Jack Event (see email sent out last week for details) 

Sept. 13 ~ Holy Redeemer Parish Feast (see poster below)

Sept 13 ~ Popcorn sales for September/October close

Sept. 14 ~ Lunch Program Begins (more information to follow in a separate email)

Sept. 17 from 4 to 5:30 Meet the Teacher Open House

Sept 19 ~ Grade 2 First Communion Parent Information Session at Holy Redeemer Parish

Sept 22 ~ Grade 6 Confirmation Parent Information Session at Holy Redeemer Parish

Sept. 23 ~ Photo Day

Sept. 24 ~ School Council Meeting and Elections

Sept. 25 ~ Terry Fox Fundraising Run/Walk

Sept. 27 ~ Rudhro Prince Memorial Walk bringing hope to families living with ASTHMA

Sept. 30 ~ National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (Orange Shirt Day)

August 31, 2026

Dear Holy Redeemer Families,

Well, the new school year is almost here! Over the summer, Mr. Nickey and his team have been busy polishing and scrubbing, moving furniture and unpacking. Last week, our teachers, ECEs and EAs were busy organizing, decorating and planning. On Monday, our first PD Day of the school year, we’ll be doing some training and putting the finishing touches in place as we get ready to welcome our students to a great new year of learning on Tuesday morning.

Below is some information that we hope will help to get everyone off to a great start. See you on Tuesday!

God Bless,

Paul Gautreau and the 2026-2027 Staff of Holy Redeemer School

THE FIRST DAY FOR GRADE 1 TO 6:

MORNING: On Tuesday morning at 8:15 a.m., teachers will be in the school yard ready to meet their new students. Signs with Class Numbers will be posted along the back wall of the school to help children find their teachers. Teachers have emailed, or will soon be emailing, families with their child’s Class Number. If you don’t receive an email, simply call the school on Monday afternoon. In any case, we’ll have plenty of extra staff on hand Tuesday morning to make sure everyone knows where to go. At 8:30 a.m., teachers will lead their students into the school to begin the new school year.

PARENTS AND GUARDIANS: To help keep congestion in the school yard to a minimum, parents and guardians are asked to say, “Goodbye” to children at the edge of the school yard. Please know that 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 double check OSTA’s Parent Portal for your child’s transportation information to make sure you have the most up to date 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 below.  Please Note: The code that OSTA uses for our school buses is RED followed by a number, with RED standing for Redeemer. This is not the colour of your child’s school bus. We know, it’s a little confusing!

MORNING BUSES

PINK V 113 AM RED005

RED V 66  AM RED004

BLUE A 01 RED003 

GREEN A 23 RED002

PURPLE V 28 RED001

AFTERNOON BUSES

PINK AF 04 PM RED105

RED V 76 RED104

BLUE A 01 RED103

GREEN A 23 RED102

 PURPLE V 28 RED101

ABSENCES, LATES, ETC:

• Reporting Absences: Please use SchoolMessenger SafeArrival to report your child’s absence or late entry—there is no need to call the school or leave a message. To avoid receiving automated attendance calls, please report your child’s absence or late entry before 8:45 AM. You can report an absence in three ways: through the SM Home App (available on Google Play or the Apple App Store), online at home.schoolmessenger.ca, or by calling 1-844-478-2598 toll-free. If using the Messenger app, please ensure you have the colour-wheel Messenger app, not the white app. For more information, please visit the OCSB SafeArrival webpage.

• Signing In and Signing Out: Please bring your cell phone in with you when dropping off or picking up your children from school to sign them in/out using our Sign In & Sign Out Form.   A link to the form can also be found on our school website.

• Early Pick-Up by 2:30 p.m.: To help ensure a smooth and efficient end-of-day dismissal, we ask that parents/guardians picking up their child from the office for an appointment, practice, or other event do so by 2:30 p.m. Limiting office pick-ups after 2:30 p.m. allows us to focus on the regular dismissal process and helps ensure that all students get home safely and efficiently. 

• Please Avoid Pick-Ups During These Times: To ensure that our yard-duty staff can properly supervise students, we are unable to accommodate student pick-ups during recess or lunch. Please plan appointments and pick-ups outside of the following times:

  1. • Morning Recess: 9:45–10:00 a.m.

     • Lunch: 11:15 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

     • Afternoon Recess: 1:30–1:45 p.m.

     • After 2:30 p.m.: Please do not request office pick-ups after 2:30 p.m.

STUDENT HEALTH:

• ILLNESSES:  Our school follows Ottawa Public Health’s guidance with regard to infectious diseases, including Influenza, gastroenteritis, pink-eye, COVID, 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:

• SAFEARRIVAL:  Get the app! See above.

• 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. 

• 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:

• Aug 31 ~ PD Day (no school for students)

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

• Sept. 1 ~ Senior Kindergarten Orientation Visits

• Sept. 2 ~ First day for Senior Kindergarten Students

• Sept. 2 ~ Junior Kindergarten Orientation Visits (Group 1)

• Sept. 3 ~ First day for Junior Kindergarten (Group 1)

• Sept. 3 ~ Junior Kindergarten Orientation Visits (Group 2)

• Sept. 4 ~ First day for Junior Kindergarten (Group 2)

• Sept. 7 ~ Labour Day (school closed)

• Sept. 16 ~ Grade 6 Retreat (morning)

• Sept. 17 ~ Meet the Teacher Open House (details to follow)

• Sept 19 ~ Grade 2 First Communion Parent Information Session at Holy Redeemer Parish

• Sept 22 ~ Grade 6 Confirmation Parent Information Session at Holy Redeemer Parish

• Sept. 23 ~ Photo Day

• Sept. 25 ~ Terry Fox Fundraising Run

• Sept. 30 ~ National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (Orange Shirt Day)

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