Dabney Discussion V8I4 - November

I also want to remind families of the four days we are off school in November due to Election Day and the Thanksgiving holiday. We are out of school on:

• Tuesday, November 5th
• Wednesday, November 27th
• Thursday, November 28th
• Friday, November 29th

Congratulations goes out to the VPE community as we have been awarded GOLD status from the Kentucky Department of Education for the 2023-2024 school year for our PBIS Committee!

With the unseasonably warm weather and chilly mornings we have had LOTS of jackets and sweatshirts making their way to our Lost and Found. If you are missing items please check out this video and stop by our Lost and Found to claim your items:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N8giC63WX8aqAs_-If79Al-Kb6lv5_aA/view?usp=sharing

November 1 - Spirit & Hat Day/Woot Woot Wagon

November 5 - No School - ELECTION Day

Novembwer 6 - Picture Make Up Day

November 11 - VPE Veterans Day Program @ 1:00 PM (See information below)

November 14 - PTA Meeting @ 7:45 AM (VPE Library or Zoom -See link below)

November 18-22 - VPE Fall Book Fair

November 20 - Family Focus Night

November 21 - VPE Multicultural/Unity Night @ 5:30-7:00 PM

November 22 - FALL Parties (Kindergarten, First, Second & Third Grades)

November 25 - VPE Whole School Field Trip - Nutcracker @ Transylvania University - 12:00 Performance

November 26 - Career Day

November 27-29 - Thanksgiving Holiday ALL FCPS Schools/Offices Closed

December 6 - Spirit & Hat Day/Woot Woot Wagon

December 12 - PTA Meeting @ 7:45 AM (VPE Library or Zoom -See link below)

December 18 - Family Focus Night

December 19 - Festive Sweater Day

December 20 - Last Day Before Break

December 23 - January 6 - Winter Break -NO School

January 7 - School Resumes

No School - Election Day

Fayette County Schools will be closed on Tuesday, November 5th due to election day. Please note that the school offices are also closed that day and will open back up on Wednesday, November 6th @ 7:15 am.

Join us for our Veterans Day Program on Monday, November 11th at 1:00 p.m.! Please invite any Veteran you know to our program. Due to our limited space, visitors will be limited to Veterans and families with Veterans or family members currently serving in the military!

VPE Nutcracker Ballet Field Trip

Who: All grade levels (K,1,2,3,4,5)

When: Monday, November 25, 2024

Where: Haggin Auditorium, Transylvania University

Cost: $8.00 per student

On Monday, November 25th, all K, 1,2,3,4, and 5th grade classes will be attending a field trip to Transylvania University to watch the ballet production of The Nutcracker. The entire school will watch the Central KY Ballet Theater and 30 of our own VPE students perform in this special performance! We want to thank our community partner, Modern Kids Dentistry, for their incredible support and generosity as they are providing funding for ALL the buses for this trip!

We love dogs but not all kids do. Please be mindful of bringing dogs onto campus during arrival/dismissal and even in your cars. Recently we have had some dogs jump out of cars or snip towards staff members when opening and closing doors. To ensure the safety of all students, staff and visitors at school, dogs should not be accessible to open windows, open doors or to any staff member assisting students out of cars . If your dog is aggressive please choose another time to take them on a car ride.

Fayette County Public Schools wants to help students explore their talents and refine their career interests before they graduate. That’s why we offer more than 30 magnet and school programs designed to foster skills in art, music, automotive maintenance, carpentry, emergency medical services, welding, engineering, and more.

If your student would benefit from these programs, we encourage you to attend our Innovation Showcase on Saturday, March 1, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Tates Creek High School. Showcase participants can browse resource tables and talk with teachers and staff from each of our available programs.

Applications for our magnet and school programs open on March 1, 2025 and must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on March 17, 2025. To learn more about our application process, visit our website. For general questions, please email Vee Pryor or call 859-422-0071.

