Upcoming Events
Wednesday, January 12: Cancelled School Picture Day
Wednesday, January 12 5:30-6:30: Parent Council Meeting (Zoom)
Monday, January 17: No School, Martin Luther King Jr Day
Administrator's Message
Hello Village School Families,
We hope the sunshine this last weekend brought a bit of warmth and beauty to your home and perhaps allowed for a walk or bicycle ride outside. Today’s Village Voice addresses information and resources from a recent meeting of our Health and Safety Committee:
Highly Effective Masks
Symptom Screening
Vaccination Booster Requirements for Staff and Volunteers
Volunteering in Classrooms *
Cohorts at Recess *
Reading Buddies *
Test to Stay *
UO Covid Testing for People with mild symptoms * * (See Health and Safety Committee article)
With the onset of the Omicron variant, which is significantly more contagious, it is necessary for all of us to remain steadfast in using all 11 layers of health and safety measures that keep our students, staff and community safe.
Layer #10 – Proper Masks are Critical to the Safety of Oneself and Others
Health experts including OHA recommend using better masks because cloth masks alone are not very effective at preventing Omicron.
We highly recommend KF94 or KN95 masks. The next best is a surgical mask.
KF94, KN95 and Surgical masks are available in the office for students upon request.
If your child only has a cloth mask (or it has a design they love to wear) we strongly suggest they wear a surgical mask under their cloth mask.
Layer #1 & 6 Symptom Screening, Stay Home if Ill and Seeking Tests
Screen your child before leaving home every morning
People with the following symptoms may have COVID-19:
Fever or chills
Cough, Sore throat, Congestion or runny nose
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue, Head, muscle or body aches
New loss of taste or smell
Nausea or vomiting, Diarrhea
Notify the school if your student is ill (please share symptoms and date of onset)
Seek COVID-19 testing and report the results to the school. The UO is offering testing for people with mild symptoms - on the west side of McArthur Court, off University Street, between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Layer #11 – Vaccinations and Booster Shot
Village School and OHA encourage everyone eligible to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and / or get a booster, if applicable.
While breakthrough infections in vaccinated people may occur, current vaccines help protect against severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths due to Omicron infection.
We believe our school community from students to parents/guardians to the faculty are doing an amazing job of collaborating and pulling together to keep everyone safe and to lend a hand to our neighbors and friends when needed.
Thank you for being a part of our community.
Warmly
Shannon, Sue, Bob and Andy
Student Re-enrollment and Sibling Enrollment Forms
Student re-enrollment forms are due Wednesday, January 12th! There are additional forms in the office if you need them. Sibling application forms are also available in the office.
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.
Approach the school from Donald Street. This reduces two way traffic on 35th Ave.
Use Drop-Off zone for Drop off only. (At the curb near the stairs leading to the school)
Always park in the correct direction and on the correct side of the street.
Do not park on the wrong side of the street. Do not stop cars in the middle of the street.
Have children exit on Curb Side of car, not the street side
Please say your “goodbyes” before you stop and avoid lingering
Children walking through a knot of automobiles is dangerous. Thank you for your attention to this critical safety issue.
Village School Health and Safety Committee Updates
Booster Shots required by February 14 for Staff and Volunteers
All staff, unless they already have an approved exemption on file, are required to have a booster shot by February 14. Staff that do not have their booster by February 14 will be required to get tested weekly via OHA/Willamette Toxicology. Even if staff have their two vaccinations, but not a booster shot they will be required to submit test results weekly.
All volunteers must also have a booster shot by February 14. There are no medical or religious exemptions for volunteers. They must be up-to-date with their vaccinations – meaning they must have a booster.
Volunteers in Classrooms
When a volunteer has completed and signed the Covid protocol packet/contract teachers may consider scheduling one of the qualified volunteers to assist.
Only one qualified volunteer at a time may assist a teacher for indoor activities.
The number of qualified volunteers that may assist on a field trip is limited to three.
WANTED: Kitchen Volunteers
We need a cadre of reliable volunteers in the kitchen to help clean tables. If you can commit to one or more days each week from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm contact Toña in the Kitchen as soon as possible: taguilar@eugenevillageschool.org.
Mixing Cohorts at Recess
We are pausing the plan for mixing lower grades cohorts for outdoor recess. We will revisit this at a later date.
Grades 5 and 6 will be able to use any zone at their lunch recess. These grades will continue to use assigned zones during the morning recess.
Reading Buddies
Will continue to take place outside or in the Commons and not in classrooms.
Buddy pairs must maintain 3 ft or more distance, and of course wear masks.
Test to Stay
We aren’t implementing the Test to Stay program at this time. With the advent of Omicron we want to be extra safe. Plus with the new 6 ft spacing setup for meals and snacks, we should expect to see fewer students cited as close contacts for quarantine. We will revisit the possibility of implementing Test to Stay after the Omicron surge has passed.
UO Covid Testing Expanded
The UO is offering Covid testing for people with mild symptoms. People with mild symptoms can pick up self-collected test kits at the ticket booths on the west side of McArthur Court, off University Street, between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, on days when program is operational.
Monthly LGBTQ+ and Allies Gathering!
Sarah Maxwell and her family will be "hosting" a monthly gathering at Tugman park, the first Sunday morning of each month at 10:00 am, at the picnic tables on the Hillyard side of the park. The meetings are open to all LGBTQ families & allies, with the simple mission of just building community.
There is no need to RSVP or commit to bringing anything. Since Village School is continuing to mask outdoors for playtime, our group will be doing the same. Students of all ages and their families are welcome and encouraged to join in! The dates of the gatherings will be Sunday, 10:00 am on Feb 6, Mar 6, April 3, May 1, and June 5.
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. We have six loaner copies made possible by a grant from the Parent Council available in the office.
Village School Kitchen
A moment of Monday morning levity thanks to volunteer Josh Chamberlain!
The students and staff are appreciating our move to indoor dining. We have noticed that meal time is much calmer and quieter indoors!
This week our friend Stacy Kraker from Hummingbird Wholesale asked if we would like a donation of 40 lbs of Nutritional Yeast. Yes, please! How many schools across the country serve nutritional yeast on their condiment line?
I am filled with gratitude today for the beautiful children and staff we feed, the dedicated volunteers that make it possible, the community partners who support our mission so generously and the very best kitchen staff in the world!
Warmly,
Toña
January Menus
The Village School Eugene, Oregon w - 541-345-7285 c - 541-510-8604 taguilar@eugenevillageschool.org
Library News
Class Library Visits and Student Book Choice
We are 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
January Parent Council
Please join us for the first meeting of 2022 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
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.
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