VALERIUS ELEMENTARY
Late Start School Hours: 10:00am-3:35pm
Breakfast Time: 8:40-8:55
Click here for the school calendar!
Website: urbandaleschools.com
Location: 3305 92nd Street, Urbandale, IA, USA
Phone: (515)457-6500
Facebook: facebook.com/valeriuselementary
MESSAGE FROM MRS. MAURO
Question: What does this actually look like in action? Answer: We have adopted three simple, schoolwide rules. They are be respectful, be responsible, and be safe. In all areas of the school, expectations for what respectful, responsible, and safe looks like are posted. To the left is an example of expectations you will see in the cafeteria. These expectations are taught and reinforced throughout the school year. There are school-wide, classroom, and individual reinforcements for following rules. There is also a school-wide system for responding to misbehavior. In order to encourage and maintain appropriate behaviors, teachers use the following approaches: Constantly teach and refer to our school-wide expectations. Provide students with more praise than correction. Talk to students with respect using positive voice tone. Actively engage everyone in the class during instruction. Use pre-correcting, prompting, and redirecting as we teach. Look for the positive first and provide positive, immediate, frequent, and explicit feedback.
MESSAGE FROM MRS. MACGREGOR
Happy New Year! We look forward to having a great year while focusing on our 2019 theme: Kindness Every Day! In the past J-Leaders have sponsored a Random Acts of Kindness Month, but moving forward we would like students to focus on kindness in a more purposeful way. We want all students to feel accepted and supported at Valerius so as part of our Interpersonal/Friendship Unit we are kicking off our year by learning about our Buddy Bench on the playground. There are some specific rules about using the bench that students will learn and we will focus on being kind and caring to all friends every day.
Our Buddy Bench was donated to Valerius in memory of a former and much loved 5th grade teacher, Jen Garcia. If students feel like they need help finding a friend, they can walk over and sit on the bench. This is a great opportunity for others to reach out to support them. The basic rules are :
Students should try their words first by asking a friend to play before using the bench.
If you choose to sit on the bench, you must say yes to the first person who asks you to play.
You can play together or “Walk and Talk”.
Two kids sitting on the bench together can ask each other to play.
Always treat kids on the bench with kindness and respect.
We will have an opportunity to practice using the buddy bench by role-playing situations. If your student has concerns about friendships on the playground, please encourage the use of the Buddy Bench. I look forward to seeing students using KINDNESS EVERY DAY!
If you are looking for more ideas to encourage friendships behaviors with your children, please see the following links:
MESSAGE FROM THE HEALTH OFFICE
Head Lice
Just a reminder as a district we no longer send out health grams. It is important to remember and assumed that head lice are in the community and schools at all times. The best defense is early detection and treatment. Checking your child’s hair thoroughly once a week throughout the school year will help with early detection.
Please also be thinking about sleepovers and other activities where children’s heads are close together or personal items may be inadvertently shared. There is a much higher likelihood of transmission in those settings than in school. Generally, heads need to be touching or there would need to be live lice on hats/pillows/brushes being shared.
If head lice or nits are found, we recommend that you treat your child and ask that you follow up with other parents if there was a recent play date or sleep over.
When treating the head lice, please follow The Iowa Department of Public Health guidelines with the two-week treatment plan (noted below). The treatment days are scheduled to interrupt the lifecycle of the insect. A nit comb should be used to comb the hair and can be bought at most pharmacies. By treating properly, it will help reduce the spread of head lice.
Treatment Calendar
Day 1: Medicated Shampoo
Day 2: COMB only, DO NOT WASH
Day 3: Shampoo, condition and comb
Day 4: Shampoo, condition and comb
Day 5: Shampoo, condition and comb
Day 6: Shampoo, condition and comb
Day 7: Shampoo, condition and comb
Day 8: Shampoo, condition and COMB
Day 9: Shampoo, condition and COMB
Day 10: Medicated Shampoo
Day 11: COMB only, DO NOT WASH
Day 12: Shampoo, condition and COMB
Day 13: Shampoo, condition and COMB
Day 14: Shampoo, condition and COMB
Winter Weather and Appropriate Attire
As long as the temperature feels like 10 degrees with wind chill the children will go out to recess. Please remember to send your children in hats, gloves, and winter coats every day. Unfortunately we do not have enough extras to supply children with missing items from the health office.
If your child would like to play in the snow or on the play equipment/field area, they will need to have both SNOW PANTS and BOOTS.
Attendance Phone Number (515) 457-6503
When to Stay Home:
Fever- Student must be fever free for 24 hours (less than 101 degrees) without a fever reducer medication.
Vomit- Student must have not vomited for 24 hours before returning to school.
Diarrhea- Student must be free from diarrhea for 24 hours.
Pink Eye- Student can return to school after 1st dose of medication or as directed by your physician.
MESSAGE FROM MS. TIFFANY
Happy New Year!
With the weather changing, students and families maybe in need of more winter clothing items which can become quite expensive. A resource available to everyone is the Urbandale Clothing Closet located at Urbandale High School. The address is 7111 Aurora Ave. Urbandale, IA. To schedule an appointment for the clothing closet, please call OR text your desired appointment time to: 515-729-9156. Appointments can be scheduled Monday/Tuesday/Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Wednesday/Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Or if you would like to donate gently used, clean clothing, donations are accepted Monday through Friday at the main office between 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Please call the main office (515) 457-6800 to schedule a time to drop off your donations.