Important Dates

• Oct. 21 - Nov. 29: Cognitive and achievement testing window
• Nov. 1 - Dec. 20: Visual and performing arts auditions window
• March 1 - Applications open
• March 17 - Application deadline
• March 31 (high) & April 1 (elementary and middle) -- notifications to families

We look forward to sharing more information with you about our Innovation Showcase and programs in the coming weeks.

Welcome Veterans Park Elementary! Kentucky Women's Basketball is excited to have you at Historic Memorial Coliseum to watch the Cats take on Queens on December 9! Make sure you're wearing BLUE when you come to cheer on the Cats. Our chorus will also be singing the National Anthem that evening!

Mobile tickets will be available to access through the UK Athletics app or by logging into My UK Account from a mobile device after purchase. For assistance with accessing mobile tickets, visit UKathletics.com/MobileTickets.

Additional information on season tickets and single games can be found online at UKathletics.com.

For the latest game day information, please visit UKathletics.com/gameday.

Offer valid online only in advance of events, while supplies last. All sales final.

Each year, all third-grade students take the IOWA and Cogat tests in the fall. These are administered to help determine placement into our Gifted and Talented programs.

This year all Third Graders will be taking these tests on the following days:

• Wednesday, November 6th
• Thursday, November 7th
• Tuesday, November 12th
• Wednesday, November 13th

Please reach out to Allie Campbell our Building Assessment Coordinator at allie.campbell@fayette.kyschools.us or Katie Grigsby our Gifted and Talented Teacher at katie.grigsby@fayette.kyschools.us if you have questions regarding the assessments.

The Veterans Park Family Resource Center is excited to partner with the United Way's 'Sweet Dreams Program' this December. Each child who participates will receive a book, a set of pajamas and snacks! Participation is on a first-come, first-served basis, and spots are limited! Items will be sent home with your student in mid-December.

Participation is for students who are eligible for Free/Reduced Meals who attend Veterans Park Elementary (there are not spaces available for non-VPE siblings at this time)

Use the link below to sign up! (Complete one form per child)

https://forms.gle/7evanZ9X8GuNX4z89

Vision Screenings for 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders will take place at Veterans Park Elementary on November 19th. Students can be screened in kindergarten, second and/or fourth grade if you have a concern with your student's vision. Please email our school nurse Joni Green at 165.jonigreen@fayette.kyschools.us if you want your child screened. The vision screenings will take place at VPE during the school day. If a child fails an initial vision screening, the student will be rescreened, and caregivers will be notified. If your child is absent, the vision screening will be rescheduled when they return to school.

Our PTA is applying to be recognized as a PTA School of Excellence. As part of the process outlined by the National PTA, the PTA is requesting feedback from families, administrators, and teachers at two points in the school year—the beginning and the end. Using the community feedback, we will build an Excellence Action Plan to strengthen family-school partnerships.

Please take 5-10 minutes to reflect on your experience at this school and complete this survey by Friday, November 8th.

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.

Just a reminder that VPE & FCPS have a make-up work policy if your child should be absent, sick or misses school. Please reference the below VPE SBDM Policy with regard to make up work:

Absence due to illness: Fayette County Board policy reads that a student has the number of days absent plus one day to turn in missed work due to illness or any other excused absence.

Requests for missed work due to illness: Parents must call the school office before 8:00 a.m. in order for work to be prepared by the teacher on the day of the absence during their planning period. The teacher will, when requested, deliver the work to a sibling or neighbor; otherwise, it will be placed in the homework tub outside the office. Homework pick-up is available each day until 6:00 p.m. outside the office.

Make-up work from absences other than excused absences: Teachers are not required to prepare work before a known absence such as a family vacation or sports competition. Teachers may choose to send work only if convenient. Any work that is given in advance to the student must be turned in the day the student returns to school in order to receive credit. A student will receive make-up work when he/she returns to school. The student will have the number of days absent plus one day to turn in missed assignments.

Extenuating circumstances will be decided on a case-by-case basis by the teacher and/or principal.

