Valley Heights Elementary Schools

Our students and staff keep working hard here at Waterville Grade School!

Student Success Meetings are coming right up! These are our student led parent-teacher conferences. We strive for 100% participation for please sign up on Bloomz with your child's teacher to secure a time that works best for your family. This year Student Success Meetings will be on Wednesday, October 8th. We will dismiss school at 11:50 am. Meetings will be scheduled for 15 minutes each student and will will have time slots available from 12:30-8:30 pm. Slots fill up quickly so please sign up as soon as possible!

Next Week

Sunday:

• Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) Meeting this Sunday, September 19th! Join a group of parents and teachers who want to help support our schools! All are welcome to attend PTO meetings!

Monday:

• Colts Round Up

Tuesday:

• Colts Round Up

Wednesday:

• Colts Round Up

Thursday:

• Colts Round Up

Friday:

• No elementary activities.

A great time was had by all at the PAT, Preschool, and Kinder Prep Family Fun Night last Monday! Parents were provided resources on how to support their children at home, and got to spend quality time building with their children.

Mrs. Woodyard's class created an American Flag in remembrance of Patriot's Day!

It was a good week at Blue Rapids Elementary. It is so hard to believe that September is almost over. Time flies when you are having fun! Student success meetings are coming up quick. Your child's teacher should be reaching out to you to sign up on Bloomz. Please take note Student Success Meetings will be on Wednesday, October 8th. We will dismiss school at 11:50 am. Meetings will be scheduled for 15 minutes each student and will have time slots available from 12:30-8:30 pm.

Please take note of the important dates below.

Here are some upcoming dates to remember:

• Homecoming Week - September 29th
• Student Success Meetings - October 8th
• Early Dismissal @ 11:50 am - October 8th
• No School - October 10th

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

IT Appreciation Day was Tuesday, September 16th. Thank you, Ron Hardin, for all you do for our district!

Do you know someone who has made a big impact on Valley Heights? Nominate them using the application below. The following categories are open for application:

• Valley Heights Educator Hall of Fame
• Valley Heights Service Hall of Fame
• Valley Heights Student Hall of Fame
• Mustang Athletic Hall of Fame

Please submit nominations c/o Sean Spoonts at the District Office by October 17th. Hall of Fame Induction will be on December 19th at the home basketball game.

The Kansas Department of Education released state assessment scores from the spring 2025 testing window. We are so proud of all the students and staff at Valley Heights for their hard work in achieving such amazing test scores. To put things in perspective, Valley Heights on average scored 19 points above the state average in English Language Arts, 20 points above the average in Math and 22 points above the average in Science. Please see the districts results below. The blue bar is the average state score and the green bar is the Valley Heights average for that grade level.

📣🏈Please return Kiddie Clinic forms by September 26th. Thank you! 📣🏈

Waterville Grade School VHS ticket winners were Kaiden and Maebel winning lunch with Mrs. deBoer and Abigail and Elijah 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!

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