Vermillion Elementary School
October 2025
Dear Vermillion Families,
It is hard to believe we are already in October! The school year is moving quickly, and although the last few weeks have felt more like summer with the temperatures, I know our students and staff are ready for some crisp fall weather.
I would like to take a moment to recognize and thank our amazing staff for all of their hard work with our Title I Family Night. We had a wonderful time celebrating with all of our “Super Heroes,” and it was so special to see so many of you in attendance.
I also want to express my appreciation to our dedicated PTO for the many ways they support our teachers and students. From their ongoing fundraising efforts to planning special events, their partnership makes a tremendous difference. We are especially excited for this week’s Chameleon Cause Carnival—a fun evening for the whole family.
Chameleon Cause Carnival
📅 Thursday, October 2
🕕 6:00–7:30 p.m.
🎟️ Free family event featuring carnival games, prizes, nachos, snow cones, and popcorn!
This year’s fundraiser runs through Friday, October 5. Proceeds will go toward new exterior signage for the school and updated playground equipment. We hope you can join us for this celebration. Please remember that all children must be accompanied by an adult.
Fall Party & Parade
📅 Thursday, October 31 at 10:00 a.m.
We will begin with an outdoor parade (weather permitting), followed by classroom parties. Holding the event in the morning helps with parking as Maize Elementary will host their parties later in the day. All guests attending indoor activities must RSVP and check in through the Raptor system. If your RSVP does not register in the system, please let us know so we can work with our IT team to resolve the issue. For lunchroom capacity reasons, we are unable to accommodate lunch guests in the cafeteria on party days. Families are welcome to check students out from the classroom and enjoy lunch together outside the building.
October Dates to Remember
- Tuesday, October 1 – First Site Council Meeting, 6:00 p.m. in the library
- Site Council is an advocacy group of staff and parents who support school improvement, student learning, and accreditation work. The group meets once per quarter. If you are interested in serving, please email me at jnash@usd266.com.
- Monday, October 6 – No School (Professional Development for staff)
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Thursday, October 16 – Parent-Teacher Conferences (8:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.)
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Classroom teachers will send sign-ups soon.
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The Book Fair will also be open in the library during conferences.
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Friday, October 17 – No School for students or staff
Friday, October 31 - Fall Party & Parade (10:00am)
As always, thank you for being such an important part of our Vermillion Elementary family. Your partnership means so much as we work together to help every child learn, grow, and thrive.
With gratitude,
Mrs. Nash
Principal, Vermillion Elementary School
Vermillion Elementary is a wonderful school where students thrive when staff, families, and the community work together. We’re thrilled to introduce a new volunteer program at Vermillion called Parent Partners. This new program will take the place of the previous WatchDOG program. While WatchDOGs has served us well, this updated initiative is designed to be more inclusive, flexible, and engaging for all members of our school community.
Whether you can give an hour, a day, or a recurring time each week, there are opportunities that fit your schedule. We ask that our volunteers support in classrooms, monitor recess/lunch, or help with events, and most importantly—build strong connections with students. If you are interested in volunteering your time to support our students and school community, please complete the online volunteer form, which includes questions to help us gauge interest in a variety of volunteer opportunities. We plan to follow up on these responses and begin to schedule volunteer opportunities the week after Parent/Teacher conferences (October 20).We’d love to have you join us!
If you wish to volunteer this school year please complete the online Volunteer Background Check. The district requires a new volunteer background check to be completed each school year.
Megan Hemmerling
Assistant Principal
My name is Lauren Roulhac. I am so excited to be working at Vermillion Elementary School. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to grow up to be a teacher. Both of my parents began their careers as teachers. I always loved school and all the opportunities I was given through my education. This year I am the Student Support Specialist Liaison at Vermillion. I am enjoying working to support students, teachers, and families as we learn and grow at Vermillion.
This is my 16th year in education. I have taught Kindergarten, First grade, 6th grade and also for Emporia State University. My husband, Kevin Roulhac, and I both feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be part of the Maize community. Kevin is the principal at Maize Intermediate and has also spent his career in Maize. We have 4 children. This year we have children at Maize Middle School, Maize Intermediate School, Pray-Woodman Elementary, and a Kindergartener at Vermillion Elementary School. Our children have had opportunities to excel at school, make lasting friendships, and participate in extracurricular activities during their time in the district. This community has played a large role in our family and we feel so blessed to be a part of it.
