Upcoming Events
Wednesday, December 8 - 5:30 - 7:00 pm: Parent Council Meeting
Tuesday, December 14 - 5:30pm: All School Meeting (Zoom link to come)
Wednesday, December 15 - 5:30 - 7:30 pm: Board Meeting on site
Thursday, December 16 - Friday, December 30 No School, Winter Break
Monday, January 3: No School, Teacher Work Day
Tuesday, January 4: School Resumes with normal schedule
Administrator's Message
Dear Village School Families,
Last Sunday offered us fine weather. Now, it’s time to prepare for long bouts of rain. As Oregonians we are ready and many of us look forward to the precipitation. Water supports life. Precipitation also comes as snow and this allows some to partake in wintry recreational activities. As the ground becomes saturated and roadways and sidewalks become slick let’s all slow down and be extra cautious.
Safety is at the top of our to-do list throughout all four seasons -- whether it's raining or the sun is hot and bright. Mitigation practices to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19 on school grounds is job number one for us. Pedestrian and automobile safety, especially when parents are dropping off and picking up students is also extremely important There have been close calls. So far no injuries this year and we all are grateful.
Protecting the Lives of Children from Automobile Accidents
We all know the importance of wearing seatbelts, driving at the posted speed limit and following the traffic laws that can save lives for passengers and pedestrians. At The Village School, we need more parents to act responsibly during pick up and drop off times.
Don’t park on the wrong side of the street
Don’t stop in the middle of the street to let your child in or out of the car
Pull over properly to the curbside; (do not double park)
Supervise your child when they cross the street
In addition, we encourage parents to plan for an extra 10 minutes each morning to park their car and walk their child to the classroom, especially for students in grades K-5. This action will keep all children safer and is one way to maintain our shared experience as a community of families that choose to attend The Village School.
After School Programming - Begins Early January
Check your email Tuesday for an announcement about after school classes to begin the first week of January after the break. Classes include ceramics, art, robotics, creative writing, marimba and drama.
COVID related news
Lane County Public Health reports that despite a small uptick over the holiday cases for children ages 5-17 have declined:
Sept Oct. Nov.
750 530 255
We applaud all that have contributed to this success.
Lane County Vaccination rate and Omicron Variant
In Lane County, as of Dec. 2 we have a vaccination rate (at least one shot) of about 26% for children ages 5-11 and for ages 12-17 about 68%. As of this writing there are no reported cases of Omicron in Oregon. According to LCPH, in spite of unknowns, early evidence is that our current vaccines should help to prevent hospitalization from the Omicron variant. Please see the mitigation Layers of Safety we use to keep children safe at school. We will keep you abreast weekly of information that is relevant to the children and families of The Village School.
Test to Stay in School Program
The Oregon Department of Education and Oregon Health Authority are still developing a test to stay program. One page OHA brief here. The following One Page Flyer for Parents describes how the new program will work in schools. We encourage patience and grace as we await the finalized plan from ODE and OHA on how the program will be implemented in the schools.
As winter weather descends upon us there can be excitement for some about wintry activities. There is also a loud call we want everyone to hear and to heed: Practice safe driving and pedestrian safety especially during drop off and pick times.
Warmly,
Shannon, Sue, Bob and Andy
PS Something Special: Mark your calendars for Tuesday, December 14, 5:30 PM. There will be an All School zoom/on-line meeting. We will share news about any changes to our mitigation strategies and protocols when we resume school on January 4, 2022. PLUS we will premier a video tape of student performances in-lieu of a live, in-person Winter Holiday program.
Winter is Coming
Use all the layers possible at home to reduce the transmission of the virus. The Layers of Safety illustrate the same strategies we use at school to reduce transmission. Try your best to limit gatherings and non-essential activities. If you visit with folks outside of your household it is recommended to wear a mask and maintain social distance, especially if you are indoors.
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: 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.
Counseling Corner
December can be busy or feel busy for many families. Take time to connect with your child with this 25 minute Family Yoga: Yoga for Connection practice.
Rebecca Macemon
rmacemon@eugenevillageschool.org
Village School Kitchen
We had the pleasure of welcoming a number of Village School alumni today. With 4J's no-school days, a few former students chose to volunteer in the kitchen! It is a treat to hear about their teenage adventures and future plans. Sarah Nash-Galpern, a sophomore at South, and Max Munsell, a sophomore at Churchill, made over 100 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches this morning! Makai Engel and and Athena Morrison, both juniors at South, scrubbed and chopped 50 lbs of potatoes! Laurel Bradsher, now a freshman at South, helped us clean up after lunch and made a batch of yummy applepearsauce.
Students and staff have been eating more and more salad greens for the past few weeks. We love seeing their trays full of lettuce and other beautiful vegetables after they visit the salad bar. This week we have partnered with Camas Swale Farm to include their beautiful radicchio in our salad mix. With an ever-increasing fan base, these colorful cool weather alternatives to lettuce have been the darling of the culinary world in recent years and a mainstay in Italian cuisine for millennia before that. When Farmer Peter delivered these chioggia radicchio at 4:00 today he told us they were just cut and washed for us as he was packing up the truck. Yay for super fresh, local, organic produce!
In joy, Toña
Check out the December breakfast and lunch menus! They can always be found on The Village School website. You can also pick up a paper copy from the office to put in a handy place at home so your child knows what to expect for school day meals.
Warmly, Toña The Village School Eugene, Oregon w - 541-345-7285 c - 541-510-8604 taguilar@eugenevillageschool.org
Village School Alumni Play Marimba for 2nd Graders!
Our second graders moving to the music of a Kutsinhira marimba band that practices on site including several Village School Alumni
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.
LTD Passes Available!
The Village School has worked with 4j and LTD to make touchpasses available 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!
(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.
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 are 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.
December Parent Council
The next Parent Council Meeting will be Wednesday December 8th at 5:30 pm
Please join us for the last meeting of 2021 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
Library News
Lost Library books
Recently several children have told me they may have lost their library books. When this happens I usually instruct them to tell a caregiver and to keep looking around their home or other places they may have taken it (vehicle, daycare, etc). If the library book(s) still cannot be found, contact me and I will let you know the cost of replacement, and you can pay the office. Once the book(s) are paid for, students can resume checking out books from the library. Please let me know if the cost is a hardship for your family and we can work something out. My goal is to maintain access to the library for all students as much as possible.
Here are some tips for helping keep track of library books:
- Check in with our child on their library day and find out what book(s) they brought home.
- Designate one spot in your home to keep them until your child is ready to return them. If you have many books from other libraries, it may help to keep them separate.
- It may work best for your child to choose (books) from the library but keep them at school in their desk or cubby.
Thank you for helping keep as many books available for our Village School community as possible!
Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB)
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
