Valley Heights Elementary Schools

No School this Wednesday-Friday, November 27th-29th! Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Waterville Grade School Families,

We hope this message finds you well! As we approach the Thanksgiving Break, we have been thinking about and are so thankful for the opportunities we have to work with your children. Additionally, we are so proud of the growth and successes of all of our students during this school year. They are fun, focused, dedicated, and persevere during their learning!

In this season of reflection and gratitude, we also wanted to take a moment to simply and sincerely say “Thank You!” for everything you have done, are doing, and will continue to do to help and support our students, our staff, and our wonderful school community.

We hope that you and your family have a safe, fun, fulfilling, and restful break.

Things will be BUSY right after Thanksgiving Break! Make sure you refer back to our newsletters so you don't miss anything! Here is the schedule for next week. Our annual Elementary Christmas Music Program is Wednesday, December 4th at 7:00 pm. Students need to be in their seats by 6:45 pm.

Monday:

• Colts Round Up

Tuesday:

• Colts Round Up

Wednesday:

• Colts Round Up
• Music Program @ 7:00 pm. Be there by 6:45 pm

Thursday:

• Colts Round Up

Friday:

Looking Ahead:

Wednesday, December 11th: NO COLTS ROUND UP

Thursday, December 12th: Santa's Gift Shop during the school day. NO COLTS ROUND UP

Thursday, December 19th: Classroom Christmas Parties!

Friday, December 20th:

• Preschool/ Kinder Prep Music Program @ 8:30 am
• End of 2nd Nine Weeks Dismiss @ 12:30. Lunch is provided

December 21st-January 5th Christmas Break

Classes resume Monday, January 6, 2025!

Mrs. Young's class made turkey's and raced them!

Show and tell has been awesome at Waterville Grade School lately! From lizards to dogs to race cars and puppies, students have been enjoying sharing some of their favorite things!

Kindergarten students enjoyed weighing items during math class!

It has been a short week but an exciting week at Blue Rapids Elementary. The classes enjoyed their classroom Thanksgiving celebrations on Tuesday. The 6th grade leadership got into the holiday spirit with the introduction of their candy cane sales project which will begin after Thanksgiving break. Please see the flier below

Looking ahead to next week please take note of our Christmas program on the 4th of December at 7:00 pm. (see note from Mrs. Popejoy below) The students in both elementary buildings have been working hard and are so excited to share their holiday cheer.

This week is Thanksgiving, which means we will only have two days of school. There is no school Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On behalf of the staff, I want to share how thankful we are for the amazing families, students, and community support that we receive at Blue Rapids Elementary School. Thank you all, and I pray everyone enjoys what I call the "F's" of Thanksgiving, faith, friends, family, food, and football. Ok, I know not everyone is a football fan, that said, I pray the warmth of the Thanksgiving holiday over you all.

As always, I thank you all for the privilege of working with your children! If you have any questions don’t hesitate to call the office at 785-363-7693 or email me at tstaples@valleyheights.org.

-Titus Staples

Congrats to this week's Waterville VHS ticket winners! Evelyn and Elijah won lunch with Mrs. deBoer and Emmett and George won prizes!

Each week we'll give you a fun question to talk about around the dinner table with your family! Eating together as a family is an excellent time to strengthen relationships and check in with your child and their needs. Enjoy discussing the question of the week!

Community Education has recently sent out a program survey to gather community interests and Ideas to increase programming and participation in activities beyond the school day. We invite you to click on the link below to fill out the survey and give us your thoughts and ideas.

Survey Link: https://forms.gle/KuzPRNFKjXkyEiqf8

We’d like to remind families to discuss a safe route to school with your students. Whether it is on foot, bike, or a car we want everyone to arrive to and from school safely! For students on foot and bike remember that the safest crossings are at Chestnut & Highway 77 in Blue Rapids and Minnesota & Highway 77 in Waterville.

These crossings are monitored both before and after school.

Early Head Start 0-3 provides services to infants, toddlers, and pregnant women. It promotes

• healthy prenatal outcomes, healthy babies
• enhances the development of infants and toddlers, and
• promotes healthy/thriving families

NEK-CAP, Inc. receives federal funds for 160 children to operate and provide Early Head Start (0-3) services for infants, toddlers, pregnant mothers, and fathers.

NEK-CAP, Inc. receives federal funds for 238 children to operate and provide Head Start services. Head Start is committed to cultivating partnerships with the community to ensure that children and families receive an array of individualized services focused upon early childhood development, family support, health and education.

Head Start/Early Head Start 0-5 services are available at no cost to children and families. Up to 10% of enrollment may be used to serve children that are over income. Transportation is available at some locations.

Click HERE for more information!

Did you know that even though packaging no longer has box tops on them to cut out, that you can still support your school? Download the Box Tops app and scan your receipt to earn money for schools. This is a simple way to give back to your community! Click here for more details!

Email: judeboer@valleyheights.org tstaples@valleyheights.org sspoonts@valleyheights.org
Website: www.valleyheights.org