VMS ELKS Roundup

Happy February, VMS Families!

Can you believe we are already over halfway through the 2025–2026 school year?! Time truly does fly when we’re learning and growing together. Thank you for sharing your students with us each school day and for taking the time to read about all the exciting things happening at VMS.

February is a great month to celebrate learning! This month highlights Kindness, Connection Matters, and the importance of goal setting and perseverance, all themes we continue to focus on with our students. From recognizing important historical contributions, to encouraging students to reflect on their academic goals, February is full of opportunities to learn, grow, and celebrate progress.

We look forward to a great month ahead and appreciate your continued partnership and support.

Warm regards,
Amanda Ohlgren
Principal, VMS

This week was Academic Goal Week at VMS! Students set goals on Monday and worked hard towards achieving them all week, earning VMS Elk Bucks for doing so. They were able to put the Elk Bucks they earned into a raffle drawing for prizes or a raffle drawing for a spot in the student vs. staff volleyball game. Here are some pictures from our fun week/day!

We recently enjoyed a wonderful AVID Night and Induction Celebration for our 6th graders and their families. Students and parents had the opportunity to hear from our AVID teachers as well as current AVID students, who shared their experiences and the impact AVID has had on their learning and growth.

It was a great evening filled with information, inspiration, and excitement as we welcomed our newest AVID students. Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make the night a success!

More than 100 students from five local middle schools competed in the annual Minnesota Junior High Math League competition, showcasing their mathematical skills and teamwork. A total of 20 teams participated in the last event of the season, which was held at Rogers Middle School on January 12th.

The Math League provides young mathematicians with an opportunity to engage in friendly competition while strengthening their problem-solving abilities. Teams worked collaboratively to tackle a variety of challenging problems in areas such as algebra, geometry, and number theory.

Participating schools included Rogers Middle School, Prairie View Middle School, Salk Middle School, VandenBerge Middle School, and Zimmerman Middle School. Each team, made up of six students, brought their best strategies and collaboration skills to the competition.

Overall, the 3 teams from VandenBerge Middle School placed:

VMS Team: Red 4th place

VMS Team Black: 9th place

VMS Alternates team: 17th place

Congratulations to all students who participated in this impressive academic event!

VMS Top finishers:

1. Eli Hegge

2. Cooper Christensen

3. Anthony Misner

4. Alia Eiler

Special Deliveries for Students

Please remember that we are not able to deliver items such as flowers, birthday gifts, or beverages to students during the school day. If you are planning something special for your student, we ask that it be done before or after school hours. Thank you for your understanding and support in helping us maintain a focused learning environment.

Campus Fees: Class Fees, Fines & Field Trips
Please take a moment to review your student’s Fee Tab in Parent Portal to ensure there are no outstanding classroom or field trip fees for the 2025–2026 school year.

If you need assistance with payment, please click here. For additional support or questions regarding fees, contact Angela Quirm at 763-241-3450 x2600

Student Tardy Support
At VMS, we strive to create engaging classroom experiences that support strong academic learning. A key part of this success is ensuring students arrive on time and prepared for class each day. We appreciate your support in discussing the importance of punctuality with your student.

Families can monitor attendance and tardies through the Parent Portal, including setting up notifications for attendance concerns.

To help keep families informed, both families and students will receive an email after a student’s third tardy. After a fourth tardy, communication will come directly from the main office or administration.

From the Attendance Office

We’ve noticed an increase in last minute student pick ups. Last minute pick ups should ONLY be for emergencies. Vacations, sports and scheduled appointments should be put in Parent Portal ahead of time. If an emergency appointment comes up during the day, please try and give us courteously 1-hour notice. Please see our website for directions on how to enter absences, late arrivals and early releases. We are asking everyone to input all absences as soon as possible to ensure passes are made and delivered to the student. Several days in advance is preferable.

Parents should not be entering pickups for students not feeling well. If a student is not feeling well, please instruct them to visit the Health Office and together your student and health office staff will call you to make a plan for staying at school or getting picked up. Students are aware of this process and should not be texting or calling parents directly from their cell phone to be picked up. Please ensure that students go through the correct process of using the health office.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support.

Congratulations to all of our 6th–8th grade students who earned a place on the Quarter 2 Honor Roll. We are incredibly proud of your hard work, dedication, and effort throughout the second quarter. Keep striving for excellence—great work!

Q2 HONOR ROLLS

February can be tough - shorter days, cold weather, and long stretches indoors can impact mood, energy, and motivation (especially for middle schoolers).

Ways families can support mental health at home:

• Keep a consistent routine for sleep and meals
  
  

• Encourage movement, even short walks or indoor activities.
  
  

• Help students find small things to look forward to each day.
  
  

• Normalize talking about feelings- “It’s okay to feel blah sometimes”.
  
  

If your child seems more withdrawn, irritable, or overwhelmed, reach out early - support works best when we work together!

February is often associated with Valentine’s Day, but it’s also a great reminder that connection matters - especially for tweens and teens.

You can support your child by:

• Checking in with open-ended questions- “What was the hardest part of today?”
  
  

• Noticing effort, not just grades.
  
  

• Encouraging healthy friendships and boundaries.
  
  

• Modeling self-kindness and self-talk.
  
  

Feeling connected to trusted adults is one of the strongest protective factors for kids!

Kate Burgoon, MSW, LGSW

School Social Worker

VandenBerge Middle School

email: kathryn.burgoon@isd728.org

763-241-3450 ext: 2687

This week, we proudly celebrate National School Counseling Week and recognize our incredible school counselors. Their dedication, compassion, and commitment to supporting our students’ academic success, social-emotional growth, and future goals make a meaningful difference every day.

Thank you to our counselors for being trusted advocates, listeners, and champions for our students. We are grateful for all that you do to support our school community!

Don’t wait! Order your yearbook before it’s too late. Ordering is as easy as going to jostens.com/yborder and searching “Vandenberge Middle School”

Help will be offered every Tuesday and Thursday morning from 7:50-8:10 in room 244 with a Math Teacher.

Spring conferences are quickly approaching on March 10th and 12th, and we are seeking support to help provide an Italian theme dinner for our amazing teachers during their 3:00–3:45 PM break on Thursday, March 12.

If you are willing to help, please click HERE to sign up.

If you prefer to make a cash donation (we are unable to accept checks), please place your donation in an envelope labeled “Conference Dinner Donation.” Donations can be dropped off by your student to Linda Hol or Angela Quiram.
If alternate arrangements are needed, please email angela.quiram@isd728.org

Thank you for your generosity and for showing our VMS staff how much they are appreciated—we truly value your support!

Parenting for Digital Wellness Newsletters

February: AI Companions: What Parents Need to Know

Please click on this link to review our ISD728 - February CTE Newsletter

February 16: No School (Presidents’ Day)

February 17: No School (Staff Development Day)

March 10 & 12: Evening Conferences

March 13: No School (Staff Development Day)

March 27: End of Quarter 3

March 30: No School (Teacher Workshop Day)

March 31: April 3: No School (Spring Break)

• Email: vms.office@isd728.org