Thank You for Supporting Student Learning
Thank you to all families who signed up for conferences and braved the snowy conditions on Firday to share in your child’s learning. Parents/guardians are such an important part of our students’ learning journey. We look forward to connecting with even more families over the next two Fridays (Dec 5 & Dec 12), when meetings will be held virtually between 1:30pm and 4:00pm. Please check your email for a link that you would have received when you signed up. If you did not receive one then please contact your child’s teacher that you booked with to get a copy of the link.
If you were unable to book a conference time, please reach out to your child’s teachers directly to arrange an alternate meeting. Remember, you don’t have to wait until conferences, please reach out to teachers throughout the year if you have questions or concerns.
A special thank you to our School Council and the many families who provided food and treats for teachers on Friday. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!
Staffing Updates at West Ridge School
We’re excited to share some staffing updates that will continue to strengthen support for students and enhance learning across our school. These changes have been made possible in part because we chose not to hire a second assistant principal, allowing us to redirect resources toward classroom and student support.
Ms. McKenzie has joined our leadership team with a focus on Grade 5 and 6 Humanities while continuing to teach her Grade 5 class. Her leadership will help ensure strong programming and support for these foundational years.
Mrs. Leonard, one of our Educational Assistants, hours have increased from 15 to 25. This means more targeted support for students with the greatest needs in classrooms. Also, Mrs. Kaur, our EAL Assistant, will be increasing her hours from 20 to 25 starting Monday. This will provide additional daily support for our English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners, especially helpful for LP1 and LP2 students who may require more intensive assistance.
We’re thrilled to officially welcome Ms. Yash Bains, who will be teaching Foods, Legal Studies, and Finance, taking over for Mr. Scollard. Ms. Bains brings energy and expertise that will allow for continued engagement for the students.
Finally, all the pieces have come together, and we’ve secured Mr. Sean Whelan to take on Mr. Balough’s Grade 6 classes in January. Mr. Whelan will continue working with Mr. Lowe for the next little while before working with Mr. Balough to begin this transition.
By investing in these roles, we’re able to provide more consistent support, stronger programming, and additional expertise in key areas, all aimed at helping every West Ridge student thrive.
Toy Mountain
Starting this week, West Ridge School Leadership classes will be collecting new and gently used toys in support of the Toy Mountain fundraising campaign. Donations will support the charitable organization Fear Is Not Love and will help children affected by domestic violence in our city. Please place any donations under the tree in our front foyer, and they will be delivered before the winter break.
Exploring Creativity and Skills in Our Complementary Courses
At West Ridge School, our complementary courses give students the opportunity to discover new interests, develop practical skills, and express their creativity. Here’s a snapshot of what some students have been up to.
Art
- Art 7: Working on personalized landscape projects using watercolour techniques.
- Art 8: Completed miniature still life drawings and are now exploring M.C. Escher-inspired mixed media projects using masking fluid for negative space.
- Art 9: Built personalized sketchbooks and are planning Illustrated Recipe Projects using mixed media.
- Art 3D (Grades 7 & 8): Creating miniature themed rooms with polymer clay and other materials; ceramics unit coming soon.
- Art 3D (Grade 9): Completing a ceramics unit by designing and hand-building mugs before kiln firing.
Cosmetology 8
Students practiced nail care techniques and nail art. They are now completing a final assessment to create a full set of nails based on a customer prompt.
Foods 9 – Pie Competition
Students showcased their culinary creativity with pies and tarts in flavours like chocolate cream with raspberry garnish, eggnog meringue, key lime, blueberry, and strawberry rhubarb with a lattice top
French
- Grade 5: Focused on school vocabulary and created bilingual posters of items in their backpacks.
- Grade 6: Designed posters highlighting healthy habits like exercise, mindfulness, and nutritious eating.
- Grade 7: Learned definite and indefinite articles; next week, students will film presentations about school supplies.
- Grade 8: Began the food unit, practiced reading strategies, and read Un pique-nique géant, discussing its setting and plot.
- Grade 9: Started the sports unit, building vocabulary and learning the verbs jouer (to play) and faire (to do).
Thank you for supporting these programs and encouraging students to explore their passions. We look forward to sharing more highlights with you soon!
School Council Update
Growing Smiles pick-up December 4
Thank you to all the families who ordered beautiful winter arrangements with Growing Smiles. Pick up is on Thursday, December 4. An email will be sent out with the pick up address early next week.
Grade 9 Farewell Parent Team
Grade 9 Farewell requires a few parents to support the school in the planning of this exciting event. If you are interested in leading or participating, please email wrscouncil@gmail.com. This is not limited to families in Grade 9 as often it is beneficial to have Grade 8 families help as well.
School Council Meeting
Thank you to all those who came out to our school council meeting last week. The minutes are posted on the school website.
Congrats to Sasha Russell who was voted onto the School Council to be the Secretary.
Our next HYBRID meeting will be on Thursday, January 15 at 6:30pm. Please join us on-line if you cannot make it in person! The more the better, as your input helps to shape our school.
School Council VOLUNTEER NEEDED!
We would like to thank Tracy Normandeau for her time as Chair. She unfortunately has to step away from the role at this time.
Consider volunteering as Chair. If you are interested, please email wrscouncil@gmail.com. More details can be found on the school website.
Healthy Hunger - Banzai
Our next Healthy Hunger is Banzai on Thursday, December 4th. You can order lunches throughout the year at Healthy Hunger. If you’d like to volunteer and help hand out lunches, use this link to sign up.
Stay in the Loop
Quick links for fundraisers and sign-ups Skip-the-Depot
Check out the school webpage
Send us an email:
Council: wrscouncil@gmail.com
Society: infowrss@gmail.com
Discounted Study Guides - Extended
We are excited to share a special offer for educational resources through a new partnership between EducationMatters and Castle Rock Research. The deadline to purchase these valuable study materials at a significant discount and help raise funds for EducationMatter has been extended until December 5.
This is a great opportunity to get supplementary resources to support your students’ learning this school year.
How to Order
- Visit our school's unique online portal: https://schoolorders.solaro.com/CR57
- Place your order and pay directly online.
- The deadline to order is Wednesday, November 26, 2025.
All print materials will be delivered to the school after the closing date and distributed to students. For more details, please see this flyer.
This Week
Monday, December 1
- A week full of learning and fun.
Thursday, December 4
- Banzai - Healthy Hunger Fun Lunch
- Area 7 Director Garry Tink visit
Friday, December 5
- Student Learning Conferences - Virtual (1:30pm to 4:00pm)
- Check your email for your unique link to the conference. If you did not receive one, please contact your child’s teacher you booked with.
Month Ahead
Dec 9 - Middle School Student Well Being Symposium
Dec 11 - Outdoor Ed Rock Climbing Field Trip
Dec 12 - Student Learning Conferences - On-line (1:30pm to 4:00pm)
Dec 12 - WRS E-Sports Tournament
Dec 14 to 19 - School Spirit Week
Dec 18 - Subway - Healthy Hunger Fun Lunch
Dec 19 - Last Day of School Before Winter Break
Dates of Significance
Instead of listing significant dates at the bottom of each weekly update, I will now include a link to the CBE website where these dates are posted. The site also provides additional details for each date. Please scroll down on the site to find the current date.