Panther Press

Due to the snow day, the district cancelled all elementary school evening activities for today. We will not be having our Movie Night tonight. Stay safe and warm!

VPE is excited to announce the launch of a redesigned school website coming soon. The newly designed site will look and feel like the updated district website while providing improvements and enhancements based on user feedback to better engage and inform the Valley Park community. Highlights of the new website include an updated visual design, improved site organization and navigation, language translation options and more!

The new website will go live the afternoon of Monday, January 27.

With the launch of our new website, we want to remind you to add the website to the home screen of your smart phone for quick access.

The VPE website houses many links to other apps and district pages that are useful. The website is a great starting point.

*PLEASE NOTE: When you visit the redesigned website, be sure to set new bookmarks for the web pages you visit most often, as old bookmarks will no longer work. Enjoy exploring the redesigned website!

If you have already voted in the Blue Valley bond election and returned your ballot, thank you!

If you haven’t voted, I want to take just a minute to share how the no tax rate increase bond will impact current and future students at Valley Park. Projects included in this bond will reinvest in facilities and technology, reinforce school safety and reimagine learning environments and programs that will benefit our students and staff for years to come.

Some of the exciting projects impacting Valley Park include upgrading our playground, installing new interior door locks and improved flexible learning environments.

Please cast your vote, sign your return envelope and mail your ballot by noon on Jan. 28. If you are a registered voter and didn’t receive your ballot or lost your ballot, you can request a replacement ballot from the Johnson County Election Office.

If you have questions about the bond election, more information is available on the district website, including a project-specific list for Valley Park.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the bond election and returning your ballot.

Our conferences are being held on:

Tuesday, February 11, 4:00-7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 12, 4:00-7:30 p.m.

Thursday, February 13, 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Families who wish to schedule a conference are invited to sign up for a time to meet with our teachers during conference hours. Please utilize our online conference sign up or contact the classroom teacher if you would like to schedule a conference to discuss your child's progress.

Below are the directions for accessing the site as well as signing up for each conference. If you have any questions or you are unable to log in, please contact our office at (913) 239-7600. We are happy to help!

The process for signing up is as follows:

1. Click on the link below and you will be directed to the website: https://ptcfast.com/schools/Valley_Park_Elementary

2. Check the boxes of the teacher(s) you wish to conference with this spring.

3. When prompted, enter a valid email address; you do not have to create an account to the site in order to sign up for a conference.

4. Next, fill out the information for each of your students on the next screen.

5. Choose your time(s) that work with your schedule.

Once you are registered, you will receive a confirmation via email. You will get a reminder one week before the conference, a reminder two days before your conference, and a reminder on the day of your conference. Your confirmation email will contain details on how to change conference times should you have a need to do so after you schedule the time.

If you would like to have a conference with a specialist, I invite you to contact that teacher directly and schedule a conference with them. They will be able to work with you to determine the best time that works with your schedule.

We value your partnership in the education of your child!

Community service will be holding a Souper Bowl of Caring drive.

When: January 27th- January 31st

What: We are collecting non-perishable foods. Examples of items you can donate are: canned goods, pasta, cereal, and peanut butter. Please make sure that they are not expired!

To get in the spirit, we will have the following spirit days:

Monday, Jan 27th: Say Goodnight to hunger- wear your pajamas
Tuesday, Jan 28th: Forget your hair, but don't forget to share- crazy hair day
Wednesday, Jan 29th: Team up to kick hunger- wear your favorite team shirt
Thursday, Jan 30th: Sock it to hunger- wear crazy socks
Friday, Jan 31st: VPE says no to hunger- wear your VPE shirt

The Blue Valley Educational Foundation has partnered with Major Saver fundraising. We are excited and looking forward to the 2020 Major Saver Campaign kicking off next week in Blue Valley! It’s time get the word out for this year’s fundraising campaign.

Please see the 2020 Major Saver flyer below with dates and ways to sell more cards.

Monday, January 27- Major Saver packet go home

January 27- February 5 Major Saver campaign kick off

Winter, colds, flu, and other viruses often come hand-in-hand. Germs from colds and other illnesses make their way into our work places, schools and homes. Healthy habits can protect everyone from getting germs or spreading germs. While school staff will continue to stress preventative measures, such as coughing into the sleeve, frequently washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and getting plenty of rest and fluids, we also appreciate you encouraging these healthy habits with your children as well. If you have a child who is sick, we ask for your support by keeping them at home. District protocol requires students stay home until they are fever free for a period of 24 hours. If your child has been diagnosed by a physician with Influenza please keep them home for five days following onset of illness or for the duration of illness if the case is immune-compromised.

As you know, the health of our students is important to us. Thank you for your continued partnership as we work together to keep our kids healthy.

Johnson County continues to see a large influx of influenza cases throughout the last few weeks. We continue to have doctor diagnosed cases of influenza coming through the school. If your child is diagnosed with Influenza A or B, please alert the office so those numbers can be reported. The state exclusion criteria to return to school for influenza is 5 days after the onset of symptoms.

Multiple students have been sent home daily for fever, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. If your student is complaining of not feeling well, please ensure they are fever free without the help of medication before sending them to school. Any student with a fever or vomiting/diarrhea will be sent home from school and be required to stay home until a 24 hour period without those symptoms has passed.

Flu symptoms this year are presenting very similarly to cold symptoms. Please be on the lookout for complaints of headache, body ache, muscle ache, malaise, runny nose, and sore throat as those can all appear prior to or instead of nausea and vomiting.

Please reach out with questions or concerns regarding whether or not your child should be at school if they are ill: keclark@bluevalleyk12.org or (913) 239-7613

We need a LOT of pictures to fill up the Valley Park yearbook! Please send in any pictures you have from the Carnival, Dance-a-Thon, Halloween & Winter parties, classrooms, clubs or PTO events. Anyone who sends in pictures by January 31 will be entered into a drawing for a $25 Starbucks gift card! Email pictures to vpeyearbook@gmail.com. Thanks!

Blue Valley families planning to apply for Free and Reduced meal benefits may do so online through EZMealApp.com. Families received an email on Monday, July 15th with details about the online application. If you have any questions regarding the online Free and Reduced Meal Program application, please use this link: www.bluevalleyk12.org/nutrition You can also contact Bobbi Valverde in the Food and Nutrition office at bvalverde@bluevalleyk12.org or at (913) 239-4106

Please read and review the nut-safer guidelines for the Blue Valley School District. Anything that goes back to the classroom that will be consumed in the classroom for any reason must come off of this list. Students can bring any food for lunch.

Absence Line: 913-239-7605

Email: valleyparkelementary@bluevalleyk12.org
Website: https://district.bluevalleyk12.org/schools/elementary/VPE/Pages/home.aspx
Location: 12301 Lamar, Overland Park, KS 66209
Phone: 913-239-7600
Twitter: @BV_ValleyPark