Upcoming Events
Tuesday, October 25th, Village School Board meeting - 5:30pm, Library
Thursday, October 27th, Walkathon Village.Raisely.Com
Friday, November 4th, Dia De Los Muertos Celebration
Tuesday, November 8th, Walk & Roll
Thursday, December 1st, Reading Celebration Event
Administrator's Message
Greeting Village School Community!
Finally, the rains have arrived and the smoke is clearing. It was really nice to have a normal day with outdoor activities on Friday! This time of year, the ending of the harvest season, the time with the days are noticeably shorter, and the time when we begin to look within for our own warmth and light, is such a special time. Pumpkins, cozy blankets, and hot beverages have become a staple in many homes.
This upcoming week is a busy one, with the half day on Wednesday, the Walk-A-Thon on Thursday, and the second annual Halloween Hike on Friday. Then, the week after that, we have Dia de los Muertos!
If your student hasn’t gotten any pledges yet for the Walk-A-Thon, you might want to set aside some time before Thursday to help them get some signed up. The Walk-A-Thon is much more meaningful when the laps mean helping a great cause. Last week, the sixth grade took a field trip to Chintimini Wildlife Rescue to connect with the non-profit they are earning for. They made mason bee habitats, weeded walking paths, met the rescue animals, and ate lunch in the meadow. We are grateful for the Walk-A-Thon, creating a network of non-profits helping other non-profits in Eugene and surrounding areas.
Halloween is fast approaching! Check with your classroom teacher about how they are managing the use of costumes by children. Three major points to remember about costumes. If your child wears a costume on Friday to school:
No part of the costume can depict blood or gore.
The use of masks or weapons of any kind are not allowed.
Some children use one costume for school and a different one for at home festivities.
Also, please remind your children not to bring any Halloween candy to school. When students bring Halloween candy in, things get disruptive quickly, not to mention the fact that frequent exposure to glucose diminishes mental capacity!
When your child comes home from school on Oct 28, ask them about the Halloween Hike! The school grounds will be decorated with supernatural scenes and staff carved pumpkins. We will be having a staff contest to see who comes up with the most creative pumpkin of all! Also, feel free to take a hike around the grounds yourself and see what we come up with.
Be sure to mark your calendar for the Dia de Los Muertos festival on November 4th! Dinner starts at 5:30 and at 6, we will hear Mariachi el Sol perform, followed by our student performances. There will be an ofrenda, face painting, and craft tables. This event is a favorite at the Village School, and this year promises to be a lovely evening. You won’t want to miss it!
Here’s to hoping your harvests, literal and figurative, are rich and plentiful! Happy Fall!
Community Service Walk-a-Thon - Oct 27th
Cool, clean air has finally arrived, which means we will be holding our Walkathon this Thursday 10/27! We are looking forward to heading over with the kids to the South Eugene High School track, and watching them meet their walking goals! Our goal remains to raise at least $12,000. Half of this will help The Village Kitchen and our garden. The other half will support the following eight organizations, which were chosen for co-sponsorship due to their commitment to community values and ecological awareness.
We are pleased to announce that online pledging via Village.Raisely.Com has brought in about $4,600 to date. It's easy to set up your own site, create a family team, and refer people to it via email, Text, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc. Several families have circulated this to a circle of family members or friends. We hope that each family will participate in the walk-a-thon to the best of its ability. If each family raises $50, we will achieve our goal, but don’t stop at that. The more contributions you raise, the more successful we’ll be at achieving our goal of giving back to the community and helping our school. Thank you very much for your participation!
Día de Los Muertos
Celebramos el Día de los Muertos
Our 2022 school Día de los Muertos celebrations will be held on Friday, November 4, from 5:30 to 7:30 in the Village School Commons. Please visit the sign up sheets outside the office and on the counselor's office bulletin board to reserve a spot to volunteer for this wonderful festival!
Village School children have been learning about the history and the importance of this Latin American holiday. They are learning about the joy and remembrance that this special day brings. An understanding of the indigenous roots of the day along with the fusion of Spanish and Christian European traditions allows students to see how ancient the holiday truly is. Click here for more Día de los Muertos history Our celebration mirrors some of the myriad of wonderful traditions from México.
