Viking Pride

We hope you are enjoying every minute of summer; it is hard to believe the new school year is right around the corner!

The office is now open and many of our teachers have begun to set up their rooms and meet with their grade levels to collaborate on curriculum, projects, field trips, and more! District Trainings are set for our Staff Development Days on August 7th and 8th and we are excited to begin another school year! The first day of school is on August 10th and is a regular day: 2023-2024 Bell Schedule.

To our incoming families, WELCOME; we look forward to meeting you in August and having you join the Viking Family at Valhalla. To our returning families we are looking forward to seeing you again!

Thank you everyone who attended the new family orientation today! Here are the slides!

Please review our updated drop off and pick up procedures.

Respectfully yours,

Theodora 🖤😎

Miss Pappas

Hello from Mr. Ken, Mr. Buell, Principal Pappas & Miss Stephanie amd Miss Lana! We can't wait to see you!

Hello Valhalla Families,

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Chad Buell and I am the full time school counselor here at Valhalla for the third year. We are all very excited to start next week and are finishing our last minute preparations. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. The first few weeks I will be in the classrooms and on the playground a lot more to make sure students know who I am, so email will be the best way to reach me, BuellC@mdusd.org.

As we start the new school year starting next week I want to talk about three quick things.

Set routines for your kids and yourself. Establishing morning routines, arriving home routines, homework routines, and bedtime routines can all help students be more successful. Routines give them and you a sense of normalcy, even during tough times, and can give them a sense of ownership when brought into the discussion of making the routines.

Second, practice patience. A new classroom, a new teacher, new work, and for some a new school. These can all be very stressful and challenging events. There are going to be mistakes, high emotions, extra tiredness, and frustrations. Give your kids some extra patience as they adjust. Give yourself some extra time and patience as well; it will be tough on you too.

Lastly, set goals. Find short term goals that are easy and achievable to get the success ball rolling as we start off the year. For new students and littles, learning another persons' name and favorite color, if they have any pets, or shows/games they like, can be a great start. Give them some easy wins now to build confidence and the fun of going to school. Then slowly build up the goals over the year to help them reach higher.

I hope this year is a great one for each of your students and I look forward to working with all of them.

Chad Buell

Valhalla School Counselor

Dear Valhalla Families,

Welcome back Vikings! I hope your summer has been restful – let’s get ready for an exciting year at Valhalla! On Tuesday, we will be holding All-in-One which will be your chance to learn more about what VPFA does, make your contributions, buy some spirit wear, and find out your students’ teachers for this year.

The VPFA board is working hard to make sure we hold all of our awesome events this year, but we need your help. In the coming weeks, open positions and committees will be posted in Konstella so please take a look and sign up where you can help out. The teachers, staff, students and families are what make Valhalla great and we all have to do our part.

Our first VPFA meeting will be held on September 20 at 6pm in the library annex. You are automatically a member of VPFA (Valhalla Parent Faculty Association) just by having a student at Valhalla. While no membership dues are required, your attendance at meetings is incredibly helpful so you can be informed and help us decide the direction of our organization and how we affect the school.

I encourage you to stay informed and there are several ways to do so:

• Attend VPFA meetings

• Join the Valhalla Facebook Group - www.facebook.com/groups/VPFA.PH

• Join the grade level Facebook for your children

• Install Konstella on your phone and look out for Konstella emails

• Read the Pride from Ms. Pappas

• Read ParentSquare communications

If you have any questions about VPFA, what we do or how you can get involved, I encourage you to check out our website at www.valhallavpfa.com . There you can find loads of information as well as contact info for all board members. I am always available as well at vpfapresident@gmail.com .

Thank you,

Tiffany O’Sullivan

VPFA President

We are ready for All In One day! This is the time when the office collects required forms, you can purchase spirit wear, learn about VPFA, learn about 5th-grade Outdoor Ed camp, and pick up your child's teacher assignment.

Please do your best to come at your assigned time: Tuesday August 8th, 3:00-7:00 p.m.

Alphabetically by LAST NAME

3:00 pm-4:00 pm Q-Z

4:00pm-5:00pm M-P

5:00pm-6:00pm E-L

6:00pm-7:00pm A-D

Thank you!

Mountain Mike's Pizza near DVC

30 Golf Club Rd
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

(925) 826-5101

For online orders, please mention "Valhalla Elementary" in comment box.

https://www.mountainmikespizza.com/locations/pleasant-hill-golf-club/

You can order online for pickup, delivery, and dine-in. They deliver in Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Concord, Bay Point, and Walnut Creek.

For phone orders, please mention "Valhalla Elementary."

The owner is a new Valhalla family! Let's support local businesses and our school!

Wednesday, August 9, 3pm - TK & K (bring your students) & popsicle playdate immediately following at the amphitheater.

Thursday, August 17. 6:00-7:30pm in your student's classroom!

Grades 1&2 6-6:40pm
Grades 3-5 6:45 -7pm

July 24 - Office is Open

3 - New Family Orientation 3pm - Thor Hall

8 - All In One Day 3-7pm - Thor Hall

9- TK & K Back to School Night 3pm in your student's classroom!

10 - First Day of School

17- Back to School Night - 6:00-7:30pm in your student's classroom!

29 - Fall Picture Day

Click here for the 2023-24 MDUSD academic calendar

Thank you to Miss Anna and Mr. Marco for always making us delicious and healthy meals and snacks!

