Upcoming Events
Wednesday, November 10th: Parent Council! (Zoom Link)
Thursday, November 11th: No School, Veterans Day
Friday, November 12th: No School, Conference Day
Wednesday, November 17th: Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
Wednesday, November 17th: Board Meeting, 5:30pm
Wednesday, November 24 - Friday, November 26: No School, Holiday
2021/2022 Calendar is available here!
Administrator's Message
Dear Village School Families,
Fall is a time for wearing sweaters. Others may like layering up with a variety of tops or shirts. Then again some like burly coats. Whatever your style, show your colors and enjoy the change.
Fall is also a time for parent/teacher conferences. Please stay in touch with your classroom teacher about the conferences. Thanks to the parents who attended conferences on November 1st. There is another day of conferences on November 12th. We hope each of you will get the opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher. The school and family partnership is something we deeply value and is a cornerstone to the success of each child. Speaking of partnerships, you all are invited to a Parent Council meeting this Wednesday, November 10, at 5:30 PM.
Three day week for Village School students
November 11 -- Veterans Day -- let’s pay tribute to all vets. We especially want to recognize vets with us today who have served our country honorably during war or peacetime. Thank you Veterans!
November 12 -- Parent Teacher Conferences. A non-student day.
Vaccines are now available for children
Lane County Public Health has a list of places to go and how to make appointments Covid-19 Vaccine for Children & Teens.
Please see the article immediately below with more info.
Staying Healthy and Safe throughout the Winter
Here are two important things you can do to promote health among your family members and our greater school community during the winter months.
Use as many of the eleven mitigation protocols we use at school in your home. The Oregon Health Authority refers to this as Layered Mitigation Safety Protocols.
Whether a student has a cold, influenza, or COVID-like symptoms please err on the side of caution and keep them at home. Most respiratory infections can be prevented using the same preventative methods we use to avoid COVID transmission. When in doubt, seek guidance from your primary care provider. Testing for COVID is the surest way to sort through conditions that have similar characteristics.
Transmission of COVID-19 is declining among school age children
Last week we learned the case count for all K-12 students in Lane County is beginning to decline. From Sept. 1 to Sept. 30 there were 740. From Oct. 1 to Oct. 31 there were 545. This is good news. Let’s keep our guard up, protect ourselves and our children and help to continue the trend downward.
This week’s watchword is layers. Layer on those lovely winter clothes and use those multiple layers of mitigation to keep yourself, loved ones and the greater community safe this winter. Let’s continue to work together, help one another and enjoy the fast approaching holiday season in the safest way possible.
Warmly,
The Village School Administrative Team
Bob, Andy, Shannon and Sue
Vaccination available for Ages 5-11
Lane County Public Health has a list of places to go and how to make appointments Covid-19 Vaccine for Children & Teens. The following venues are taking children's appointments:
Pharmacies Bi-Mart Costco CVS Fred Meyer Health Mart Rite Aid Safeway/Albertsons Walgreens Walmart.
Practices: Community Health Centers of Lane County* McKenzie Willamette Medical Center Oregon Integrated Health Oregon Medical Group White Bird Clinic
Lane County: Lane County Source to Vaccine Clinics. The weekly schedule for children to get vaccinated at Lane Events Center is: Tue/Wed/Thurs 12-6:30 pm, Fridays, 12-6:30pm, Saturday 10-4pm.
Peace Health will be doing weekend clinics (400 per day Sat/Sun)
We will send a special message to our school’s families if and when a pop-up vaccination clinic is scheduled at a 4J school site near The Village School.
P-EBT Benefits for 2021-22
This year school meals are free for all students; however, P-EBT benefits worth roughly $1,000 per student are only available to families who qualify for federal free and reduced meals. We just were informed that the state of Oregon is currently applying to extend P-EBT benefits to the 2021-22 school year. Last year, the sooner families qualified, the greater were the benefits.
How to qualify?
Please submit your Free and Reduced Meal Application. If you qualify, your family will be included when we report this information to the state.
Other reasons to apply:
The more families that qualify for federal free and reduced meals, the more funding we receive for Title I small-group instruction in reading and math. These reading and math groups are vitally important for many of our students. Our funding can shift by as much as $30,000 depending on how many families apply.
Application:
Please complete the Free & Reduced Meals application. Apply either of 2 ways:
Download, fill out and return the following form. (Click here).
Complete the online version at https://www.ode.state.or.us/apps/frlapp.
Parent Council This Wednesday!
The next Parent Council Meeting will be this Wednesday, November 10th at 5:30 pm!
Please join us and send questions and ideas to parentcouncil@eugenevillageschool.org.
The notes from past meetings can be found here.
Every Village School parent and guardian is a part of Parent Council - The Virtual Parent Council Meetings are open to all parents and guardians on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.