Lauren Roulhac
As a volunteer, you will receive a program kit with everything you need for the program and a Junior Achievement representative will walk you through how to use it. If you are interested in be a volunteer, please reach out to Junior Achievement Program Manager, Micah Lewis at micah@kansasja.org.
End of Day Transportation Changes:
All after school transportation changes MUST be called into the office by: 2:00pm M/T/Th/F and 1:00pm on Wednesdays.Attendance:
Be sure to notify the school office of any absences before 10:00am.
- Medical or provider's documentation must be provided within 3 days of an appointment or illness. This documentation can be brought to the school office, faxed (316-722-5020) or emailed to vesoffice@usd266.com.
- For recurring visits to a provider, a list of appointments from the provider's office can be brought to the school office, faxed (316-722-5020) or emailed to vesoffice@usd266.com.
As we move into October, we hope this message finds you well. We are excited to share that we have a new student program called Vermillion All Stars! This will take place of our previous Gold Card Member program. Vermillion All Stars are awarded to students who consistently demonstrate our core values, which we refer to as the 3 Rs: Respect, Responsible, Ready to Learn. These cards recognize and celebrate positive behavior and encourage all students to embody these important qualities.
Here’s how the updated Vermillion All Stars system works:
To earn a Vermillion All Star, a student must first be nominated by their teacher for demonstrating the 3 Rs.
Following nomination, the Vermillion All Star recipients are selected through a voting process involving administration, the front office, and specials teachers.
There will be only one girl and one boy chosen per grade level each semester, ensuring that this recognition remains special and meaningful.
Vermillion All Star members will be celebrated with a party during the semester that they win and also in the following semesters. We want to assure you that our goal remains to celebrate and encourage positive behavior in a way that is fair and meaningful for all students. This refreshed process allows us to recognize students who truly embody the spirit of respect, responsibility, and readiness to learn, while also creating a sense of pride and accomplishment. We appreciate your continued support as we work together to foster a positive and motivating school environment.
We encourage parents who are in need of assistance or families willing to provide support to fill out our Caring Chameleons Google Form. All submissions are confidential, with only the counselors able to view the responses. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.
Taryn Clain - Counselor for Kdg, 1st & 3rd Grades
Email: tclain@usd266.com
Greta Lies - Counselor for Kdg, 2nd & 4th Grades
Email: galies@usd266.com
Health Screenings
Health screenings for vision and hearing, as mandated by Kansas law and District 266 policy, began the week of September 22 and will continue throughout the school year. Students whose results are outside of the normal limits will be notified by a letter sent home. A referral does not necessarily mean there is a problem, but rather recommends a professional evaluation to determine if one exists and, if so, to recommend any necessary treatment.
Parents may exempt their child from the school health screenings. If your child has a known hearing or vision condition for which they are already under care or if your child receives regular evaluations, they can be exempted by a short email to the school nurse at jsmith@usd266.com.
Medication
If your child will be taking medication at school, please complete the Authorization For Medication / Treatment To Be Administered At School form and turn it to the nurse.
Immunizations:
Just a quick reminder that All immunizations must be up to date. If you have any questions or need to check your child's records, feel free to contact me.
Skyward Health History:
It is the parent’s responsibility to update health conditions in Skyward and notify the school nurse as needed for any health concerns. You may view our District Health Services for more information.
Medications and In-Office Stock Medications:
- Under certain conditions medication may be given at school. An Authorization for Medication Form must be completed EVERY school year BEFORE medication can be administered.
- We have over-the-counter stock medications in the nurses office. This includes acetaminophen (chewables & liquid), ibuprofen (chewables & liquid), cetirizine (liquid & dissolving tablets), benadryl (chewable & liquid), and tums (chewables).
- Complete the online 2025 Over the Counter Medication Consent Form. This form can be found in Skyward Family Access/Online Forms. You must complete this form prior to administering these medications.
Clothing:
Occasionally a student will need clean clothes due to soiled clothing. Please wash and return all clothing provided by the nurse in the blue bag (see picture). Your child can bring the bag to the nurses office.
Thank you for helping us keep our students safe and healthy!
