Family Hawk Talk

What a learning-filled week! We have been benchmark testing in math and ELA (science is next week), which will give us wonderful information about where each of our kids are in their learning journey. We jumped into our Hawk Time lessons on respect. We also had our first academic intervention period where kids got a little extra practice with subject-specific topics!

Learning is happening everywhere and it is fun to see!

Have a great weekend.

Wagner Portrait Group will be photographing students for portrait packages & school records.

ONLY ONLINE ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Please do not bring checks, cash or order forms to school.

Use the button below to pre-order, using password: 5E3U5R6Y

One of our strategic goals is to focus on student belonging. Providing student leadership and giving students a voice is a wonderful way to increase the feeling of belonging. Our Principal's Council is a group of students who meet with Mrs. Syron once a month to discuss issues and events at school. We are excited to announce this year's Principal Council members!

Bella E. (6)

Kate C. (6)

Declynn C. (7)

Ali W. (7)

Jack B. (7)

Alex F. (8)

Keira B. (8)

Brooklyn M. (8)

Jack C. (8)

Our first meeting was this week and the students were able to sample some new and upcoming menu items being served in the cafeteria. They were very adventurous and tried everything! The feedback they provided was honest and super helpful to Ms. Kim and Ms. Michelle!

A reminder for parents, if your student is not feeling well with the following symptoms, please do not hesitate to keep them home from school:

• Fever over 100.4 (24hrs without medicine: Tylenol/ibuprofen)

• Cold symptoms (coughing, sneezing, runny nose, congestion)

• Stomachache and/or vomiting, Diarrhea (vomiting/diarrhea to stay home 24 hours after vomiting is done)

• Sore Throat

• Unexplained Cough/ Shortness of Breath

• Signs of Conjunctivitis (pinkeye)

• Signs of Head lice (persistent itching scalp, nits in hair, or lice present)

• Rash (if present need to be evaluated by physician)

• Covid precautions as well, follow the Healthy Hawk Way.

Any questions or concerns please contact the nurse office:

Nurse Candice Herb

Email: cherb@vpschools.org

Phone: 636.923.3634

Each year, our team uses data to create a plan for growth and improvement within our building. This year, we have set five goals that we are excited to work towards:

1. We will work to increase the feeling of belonging and mutual respect amongst our students.
2. We will work to increase the number of students showing typical growth in reading.
3. All of our students will show growth on essential standards in ELA, math, social studies, and science.
4. We will increase the number of opportunities for families to engage with us on campus in events that benefit our students.
5. We will work to make progress towards a culture of success for our staff and students.

We have a detailed plan and a lot of wonderful ideas to make these goals achievable! Watch the Family Hawk Talk throughout the year for updates on each of these goals.

Please remind your student to charge their laptop each night, so it is charged all day for learning. A great way to remember is to plug it in before bed and let it charge while we are sleeping!

Make part of your morning routine putting the laptop and badge in the backpack for the day. Students need badges with them everywhere on campus. They act as the student's access key to buildings.

This year, the middle and high schools will be adopting a new bell schedule. We will be following a modified block style schedule, where three days a week students will attend each of their classes for the traditional 48-50 minutes each. Wednesdays and Thursdays will be block days where students will attend half of their classes each day for approximately 86 minutes each. This allows for an intervention period once a week where students will be given the opportunity to get extra help from teachers on the curricular standards being taught. We are calling this time SOAR (students on academic rise). We believe this will benefit each of our students. Like all changes, it will be an adjustment, and we appreciate the patience and cooperation of our students as we adjust to our new schedule.

Sept. 16-17: Big Smiles Dental Clinic on campus

Sept. 24: Progress Report Grades will be posted

Sept. 25: Picture Day

Sept. 27: NO SCHOOL for students, Professional Development Day for Teachers

Please follow, add, and like us on social media!

Facebook: @ValleyParkMiddleSchool

X (Twitter): @MrsSyron