Valley Heights Elementary Schools

NO SCHOOL THIS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31st

All Halloween activities will be moved to Thursday, October 30th! Costume parade downtown Waterville at 1:00 with classroom parties to follow!

Halloween Details:

• Morning Preschool and Kinder Prep: Students will wear costumes to class and will bus to the Blue Valley Nursing Home in Blue Rapids to parade their costumes.
• Afternoon Preschool and Kinder Prep: Students will wear costumes to class and will bus to the Waterville Public Library for a story.
• K-2 students should not wear their costumes to school. They can bring them in their backpack. Students will walk to downtown Waterville and arrive there at 1:00 to do a costume parade around downtown Waterville. Some businesses/community members will be passing out candy to our students. Students will then return to school and have their class parties.

Our Valley Heights High School volleyball team is headed to the state tournament! We will be attending a pep really on Thursday morning at VHHS at 8:30 am.

Next Week

Monday:

• Colts Round Up

Tuesday:

• Colts Round Up

Wednesday:

• Colts Round Up

Thursday:

• Pep Rally at 8:30 at VHHS
• Costume Parade @ 1:00 Downtown Waterville
• Halloween Parties to follow in classrooms
• Colts Round Up

Friday:

• No School!

Looking Ahead:

• November 10th- No School
• November 26th-28th Thanksgiving Break!

Snack break outside in kindergarten!

This week we had a Kindergarten Family Fun Night! Students made homemade ice cream in a bag and had a great time!

The first graders had a great time on their field trip to Britt's Farm in Manhattan!

Our Preschool and Kinder Prep students visited the Waterville Fire Station this week!

Kindergarten students learning through play!

2nd grade students enjoyed picture lady with Sharon King. They built Halloween sculptures!

It was a fabulous week at Blue Rapids elementary. We had some special guests in the building this past week. On Wednesday the Jr./Sr. High school students came to the building and did some special activities with the BR students. What a fun time to connect with the secondary students. Thank you to STUCO for all their hard work in organizing this special day of service. Looking forward to this coming week, on the 30th of October at 2:15 pm, we will have our annual Halloween parade around the town circle/square. Parents and family members if you would like to view your child's costume we encourage you to come to the circle/square for the Halloween parade!!

Please take note of the important dates below.

Here are some upcoming dates to remember:

• Blood Drive @ VHHS from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm - November 4
• Thanksgiving dinner student reservations due - November 7
• Teacher Professional Development Day (NO SCHOOL) - November 10
• Student/Family Thanksgiving dinner - November 21
• Thanksgiving break - November 26 - 28

As always, thank you for the privilege and blessing that it is to work with your children. My door is always open if you have any concerns or you need to visit.

-Mr. Staples

This month is Bullying Prevention Month and our students have taken a pledge to end bullying! Through character education lessons students have learned about what it means for someone to be a bully and how they can help put a stop to bullying!

Julia Heinen, VHHS Sophomore and Miss Teen Kansas, spoke to the 3rd - 6th graders about anti-bullying. Thanks, Julia, for a great message! 💜🤍

VHHS Student Council members planned another successful day of service this year! It started with high school students joining the elementary students for lunch! High school students then planned fun activities for students such as games, crafts, read alouds, and Veteran's day projects! Other students cleaned up the school yards at all three schools. Some students even volunteered at the Waterville Fire Department!

This week's Waterville VHS ticket winners were Lainee and Vyron winning lunch with Mrs. deBoer and Austin and Emery winning prizes!

Each week we'll give you a fun question to talk about around the dinner table with your family! Eating together as a family is an excellent time to strengthen relationships and check in with your child and their needs. Enjoy discussing the question of the week!

The Valley Heights Colts PTO is requesting donations and volunteers for the Scholastic Book Fair Taco Meal on November 5th. If you are able to donate your time or any of the items needed, we would greatly appreciate it! Sign up at the link below!

Community Education has recently sent out a program survey to gather community interests and Ideas to increase programming and participation in activities beyond the school day. We invite you to click on the link below to fill out the survey and give us your thoughts and ideas.

Survey Link: https://forms.gle/KuzPRNFKjXkyEiqf8

We’d like to remind families to discuss a safe route to school with your students. Whether it is on foot, bike, or a car we want everyone to arrive to and from school safely! For students on foot and bike remember that the safest crossings are at Chestnut & Highway 77 in Blue Rapids and Minnesota & Highway 77 in Waterville.

These crossings are monitored both before and after school.

Check out the Schools That Care newsletter below for information on resources available in our community!

Early Head Start 0-3 provides services to infants, toddlers, and pregnant women. It promotes

• healthy prenatal outcomes, healthy babies
• enhances the development of infants and toddlers, and
• promotes healthy/thriving families

NEK-CAP, Inc. receives federal funds for 160 children to operate and provide Early Head Start (0-3) services for infants, toddlers, pregnant mothers, and fathers.

NEK-CAP, Inc. receives federal funds for 238 children to operate and provide Head Start services. Head Start is committed to cultivating partnerships with the community to ensure that children and families receive an array of individualized services focused upon early childhood development, family support, health and education.

Head Start/Early Head Start 0-5 services are available at no cost to children and families. Up to 10% of enrollment may be used to serve children that are over income. Transportation is available at some locations.

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!

Another avenue of supporting your school is through Casey's rewards! Check it out at caseys.com/community/donate-your-points!

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