Our goal each day is to ensure the safety of our students. Below are some reminders regarding building safety:

Visitors:

Must enter through the front of the building

MUST provide a valid picture ID - every time

State the purpose of the visit

Wear a visible visitor sticker while in the building

Sign out when leaving the building in the office

Arrival:

Please do NOT enter the bus loop until after the buses have dropped off around 7:20 am. Staff members will be assisting students in getting out of cars each morning to help the line move faster. Pull all the way forward to help get as many cars in the loop as possible. Only turn right into the bus loop and exit left along with only turning left into the parking lot and exiting right.

Car Tags:

Parents picking up in the car line must have a visible Veterans Park-issued tag. If you do not have a tag, you will be asked to go to the office to pick up a new tag before picking up your child.

Late Pick-Up:

If you are running late to pick your child up from school you will be asked to enter through the front office and sign your child out with a staff member.

Kindergarten Parents:

FCPS requires anyone picking up a Kindergarten student to present their ID. Thank you for helping with this safety procedure.

Transportation is one of the biggest worries for a teacher and making sure students arrive and get home safely. We are welcoming & dismissing close to 800 students on a daily basis and we need to ensure that every child gets to school and their home safely. Please help us by following these procedures:

• Do not make unnecessary afternoon transportation changes, and only make changes during the school day in the case of an emergency.

• All changes in transportation must be in writing and before 1:15 pm….please don’t email your child’s teacher with changes because they can’t be honored. You may send in a handwritten note, or email us at vpetransportation@fayette.kyschools.us

• Parents please stay in your cars during arrival/dismissal and allow for staff to help students in and out. It is for your safety too!

• Be a good role model and only cross at the crosswalk!

• Do not drop students on Clearwater Way and please wait until you reach the sidewalk to allow students to get out of the car on the sidewalk side only.

• We can not have cars in the bus loop until after all buses have arrived which is typically at 7:20ish therefore, if dropping students prior to 7:20 please use the parking lot side to drop off students.

A helpful hint….there isn’t a line in the car line at 7:20 but tends to be one at 7:40! Come early to keep from being tardy!

If your child needs to take medication at school, the following is required:

• Medication Authorization form signed by the parent. Stop by the office to fill one out!

• Medication must be in the original prescription container. The information listed on the container must include the student’s name and the prescribed medication.

Other medical issues include asthma and allergies…

If your child has an allergy, asthma, or other medical conditions that require special adult attention and/or medication while at school and you have not completed a medical information packet, please come by or call the office immediately.

Call our Nurse with questions.,

859-422-0025 ext 27202

Two Steps to an Excused Absence!

1. If your child is absent, please call the school at 422-0025 before 7:30 am. Please know that even if you call in, you will still receive an automated call about your child's absence.

2. For an absence to be excused, it must be followed up with a written excuse within 3 days. FCPS Board Policy does not allow us to accept notes after this time and absences will remain unexcused. Remember, when you take your child to a doctor or dentist, get a note.

See all the details in the FCPS Code of Conduct.

What is an Excused Absence/Tardy?

• Death of an immediate family member
• Illness of Student: Parents have a total of 10 notes to write for students' illnesses. After 10 cumulative absences due to illness students are required to present a written statement from a medical professional for each additional absence for the school year in order to be excused.
• Religious Holidays & Practices
• Medical & Dental Appointments: Be sure to grab note from the doctor's office!
• Family Emergencies: limited to three cumulative absent events per school year, as approved by the Principal.

**Family Vacations & Trips are NOT Excused Absences!

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: link:https://fcps-net.zoom.us/j/99018941544

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 or on a field trip at any point in the future when allowed you will need to complete the following background check: https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/MjAwOmVuLVVT

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 four years.

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

Email: molly.dabney@fayette.kyschools.us
Website: http://www.veterans.fcps.net/
Location: 4351 Clearwater Way, Lexington, KY, USA
Phone: 859-422-0025
Twitter: @vpepatriot