You can also engage with Village School families on the Parent Council Facebook page, The Village Vine!
Don't forget to sign in to HelpCounter and report your hours so we can see the amazing contributions from our Village School Families
From the Kitchen
On Friday our school welcomed guest chefs Ana, Nati and Catalina Vasquez Cortes for a special meal to culminate our Dia de los Muertos celebration. The Vasquez Cortes sisters made a delicious meal of memelas, a traditional dish from their Mexican state of Oaxaca. Many students made thank you cards ahead of time and shared their gratitude by saying "Muchisimas gracias" to our guest chefs as they came through the lunch line.
We would like to recognize two local business partners that have supported our kitchen program for many years, Horton Road Farm and Hummingbird Wholesale. This past week we received a generous donation of delicata squash, yellow onions and yellow potatoes from Horton Road Farm. Tomorrow, Hummingbird Wholesale will deliver a donation of coconut aminos, garbanzo beans, gluten free oats and raisins to our kitchen. We love supporting these businesses throughout the year and are grateful that they choose to share their surplus with us!
Con cariño,
Toña Aguilar
November Breakfast Menu November Lunch Menu The Village School Eugene, Oregon w - 541-345-7285 c - 541-510-8604 taguilar@eugenevillageschool.org
Free Opt-in Testing through U of O and OHA
The Village School has joined other schools in a program that makes weekly testing available to our students! U of O has partnered with Oregon Health Authority to provide free, voluntary COVID-19 testing kits to children attending participating K-12 schools.
Use the link below to opt-in:
Please fill out the following form as well and return it to the office!
Library News
Meetings for Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) have started for grades 3-5. OBOB is a voluntary state-wide reading program in which children read from a list of 16 books, form teams, then "battle" against other teams by answering trivia questions from the books. In previous years, students formed teams and met outside the school day.
This year, due to cohorting and social distancing requirements, interested students will meet in small groups with me in the library during the school day. Later in the winter we will be forming teams, and the school battles will take place in late February. The winning team will represent the Village School at a virtual regional tournament. The VS library has copies of the books, but students can also get print books, ebooks, and audio books through the Eugene Public Library. For more information about OBOB, please reference the OBOB website or feel free to contact me.
Molly Bautista, VS Librarian
LTD Passes Available! - Deadline Extended to December 30th
The Village School is working with 4j and LTD to make touchpasses available to Village School students!
(The deadline has been extended by LTD to December 30th account for the challenges they have had getting touchpasses out to schools and students)
If you have a child that does not attend Village School, please contact their school to see if they have touchpasses available for students. We are only able to provide passes to Village School Students.
Fill out the form below to sign up and provide permission for your Village School student to have a card. Then come into the office to have a card assigned to your child!
Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day
On November 14, 1960, at the tender age of six, Ruby Bridges became the first African American student to integrate into an elementary school in the South. Her simple but courageous act of showing up for school each day played an important part in the civil rights movement.
In May 2018, a group of fifth-graders from Martin Elementary School in South San Francisco, California, learned about Ruby and asked their school board to pass a resolution making November 14 Ruby Bridges Day. The San Mateo County Office of Education Safe Routes to School team met with the students about making it a Walk to School Day and invited them to present this proposal to the San Mateo County Board of Education. In years when November 14th falls on a weekend, Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day is celebrated the following Wednesday. This year that falls on Wednesday, November 17th.
Learn more on the Safe Routes to School Page!
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!
Like Dorothy stepping from her front doorstep and into the land of Oz, the past year and a half has been like stepping into an unfamiliar land filled with unpredictability, unexpected friendships and many challenges; and like Dorothy, many of us are seeking a return to the familiar.
The Village School staff would like to lead you along the yellow brick road, bringing together our community with something purely fun and entertaining!
Each day you can listen to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, each chapter will be read by a different staff member (maybe your child can guess who is reading!)
The chapters will be linked on the front page of The Village School Website so check back each day as our children, families and Village School community go on a journey together!
“The story of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was written solely to please children of today. It aspires to being a modernized fairy tale, in which the wonderment and joy are retained and the heartaches and nightmares are left out.”
L. Frank Baum
Chicago, April, 1900.
Free and Reduced Lunch
If you have not yet done so, take a moment to complete the Free and Reduced Lunch Application, and turn it into the office. You can also apply online. Extra copies are available in the office. Our school’s Title I funding is based on the number of qualified households we have, so it is crucial that everyone see if they qualify.
If you received a direct certification letter from the school district that lists your student(s) eligibility, please turn that into the office instead of the free and reduced lunch application.
Contact Tristin in the office for details at office@eugenvillageschool.org
Wellness Resources - The Well
School Psychologist Kelly Korach created a wonderful resource for Village School families. Please check out The Well for wellness resources for parents and children!