The Día de los Muertos Celebration at the Village School on November 4th includes:
The traditional school Ofrenda will be placed in the Commons. Students are welcome to place photos of loved ones on the Ofrenda. Please come help us put the beautiful ofrenda together on Wednesday, November 2 starting at 2:00PM. Let Chrissy know if you can help. We also need marigolds, Fall foliage, and other flowers to decorate the ofrenda.
Students will be creating artwork to be displayed in the Commons during the time the ofrenda is up. Paintings, papel picado, and other Día de los Muertos works of art will be up for the evening event.
A community dinner will be available to families starting at 5:30-6:15. Please bring your own tableware. ¡Sabrosísima!
The middle school students (grades 7 and 8) will run face painting and arts and crafts tables during the evening.
Mariachi del Sol from Springfield High School will perform at 6:00.
Students in grades one through four will be presenting for families starting at 6:45.
We hope that you and your family have a joyous day celebrating those who have passed, lending wonderful memories and much happiness.
Sinceramente,
Maestras Sarah y Toña
Walk & Roll - Rescheduled to November 8th
Our rescheduled Walk & Roll to School Day will be happening on November 8th. We'll be joining children and adults worldwide in a celebration of walking and biking to school! There are so benefits to taking alternate modes of transportation, and we're lucky to live in a fantastic city for getting around by foot or by bike. The class with the highest participation will get to proudly display the Golden Bicycle, and will also get to make and enjoy some refreshing smoothies!
If you are interested in helping out with this morning event, please let the office know.
See below for a map of safe routes to school.
Title I Reading Celebration Event
Mark your calendars! On the evening of Dec. 1, Title I will be sponsoring a Reading Celebration Reading Event. There will be activities, prizes, a guest speaker, Scholastic Book Fair and food!
Watch the Village Voice for more details soon!
6th Grade Field Trip
Last week the 6th Graders visited Chintimini Wildlife Center in Corvallis. They had a full and rewarding day, building mason bee habitats and pulling invasive weeds.
Library News
Class library visits are now happening each week. I highly recommend knowing your child's class library schedule and checking in with them about what they are reading. For younger children it helps to have someone at home who can give them reminders about bringing library books back. Please be on the lookout for possible overdue notices in communications with your child's teacher. Wet weather is here, so please be sure to take extra care of books going to and from school. Any dampness on books can damage them beyond repair. Thanks for your help keeping our library books in good condition! Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) is starting soon. OBOB is a state-wide, voluntary reading program in which students form teams, read from a set of 16 books, then participate in "battles" where they answer trivia questions about the books. There are two divisions: 3rd-5th grade and 6th-8th grade. As restrictions have eased this year, I am going back to the way I used to run OBOB in previous years with OBOB being an extracurricular activity taking place outside of school hours for all grades above third grade. This will be different than current 4th and 5th graders have had in the past. Be on the lookout for OBOB sign up sheets that students who want to participate bring home. Students may form their own team or sign up and I will place them on a team. I also need at least one parent for each team to be their coach. This involves hosting a meeting, (usually once a week/2 weeks) helping the children decide what books to read, and helping them practice answering questions. If you are interested in coaching, please provide your name and contact information on the OBOB sign up sheet. For more information, you can see the OBOB website or contact me. Third grade families: please refer to upcoming communications from Ms. Emily and me for details about how OBOB will work. Molly Bautista, VS Librarian molly@eugenevillageschool.org
Student Helpers
Love and Cora were our 5th grade helpers this week! They helped with recycling and sweeping the breezeways. Thanks for their help!
Volunteering!
As we work toward reuniting our Village School community, more opportunities to volunteer are coming up! Be sure to watch your email, the Village Voice and the Village Vine for messages from Parent Council, your class coordinator, your child's teacher and the Village School Kitchen, to see the volunteer needs that are coming up for you to enjoy. Some upcoming events that need volunteer help are:
Walk & Roll
Walk-a-thon
Dia de Los Muertos
Reading Celebration Event
If you haven't filled out your volunteer paperwork yet, please stop by the office to pick up a packet.
