Student Patrols Have Begun
A friendly reminder to be aware of West Ridge Grade 5 and 6 patrols who will be out before school and after school trying to make crossing the road safer.
However, we have already noticed many drivers not following expectations and in some cases putting students at risk of getting hit.
To help keep all students safe during arrival and dismissal, we ask that drivers follow the directions of our school patrols and crossing guards at all times. These students play an important role in helping pedestrians cross safely and reducing congestion around the school.
Failing to stop when directed by a patrol or proceeding through a crosswalk before all pedestrians have safely cleared your side of the roadway can place children at risk and may result in significant fines and demerit points under Alberta traffic laws. We appreciate everyone's cooperation in slowing down, remaining alert, and exercising patience during these busy times. A few extra seconds can make a significant difference in ensuring the safety of our students and families.
Thank You West Ridge Families
Through the combined efforts of online donations and in-school fundraisers, we are happy to announce that we raised $3,572.90 for the Terry Fox Foundation this year.
We are so proud of the enthusiasm and community spirit shown by our students and families. Your contributions helped make this year's event a tremendous success and a meaningful way to honour Terry Fox's legacy of hope, determination, and perseverance.
Thank you for helping make a difference!
Supporting Healthy Online Behaviour
At West Ridge School, we recognize that technology and social media are a regular part of many students' lives. Platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Discord, and iMessage group chats can be great tools for staying connected, but they can also create challenges when used without appropriate supervision and guidance.
Over the past several years, we have seen an increase in student conflicts that either begin online or are amplified through social media and group messaging. Many situations that require school involvement have roots in conversations that occurred outside of school hours but carry over into classrooms, hallways, and playgrounds the next day.
What Are We Seeing?
Many student concerns connected to online communication involve:
- Excluding others from group chats
- Sharing rumours or gossip
- Sending hurtful messages
- Posting or sharing inappropriate content
- Recording or photographing peers without permission
- Conflicts that continue into the school day
- Peer pressure and poor decision-making in group chats
What may begin as a simple message or comment can quickly involve multiple students and have a significant impact on relationships, learning, and well-being.
Understanding Age Requirements
Many families are surprised to learn that most popular social media platforms, including Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, and Discord, require users to be at least 13 years old to create an account. This means that younger students who access these platforms are typically doing so by entering an inaccurate birthdate when signing up.
These age restrictions are intended to provide additional safeguards and recognize that younger children may not yet have the maturity and judgment needed to navigate online spaces independently.
How Families Can Help
Family involvement makes a significant difference. We encourage parents and guardians to:
- Know what apps are installed on their child's devices
- Monitor social media accounts and group chats
- Regularly review privacy and safety settings
- Establish clear expectations for technology use at home
- Supervise device use, particularly during evenings and overnight
- Have ongoing conversations about respectful online behaviour and digital citizenship
As educators, we cannot monitor what occurs on students' personal devices outside of school. We rely on families to be active partners in helping children navigate the digital world safely and responsibly.
A Shared Responsibility
Our goal is not to discourage the use of technology. Rather, it is to help students understand that the same expectations for kindness, respect, and accountability that apply in person at school also apply online.
By working together, families and West Ridge School can help students develop healthier technology habits, make more responsible choices, and build greater positive digital footprints. Thank you for your continued partnership in supporting the well-being, safety, and success of all West Ridge students.
Walk for Wenjack
West Ridge School is proud to be a Downie Wenjack Fund Legacy School. Each year, our school community participates in the annual Walk for Wenjack, an opportunity to honour the children who attended Indian Residential Schools, their families, and communities, while reflecting on the ongoing journey toward truth and reconciliation. This year, our walk will take place on Friday, October 16. Through this shared experience, we aim to raise awareness, show respect, and reaffirm our commitment to learning about the history and lasting impacts of Residential Schools in Canada.
School Council & Society
Volunteers needed for School Council!
We need the help of our parent community, to ensure the success of our students and school initiatives. Together we support the kids and staff at West Ridge School by building community, supporting learning, and adding as much fun as we can. We are currently looking to fill the role of Vice Chair. If interested, send an email to wrscouncil@gmail.com
Growing Smiles Fundraiser
Beautiful winter arrangements and poinsettia’s are available to order here. Order deadline is Nov 10th and pick up will be at the school and at a parent’s house on Nov 25th. Don’t miss out on picking up a festive plant for you or for your friends and family!
If you would like to volunteer to help hand out the plants, please email infowrss@gmail.com We will need a couple of helping hands at the school and someone who is willing to open their garage for evening pick-ups.
Healthy Hunger - Cibo Oct 15
Our next Healthy Hunger is on Thursday, Oct 15th. You can order any future Healthy Hunger’s here. If you’re interested in volunteering to help hand out the lunches and you have a valid police clearance, you can sign up here.
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
Welcome to the World of Complimentary Courses
What a great start to the year in the land of Complementary! Students of all grades now get to experience complementary classes. Complementary hallways are a-buzz with activity, excitement and learning!