Click here for MDUSD's Food and Nutrition Services Department.

August Breakfast Menu

August Lunch Menu

August Meatless Menu

Click here to learn more about California Universal Meals: This includes background, policy, provisions, webinars, resources, FAQs, and contacts regarding California’s Universal Meals Program.

Please order this year's yearbook! It will be full of fun memories of our wonderful times together!

TreeRing plants 1 tree for every yearbook purchased and the quality of these yearbooks are fantastic - it's also a great fundraiser for our school!

Please see the attached flyer and purchase your yearbook:
www.treering.com/validate
code: 1015925122132765

Make sure to select ​THIS YEAR's book: 2023-2023 (you can also purchase ​previous years' books).

This year, our teachers have come together and created grade level supply lists so that families can prepare before the All-In-One Day.

• TK Supplies
• K Supplies
• Grade 1 Supplies
• Grade 2 Supplies
• Grade 3 Supplies
• Grade 4 Supplies
• Grade 5 Supplies
• TK-5 SDC Supplies

The Mt. Diablo Unified School District will host a free 2023-24 Parent Conference for families of students in grades TK through high school from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12 at the Loma Vista Adult Center, 1266 San Carlos Ave. in Concord.

For questions, please contact:

Mt. Diablo Adult Education Parent Education Office

Phone: (925) 685-7340 ext. 6720, Email: parented@mdusd.org

Attachments:

Parent Conference Flyer - English Parent Conference Flyer - Spanish

Students, please bring your chromebook, fully charged to school the first day if you took it home this summer! If you left your chromebook in your classroom, it will be waiting for you in your new class!

If you are new to Valhalla this year, you will be given your own chromebook the first week of school!

If you are in second grade, you will be given your own chromebook as soon as our district provides them!

Tamara Robinette, second grade, click here for her Amazon supply/wish list.

Kerry Phillips, fifth grade, click here for her Amazon supply/wish list.

MDUSD has approved parent volunteers inside and outside the classroom. Volunteers must have a valid TB test, fingerprints on file, & proof of vaccination. Please reach out to Mrs. Stephanie Ortiz, our secretary, to show proof of vaccination, ortizs@mdusd.org. Please reach out to your teacher for further information regarding helping in the classroom or sign up on Konstella to volunteer at lunch. (Link to sign up coming soon!)

Click here to apply to be a volunteer on campus including lunch duty, PE, classroom parents, the library, reading lab, the garden or to help at future field trips.

Instructional Assistant - 18 hours per week. Assist Kinder & Reading Lab. Call Ms. Pappas! Click here to apply and for more info!

Instructional Assistant - 32.5 hours per week. Assist TK. Call Ms. Pappas! Click here to apply and for more info!

Noon Duty Supervisor - start date August 10, 2023 click here for more info Hours are 11:30am - 1pm. What a great way to help at school and get to know our amazing students!

Crosswalk duty: morning and/or after school. Please call the office. 925-687-1700

Substitutes:

*Teacher: Substitute Teacher EdJoin Job Posting (Pay is $230/)

*Special Education Assistant Substitute (SEA SUB) -

Special Education Assistant Substitute (SEA SUB) click here to apply and for further information.

*Substitute Secretarial/Clerical: Click here to apply for secretary substitute and for further info!

*Noon Supervisor Substitute: Click here to apply for noon supervisor substitute and for further info!

Any ?s please see Miss Pappas! Thank you for your consideration!

We will need a lot of support during lunches, especially at the beginning of the school year!

Calling parents, grandparents, friends or neighbors to help provide additional supervision during lunch and lunch recess. Please feel free to sign up for one shift or many (or all!). It's a great way to connect to our campus and see your kids in action!

Check in to the office when you arrive. Volunteers must be cleared by the district. (A valid TB test, fingerprints on file, & proof of vaccination.)

Please consider volunteering by signing up on the Konstella link ...if it is full and you are cleared to volunteer and want to come help...JUST COME ON BY!

THANK YOU!!!

Let's show our teachers and staff how much we appreciate them by bringing treats every Friday. Please sign up for a slot to bring a treat for the staff to the teacher's lounge on a Friday morning.

We have approximately 40 staff members. Click here to sign up! Thank you!

Per HR: MDUSD is following the county guidance, which can be found by clicking here.

We are not sending out positive case notifications to staff or the community.

MDUSD home page

Valhalla home page (Under construction, coming soon).

VPFA home page

2023-24 MDUSD academic calendar

2023-24 National PTA Multicultural Calendar

MDUSD Food & Nutrition

Valhalla Elementary School strives to provide a safe and orderly environment conducive to learning which supports all members of its community, both educationally and socially.

We strive to prepare students to be successful life-long learners and to be happy, kind, and contributing adults in a global society.

We strive to foster mutual respect, appreciation of diversity, and high individual self-esteem.

We strive to accomplish our goals by cultivating high levels of achievement and commitment on the part of students, parents, staff, and the broader community.

🌟 Our theme for this year is "Reach for the Stars!" 🌟

Email: PappasT@mdusd.org
Website: https://ves-mdusd-ca.schoolloop.com/
Location: 530 Kiki Drive, Pleasant Hill, CA, USA
Phone: (925)687-1700
Twitter: @VikingPridePH