Special Area Newsletter
Spetember 2024
Music with Ms. Peters
Greetings from the Music Room! It is a very exciting beginning to Music at VPE. All students have been engaged in a variety of activities of creating and performing music by singing and playing instruments. Our Kindergarten and 1st Grade students have been singing songs, movement with scarves and will begin to explore music around the world. Our 2nd-5th Grade students have been working on rhythm and creating and performing on a variety of instruments with “Mallet Madness”
We have exciting news to share. We were awarded a Bright Ideas Grant for the music room. Our big idea is called "From Sound to Story: Exploring STEM, Music, and Literacy" . Through hands-on exploration of sound, music, and storytelling, students will deepen their understanding of STEM concepts while enhancing their literacy skills, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and a love for learning. This innovative project aligns with the focus areas of increasing literacy and STEM initiatives, aiming to build confidence, self-expression, social and emotional learning, creativity, and empower students with valuable skills for high academic and personal success. We are so grateful for this opportunity..
Friendly Reminder: 3rd -5th Grade students that registered to audition for the Nutcracker will have auditions on Monday, September 9th 2:30-3:40.
It’s almost time for Chorus!
The chorus program at VPE consists of 3 choirs grouped BY GRADE LEVELS. Starting the week of Sept. 9th ,each Chorus will rehearse 1 day per week on the following schedule per grade level:
Lower Primary (K-1st) Chorus will rehearse in the gym with Mrs. Peters on these days:
Tuesdays - Kindergarten 7:20 -7:45 a.m.
Wednesdays- 1st Grade 7:20 -7:45 a.m
Upper Primary (2nd-3rd)
will rehearse in the gym with Mrs. Peters on these days:
Thursdays -2nd Grade 7:20 -7:45a.m
Fridays-3rd Grade 7:20 -7:45 a.m
. Intermediate (4th-5th) Chorus will rehearse on Thursdays after school from 2:35-4:00 . First rehearsal is after school 2:35-4:00 September 12th. Please be sure to fill-out a chorus transportation form and return it to your child’s teacher before our first rehearsal on September 14th.
VPE Spring 2025 Musical Reveal
This year’s musical will be Shrek Jr. Information about 4th and 5th grade auditions for Shrek Jr. will be distributed soon.Here is a video of our musical reveal:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1neFWQ7yVwt1R4_FX-ingmN-gFS7Q3cPV/view?usp=sharing
Library with Ms. Ault
What a great start to the 2024-2025 school year! I’ve loved getting to see all the smiling faces and hear how awesome everyone’s summer was. In library class, students read books based on the theme in library this year which is Dragons! We’ve discussed taking care of books and library procedures/expectations. Lower primary students have learned to use the five-finger rule to pick out a just right book. Upper primary and intermediate students have used our online catalog, Destiny Discover, to navigate and locate books in the library. We have also discussed Battle of the Books for students in grades 3-5 and the morning show team in fifth grade. On the horizon, students will be taking a genre personality test to see which one fits and participating in a special book tasting. Can’t wait to see what wonderful things are in store for us at VPE this year!
P.E. with Mr. Penrod
Hey VPE families, I hope everyone is having a great start to the school year. In August, all of our PE classes worked on establishing expectations for PE-be responsible, be respectful, and be safe. We have also worked on using PE equipment properly. In September, all of our grades will start with throwing skills. The K-2 grades will be developing the skills for throwing with form. The 3-5 grades are in the refining stages of their throwing skills. We will continue to establish and reinforce expectations in our PE classes throughout September.
STEM with Ms. Sproles
We are off to a great start in the STEM Lab! All grade levels continue to review the expectations when coming to STEM. We are working on reviewing what STEM means, teamwork, creativity, building each other up, technology skills, and engineering challenges to kick off the year. I look forward to diving into our science content in the next few weeks! I am excited for another STEMazing year with the kiddos at VPE!