Grade 5 students are really enjoying Art, French and Music! Students are creating 2D (drawing) and 3D pieces (ceramic ghosts), learning new words in French and playing Djembes in Music.
Grade 6 students are loving Drama, Construction, Fashion, Foods, Robotics and Music. Students have made amazing tableaus in Drama, are creating cool cardboard creations in Construction, learning hand sewing through fabric art and baking in Fashion and Foods, running their robots through mazes in Robotics and are Drumming in Music.
Grade 7 students are experiencing and making their way to a great selection of complementary classes including Art, Film Studies, Drama, Construction, Photography, Cosmetology, Fashion, Guitar and Foods. They are learning how to take photos, recording Suspense radio plays, creating Heritage minutes, learning how to play notes and chords on the guitar, hand sewing fabric art, cooking and baking, learning how to use hand tools, creating cool explosion books and getting ready for ceramics, and beginning to learn hair and nail techniques.
Also new this year are longer double blocks for Grades 8 and 9. Students and teachers alike have been enjoying the opportunity to learn and get into hands-on activities in a more in depth way. Students have been cooking up a storm, creating their own sketchbooks and neurographic and abstract art, reciting monologues, auditioning and prepping short plays, making cool flipbooks, creating documentaries/mockumentaries, learning design principles and taking photos, jamming out on guitars, prepping to learn the How To Train Your Dragon theme, learning the sewing machine and drawing fashion designs, making stools and signs with hand and power tools, and learning presentation skills and promoting school initiatives and special days.
We look forward to many more cool projects, experiences and field trips coming up this semester!
Raptor Athletics
Cross-Country
Cross-country season has now finished for the year. As a school we welcomed nearly 70 athletes across 4 grades to compete in the 3 meets this season. The final results have been tabulated and as a school we placed 2nd overall in our division. Other top 3 finishes include:
Gr. 6 Girls: 1st place
Gr. 7 Girls: 2nd place
Gr. 8 Girls: 2nd place
Gr. 9 Girls: 3rd place
Aggregate Girls: 2nd place
Gr. 7 Boys: 2nd place
Gr. 8 Boys: 3rd place
Aggregate Boys: 3rd place
School Overall: 2nd place
Congratulations to another fantastic season and thank you to all the coaches, Ms. Ford, Ms. Gouthro, Ms. Gosselin, and Mr. Mansell, for your time and dedication throughout the season.
Soccer
Both our girls and boys soccer teams wrapped-up their seasons this week with solid playoff performances. Our boys finished in 4th, while our girls placed _____
We would also like to thank all of our soccer coaches, Ms. Gallagher, Mr. Whelan, Ms. Ostafichuk, Ms. Angel, and Ms. Gosselin for all of your hard work this season. Your dedication does not go unnoticed.
Basketball
All four of our basketball teams tipped-off their seasons this week. Our Jr. Girls, Sr. Girls, and Jr. Boys all started the season 1-1, while our Sr. Boys are 1-0. All four teams are back in action next week with our girls teams playing at West Ridge on Oct. 14 and our boys teams playing at A.E. Cross on Oct. 15. Both of our junior teams will also be competing in the North West Classic Tournament, co-hosted by Simon Fraser and H.D. Cartwright Schools from Oct. 14-16. Our senior teams will be playing in the Feeder Tournament at Ernest Manning High School on Oct. 16. It’s a busy week of basketball and we wish all of our teams the best of luck as their seasons continue.
Our Grade 5 developmental basketball program will continue throughout the month of October. These sessions are open to any Grade 5 students (no sign-up required) who are looking to improve upon their skills and have some fun learning the game. These sessions run from 7:45-8:30am on these remaining dates: Oct. 16, 23, and 30.
Wrestling
After a one-year hiatus we are excited to announce the revival of our wrestling program this year! We would like to extend a very warm Raptor welcome to two community coaches who will be taking over head coaching duties this season. Coach Amro and Coach Mohammed, both of whom wrestled together for the Dinos program at the University of Calgary, will be stepping into the coaching roles at West Ridge this season. Coach Amro, a West Ridge alumni, was an assistant coach with us two seasons ago, while Coach Mohammed is joining us for the first time. We are excited to have their leadership and expertise this year. Teacher Supervisors for the wrestling team will be Ms. Cote and Mr. Moulton. Thank you both for stepping into these roles to ensure we could move forward this season.
Wrestling practices will be held each Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30-4:30pm, beginning on Oct. 13. Additional information about the wrestling season will be forthcoming once details have been finalized.
For the most up-to-date information about practices, games, tournaments, etc. please refer to our athletics website. Thank you for your continued support of the Raptor Athletics program!
Grade 9 Sailing & Heritage Trips
We are in the initial stages of planning the Grade 9 West Coast Sailing and Heritage Quebec trips. These unique travel experiences provide students with an opportunity to extend their learning beyond the classroom and engage with new environments, cultures, and communities in meaningful and memorable ways.
The parental requirements for these trips will include two in person parent meetings to discuss the risks, costs, and execution of fundraising events. Our first in person meeting will be held Thursday, October 15th at 5:00 pm in the Main Gym.
