Valerius Weekly

January 8 - 12

Every Monday is a LATE START! School starts at 9:55am & doors open at 9:40am.

Current Breakfast & Lunch Menus

Click here to access the online breakfast and lunch menus.

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No School Dates for January 2024

District-Wide

Friday, January 12: No school due to a Professional Development Day.

Monday, January 15: No school in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. School resumes for all UCSD students on Tuesday, January 16.

Monday, January 15: District Administration Office closed in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Chorus & Band Concert on January 16th

January is here and we have our first chorus concert (4th & 5th grade) & band concert (5th grade) of the year coming up soon! As a reminder, our concert is on Tuesday, January 16th at 7:00 PM. This will be our first ever concert in the commons, at Valerius. Students need to meet in the hallway outside the music room at 6:45pm to line up. 5th grade students who are in band will go to the band room. Band students will need their instrument, music book and green band folder.

Dress Attire

Chorus students dress attire - There is no required dress code for the chorus portion of the concert, but students are encouraged to wear dress clothes.

Band students dress attire - Students need to dress in their "dress up" clothes for the concert. Dress or skirts, and/or pants and a shirt with a collar are recommended. Please avoid blue jeans.

This concert will be live streamed at https://j-hawks.com/live.

As always, please feel free to email Mrs. Irvin or Mrs. Wells if you have any questions. We are looking forward to a great concert!

Joelle Irvin, K-5 Music Teacher

Emily Wells, 5th Grade BandTeacher

ParentSquare

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ParentSquare Launching Later This Month

Toward the end of this month, staff, parents/guardians, and UHS students will receive an email invitation to login to ParentSquare. With ParentSquare, we’ll be able to consolidate numerous communication tools in use throughout the district in order to streamline school-to-home communications. We’re planning a phased implementation of ParentSquare beginning January 2024, with full implementation July/August 2024 (next school year).

PHASE 1
Toward the end of January, you’ll be able to do the following in ParentSquare:

Activate your account and download the app
Select your preferred language
Select notification preferences (either ‘instant’ or a ‘daily digest’ summary at 6pm)
Receive communications from your school’s main office and district office via email, text, and/or app; voice for alerts (note: UHS students will receive email and/or app notifications—not text/voice)
If participating in the upcoming Softball or Baseball season, you’ll receive communications from Softball and/or Baseball Coaches
In-app direct messaging with limited staff
Access various district resources linked in the app

Important: Teachers and Coaches will NOT be using ParentSquare in Phase 1 (with the exception of Softball and Baseball Coaches). They will continue using their existing methods of communication. Thus, you will NOT receive communication in ParentSquare from Teachers and Coaches at this time.

PHASE 2
Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, you’ll be able to do the following in ParentSquare:

Receive communications from your teachers, coaches, school, and district via email, text, and/or app; voice for alerts (note: UHS students will receive email and/or app notifications—not text/voice)
Direct message teachers and coaches
Adjust notification preferences (instant or digest at 6pm)
Access various district resources linked in the app

Beginning next school year (2024-25), our entire district will be using one communications platform which means all teacher, coach, school-office, and district-office communications will be distributed using this one centralized tool. Learn More

Download a 1-page overview:

What can I do in ParentSquare? (English)
What can I do in ParentSquare? (Bosnian)
What can I do in ParentSquare?(Burmese)
What can I do in ParentSquare? (Hakha Chin)
What can I do in ParentSquare? (Spanish)
What can I do in ParentSquare? (Swahili)

Register for the 2024-25 School Year!

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Preschool Pre-Registration begins January 30; K-12 Registration begins March 1

The Urbandale Community School District (UCSD) welcomes your preschool and kindergarten through 12th grade student(s) for the 2024–25 school year! We take great care in creating a culture of learning in our classrooms to help make the transition to school a positive experience for your child(ren) and family. Our focus is to help each child learn, grow, and achieve success on the pathway of lifelong learning. We’re looking forward to welcoming your child(ren) and family this fall!

View Preschool Pre-Registration & K-12 Registration Flyers

For more information visit the UCSD Website HERE.

Ice Safety

Mr. Wilkins spoke to students last week about ice and pond safety. Thanks for emphasizing safety with our students and sharing a few pointers about the skill of ice fishing, Mr. Wilkins!

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Monday Dress Up Themes

1/8: Twin Day

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Kinder Enjoying the Nice Recess Weather.

Recess will be held outside unless the temperature (including windchill) falls below 10 degrees. Temperature checks will be made 15 minutes before all recesses at www.weather.gov . Temp Guidelines

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Junior Jaywalkers Clinic

Comm Ed Bio Link

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PTO Meeting on Thursday!

There is a PTO meeting this Thursday (1/11/24) starting at 7:00pm. All are welcome!

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Cookie Dough Fundraiser

Our Valerius PTO Cookie Dough fundraiser began on January 5th! Funds raised will help purchase classroom materials and support the work of the Valerius PTO. Coming home in your student’s bag on January 5th is a flyer with all of the information about the seven types of cookie dough available for purchase, plus an order form on the back side.

Please keep careful track on the order form of requested purchases. Order forms are due back to school on January 18th. Please make sure your student’s name and a parent contact phone number are on the form.

All payments will be made online using this link: https://valeriuspto.square.site/ . We request ONE payment per order form.

Pick Up will be Saturday, February 10th from 10:30-11:30. Sign up here to Volunteer with pick up: SignUpGenius

PTO Calendar

Curious what events the PTO is involved in, click here to find out.

Curious what events the PTO is involved in, you can always find out HERE

Uplifting Urbandale Newsletter

Uplifting Urbandale

We invite you to read the UCSD bi-weekly newsletter, "Uplifting Urbandale." Newsletters are archived on the Newsletter section of the...

smore.com

Archived Information

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Start the News Year Right with School Breakfast!

Make sure this year’s resolutions include guaranteeing your kids a balanced, nutritious breakfast every day. If hectic mornings or sleepy children make this a challenge, UCSD Nutrition Services can help! Many nutrient rich foods such as whole grains, fruits, and lean proteins are available to ALL children each and every day. No advance sign up necessary. All students are welcome every day!

Breakfast Information

Serving time: 8:35-8:50am Tuesday - Friday (9:40-9:55am Late Start Mondays)

Prices: Elementary: $2.00 paid, $0.30 reduced, $0.00 if approved for free meals

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

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Pikmykid Dismissal App Registration Information

PIkmykid Parent App Registration Information

Pikmykid App Registration

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Reporting Absences using Powerschool

Parents and Guardians can now report their students absence using Powerschool Parent Portal. Click on the link below for step-by-step instructions. Web Browser ONLY.

English | Español | Bosanski | Kiswahili

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Menus/ Payments

To access menus and make meal payments, you will need to visit LINQConnect.com and/or download the app in your app store.

Visit the UCSD Website for more information.

Free & Reduced Meal Application

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School Fees

Beginning in the 2023–24 school year, we will be collecting payment for books, materials, and bus transportation fees via PowerSchool. We have created the following step-by-step instructions for this new process.

Translated instructions: Bosanski , မြန်မာဘာသာ, Laiholh (ဟားခါး-ချင်း) , Español , Kiswahili

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Visitors - ID Required!

Visitors must report to the main office, sign-in upon arrival, provide a U.S. government-issued ID for scanning into the Raptor system , and then receive a visitor’s sticker which you will be required to wear during your stay.

Valerius Staff Directory

Get to know faces by visiting the Valerius Website Staff Directory!