Village Voice - Volume 25, Issue 9
- Chrissy Barry
- 7 days ago
- 8 min read
Upcoming Events
Ongoing - Food Drive Collection in the office (see below for details)
Thursday, October 30th, No School, Grading Day
Friday, October 31st, No School, Conferences
Tuesday, November 4th, 6th Grade Mushroom Foray Field Trip
Wednesday, November 5th, 4th Grade Field rip to Whittaker Creek Campground
Wednesday, November 5th, 5:30 - 7:30pm, DÃa de los Muertos Celebration VOLUNTEERING
Volunteers needed for:
Quick Links
In the interest of reducing the sheer length of the Village Voice, we have replaced several repeating items with links to shortcuts:
Administrator's Message
Greetings Village School Community!Â
Halloween is fast approaching! Check with your classroom teacher about how they are managing the use of costumes by children. A few things to keep in mind as you plan for the next few days:Â
Students (except kindergarten) can wear costume during the day AT TEACHER DISCRETION (check in with your student’s teacher)
Costume must not restrict movement.
No part of the costume can depict blood or gore.
The use of masks or weapons are not allowed.
Our school encourages celebrations that support child health and good nutrition and we request that staff and families support these celebrations with Smart Snack compliant foods.
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!Â
When your child comes home from school on Oct 29, 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.Â
Be sure to mark your calendar for the DÃa de Los Muertos festival on November 5th at 5:30! There will be an ofrenda, face painting, and craft tables. We are still looking for volunteer help. You can sign up below. 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!Â
Here’s to hoping your harvests, literal and figurative, are rich and plentiful! Happy Fall!
Sincerely,
Roz, Shannon, and Andy
Community Service Walk-a-Thon!
Please bring in your walkathon pledge money! We have exceeded our goal and are now seeing numbers approaching $19,000. Half of this will help The Village Kitchen and half will help our partnering environmental education organizations. Pledge packets are available in the office and you can also collect donations with our Online Pledge System: VillageWalkathon.org.Â
Here are the totals so far for each class.
Thank you so much for your participation!
Volunteering at the Village School
Be sure to watch your email, the Village Voice and the Village Vine for messages from Village Community 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 take part in.
We are looking for volunteers DÃa de los Muertos. We will need many helping hands for this evening. Sign up here for volunteering! and here to contribute to the Potluck!
We are looking for a Kitchen Volunteer to help out on Mondays from 11:30-1:00! Please let Toña know if you can help. She can be reached at taguilar@eugenevillageschool.org or 541-510-8604.Â
We ask families to contribute 40 hours of volunteer hours per year, and single parent households to contribute 20 hours.  Please stop by the office to fill out a volunteer packet if you have not already done so (Background checks are valid for 2 years). All parents who have filled out a volunteer packet have been entered into our online volunteer system, HelpCounter. This is where you can track your hours, and is the system you will be signing in on when you come to the office.
*Please always make sure to sign in at the office computer, grab a volunteer badge, and sign back out at the office computer when you volunteer. Please make sure to sign in whether you are a volunteer or visitor.
Reach out to chrissy@eugenevillageschool.org or 541-345-7285 with any questions about volunteering!
DÃa de los Muertos Volunteers Needed
We are needing many more helping hands for our DÃa de los Muertos celebration on Wednesday, November 5th.
Please sign up to VOLUNTEER here. Shifts still needed:
3:00 - 4:00pm, Set up & Tidying, 2 Needed
5:15pm - 6:15pm, Helping the 7th & 8th graders with Face Painting, 1 Needed
6:15pm - 7:20pm, Helping the 7th & 8th graders with Face Painting, 2 Needed
5:15pm - 6:15pm, Crafts Table, 4 Needed
6:15pm - 7:20pm, Crafts Table, 2 Needed
7:30pm - 7:45pm, Clean up, 3 Needed
Dinner will be potluck style, and each grade is responsible for contributing to the meal.
We can use flowers and other natural decorations for our ofrenda (altar). If you have corn stalks, gourds, marigolds or other flowers, please send them to school on the mornings of Wednesday, 10/29, Thursday, 10/30 or Friday, 10/31.Â
This is one of the biggest Village School events of the year, and is only successful with the help of our volunteers.
Thank you for help in making this evening possible!
Village School Kitchen
This fall, we have heard more parents expressing concern at the increased cost of feeding their families. We know many that regularly seek supplemental food sources as well as rely upon SNAP benefits. Fortunately, The Village School continues to provide free breakfasts and lunches to students on school days, but we know that additional help is needed. In an effort to alleviate some of the stress our neighbors are experiencing related to food insecurity and the potential absence of SNAP funds in November, we are holding a food drive over the next two weeks. Please join us in collecting shelf stable items for families.
