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Writer's picturebecky fay

Village Voice - Volume 21, Issue 17


Upcoming Events

  • Tuesday, January 4: School Resumes with normal schedule

  • Wednesday, January 12: School Picture Day

  • Wednesday, January 12 5:30-6:30: Parent Council Meeting

  • Monday, January 17: No School, Martin Luther King Jr Day


 

Administrator's Message


Hello Village School Families,


We hope you all have had a restful and joyful winter break. As we welcome students and staff back to campus on Tuesday, January 4 we know that the surge in COVID-19 cases as a result of the Omicron variant is at the top of many minds. We continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on our community. We work closely with Lane County Public Health and Oregon Department of Education to modify, as necessary, our health and safety protocols to keep students and staff healthy and safe, while keeping students learning in-person all school year.

With everyone returning to the school after two weeks away, we want to stress the importance of each of us taking steps to keep one another safe, particularly as COVID cases are on the rise. Please note the actions we are taking and what you can do to help:

Lunch to be served in the Commons (Grades 1-8).

  • Students will sit 6 feet apart from each other and will be directed to replace their masks as soon as they are done eating. In addition to safety benefits, we expect this will reduce the number of students subject to quarantine.

  • The new ventilation system in the Commons is very strong. The multiple fans and windows will allow for 15 changes of air per hour.

Masks We highly recommend the use of KF94 or KN95 masks. If you don’t have one, the next best is a surgical mask. We have surgical masks available for all, and will have more effective masks in the coming weeks. If your child only has a cloth mask (or it has a design they love to wear) we are strongly suggesting they wear a surgical mask under their cloth mask. While we haven’t developed any mandate at this point, our Health and Safety committee will be considering rules about stronger masks in view of the Omicron surge.

COVID Test One of the most important things we all can do is get a COVID test. After the holiday gatherings and travels, we strongly recommend that students and staff get tested. Even if you can’t find one available until after January 3, please do so. For those of you already participating in the home/school COVID test, thank you.

WANTED: Kitchen Volunteers To ensure that we have efficient lunch service, we need one dependable volunteer each day from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. The new seating arrangement with six foot spacing greatly increases the dining surface areas, so we are requesting help with keeping them clean between the four shifts. If you can commit to one or more days each week please contact Toña in the Kitchen as soon as possible: taguilar@eugenevillageschool.org.

Quarantine Guidance We aren’t implementing the Test to Stay program. No date is set when we might start. We will follow quarantine guidance from Lane County Public Health.

If a child or staff member tests positive with Covid-19:

  • isolate for 10 days. Return to school on day 11, if fever has been gone for 24 hours w/o medication, and other primary symptoms are resolved

If a child or staff member is considered a close contact to someone with Covid-19:

  • If not vaccinated, or still waiting to be fully vaccinated: quarantine for 10 days, return on day 11 with proof of a negative Covid test.

  • If fully vaccinated (≥2 weeks after 2nd dose), no quarantine required. Watch for symptoms. Recommended to test 5-7 days after exposure.

We are committed to providing in-person learning for our students and it is our responsibility to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we respond to the COVID developments. Let us join together to make a school where each child has a sense of belonging and knows they are physically and emotionally safe.

Warmly

Shannon, Sue, Bob and Andy

 

Winter is Here


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.


 

Watch for Re-enrollment Forms Going Home Tomorrow!


 

Traffic Safety


Parents and Guardians we need your help on an important safety issue.

During Drop off and Pick up on E. 35th Ave, you are required to do the following.

  1. Approach the school from Donald Street.

  2. Use Drop-Off zone for Drop off only. (At the curb near the stairs leading to the school)

  3. Always park in the correct direction and on the correct side of the street.

  4. Do not park on the wrong side of the street. Do not stop cars in the middle of the street.

Children walking through a knot of automobiles is dangerous. Thank you for your attention to this critical safety issue.

 

After School Program


Our After School Enrichment program will begin the week of January 10. Most of the classes are full but we still have openings in Robotics, Acting/Improv, and Creative Writing. For those that have filled out registration forms I will send confirmation texts/emails the week of January 3.


Acting / Improv (Openings now for 6th Graders) We have extended the grade level for Acting/Improv for 6th grade students. Taught by Anthony Edwards for grades 6 - 8. Anthony has been teaching acting for 8 years and will be teaching an introduction to improv class. This class will introduce the techniques and practices involved with improvisational acting. These skills will be strengthened through a variety of games and activities that will have the class all moving and laughing. This is a safe, fun, encouraging environment to let loose and be creative and goofy. Anthony uses a low pressure approach which means students can participate when they are ready. Please reach out to Anthony with any questions you may have.


