Village Voice - Volume 24, Issue 29
- Chrissy Barry
- Apr 16
- 8 min read
Upcoming Events
Friday, April 18th, Talent Show, Dinner starts at 5:30pm, Show starts at 6pm
Monday, April 21st, 9:00am, West African Dance Assembly
Wednesday, April 30th, 1st Grade Field Trip to Nearby Nature
Wednesday, April 30th, 10:15am & 6:30pm, 5th Grade Play
Thursday, May 1st, May Day Celebration
Thursday, May 1st, After Drop off, Village Community Council Coffee
Monday, May 5th, After Drop off, Volunteer Appreciation Coffee Time
Quick Links
In the interest of reducing the sheer length of the Village Voice, we have replaced several repeating items with links to shortcuts:
Village Vine This is the Village School Facebook Community.
Administrator's Message
Greetings Village School Community!
Following a recent communication from the Oregon Department of Education who “are standing up for the rights of all Oregonians and will continue to promote diversity in our schools because we recognize it enhances learning outcomes for all students", we would like to share the Village School’s statement that reaffirms our commitment to equity and excellence in education. This statement was written with input from faculty, parents, and was approved by our Board in February:
Village School Statement of Support for Students Targeted by Executive Orders:
In the wake of an intensifying federal political landscape, we are tracking policies and rhetoric that specifically target LGBTQIA2S+ and immigrant communities, along with other concerning curricular directives.
We want all families to know that we reaffirm our commitment to the Village School’s deeply held values of inclusivity, safety, and respect for all families, students, staff and volunteers. We are committed to a curriculum centered in the scientific method and comprehensive historical rigor, with a focus on societal, economic and environmental justice. We remain committed to maintaining welcoming and supportive learning environments for every student, regardless of immigration status, gender identity or expression, or any other factor.
Our values, in conjunction with our sponsoring district’s priorities for charter schools and state laws, create a foundation for our school to be a welcoming space for all, and this will not change. We remain dedicated to our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Mission Statement, which will not be diminished with any shift of administration:
We believe in joining with our community to prepare our children, families, and staff to deeply engage with each other and understand today’s world. Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusiveness is integrated into our community’s core values, and we hold ourselves accountable to operating in alignment with those values. We envision a culturally sustaining school which is “responsive to the dynamic nature of society and young people” where systems, curriculum, and practices are co-constructed through authentic engagement with our richly diverse community.
We also remain fully committed to our Non-Discrimination Statement:
The Village School strongly supports diversity and the honoring of all people, beliefs, and cultures both locally and globally. A core element of the Village School curriculum is to educate our students in the wide array of cultures and belief systems, both past and present, and to treat everyone’s beliefs and culture with respect. As such, the Village School upholds a strong non-discrimination policy. The Village School does not discriminate against employees or students based on mental or physical disability, race, ethnicity, immigration status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, marital status, familial status, economic class, physical characteristics, or linguistic characteristics of a national origin group.
We are dedicated to continual growth and learning in this area, so that we may serve and support our diverse community with care and compassion.
May wisdom shine through me.
May love glow within me.
May strength penetrate me.
That in me may arise
A helper of humanity,
A servant of sacred things,
Selfless and true. -Rudolf Steiner
Thank you for being a part of our community! We’re stronger together.
Sincerely,
Roz, Shannon, and Andy
Volunteering
Please reach out to chrissy@eugenevillageschool.org with any questions about volunteering! We ask families to contribute 40 hours of volunteer hours per year, and single parent households to contribute 20 hours.
May Day is coming up! Please sign up to volunteer at this wonderful school day event.
Our Handwork teachers are looking for some parent volunteers to read stories to the kids while they sew and knit their creations. Please email Chrissy at chrissy@eugenevillageschool.org if interested.
Brett is looking for a couple of adults to help with digging holes to install a couple of pet waste stations.
Ms Frédérique is looking for one or two volunteers to help hem a set of small tablecloths for the art room. Please email frederique@eugenevillageschool.org if interested.
Talent Show - Friday April 18, 5:30pm
Come support our 8th graders! They will be hosting the Village School Talent Show this coming Friday, 4/18 to fundraise for their big end of the year trip. Spaghetti dinner starts at 5:30 and the show will begin at 6:00pm. Let's cheer on all of our wonderful performers!
May Day
Our annual May Day celebration is coming up! We will need plenty of flowers to make Flower Crowns and to adorn the Maypole. Please share the bounty of your gardens - we will have buckets placed outside to the office on the morning of May 1st.
Please also take a look at our volunteer needs for this extra sweet celebration, and get your name down for a shift that looks good to you!
Commemorative Tiles for Our Courtyard Mural!
Check out our commemorative tiles to help fundraise for our courtyard mural. The tiles offer a great opportunity to share a legacy with our school. The tiles come in two sizes and businesses can upload their logos. They will be situated under the roof by the entrance to the Commons, right next to the location of the mural.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Village School Kitchen
Spring produce is sprouting up! We are excited to incorporate more produce from local farms this month as it becomes available. If you haven't visited the Farmers Market yet this year, we encourage you to head down there this Saturday. The Lane County Farmers Market is held every Saturday from 9-3 at the corner of Oak and Broadway.
We also have sprouts popping up in the school garden. Several students sauntered down to check on the chickens and they spied the asparagus and peas reaching for the sunny sky.
