Upcoming Events
2020/2021 Calendar (Please see the end of this post for more details)
Administrators' Message
We hope you all had a restful winter holiday break. As you may have heard, on December 23, 2020 Governor Brown announced yet another change to Oregon’s metrics for returning students to school. The health metrics for returning to in-person instruction have been changed from “requirements” to “advisory recommendations,” giving each individual charter school or school district the authority to decide when students may return for in-person learning.
As educators, we know that in-person learning is best for our students and we look forward to the day when students can return safely to our schools and classrooms. This latest announcement by the governor adds uncertainty to an already challenging process for bringing students back to schools and classrooms. The sudden removal of health metrics mandates also leaves students and school staff subject to varying interpretations and decisions about safety.
Plans for how we resume in-person instruction will be created at The Village School with input from our staff and families based on survey input and implemented in a clear and thoughtful manner. [Please be on the lookout for an email link to a survey later this week]. Any reopening plans must address how high-risk students and staff members (or those who live with someone who is high-risk) will be kept safe.
Our time line for considering when we might begin hybrid remains the same. We will examine the county health conditions on January 19th and 20th. Then we will determine if we can begin with hybrid instruction with select primary classes on February 8, 2021. We appreciate your commitment to helping our school community to experience learning under the safest possible conditions.
Sincerely,
Bob and Andy
Village School Kitchen
Happy New Year from the Village School Kitchen!
We hope 2021 is off to a great start for every family. Many of you did extra baking over the winter break, including some incredible loaves of challah bread!
Here is to a new year of Rising Up in Community to CREATE a Vibrant and Joyful future for our children and grandchildren.
Cheers!
Toña
The Village School Eugene, Oregon w - 541-345-7285
Library News
OBOB meetings will continue this week. The Zoom meeting for grades 3-5 will be Tuesday, Jan. 5 from 2:00-2:30, and 6-8 will be Tuesday, Jan. 5 from 3:00-3:30.
All students who are interested in OBOB are welcome to start attending meetings and reading the books. This week we will be talking about which OBOB books we have read, and what books we are interested in reading next.
In February we will start practicing answering OBOB battle questions. You do not need to purchase books to participate; we are getting books checked out and sent home to students, or you can get them as regular books or ebooks from the Eugene Public Library.
Let me know if you have any questions about this fun program.
Molly Bautista
Parent Council
Parent Council will be having our next meeting of the school year after the Winter Break on Wednesday, January 13th. Please join us and send questions and ideas about the current school year and how we can support our school community to parentcouncil@eugenevillageschool.org.
Zoom link:
The notes from our last meeting can be found here.
Every Village School parent and guardian is a part of Parent Council - you do not have to be a class representative to attend meetings or to contribute ideas. Every parent is invited to Parent Council meetings when they occur. We hope you will soon be able to come to meet with other caring and committed parents who want to share ideas, build our school community, and contribute to the vitality, growth, and evolution of OUR VILLAGE SCHOOL!
Engage with us on Facebook!
The Village Vine is a collective community forum for the Parent Council which includes all families of the Village School. This is a place for sharing information regarding our school and respectful discussion in support of our children and in support of each other as parents. This is a space to connect and build OUR VILLAGE community. There are some new and adjusted guidelines that will be posted in the group so be sure to make sure to check those out! Please feel welcome to post and share in that spirit. We are currently looking for Moderators and an Admin who can help support the rules and guidelines of the Village Vine. Click the link to be added to our group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevillagevine
A Few Conversation Starters For Families!
If you could design your own school, what would it look like?
What are the most interesting things about you?
What’s one of your favorite jokes?
What’s your first memory?
If we all lived in a zoo, what animals would we be?
If you were to create a country, what would the name of the country be? What would the rules be? What would the national flag look like?
What do you think your parents need to remember about being a kid?
What would you do if you could fly for a day?
If you could be a character from any book, what character would you be?
If you were a superhero, what would your power be and what would you be called?
If you could go into the world of one of your favorite books, which would you choose?
If our family were the characters from (your kid’s favorite book, movie, etc.), which characters would we all be?
If you were a great inventor, what would you invent?
Where in the world would you most like to live?
If you were a teacher, what would you teach? A certain class? A certain grade?
Free Comcast Internet Essentials - Extended
The Village School is partnering with Comcast to provide free Internet Essentials services until June 30th, 2021 for Village School families that
qualify for free and reduced lunches under federal guidelines,
live in an area served by Comcast
Previously, you could not be an existing Comcast/Xfinity customer, but this condition has been lifted.
Please contact support@eugenevillageschool.org for more information.
Another resource that might be helpful to families is free cell phone service (for those who qualify). It is called Lifeline phone service through Assurance Wireless. Those who qualify will receive a free Android smartphone that can text, access the internet, etc. There is no charge for the phone or service. https://www.assurancewireless.com/lifeline-services/states/oregon-lifeline-free-government-phone-service
Calendar
Please check the full calendar for the dates for future events. We have updated the calendar through the end of the 2020-21 school year. Due to the delayed start, Winter break starts later than usual, and that the Monday after Spring break is a school day.
Tuesday, January 5, 2021: School Resumes
Monday, January 18, 2021: MLK Day (No school)
Monday, February 15, 2021: Presidents Day (No school)
Tuesday, February 16, 2021: Grading Day (No school)
Friday, March 5, 2021: Grades K-5 Conferences (Regular schedule for grades 6-8)
Monday, March 22, 2021: Spring Break
Monday, April 5, 2021: School Resumes
Friday, May 7, 2021: No School - Prof Development Day (No School)
Monday, May 31, 2021: No School - Memorial Day (No School)
Thursday, June 17, 2021: 1/2 Day Last Day
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