VASD Newsletter

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We want every VASD scholar to have a great start to the school year! If your student(s) are in need of school supplies, please complete this form. Complete a separate form for each child for which you are requesting supplies. Students/families will receive their supplies at your school's Welcome Back or school supply drop off event or the supplies will be in your child's classroom on the first day of school.

The 2024-25 Student and Family Calendar is available on VASD's website by clicking the calendar images below. Dates to remember are noted on the side and start and end times are noted on page two of the calendar.

Key information for September:

• First Days of School
• 9/3 for grades K-5, 6, and 9
• 9/4 for all students K-12 and 18-21 Year Old Students
• Late Start Mondays
• 9/9, 9/16, 9/23
• Late Start Monday start times are 9:20 AM for grades K-5 except Core Knowledge Charter School, 10:00 for all schools 6-8 and Core Knowledge grades K-5, 10:15 for grades 9 - 12
• No School
• 9/30/24

New Devices

Our K-1 students will use iPads, and grades 2-12 will use Acer C736T Chromebooks, which offer a clamshell touchscreen design for a laptop-like experience with touchscreen functionality. These devices are being rolled out during the start of the school year.

K-5 Device Take Home Opt-In

Kindergarten through fifth-grade student devices will remain at school throughout the year, and parents or guardians have the option to allow their child to take the device home daily by opting-in within the first two weeks of school. The form to do that is located here. If you want your student’s device stay at school, you do not have to do anything. After September 20th, opting in will no longer be available, and the device will remain at school for the rest of the year. Families opting in are responsible for any damages, and it's recommended to consider the Device Insurance Program for coverage.

Hotspots for Student Device Connectivity

Verona Area School District wants to make sure that all families have the resources needed to ensure internet connectivity at their home for their child’s school-issued device. We have hotspots available for those who do not have internet access. The hotspots will only connect to district-issued devices. They are restricted to 4g speeds. If you are a family in need of a hotspot, reach out to the contact person listed for your child’s school:

Verona Area High School - Cory Zimmerman (zimmerck@verona.k12.wi.us)

Verona Area High School - Teresa Nicholas (nicholat@verona.k12.wi.us)

Savanna Oaks Middle School - Abby Ray (raya@verona.k12.wi.us)

Badger Ridge Middle School - Sarah Hall (halls@verona.k12.wi.us)

Core Knowledge Charter School- Betsy Scholz (scholze@verona.k12.wi.us)

New Century/VAIS Charter Schools - Lisa Froehlich (froehlichl@verona.k12.wi.us)

Country View Elementary School - Lily Hlavacek (hlavacel@verona.k12.wi.us)

Glacier Edge Elementary School - Brittany Seefeld (seefeldb@verona.k12.wi.us)

Stoner Prairie Elementary School - Sara Lahaie (lahaies@verona.k12.wi.us)

Sugar Creek Elementary School - Trista Kaja (kajat@verona.k12.wi.us)

New Student Device Filtering System-GoGuardian

We are transitioning from Securly to GoGuardian to filter our students' devices. GoGuardian offers several new features that provide better control over devices at home. For additional information about this transition, including instructions on how to download and set up the GoGuardian Parent App, please visit the following link.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Verona Area School District Technology Team at co_tech@verona.12k.wi.us.

School Meal Accounts

The school meal account is family-based, meaning it is a single pot of money and all the students in the family will have access to the funds. Please note that the meal account is meant to be prepaid. Parents should strive to fund the account and maintain a positive balance. A positive meal balance has to be maintained for ala carte purchases for high school and middle school students with ala carte privileges. Electronic notices are sent out via emails when balances are $10 or less. Please add district@wordwareinc.com as a contact to your email so that these notifications will land in your inbox rather than the spam folder. Any remaining funds at the end of the school year will be rolled over to the next school year. E-statements of transactions are emailed to parents with valid email addresses in PowerSchool at the end of each month.

Meal accounts for all new incoming students and kindergarteners are automatically created. If your child(ren) will be purchasing school meals, please deposit funds into the meal account using one of the methods below:

1. Efunds Payment System You will need either the student id (obtainable from Powerschool or from the school secretary) or your family id (please email us for it at child.nutrition@verona.k12.wi.us) to make the electronic payment. Efunds does not have your meal balance information.

