Patriot NewsFlash

Wednesday, October 16

Wellness Wednesday/Family Focus Night

Thursday, October 17

Conference Night 3-7

If your child is interested in participating in the 2024 Reflections contest, please see the attached information for more details as well as the entry form.

PTA is applying to be recognized as a School of Excellence, and we need to get a group of parents together to help with the application. Our first meeting will be on Monday, October 21, at 3:00 p.m. in the VPE Library. Please sign up below if you are interested in helping with the School of Excellence.
Ad Hoc School of Excellence Committee Interest

In celebration of reading and in conjunction with Red Ribbon Week, VPE will have Book Character Day on Thursday, October 31. Students may come to school dressed as their favorite book characters. Guidelines for the book character day are as follows:

• Students should bring a copy of the book their character is from to school that day.
• Characters/costumes must be from elementary-age-appropriate books.
• Costumes may not involve blood or other horror-type elements.
• Color in the hair, face painting, and hats may be worn; however, masks will not be allowed.
• Costumes may not be revealing in nature … may not be see-through material, low cut, or tight fitting.
• Tights and leotards are acceptable if covered with a tutu, skirt, or shorts.
• The costume must allow students to take care of personal needs, sit at desks, and participate in school and classroom activities throughout the day.
• Rule of thumb … if there is a question about appropriateness, it is probably best not to wear it.

Book Character Parade

Parents are invited to come watch the students as they parade around the bus loop at starting @ 10:00 a.m. We ask families to stand on the outside of the bus loop and classes will come out and walk two laps before returning to class.

We are looking for volunteers to help run students to and from classrooms during our vision screening next month. Please use the following link to sign up to help volunteer: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0F4EAFAF28A1F58-52114000-vision

October is Bullying Prevention Month. Did you know that According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 41% of Kentucky middle school students and 22% of high school reported being bullied in person and 29% of middle school students and 18% of high school students reported being bullied online. Click here to see KIP results for FCPS students surveyed in 2021 regarding bullying. Although majority of students reported being able to identify ways to report bullying and those ways being effective, bullying is still a problem in our schools.

Below are resources and information for students and families:

STOP Bullying One Pager

KDE- Bullying and Harassment

Dear FCPS Families:

We are thrilled to announce our new safety tracker — a website where you find up-to-date information on situations impacting the safety of the school community, emergency procedures, and more. Simply visit fcps.net/safety.

Providing a safe environment to work, learn, and grow is a priority for Fayette County Public Schools.

Since 2018, we have added 83 mental health specialists, doubled our number of police officers and school nurses, and secured every school entrance.

To learn more about safety improvements in our schools, watch this brief video.

We are grateful to everyone who makes the safety tracker possible and to those who help keep our schools safe.

• Did you know that FCPS does not provide medical coverage for student accidents that occur at school?
• Did you know Fayette County Public Schools offer parents a Voluntary/Optional Insurance Policy?
• This a great opportunity for families that do not have health coverage or for families that do have insurance to offset the cost of out-pocket expenses.

Insurance Coverages available are:

At-School Accident Only

24-hour Accident Only

Extended Dental

Head to the FCPS student accident page for more information.

VPE loves to have volunteers helping throughout the school day, attending field trips, and helping out in the building. Any and all adults accompanying a school group while on a field trip must first undergo and pass the background checks required for all FCPS volunteers through the volunteer application system. This applies to listed chaperones, volunteers, and anyone who travels separately to join the group at the respective venue. If you plan on coming to help in the building at any point in the future when allowed you will need to complete the following background check: Volunteer Application.

Parents don't need to be approved to eat lunch with their child, attend parent/teacher conferences or attend evening events. All other activities will require you to be an approved volunteer. These background checks are good for three years.

This year we will be offering PTA meetings on two platforms - in person and on Zoom. They are scheduled for the second Thursday of each month at 7:45 in the VPE Library or using the following Zoom link: https://fcps-net.zoom.us/j/99018941544

Did you know that our VPE newsletters in Smore can all be translated into many languages if needed. Simply click on the translate button at the top of this newsletter and choose your language.

Newsflash - Weekly SMORE newsletter will be emailed to families on Friday afternoons via Infinite Campus.

Twitter - @vpepatriot

Instagram - vpeinaction

Infinite Campus - Attendance, weather calls & more! https://fayetteky.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/fayette.jsp