Another way to contribute to our school community is by attending Parent Council Meetings! Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, November 8th at 5:30 PM. We are still holding these meetings by Zoom so they are easy to attend (even while making dinner or folding laundry) and every parent and guardian's voice is valued in decisions about what Parent Council funds are used for, events that are held and collaborations with departments and teachers at the Village School!
We adore our volunteers! Village School would not be what it is without you. Thank you so much for making Village School the incredible community it is!
Don't forget to sign in to HelpCounter and report your hours so we can see the amazing contributions from our Village School Families
Rules for a Safe Morning Drop Off
Please do not park in the lower lot when dropping students off in the morning. Parking is available on 35th Ave, Glen Oak Dr, Knob Hill Ln, and Donald St.
*We require students in grades K-3 to be walked to their classroom door by a parent or guardian.
If you’d like to drop off your 4th-8th grade student please follow these guidelines:
1. Approach the school from Donald Street. This reduces two way traffic on 35th Ave.
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.
5. Have children exit on Curb side of car, not the street side
6. Please say your “goodbyes” before you stop and avoid lingering
Thank you for helping to keep our students safe!
The Village Kitchen
Our corner fermentation station is bubbling away with four big batches of various peppers in progress for our school's Día de los Muertos celebration. Big thanks to Chezem Creek Farm for the Padrone, Thai and Paprika peppers. Thanks to Taylor for the Aji Crystal peppers and to Pablo for the habañero peppers. Special thanks to VS mama, Jessica Jackowski, for coming into the kitchen after school on Friday to share her fermentation expertise with us.
We made a yummy lentil soup for lunch on Friday which warmed many bellies as the weather outside turned wetter and colder. 6th grade student Josey enjoyed stirring the big pots on the stovetop.
Inflation! We are all feeling it. The cost of ingredients we purchase every week has risen significantly in the past year. Organic milk has increased by 41%. Oats have increased by 52%, flour has increased by 22% and sunflower oil has increased by 71%. In contrast, over the past 3 years the school has only increased the cost of a student lunch by 6.67%. The two most helpful things you can do to ensure the continued success of our school's special food service program are: 1. volunteer in the kitchen! 2. encourage your child/children to eat school lunches!
Thank you for your continued support.
Warmly,
Toña
Free and Reduced Lunch
Please Check and See If You Qualify!
The new free and reduced lunch income requirements have been significantly expanded so please apply, even if you think you may not qualify!
If you have not yet done so, take a moment to complete the Free and Reduced Lunch Application. 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 do not qualify for free meals, payments can be made in the office or at schoolpaymentportal.com.
If you qualify via direct certification (ie, food stamps), you should have received a letter confirming eligibility for free meals. Please let us know if you have not received this letter.
Contact Tristin in the office for details at office@eugenvillageschool.org
Parent Council
The Parent Council Online store is live! Help support your parent council by purchasing Village School shirts and sweatshirts! All proceeds help fund projects and events that support our school community.
We are working with a new local business, Webfoot printing.
Order ends- 10/31/22
Delivery- hopefully before 12/1/22
Thanks for supporting parent council!
-Shannon Boyd
The next Parent Council Meeting will be on Tuesday, November 8th at 5:30pm!
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!
Help Wanted
Substitute Teacher & Substitute Educational Assistant
Duties: Serve as substitute teacher or substitute classroom assistant.
Qualifications: Experience working with groups of children. Knowledge of Waldorf curriculum a plus.
Teachers require Valid Oregon Teaching License:
[Main lesson (K-8), Movement/PE, Spanish, Music, Handwork]
Instructional Assistant (BA and fingerprint background check required) Willingness to get CPR training Background check required Complete Covid vaccination records Salary Range: $24 per hour for Teachers, $15 - $18 per hour for Assistants
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Benefits include our healthy lunch service, PERS coverage.
Free Covid Testing
You can still sign up for 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:
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.
