VCS Social Services Newsletter

As we begin the second half of the school year, remember that the VCS Social Services Team is here to assist you. Please don't hesitate to reach out should you ever have any questions, concerns, or needs. Click the button below to find our contact information.

VCS Social Workers want to extend a huge thank you to our community for supporting the Holiday Assistance Program this year! Collaborating with individuals, families, community organizations, churches, and local businesses allowed us to provide 813 students with gifts this holiday season! Thanks again for the overwhelming support & generosity of the Valparaiso and local communities.

Thank you to our Valparaiso Community!

Thanks to generous donations from the community, we were able to provide winter break food boxes for families who participate in the Backpacks & Snacks Program. These, and other donations, will also help us continue our weekly food bags to help sustain students over the weekends. We couldn't continue this program without the generous support of our community. Thank you!

Information for Families

If you would like to be included in our weekend meal distributions, and are not yet enrolled, please reach out to the social worker at your child's school.

If you participate in the Backpacks & Snacks program, look for information to be sent out in early March about food boxes for spring break.

Information for Donors

If you would like to support the Backpacks and Snacks program, please reach out to your building social worker for information.

This spring the elementary social workers will be conducting the second round of child safety lessons from the Monique Burr Foundation. The spring lessons cover bullying and online safety. More information will be sent by your building social worker beforehand.

If your family lives in any of the following housing situations, your school age children may qualify for certain rights and protections under the federal McKinney-Vento Act.

• In a shelter
• In a motel or campground due to the lack of an alternative adequate accommodation
• In a car, park, abandoned building, or bus or train station
• Doubled up with other people due to loss of housing or economic hardship

If you are experiencing housing insecurity like the situations listed above, we may be able to provide some resources related to transportation, extracurricular activities, community recreation services, educational items (such as workbooks, games, and books), and more.

If you could benefit from such support, please reach out to your school social worker or Dr. Erin Hawkins, Assistant Superintendent for Support Services. You can also click the button below to visit our website for more information.

Dressed for School is a non-profit organization that aims to help elementary students who are in need of new, quality clothing, at no cost, in a shopping environment. They are located in the VALE building at 653 Hayes Leonard Rd. (the old Hayes Leonard Elementary School).

Plans are being made for the spring elementary clothing distribution from Dressed for School. Elementary parents should watch their email and/or Dojo App for more information in March.

Dressed for School recently began serving a limited number of middle school students through a referral process in partnership with the social services team. Thank you Dressed for School for your continued work to contribute to the confidence and success of our students!

If you would like to learn more about Dressed for School, visit their website via the button below.

If your high school student is in need of clothing, please reach out to the high school social workers.

Love and Logic

Our Greater Good is an organization that aims to strengthen families and help every child reach their full potential. They are offering another session of the parenting class Love and Logic. It is a virtual class and begins on February 5. Love and Logic helps parents with strategies to:

• Put an end to arguing, back talk, and begging
• Teach responsibility without losing their love
• Set limits without waging war
• Avoid power struggles
• Guide kids to own and solve their problems
• Teach kids to complete chores…without reminders and without pay.

Please click the button below for more information and to register.

6th Grade Mentoring

We wanted to let you know about an opportunity for your 6th grader. Boys to Men and Girls to Women are group mentoring programs that are offered through Our Greater Good. Groups meet for a little over an hour after school once a week. Up to four adult mentors meet with up to 12 students in a Journey group. The goal is Journey groups will remain intact until that group graduates from high school. Yes, these groups have the option of following your child through all of middle school AND high school, should your child choose to stay involved.

The format each Journey Group (or J-group) follows is similar. Each week students will receive a snack, have discussion time and usually an activity. Mentors go through a formal training on the national curriculum for this program but are given the flexibility to allow the group to go in whatever direction the children need that week. Activities range from ice-breakers to games to possible field trips. Groups meet immediately after school until the late bus arrives to take them home (or parents come to pick them up).

Please talk about this opportunity with your student. We know middle school can be a time when students could sometimes use a consistent, safe space to connect with few extra adults and students to process all of the transitions and new things they are learning and experiencing. If your student is interested in joining or even just coming to check it out, please reach out to the Our Greater Good program coordinator, Natalie Wilson at natalie@ourgreatergood.com .

Home Team Valpo is a not-for-profit organization that brings together funding and materials from local businesses and organizations, skilled and unskilled volunteers from the community, and qualified residents who need help maintaining their homes to improve the quality of life for all residents of Valparaiso. If you are interested in applying for assistance or would like to volunteer with Home Team Valpo, click the button below to visit their website.

The VCS Social Services Team is always happy to help you identify resources for needs that may come up. Another good source of information for resources is the United Way's 211 website, which can be found here.

Our previous newsletters are archived on our website. To find them from the district homepage, select Department --> Social Services --> Newsletters from the menu on the right. The button below will also take you directly to the page.