Ways to give:
Bring in shelf stable foods! We have a collection basket in the office and another in the Commons. Items will be stored until Monday, November 10th at which time Village School parents and guardians will be invited to sign up for a time to visit the school kitchen and pick out items for their family. Any items leftover will be donated to Waste to Taste/Burrito Brigade, a local nonprofit organization that provides free hot meals and food boxes in our community.
Items that are requested:
Canned foods. Dry staples such as grains, legumes, flours, cereals, sweeteners, salt, oils, nuts, nut and seed butters. Tetrapacks of soup, stock and milk. Clean, dry and cured produce such as garlic, onions and winter squash are welcome as well.Â
If you have any questions, or want to contribute but are unable to bring items into school on a school day, please contact Toña Aguilar at taguilar@eugenevillageschool.org or 541-510-8604.
It takes a Village!Â
Additional Food Resources
See below for additional community resources:
and
Willamette Farm and Food
Halloween Jack O Lanterns
Today the students got to go on a Halloween Hike around the school to vote on their favorite jack o lantern. Village School staff poured their heart and soul into these amazing pumpkin creations!
6th Grade Play
The 6th graders put on 2 stellar performances of "A Murder Between Two Worlds", a dark comedy of mythical proportions.
November Menus
8th Grade Bake Sale
Support the 8th Graders today after school!
Library News - OBOB
Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) is starting soon for grades 3-5 and 6-8. OBOB is a voluntary, state-wide reading program in which students form teams of four, read from a set of 16 books, then participate in "battles" where they answer trivia questions about the books. OBOB is a great way to encourage children to read literature from a variety of genres and learn positive teamwork skills. You can also read the books to your child and listen to audiobooks! There is no fee for students to sign up and books can be checked out from the library.Â
Be on the lookout for OBOB sign up sheets that interested students bring home, or you can complete the digital form. Students may form their own team or sign up and I will place them on a team. OBOB will be an extracurricular activity taking place outside of school hours. I will need at least one parent coach to volunteer for each team. This involves hosting a meeting, (usually once a week or once every 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. Participation may depend on having enough parent volunteers. For more information, you can explore the OBOB website or contact me. Molly Bautista, VS Librarianmolly@eugenevillageschool.org
Hello from the Office
Xochitl stopped by and showed us the adorable clay animal she made in class!
Kindergarten Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch
Kindergarteners had a fun filled trip to A&M Farms last week. They got to pick out a pumpkin and meet some adorable farm animals!
Handwork Happenings
Some beautiful finished projects from Handwork class!
New Soccer Goals
Thank you so much to our fabulous Village Community Council Co-Chairs, Cory and Britta for setting up our beautiful new soccer goals!
5th Grade Outdoor School
5th graders had a fantastic time at Outdoor School, where they got to immerse themselves in nature for 2 nights!
8th Grade Wreath Sale Fundraiser
Every purchase you make directly supports our fundraiser to help our class get to Twin Rocks Outdoor School for our 8th grade trip in June 2026.
Choose a holiday wreath or swag for your door! Choose a couple, and get a deal!
Wreaths and swag will be available for pickup at the Village School 12/15 - 12/18. We will also have a couple community pickup sites TBA! For those of you that need further assistance, we are offering delivery with a fee.Â
Thank you for supporting our class!
Happy shopping! 🌟
The Village School Class of 2026
Purchase your wreath here!
Village School Lunch Diaries
A extra special Halloween lunch from our incredible Village School Kitchen!
Health Reminders
Community Bulletin Board
Come cheer on our Village School middle schoolers - Alison, Marie, and Serena!
Do your kids love nature exploration and outdoor adventures? Then check out Nearby Nature's Natural Neighbors After School program! K-5th grade participants enjoy hiking, natural science, Earth art, and free time in Nearby Nature's outdoor classroom and Alton Baker Park. Programs happen Tuesdays and Fridays from 2:30-5:30 pm and Wednesdays from 2-5:30 pm, rain or shine, with flexible drop off for the first hour of each day and pick up between 5-5:30 pm. Online enrollment is ongoing -- details at Natural Neighbors After School. Scholarship assistance available. https://www.nearbynature.org/natural-neighbors/.
Does your tween or teen love the outdoors and want to learn survival skills? Whole Earth Nature School has a transformative program called FOREST Understory that does just that! This unique opportunity is an eight-month program that immerses 6th to 10th grade students into the world of ancestral wilderness skills. On the first Saturday of every month, we focus an entire day on a unique skill and improve on lessons from the month before. FOREST Understory builds confidence, creates strong friendships, and deepens nature connection. Come join us for this amazing experience!Â
