Upcoming Events
Monday, October 11th: Indigenous People's Day
Wednesday, October 13th, 5:30-6:30: Parent Council Meeting (Zoom)
Friday, October 29th: 1/2 Day, Grading Day
Monday, November 1st: No School, Conference Day
2021/2022 Calendar is available here!
Administrator's Message
Dear Village School Families,
The weather is cooling and the deciduous trees are adding beautiful fall colors to our world. With the advent of more rain and colder temperatures on the horizon, be sure to follow the instructions of your child’s teacher as to what type of foul weather gear to keep at the school. Of course, dressing in layers is recommended for all age groups, especially because we are circulating a lot of fresh air through the classrooms and eating lunch outdoors.
WANTED: Parents and guardians to attend this year's first Parent Council meeting, on Wednesday, October 13, 5:30 PM. For folks new to our school, the Parent Council is our form of PTA. This group advances communication among all grade levels, identifies programs of interest for our parent community, leads the work on our annual Heart of the Village festival, and selects projects or resources in which to invest that benefit the entire student body.
In the last seven days we added 27 students to the at-home test kit program. Now 138 students are participating in the free weekly home COVID test kits. To sign up, it’s a two step process. 1) Go to At Home Testing, fill out the application. 2) Be sure to bring the paper form from your signup to the office. Then, you will get a kit each Tuesday to return on Wednesday morning. You will be texted your results within a couple of days!
Walk & Roll to School is happening this month. Please encourage your child to participate, it is a fun way to add healthy practices for individuals and the environment on a daily basis.
Have you completed a Free and Reduced Lunch application? If you haven’t please go to this downloadable form here or this online application. We need as many parents to apply as possible to secure Title I funding.
A special note of thanks to each member of our school community, from staff members, to parents and guardians, and especially to the students. We are now beginning our 6th full week of school. We have good reason to rejoice in the educational values and camaraderie we share as we continue to work together to create a safe school environment where every child and adult has a feeling of belonging.
Respectfully,
The Village School Administrative Team
Bob, Andy, Shannon and Sue
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!
Parent Council
The first Parent Council Meeting of the year will be on October 13th!
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 each month starting again in the fall!
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
Walk + Roll to School
Walk and Roll for the month of October is now underway, and we encourage you to walk, scoot, bike, ride the bus, or skateboard to school every day and not just on the raffle day Wednesdays. If you must drive, try parking at Market of Choice and walking from there to school, giving yourself a great start to your days!
Check out the graph in the primary breezeway. It's fun to see, schoolwide, how everyone is getting to school. We tally participation and add to the graph each Wednesday.
We are doing a raffle each Wednesday for those who participate, culminating in a grand raffle during the final week of the event: to give away two deluxe scooters!
This is a Title 1-sponsored event, so your support and involvement help to ensure that our wonderful Title 1 program, which includes classroom support and funding for special events, continues.
Let's Walk and Roll!!
LTD Passes Coming Soon!
The Village School is working with 4j and LTD to make Touchpass Cards available to our students! More news to come.
De Maestra Sarah
During the last few weeks, students in grades 1-3 have been learning new songs and stories. One of our newest songs is Un Elefante. First and second grade children have brought home a book to help them sing the song to you. A great recording of the song can be found on youtube.com by José Luis Orozco.
We also finished our Oso Café books. For help with pronunciation you can look to a reading on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE0232663r4
Our version is just a little bit different.
¡Gracías!
Title I Student/Teacher/Parent Compact
There is no need to sign or return this sheet, simply discuss it with your child and family and work together to commit to the agreements.
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.
Village School Kitchen
Last week the students that entered the Commons for lunch service were greeted by over 100 pumpkins just waiting to be carved and many decorative gourds that are unique and interesting. This week those same pumpkins and gourds will be gracing the courtyard for our Jack O'Lanterns for Jackson! fundraiser. As you may remember, our dear kitchen dishwashing machine, Jackson, isn't doing so well. We are hoping to have some new parts installed this week and all have our fingers crossed that will do the trick.
Pumpkins and gourds will be for sale in the courtyard during breakfast service from 8:00-8:20 and right after school from 2:45-3:15 Tuesday - Friday this week only. Regular carving pumpkins are $5 each, decorative gourds are $1 each and the teeny tiny pumpkins are .75 each or 3 for $2. Exact change is preferred. All money raised will go towards covering the costs of repair parts and labor for Jackson, our beloved dishwashing machine.
On Thursday we had a visit from Guiseppe, one of our fabulous kitchen volunteers who loves to play Italian music and prepare Italian food. Guiseppe made his ever popular Focaccia Pizza. As we were dancing around the kitchen we reminisced about making the same meal years ago at our old school site. We pulled up an old photo from focaccia making in 2016 and took another one for 2021. We hope to get another one in 2027 when Guiseppe's daughter will hopefully be in kindergarten at our school!
Warmly,
Toña Aguilar
Toña Aguilar The Village School Eugene, Oregon w - 541-345-7285
Library News
I'm very excited to get library book check out started again for many students. I will be visiting several classes with books for students to choose from. Please help students keep track of their books so they don't get lost or damaged. Having one place in your home to keep borrowed books is helpful. If your student's class isn't having regular classroom visits by me, they can check in with their teacher about drop-in library visits during the school day. Families can also visit the library after school on Thursdays to check out books. If you still have Village School library books at home, please return them to your child's classroom or the office. If you know they have been lost or damaged, please let me know and we can figure out how to get replacements.
More information will be coming soon about participating in Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) for this year.
Monday, October 11 is Oregon's first official Indigenous People's Day. Here are several books I recommend by Indigenous authors and/or about Indigenous people:
Picture Books
We are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell (Cherokee Nation)
We are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom (Anishabe/Metis)
Bowwow Powwow by Brenda Child (Ojibwe)
Grades 3-6
I Can Make this Promise by Christine Day (Upper Skagit)
Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde (Umpqua))
Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Nation)
Young Adult / Middle School
Apple: Skin to the Core by Eric Gansworth (Onondaga Nation)
Fighter in Velvet Gloves: Alaska Civil Rights Hero Elizabeth Peratrovich by Annie Boochever (in collaboration with Roy Peratrovich Jr., Tlingit Nation)
Thanks!
Molly Bautista
VS Librarian
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!
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
Comments