Ralston School - PRSD #8

Some questions have come up around school supplies. The school purchases the supplies for all students through generous funding from both Batus and CAF. The only items your student needs to bring to school is a lunch box, backpack, shoes for indoor and gym use, outdoor shoes and a change of clothes for gym class (grade 6-9). If you have any questions feel free to reach out to Mr Duchscherer at [email protected]

Hello Ralston School Families:

Hopefully all families had an enjoyable summer with lots of fun, relaxation and memory making. The staff at Ralston School are excited to welcome students back on Tuesday, September 1. The school staff is very happy with the success of the Summer Camps over the last two months and are now ready to jump back in with regular school.

The teachers have worked extremely hard this summer getting ready for the International Baccalaureate program starting this year as well have attended courses and many meetings. As the principal of the school, I am very grateful for all the work the teachers put in to prepare for IB. In addition, also grateful to all the work the support staff put into the Summer Camps, Daycare and the continuation of orders and farm work done with the Ralston School and Community Small Farm.

The makeup of the school staff for the 2026/2027 year will be as follows:

Primary Years Program (PYP)
Daycare: Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Jenkins, Mrs. Stanton
JK/K/1- Mrs. Stanton (PYP Coordinator)
2/3: Mrs. Shigehiro
4/5: Mrs. Rose

Middle Years Program (MYP)
Mrs. Dixon (MYP Coordinator, Science 6, Science 9, Math 6/7/8/9)
Mrs. Bergquist: Social 6/7/8/9 Science 7, Science 8
Ms. Hughes: Language Arts 6/7/8/9 as well as Language Acquisition (French) teacher to grade 4-9
Mr. Duchscherer (Principal and Physical Education teacher)

** In addition, there will be another part time teacher joining the staff for roughly 20 percent of the school year to work on literacy and numeracy interventions with struggling students)**
** Ralston School is excited to announce that the Prairie Rose Learning Coaches will be housed out of Ralston School this year. This means we have the two ladies who are the head leads for instructional development and improvement in the school. A huge welcome to Mrs. Nixdorf and Mrs. Kannekens.)

Support Staff
Administration Assistant: Mrs. Sept
Librarian/Educational Assistant: Mrs. Forbes
Educational Assistant: Mrs. Darko, Mrs. Paul, Mrs. Rance
Ralston School and Community Small Farm: Mrs. Duchscherer
Hockey Academy: Mrs. Place along with Medicine Hat Tiger members

New this year will be the Hockey Academy program running on Mondays from 1:00-2:30 for both the Ralston and Jenner students in grades 4-9. We are very lucky to have Mrs. Cora Place and some members of the Medicine Hat Tigers running the program. This program will follow the guidelines of the Southern Alberta Hockey Academy programs in other Prairie Rose Schools. This is a huge addition to Ralston School, and we are thankful to be added to the list of PRPS schools involved with this program. For students in this program, they will miss regular physical education class on Monday to be part of this on ice/off ice program. When the ice is not in students will work through dryland training, other sport disciplines, nutrition, preparation etc. Students interested in participating in the program will need to pass a skating test before acceptance into the program is granted. This will be very similar to the “Stop/Turn test,” that PSP runs. If students are not accepted at first, once they learn the skills, they will be accepted into the program at any point throughout the year. Most schools charge for this program, however the cost for Ralston School students will be free.

We are very excited about all the new possibilities to come in fine arts. We are working on many quality options to provide the students opportunities in music, art, drama and design throughout the year. This will help to round out the quality education students will receive at Ralston School.

Finally, the farm program will look a bit different this year with our own locally developed curriculum that will not only promote the motto, “Farm Fresh, Fork Ready,” but continue to incorporate public speaking and confidence skills. Older students will have the opportunity to use the laser engraver, cricket machines etc. The curriculum will follow a model of the 4H program with a few changes to adapt to the school setting. Also new this year is Jenner School students ,who do not participate in the hockey program will take farm class with Mrs. Duchscherer on Mondays. The Jenner students will not be in the farm classes at the same time as the Ralston students, but there will be time for intermixing through lunch etc.

Mr. Duchscherer is back in school for regular hours from 9:00-15:00 and available for any questions, tours etc. However, there are times he is away with meetings, and it is best to reach him first to see if available by cell phone 403-548-1259 or email: [email protected] Mrs. Sept will be back at school starting on Tuesday with regular hours from 9:00-14:30.

Important Upcoming Dates:
Tuesday, September 1- First day of school. Doors open at 8:45 and class begins at 8:50. Pick up time is 15:05
Friday, September 4- Welcome back breakfast for students, family and community. Breakfast will be ready for serving around 8:40. Huge thank you to Gas City Kiwanis Club for the breakfast
Friday, September 4- Hot dog lunch for the students. Huge thank you to MDs Puck Stop for providing the food
Monday, September 7- No school students/staff
Thursday, September 10- School Photo day
Friday, September 25- Terry Fox run in the morning. More details to follow
Monday, September 28- Medicine Pouch making for students. All families and community welcome. More Details to follow
Wednesday, September 30- Orange Shirt Day for National Reconciliation Day
October 8/9- No School for students
Monday, October 12- No school students/staff
October 21/22- Goal setting meetings/Parent Teacher interviews. More details to follow
Monday, October 26- Little Ceasar’s Pizza Fundraiser for Ralston School starts

Looking forward to a terrific school year.

Yours In Education,

Mr. Jason Duchscherer
Principal

Ralston Summer Camp students were excited to attend the Law Enforcement Torch Run Final Leg for the Special Olympics Canada to watch people involved with the National Summer Games in Medicine Hat. They showed off the signs and flags made for the event. Students running in the event from Ralston School - PRSD #8 were Lara Cowley, Nathaniel Darko and Elizabeth Hawkner. Great job. Prairie Rose Public Schools

Great second day of summer camp Ralston School - PRSD #8.

Another week of summer camp begins today with 18 kids signed up. Garden looks terrific and older students were busy watering and having some of the produce. Prairie Rose Public Schools

Great first week at summer camp for Ralston School - PRSD #8 with students from Ralston and Jenner. Water fights, water park, games and garden work. Looking forward to the rest of the summer camps.

The yearbooks have arrived and look terrific. If you ordered a yearbook and need to pick it up an email was sent to you with pick up dates/times. Please bring your $30.00 cash if you have not paid. If interested in a yearbook and you have not ordered contact Jason to see if any are available. The price for books not pre-ordered is $35.00. Check out a few of the pages in pictures. Prairie Rose Public Schools

Junior Kindergarten to grade 5 students had a great send off to summer holidays with fun with the pedal tractors and Kona Ice. Have a great summer. Prairie Rose Public Schools

More photos from the grade 6-9 field trip.

Great field trip for grades 6-9 to Edmonton over the last few days. Tuesday had the students experience West Edmonton Mall. Wednesday was a very busy day with a morning visit to the Telus.science Center Edmonton to see the amazing exhibits and watch a 3D movie on D-Day Normandy. The afternoon had a visit to Fort Edmonton where students walked through different eras of time in Canadian History ending with the games and rides of a 1920 Carnival. The evening had students walk the grounds and experience the Alberta Legislature. To top off the trip students stayed at the University of Alberta dorms and saw what life in dorms could be like. Thursday has students with the drive back home.

The students from Ralston School - PRSD #8 were amazing both in behaviour and how appreciative they were for the trip. Thanks to the chaperones Mrs Forbes and Mr Duchscherer and drivers/chaperones Mrs Darko and Mrs Duchscherer. What a great way to end the school year. Prairie Rose Public Schools