May 2026 Newsletter

Dear Valley View Families,

As we head into the final stretch of the school year, May is filled with many exciting activities, celebrations, and field trips for our students!

With the increase in field trips, please keep a close eye out for permission slips and event notices coming home. Students must have a signed permission slip in order to attend field trips, so we ask that you return these as soon as possible. If a student does not have a permission slip, they will remain at school and be provided with educational materials aligned to the field trip experience. Additionally, please ensure your child arrives on time on field trip days, as all trips will depart promptly and late arrivals may not be able to attend.

We are especially excited for a schoolwide field trip on May 20th to the Minnesota Vikings Training Facility from 8:30 AM–12:00 PM. This will be a fantastic experience for all students! Upon returning to school, a cold lunch will be provided, and students will eat in their classrooms with their teachers.

As a reminder, all student drop-off and pick-up must take place on the west side of the school in the Valley View parking lot. The area between Columbia Academy and Valley View is reserved for staff and buses only. Your cooperation helps us maintain a safe and efficient process for everyone.

With warmer weather arriving, please ensure students are dressed appropriately and in accordance with our uniform expectations. Leggings, sweatpants, and jeans are not permitted, and all uniform bottoms must be khaki or navy blue.

Beginning in May, all food distributions will take place in the front lobby, where our school food shelf is also located. We are proud to offer this resource and remain committed to supporting our families in times of need.

For after-school routines, please remember that students must be supervised by a parent or guardian when using the playground after school. Students in parent pick-up must remain by the fence or at the tables while waiting and are not permitted to play on the playground until a parent or guardian has arrived.

Finally, our last day of ENCORE programming will be Thursday, May 7th. After this date, all students will go home according to their normal end-of-day routine. For families who utilize parent pick-up, please plan to pick up your child by 2:30 PM moving forward.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support as we work together to ensure a strong and successful end to the school year!

We are asking all families to take a few minutes to complete a brief survey (linked below). Your feedback is incredibly important to us as we work to better understand what we are doing well and where we can grow.

Your voice matters. As a school, we make decisions each day that impact your child’s experience, and we want those decisions to be informed by the perspectives of the families we serve. Hearing directly from you helps us reflect, improve, and ensure we are meeting the needs of all students.

Every response makes a difference. Whether your experience has been positive, challenging, or somewhere in between, your input helps guide our next steps and shapes the future of our school. We truly value your partnership and encourage all parents and guardians to participate.

PreK has been busy finishing our building unit, where we learned about construction jobs, tools, and different types of buildings. We are excited to start our new unit soon on insects! As the year winds down, we are also focusing on kindergarten readiness skills like routines, independence, early literacy, and math. We are so proud of our students' growth!

Our kindergarten scientists have been busy exploring the amazing world of animals! During the month of March, students had the opportunity to learn about a variety of animals including goldfish, worms, isopods, and chicks. Through hands-on experiences and close observation, they discovered what makes each animal unique.

We dove into learning about animal parts, homes, habitats, and habits. Students made careful observations and shared their discoveries with excitement. It was wonderful to see their curiosity grow as they explored about animals.

In addition to our group learning, each student became a researcher by choosing an animal they were interested in and learning more about it. They used both reading and writing skills to gather and share information!

This unit was full of enthusiasm, curiosity, and joy. It has been so fun to watch the excitement in the classroom as students connected with the animal world!

It’s been a fun and wild adventure in first grade this quarter. We have been doing research on different animals and their habitats. Each first grade class picked a habitat and the animals that live there to research. We have learned a lot and are finishing our research reports this week. We hope you enjoy looking at them when your child brings their reports home.

In math, we have been learning about measuring, weighing and comparing. We were able to measure out the life size animals that we were researching during reading and writing time. All the kids have enjoyed seeing how long an orca, giraffe, polar bear and python are. This month, we will be focusing on numbers up to 120, money and graphing.

We are excited to finish out the year strong!

Hello Families,

As we head into the final quarter of second grade, our hearts are full thinking about how much your children have grown this year—academically, socially, and emotionally. The last stretch of school promises to be just as exciting and meaningful!

In Reading, we’re setting off on a literary journey around the world as we dive into myths and folktales from various countries. In Writing, students recently wrapped up their biography essays, and we are excited to transition into a creative unit where they will begin writing their own myth stories. This is always a fun opportunity for students to use their imagination while applying all the writing skills they’ve built throughout the year.

Our Science unit is blooming into spring as we begin our plant unit. Students will get hands-on experience by planting their own seeds and observing how they grow over time—a great way to see science in action. In Math, we’re taking multiplication to the next level. Students will continue practicing strategies and are encouraged to build fluency with their multiplication facts to help prepare for the transition into third grade.

In Social Studies, students will be learning about government and its branches. We will also finish the year with a Digital Citizenship unit, where students will practice logging in to their devices using their usernames and passwords while learning about internet safety and being responsible technology users.

Students are especially excited for the many field trips this spring, including visits to the Arboretum, the Vikings Training Facility, and McKenna and Sullivan Parks.

Thank you for your continued support and for being such an important part of your child’s journey this year.

With gratitude,
VV’s 2nd Grade Team

Third grade just wrapped up a unit of study about space in Wit and Wisdom, learning about how and why people explore space! Our next unit focuses on immigration stories. Students will examine the history of immigration through the lens of stories, as well as learn about immigration patterns of the people that have made North America their home. We’ll end the module with students writing a short narrative describing a small imagined moment based on one of the core texts we will be reading. We are all looking forward to another great unit of study!

We can't believe that it is already May! We have a busy end of the year coming up, with field trips to going to the Vikings, learning about STEM from Medtronic, competing with the district wide 5th graders for Track and Field, and ending the school year having "job" and learning about the economy at JA BizTown! With all the fun, we will be learning about economics and financial literacy in math and learning about changemakers in sports from people like Jackie Robinson.

We are sad to see the 5th graders go, but we are looking forward to a great end of the school year!

• Monday, May 18: PreK-3rd @ VV
• 8:30 - 10:30 PreK full day, PreK a.m., K & 1st
• 12:00 - 2:00 PreK p.m., 2nd & 3rd
• Tuesday, May 19: PreK – 3rd RAIN DAY
• Thursday, May 28: 4th @ CHHS football field 9:00 - 1:15
• Friday, May 29: 5th @ CHHS football field 9:00 - 1:15
• Monday, June 1 & Tuesday, June 2: 4th & 5th RAIN DAY

On Track and Field Day, students may be out of uniform.

The 13th-Annual Fun Run will be on Saturday, June 6 at noon. Come out, support our school and have fun by participating in one of our races!

• The Kuhlman 5K
• The Terrific 2K Trail
• Children's Quarter Mile Run

Come out, support our school and have fun by participating in one of our races!

Cost: $5 for students and $10 for adults

Click on the link below to register or complete the paper registration form that was sent home with your student!

SACA Food Shelf is opening at its new home on April 13th!

• 3905 California Street NE, Columbia Heights, MN 55421

SACA's Current Services:

• Community Market: A free, fresh-focused food market where neighbors can shop for fresh groceries and pantry staples as needed.

• Curbside Grocery Service: Neighbors can book an appointment to receive a prepacked box of fresh items, pantry staples, household items, and personal care once a month through our curbside program.
• Thrift Store: A low-cost thrift store with clothing, shoes, jewelry, kitchen, and household items for garage sale prices.

All Belong, All Succeed

Email: KuhlmanJ@colheights.k12.mn.us
Website: https://www.colheights.k12.mn.us/VVES
Location: 800 49th Avenue Northeast, Columbia Heights, MN, USA
Phone: 763-528-4200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VVisd13