A couple of important reminders about our Amazing and Unique Food Service Program:
Breakfast is served every day from 8:00-8:20.
Folks can sit down and eat in the Commons OR pick up a to-go bag for a morning snack. Students may choose one of these options each morning at no cost! If an adult or child who is not a student here would like a breakfast we are happy to serve you too, you will just need to purchase a ticket from the office ahead of time.
It is important that all students get to class on time. We often see parents and children rushing in the morning which can be a stressful way to start the day. Please plan your mornings so you arrive at school with enough time to get food and get to class without the worry of being late.
Library News
Way to Go, Obobles!
On March 22 the 6th and 7th grade OBOB team of Amadora Lam, Serena Madzik, Marie Crawford, and Gwen Chavarin participated in the 6-8 Regional OBOB Tournament held at Roosevelt Middle School. The Obobles advanced to the sweet 16, but fell in a very close match to eventual state-qualifying Kennedy Middle School. The team should be very proud of all their hard work reading books, memorizing titles and author names, practicing questions, as well as being excellent teammates to each other!
Thank you fourth grade!
Prior to spring break, a group of fourth graders was busy raising money for the library to buy new books. Last week they presented Ms. Molly with a certificate announcing that over $200 had been raised. The group was inspired by a lesson on how many of our library's books have been damaged beyond repair and need to be replaced. A huge thank you to the fourth graders for taking the initiative, and to all of you in our wonderful community who donated!
Middle School Field Trip to the Hult Center
The middle schoolers got to go on a field trip to watch an amazing performance by Step Afrika!
3rd Grade Happenings
Oriah and Alma take excellent care of the garden plot behind 3rd grade.
Lost & Found
Please take a moment to browse through our Lost & Found. This is located in the breezeway outside of the office. We will be donating or repurposing any left over items to the Village School lending library at the end of the school day on 4/18. Thank you!
Community Helpers
We are lucky to have so many enthusiastic helpers at the Village School! Students will often help us with collecting late/early release passes, ice packs (you would be amazed at how many of these fly out of the office each day!), breaking down boxes for recycling, gathering up lost & found items, as well as organizing the lost & found wardrobe. Yesterday our helpers were Flora, Anya, Olivia, and Juniper, and they did a stellar job!
7th Grade Field Trip to the Museum of Natural & Cultural History
It's the season of field trips, and our 7th graders had a great one to the Museum. Thank you to our wonderful parent volunteers for chaperoning!
State Testing
Under Oregon law, a parent or student age 18+ may opt out of Oregon’s annual statewide math and language arts assessments by filling out an annual opt-out form. Exemptions from the English language proficiency (for students whose primary language is not English) or science tests may also be requested based on a student’s disability or religious beliefs. We are only accepting paper opt-out forms at this time. If you would like your 5th or 8th grader to opt-out of the Science testing, you must fill out a separate paper form and return that to us. The template for this and the English & Math can be found in the office or the link below:
Student Educational Equity Development Survey (SEED)
Starting in 2023-24, The state of Oregon requires (HB 2656) school districts to make the Student Educational Equity Development Survey (SEED) available to all enrolled students in grades 3-11. The content of the survey varies by grade level. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and measures student perceptions in four core constructs:
Access to learning resources
Opportunity to learn
Self-efficacy and
Sense of belonging
The middle and high school versions of the survey also include questions about extracurricular engagement and career and technical education. A full list of survey items is available online.
Parents or guardians can opt their student out of taking the SEED Survey by completing this form: SEED Survey Opt-Out Form OR SEED OPT-OUT Spanish and turning it into the office.
Students may decline, at any time before or during the survey, to participate in the SEED Survey via their answer to the first SEED Survey question.
In August, the Oregon Department of Education will release aggregated and suppressed SEED survey results to schools and districts through the Achievement Data Insight (ADI) application, and on ODE’s public website. Though not a test, the survey is distributed via the OSAS (state testing) portal, and it's open during the testing window.
Village School 25th Anniversary - Please RSVP!
2nd Grade Walk
The 2nd graders and Ms. Emily went on a quick walk to the post office to mail some postcards they had written. What a sweet and joyful group!
Village School Lunch Diaries
Another yummy week of Village School lunches!
Handwork Happenings
What a treat to this perfect spring weather has been! Our Handwork assistant, Katie and 6th graders soaked in the sunshine while they worked on their handwork projects.
Community Bulletin Board
Come support our Village School students!
Contact Kira Rafuse for more information.
Kira is a former Waldorf preschool teacher and Mom of a 4th grader at Village School.
Weeks offering camp for children 6 and up
June 23-26, July 7-10, July 21-24, Aug 4-7, Aug 18-21
From Garden to Fabric: An Adventure in Natural Dyeing
Parent & Child Class | Ages 8–12
Sunday, July 27, 2025 | 1–5 PM
Long Table Farm | $100–$110
Join artist Kate Hirst (Village School Mom) for a fun, hands-on natural dye workshop using Japanese Indigo and garden-grown plants! Learn the traditional techniques of Shibori and Tatakazome to create vibrant patterns on fabric and paper. Families will harvest from the garden, experiment with color, and explore nature through art.
Tickets:
• Parent + Child (ages 8–12): $110
• Individual: $100
• Add’l child: $15
Register at: www.longtable.farm
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