Nurse Jaime Smith
Email: jsmith@usd266.com
Phone: 316-350-2810 / Fax: 316-722-5020
Our 3rd & 4th grade music programs are scheduled for:
Tuesday, November 18:
- 6:00pm: 3rd Grade
- 7:15pm: 4th Grade
- Location: Maize Performing Arts & Aquatics Center (MPAAC)
Parent letters have been sent home with your student and sent via Skyward with more detailed information. You can find the program songs through their Quaver accounts so they can listen to the songs outside of class time. I will also be sending home a song packet with the lyrics. PLEASE STAY TUNED FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd Grades:
These grade levels have been working on and experiencing steady beat in a variety
of ways. 1st and 2nd grade will be starting units on meter and Kindergarten will be starting a
unit on Tempo.
Upcoming 1st & 2nd Grade Music Program:
Thursday, March 12, 2026
- 6:00pm: 1st Grade
- 7:15pm: 2nd Grade
- Location: Maize Performing Arts & Aquatics Center (MPAAC)
Doreen Merkel
We have been busy in the gym. The older students have been working on cooperative activities and applying their knowledge of overhand and underhand throwing in a game situation. They will be self evaluating their skills.
The younger students have been working on moving safely around the gym. Learning the routine and playing some tag games. Ask your child about Banana Tag (it’s a favorite). We will be working on underhand rolling/bowling skills and overhand throws.
We have been working on shoe tying in Kindergarten and 1st grade. 1st Grade has also practiced this skill in STEAM. They have been shown several different ways to do this skill. Hopefully by the end of the year, all 1st graders can tie a shoe.
Please make sure your child wears tennis shoes on their gym days. Check with your child's teacher to know when their PE days are. If your child is sick or injured, please email me so I can make adjustments for them.
Coach Trail
We're excited about our fall book fair! You can view the book fair online from October 6-16 and make online purchases with an eWallet account. Join us in the Library for our family book fair event during parent teacher conferences on Thursday, October 16 from 8:00am-8:00pm.
Staci Fischer
STEAM is full of fun and exciting activities!
4th grade created mini golf courses for family night and they turned out great. By building the courses they learned how energy of an object can change when it crashes or bumps into something else, and made observations how certain surfaces can make an object move faster or slower. The students also learned about the 7 elements of art. Along with creating 1 point perspectives, and began learning about circuits and energy.
3rd grade worked on team building activities, along with learning how to use Google Slides, by creating an ‘All About Me’ slideshow. They also learned about a program called Read & Write, which can make their learning and working on the computer easier. They ended the month learning about Van Gogh.
2nd grade learned about teamwork, along with collaboration skills. They created houses out of 3D shapes and turned recyclable materials into something useful. Along with learning about symmetry within their art project that they created.
Kindergarten and 1st grade practiced fine motor skills by cutting, gluing, drawing, hole punching, and shoe tying. They also had fun learning about Dot day, by participating in different stations that focused on primary and secondary colors, along with warm and cool colors.
Next month, the students will be learning more about coding/robots, physical sciences, researching climate/weather, and new art concepts.
We would love to get parents involved with our career bulletin board. We are creating a spotlight board of different careers and would love for anyone to fill out the form, so we can let students know about all the careers our parents/guardians/grandparents at Vermillion hold.
Check out the STEAM Amazon Wishlist!
Thank you to everyone that continues to contribute to the STEAM room. We are always looking for recyclable and consumable materials.
Items we are in need of:
Empty water/soda/Gatorade bottles
Paper towel/toilet paper rolls
Empty yogurt, fruit, apple sauce cups
Straws
Cans (vegetable, fruit, etc.)
Tape
Old legos, magnatiles, blocks, etc.
Kleenex and Paper Towels
Please scan the QR code below to follow the Vermillion Facebook Page to see all the fun things your students are doing at school! You will have to answer a few questions when you request to join! Don't forget to answer them, or we cannot accept your request!
Amber Chalashtari
Melissa Love
Twitter: @LoveSTEAMDream
QR Code for Vermillion Elementary Facebook Page
- PTO website (The Camp) PTO events calendar, volunteer opportunities & more
- Email: vermillionpto@hotmail.com
- Facebook: Maize Vermillion Elementary School PTO
*Be sure to tag Vermillion Elementary with #VES