2. Checks, made payable to Child Nutrition Services, or cash can be dropped off at any of the VASD school offices or mailed to Child Nutrition Services at 234 Wildcat Way, Verona, WI 53593.

3. You may use your bank’s online bill payment services to send us your payment by setting up “Child Nutrition Services” as the payee and the account number is either family id # or the student id #.

Online Meal Account Access (EduTrak)

All families are encouraged to register their meal account with EduTrak to view their children's meal transactions, payments, and balance information. Parents may also apply for free and reduced-price meal benefits through their EduTrak account. If you wish to have access to your meal account transactions, please email child.nutrition@verona.k12.wi.us to obtain your family key to set up the account. Please note that there is a change in the navigation when you log in to your account. Please click on the orange fork and spoon icon to get to your account information.

Free and Reduced-Price Meal Program:

Financial assistance in the form of free and reduced-price meals is available to families who qualify in accordance with the household size and income limits set by United States Department of Agriculture as listed below. More details are available here: Frequently Asked Questions

If you are currently receiving Food Share, W-2, Medicaid benefits for your children, or your student is a foster child, you may be directly certified by the State of Wisconsin for free or reduced-price meals. Confirmation letters based on State Benefits have been mailed out since the beginning of August 2024. If you are in receipt of it, you do not need to fill out an application.

Interested families may apply for the free and reduced-price meal program in two ways:

1. Apply online by logging into Your EduTrak Meal Account. We strongly encourage you to apply via online as this route is much faster. The completed Free and Reduced Meal Application Form may be scanned/emailed to child.nutrition@verona.k12.wi.us or mailed to Child Nutrition Services, 234 Wildcat Way, Verona, WI 53593.

Click here if you desire additional instructions on how to fill out the application

Low or Negative Meal Account Balances

Our Meal Account Procedure for negative balances is detailed in the following link: Negative Balance & Meal Charge Policy Low/negative meal account balance notifications and monthly e-statements of meal and payment transactions are emailed to the main guardian in PowerSchool and email addresses associated with EduTrak account users. These statements and notifications are useful and we would appreciate it if parents would add district@wordwareinc.com as a contact to their email account to ensure the delivery of these statements to their inbox.

Donations to the Heroes of Hunger Meal Fund

A Meal Fund has been set up to help families who are struggling financially pay for their children's school meals. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the many parents and guardians who donated the leftover funds when the last of their children graduated and those who make donations whenever they are making payments to their children’s meal account. We distributed over $7000 in the last school year to families who needed help with their meal account payments. Please visit the Efunds website if you wish to make a donation to the Meal Fund or checks may be dropped off at any of the VASD schools (please write Heroes of Hunger Meal Fund on the memo line) or mailed to Child Nutrition Services, 234 Wildcat Way, Verona, WI 53593.

Wellness Policy

Verona Area School District is committed to providing school environments that promote and protect children's health, well-being and ability to learn by supporting healthy eating and physical activity. We recognize that children need access to healthy foods and opportunities to be physically active in order to grow, learn and thrive. VASD's Wellness Committee is currently reviewing and updating VASD's Wellness Policy. We look forward to sharing it with you on our website soon!

Your student's success in school is a goal that is shared by VASD educators and your family. Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school and themselves. Start building this habit early and eventually, this will be a skill that supports your child in school, college and the work place!

You can help your child by establishing a routine that supports being prepared to attend school each day when it resumes in September.

• Maintain a consistent bedtime. Children generally need between 8 and 13 hours of sleep depending on age.

• Ensure electronics and TVs are turned off before bed.

• Lay out clothes the night before. Pack lunches and backpacks in advance. Save time in the morning!

• Stay healthy! Reinforce good hygiene and handwashing routines at home.

• Schedule appointments and trips when school is not in session, if possible.

• Develop backup plans for getting to school. Call on a family member, neighbor, or fellow parent.

• Monitor your child's attendance in PowerSchool. Remember, students who miss just 10 days of school per year may show academic and social impacts from chronic absenteeism.

We also know that families believe school is important, but sometimes encounter barriers when trying to get their children to school regularly. School Social Workers, Nurses, Psychologists, and Counselors are trained to support families in breaking barriers that impact regular school attendance. If you are experiencing a barrier, please reach out! Your child's classroom teacher or the School Social Worker is a great place to start.