Hello Vernon Families and Friends,
This year PPS is extending Advisory Programs throughout all 6-8th grades in comprehensive middle schools and K-8s. This is a school-wide time for teachers to thoughtfully and intentionally foster a sense of belonging, community, and social-emotional well-being for students, staff, and families. Lessons and a scope and sequence are being provided by the district, and site-level teams may adapt and adjust as needed. Our team will be learning and growing this year as we refine Advisory Programming in our school using the newly adopted Social Emotional Curriculum.
This past May we selected a Social Emotional Learning curriculum that fosters a sense of belonging and community with explicit instruction and home connection. Our school will be using Wayfinder in 6-8 Advisory classes. In the K-5 classes, we are using Caring School Communities. Both directly align with our IB Programs at Vernon.
This has been a two-year process of adopting a high-quality curriculum that will engage our students and increase their sense of belonging. The criteria for this selection can be found here. We will continue to evaluate the implementation of this curriculum and make adjustments as needed. We are committed to continuous growth and improvement in this process.
In order to best prepare our staff for Advisory Programs, PPS has identified two dates for additional professional learning and would like to make sure you know for your planning purposes.
*Fall 2-hour Late Opening:
The fall 2-hour Late opening will be on Wednesday, Oct. 4th.
*Winter 2-hour Late Opening:
The winter 2-hour late opening will be on Thursday, Jan. 25th.
*The entire K-8 school will participate in the late opening. 6-8th will receive training from the site-based trainers and K-5 educators will use the time to collaborate on SEL instruction.
If you would like to provide feedback to the district-level administrators, please do so on this form.
Vernon Proud!
Ben Keefer
Principal
School Office Hours
7:30am – 4:30pm – School Office Hours
NEW! Attendance email
Fun For The Owls is Back!
You should have received a pamphlet in your back to school packet. If not, pick one up at the office. Please note the date of this event has been moved to Friday, Sept 29th so mark your calendars correctly.
What Is It?: A fundraiser to raise money for enrichment programs, equipment, supplies, STEAM, field trips and so much more for our kids. It's one of our most important fundraisers so we are looking for everyone to get involved.
How Do You Raise Money? You raise money by collecting pledges. Each pledge is the total for a one time donation. Every single pledge from $1 to $1 gazillion helps. Reach out to family, friends, neighbors and your favorite local businesses. As an added bonus, each pledge your child receives doubles as an entry for a prize drawing later this fall. Your pledge sheet with a QR code for online donations is in the packet your student brought home.
What Are The Kids Doing This Year? The kids will be moving through a fun obstacle course on the Vernon playground.
When Is It? Friday, Sept 29th
More Info: VernonPTA.org
Book Group for Vernon Families with 6-8th Graders
Parents/guardians of middle school girls are invited to participate in a book club. We will be reading and discussing the book, Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood. by Lisa Damour.
If you are interested, fill out this survey: https://forms.gle/E5YzKbwSNYtgycrc7 . We hope to form a group and meet for the first time in October.
If you have any questions or accommodation needs please email Leah Johnson: lmjsmart@gmail.com