Please fill out the Google Form linked below to indicate your initial interest in this opportunity https://forms.gle/Hhi1n9uVCydap2gdA. Please complete the Google form by Thursday, October 15th prior to the meeting.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Meangel@cbe.ab.ca or hekapeller@cbe.ab.ca
These trips will take place simultaneously during the week of May 10-14.
How To Train Your Dragon Casting Complete!
So many talented students showed up for auditions this year! The audition team (Mrs. Lutz, Ms. Burns, Ms. Taylor, Ms. Cote, Ms. Rempel and Ms. Ostafichuk) loved seeing the bravery, listening to the beautiful voices and watching the amazing acting. Over 3 days of auditions, over 80 students from all grades performed songs, scenes and dance steps. On Thursday, almost 40 students were invited to callbacks where they read more scenes, sang more songs and cheered each other on as they were considered for major roles. On Friday morning, all roles were posted outside the drama room. With so much talent, we were able to double cast all the major roles and have a robust ensemble.
Students are asked to sign their acceptance of their role on the Drama callboard and attend our first two rehearsals (read through and sing through) on Tuesday, October 13 (8:00-8:40am) and Wednesday, October 14 (8:00-8:40am), where they will receive their scripts and join the Google Classroom. The rehearsal schedule, rehearsal materials (music) and other information will be posted in the Google Classroom.
Calgary Flames Grade 6 YMCA Membership Program
Thanks to the ongoing support of the Calgary Flames Foundation, all Grade 6 students in Calgary are eligible for a free 13-month YMCA Calgary membership, valid from August 1, 2026, to August 31, 2027. This program is designed to help youth stay active, build confidence, develop independence, and connect with others in a safe and welcoming environment.
We encourage Grade 6 families to take advantage of this excellent opportunity to support their child's health, wellness, and involvement in the community.
For more information or to register, please visit YMCA Calgary's Grade 6 Membership program website.
Lost and Found is Filling Up Quickly!
To help reunite items with their owners, we have displayed as many sweaters and jackets as possible on the coat rack beside the vending machine on the main floor. However, many additional items remain in the lost and found bin, including water bottles, shoes, binders, pencil cases, and lunch kits.
Please encourage your child to take a few minutes to check the lost and found if they are missing any belongings.
To avoid an even larger collection, all unclaimed items will be packed up and donated on Wednesday, October 14.
This Week
Monday, Oct 12
- No School - Thanksgiving Day
Tuesday, Oct 13
- Grade 8 Science Field Trip – 84, 86 & ½ of 85
- First Wrestling Practice & Information Meeting – After School
Wednesday, Oct 14
- Grade 8 Science Field Trip – 81, 83 & ½ of 85
- Girls Basketball Games @ West Ridge
- Junior Basketball Tournament @ Simons Fraser or H.D. Cartwright
Thursday, Oct 15
- Grade 8 Science Field Trip – 82
- Healthy Hunger Fun Lunch - Cibo
- Junior Basketball Tournament @ Simons Fraser or H.D. Cartwright
- Boys Basketball Games – A.E. Cross
- Grade 9 Sailing & Hertiage Trip Meeting – 5:00 pm
Friday, Oct 16
- Grade 5 Developmental Basketball – Before School
- Walk for Wenjack
- Junior Basketball Tournament @ Simons Fraser or H.D. Cartwright
- Ernest Manning Feeder Basketball Tournament
Month Ahead
Oct 19 – No School – Alberta Referendum & Non-Instructional Day
Oct 20 – Boys Basketball Games @ Bishop Pinkham
Oct 21 – Girls Basketball Games @ T.B. Riley
Oct 22 – Grade 6 Field Trip (2 classes)
Oct 23 - Grade 5 Developmental Basketball
Oct 26 - Girls Basketball Games @ Bishop Pinkham
Oct 27 - Boys Basketball Games @ A.E. Cross
Oct 28 - Senior Basketball Tournament @ Simons Fraser or H.D. Cartwright
Oct 28 – Girls Basketball Games @ A.E. Cross
Oct 29 - Grade 6 Field Trip
Oct 29 – Health Hunger Fun Lunch – Chopped Leaf
Oct 29 - Boys Basketball Games @ Vincent Massey
Oct 29 – WRS School Council & Society Meeting – 6:30 pm
Oct 30 – Halloween at WRS
Oct 30 - Senior Basketball Tournament @ Simons Fraser or H.D. Cartwright
Dates of Significance
Please find the link to the CBE Dates of Significance below which also contains additional details for each date. CBE Dates of Significance. These dates are provincially and federally recognized and are identified by the Calgary Board of Education. At West Ridge School, our goal is to ensure that all students feel welcomed, valued, safe, and that they have a strong sense of belonging within our school community.
Oct 17 to 22 – Secret Path Week
Oct 18 – Persons Day
Oct 20 - Dussehra
Oct 22 – Take Me Outside Day
Oct 31 – Halloween
November – Hindu Heritage Month Canada
November – Lebanese Heritage Month