Creative Writing Our Creative Writing class is taught by Merrill Watrous for grades 4 - 8. Merrill is the author of two published books on the teaching of writing; 150+ students published; has taught elementary, community college, and graduate classes and is the mother of an award-winning writer! In this, class students will find time to write and time to share their writing with one another. They will write at length about topics that they care about because it’s fun and instructive. Our children have lived through a time of tremendous political unrest as well as public health emergency. They will have a lot to say about all of this. I want to hear what they have to say about horses, soccer, social justice, Covid, families, friends, and dogs!


Robotics Our Robotics class is taught by Alex Lowe for grades 3 - 5 This class will be an introduction to engineering and robotics. Participants will learn the basics of design, mechanics, electronics and programming to design and program their own robots in teams of up to 4. This class emphasizes problem solving, team building, communication and technology. The goal of this class is to expose students to STEM at an earlier stage in their education, so that they will be better prepared for living in an increasingly automated and technological society.


If interested, please register via our Enrichment Application.


Happy New Year,

After School Enrichment Program Coordinator

 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Book Study


The Parent Council is sponsoring a book study of the text The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times.


The project which led to the book, sought to reframe the United States history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the U.S. historical narrative.


The first on-line Zoom meeting to discuss the book will be sometime in January. More information will be forthcoming. Please consider acquiring a copy of the book. There will be up to seven loaner copies made possible by a grant from the Parent Council.


 

Counseling Corner


Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful winter break. As we step into a new year this is always a good time to reflect on the past and set intentions for the future. I encourage each family to set family intentions for 2022. Some examples include: have more family game nights, eat dinner together, go for walks, or check in each day with a gratitude practice.


 

Village School Kitchen

Today we have been busy bees in the kitchen and Commons, getting ready for the transition to breakfast and lunch service inside. With the move to 6' spacing for indoor eating, we will have a lot more surfaces to wash and sanitize between lunch periods! We really need a few parent volunteers who can commit to coming in one day a week during the lunch service time to help us oversee the lunch line flow, remind students to stay in their eating spots, pour milk for the young children and sanitize tables quickly between groups. Please help us make this transition run smoothly by volunteering one day a week from 11:30-1:00.



We have been working on calculating carbohydrate counts for all our recipes with the help of VS parent and Registered Dietician, Jennifer Chastain. Look for these on our school's website under the kitchen tab. We hope to post them very soon. Thank you for your help Jenn!


January Menus

The Village School Eugene, Oregon w - 541-345-7285 c - 541-510-8604 taguilar@eugenevillageschool.org

 

Library News


Help Wanted!

I am looking for a volunteer who can put away books in the library for 1-2 hours per week. Please email me or Becky if you are interested.


Class Library Visits and Student Book Choice

Soon we'll be making the transition from me visiting classes with a cart of books to whole class visits to the library. I am very excited for students to have more books available to them. As a reminder, our library honors student choice in book selection. The library's mission is to provide a wide range of current materials relevant to the school’s curriculum and readers’ interest. We encourage an active learning environment that supports critical thinking, curiosity, creativity, and diversity, with the goal of establishing a lifelong appreciation of reading and literature.


To meet this goal, the library has a wide range of books that appeal to different ages and interests, including early readers, picture books, graphic novels, chapter books, nonfiction, and teen fiction. Student choice in book selection for check out is honored with the understanding that parents reserve the final decision on what their child is reading. An exception is the “Young Adult” section which is restricted to grades 5-8 and contains books with more mature themes and/or language. I highly encourage parents to know their child’s class library visit schedule and check in with their child that day about what they checked out from the library. If you have concerns about what your child is choosing from the library, I am happy to discuss concerns with you and/or recommend alternative books.


Overdue Books

Students are allowed to check out one book (first grade) or two books (second-eighth grade) for two weeks at a time. Beyond those two weeks, students can ask for a renewal or their book(s) become "overdue." Please be on the lookout for overdue notices in weekly classroom folders, or an email from me. Overdue books need to be returned in order for students to check out additional books. If a book has been lost, we ask that you make a payment to the office to cover its replacement. Please contact me if you need more information.


Molly Bautista, VS Librarian

 

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!



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.

 

January Parent Council

The next Parent Council Meeting will be Wednesday, January 12 at 5:30 pm

The Zoom link to the meeting is right here

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




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