Valley Heights Elementary Schools

This past week was full of excitement with Halloween and the Scholastic Book Fair! Not as much is happening this week but we are quickly approaching Thanksgiving Break! Please note, if you did not sign up for the Thanksgiving meal by the deadline, you will not be able to eat a school lunch. You are still allowed to join your child and bring your own meal or just sit with them and visit. Please let the school know if you plan to do this so we ensure we have enough seating.

FUNdraiser: The VH Jr Class is planning a Pucker Up for the Piggy fundraiser. For the whole month of November, students can bring spare change or money and will have the option to put them in a jar for Mrs. deBoer, Mr. Staples, or Mr. Savage. The principal with the most money at the end of November has to KISS a PIG at the December 1st basketball game. See flier below!

This Week:

Sunday: Daylight Saving Time Ends: Set clocks back one hour.

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday: Students walk to Opera House and view a portion of the All School Play!

Thursday:

Friday:

Upcoming Dates:

November 13th: No School- Staff Professional Development Day

November 15th: Thanksgiving Meal, Board of Education Meeting 6 pm

November 22nd-26th No School- Thanksgiving Break!

Juniors Tessa Miller and Saige Wilcox spoke to the Waterville Elementary students about the fundraiser they're conducting for the month of November. In the video below, students cheer for who they think should have to kiss a pig!

Jr/Sr High students spent Wednesday afternoon sprucing up all the school buildings. Thank you all for your help!

Thanks to all who made it to our Halloween parade and parties!

2nd graders cheered on the Mustang Football team as they traveled through town heading to their game!

It has been an exciting week at Blue Rapids Elementary. Halloween festivities were a success on Tuesday with the students showing great holiday spirit by dressing up and participating in fun classroom activities. The students participated in a Halloween parade around the square/circle and I will have to say how impressed I was with their manners and behavior. I received feedback from several adults as well related to their positive behavior. The STUCO at the Jr./Sr/ high came to the building on Wednesday and did a clean up day. A huge shout out to the students at the secondary school and their sponsors for all their hard work, the grounds look great!!

Here are some upcoming dates to remember:

• High School Play Field Trip November 8th
  
• No School; Professional Development Day November 13th
• Thanksgiving Meal with family November 15th (see below lunch schedule)

As always, I want to thank you for the blessing that it is to work with your children. My door is always open if you have any questions or concerns.

-Mr. Staples

Thank you to the VHHS Student Council for organizing the all VHHS students service day. They spruced up and cleaned up our building in Blue Rapids. They raked leaves, washed windows and cleaned debris from the kitchen closet in the Gym. Awesome job!

Mrs. Hogan honored some of the 5th graders from Mrs. Koehler's class with a pizza party for reading 2,439,146 words in the 1st 9 weeks of school. Fantastic!

Blue Rapids students will have two lunch choices.

Each day in the elementary schools, we teach our students how to have purposeful interactions and goals. We believe that having a common purpose will promote the academic and social emotional well-being of each student. We teach students the VHS model.

To celebrate students accomplishing these things, we have created positive office referrals, with VHS tickets. Teachers and staff hand out VHS tickets when they see a student doing the right thing. Here are some pictures of students receiving their VHS tickets!

This week's VHS ticket winners were Louis, Oakley, Malena, and Robert! We have so many students doing the right thing that we have to select a few winners each week by random draw!

Days there will not be CRU:

September: 25

October: 3, 4, 16 & 31

November: 13, 22 & 23

December: 6 & 7
LAST DAY OF FIRST SEMESTER: December 19

SECOND SEMESTER FIRST DAY: January 8

Days there will not be CRU:

January: 15

February: 13, 15, 19

March: 11-15(spring break)

April: 15

LAST DAY: May 9

Are you 55 years or older and love working with children? Do you know someone who would do a great job helping in our schools? The AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program may be the program for you! This is a volunteer program that does offer a small stipend and is organized by AmeriCorps. Here are the benefits of volunteering with the Foster Grandparent Program:

• Health and wellness. AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers experience decreased anxiety, depression, and loneliness. 84% of volunteer report stable or improving health after one year of service.

• Self-improvement. See the daily impact of your service as you build on the skills you already have and develop new ones.

• Stipend. Some programs offer a modest stipend to qualified, low-income volunteers.

• Community. Connect with others and be part of something bigger. 88% of volunteers who felt a lack of companionship reported fewer feelings of isolation after becoming an AmeriCorps Seniors volunteer.

• New skills. AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers often tap their wealth of experience and wisdom and channel it in new directions.

• Insurance. Most programs offer accident, personal liability, and excess automobile liability insurance.

Click here for more information.

Did you know that even though packaging no longer has box tops on them to cut out, that you can still support your school? Download the Box Tops app and scan your receipt to earn money for schools. This is a simple way to give back to your community! Click here for more details!

Email: judeboer@valleyheights.org tstaples@valleyheights.org sspoonts@valleyheights.org
Website: www.valleyheights.org