VAIS Family Newsletter

12/11/2024 Family Tours 7:45-8:45am

12/11/2024 K/1 Zoo to You Program 10-11am

12/11/2024 2/3 Field Trip to Aldo Leopold Nature Center 9-11:30am

12/16/2024 Virtual Governance Council Zoom Meeting 6:30-8:30pm

12/18/2024 5th Grade Field Trip to the High School 10-11am

12/19/2024 January newsletter info is due to Miss Amelia by Noon

12/20/2024 District wide Sparkle Day

12/23/2024 - 1/1/2025 Winter Break

1/2/2025 School resumes

Our Recruiting Season is here! Thank you so much to all our families who joined us at the Verona Area Kids Expo. And now, let's do all we can to help grow our VAIS family.

Please help us recruit and tell local families about these opportunities:

Wednesday, December 11 7:45-8:45am - In person tour

Thursday, January 9th 6-7pm - VASD Kindergarten Night

Friday, January 17th 9-10am - In person tour

Saturday, January 25th 9-10:30am - Chinese Mini School in person

Thursday, February 6th 7:45-8:45am - In person tour

Show your school spirit and spread the word about our incredible school by getting a yard sign! Let’s come together to showcase our vibrant community and attract new families.

How to Participate:

1. Purchase a yard sign.

2. Proudly display it in your yard or a highly trafficked area.

3. Take a photo with your sign and share it on social media.

4. Tag a friend and invite them to share their sign too!

VAIS signs can help us reach more families and showcase what makes our school special!

To help with the future of the school, the VAIS Governance Council (GC) is in the process of setting up a new VAIS Foundation for receiving FUNdraising money. This Foundation is almost established and will be a 501c3 to benefit the future of the Verona Area International School. There will be a formal announcement once it is established and a brainstorming session for the parent community to decide ways we can collectively raise funds for the school.

This Tuesday, December 3rd, is “Giving Tuesday” – a “global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.” This year, we would like to extend this FUNdraiser to the month of December. This year since we are waiting on the formation of the VAIS Foundation, we are asking for checks written out to VAIS or cash vs. an online donation.

Let's show our appreciation for our teachers and staff at NCS and VAIS on Wednesday, December 4th, which is also National Cookie Day! There are two ways you can help:

1. Bake cookies or other treats for our wonderful staff. All the staff will receive a cookie tin so they can collect different treats to take home!

2. Volunteer to be a Super Helper in a teacher's classroom.

Sign up using this link if you are able to help!

Lunar New Year at the Verona Public Library will be February 8 from 9:30 to 11:30am

We are thrilled to share this vibrant Chinese holiday with our community! This year we will celebrate the Year of the Snake.

Save the date, spread the word and sign up to help:

VAIS: Lunar New Year Storytime

VAIS and NCS shared Glow Dance Night on Friday, April 11, 2025 5:30-7:30pm in our school gym!

Join us for a glowing night with DJ Brent spinning tunes on his tables, princesses ready to party with us and free pizza and drinks. Wear your bright white and neon clothes and dancing shoes! Magical treats will also be for sale and kids get to enjoy glitter tattoos and more!

Where have you been reading? At the dentist? With your chicken? On the beach? Please share a photo by emailing our Library Director, Ms. Roltgen, at roltgent@verona.k12.wi.us You may be featured on social media, in the library, or in a future edition of the newsletter!

Your school library is happy to provide Sora, a reading app for students that offers age-appropriate e-books and audio books, for all NCS/VAIS students and staff! If your student brings home their school device, they can access Sora by going to Clever and looking under Library Resources.

Here are the instructions for downloading Sora to a home device. Students will use their school email addresses and three-letter passwords (they should know these - if not, Ms. Roltgen can help) to log in.

In library classes, students have learned how to borrow e-books and audio books, place holds, browse the collections, search for titles of interest, check their bookshelf, and personalize their profile. K-1 learners have been enjoying the "Read Along With Me" collection which allows them to see the pictures and watch the highlighted words as a narrator reads the book to them.

Going on a road trip? Sora titles can be checked out and downloaded ahead of time so no internet access is required while using the app. If you have any questions or trouble accessing Sora, please contact our Library Director, Ms. Roltgen, at roltgent@verona.k12.wi.us. Happy e-reading and listening!

It's time for everyone's favorite fundraising game of chance! Toss in $10 per square, and get ready for the opportunity to WIN BIG during this year's Superbowl on Sunday, February 9, in NOLA. This is a great fundraising ask to extend to family and friends to make watching the big game that much more fun!

Please fill out the linked form and then choose cash or Venmo as your payment option. Payment must be received before squares are confirmed. Once all 100 squares are purchased (they go fast!), you will receive a copy of the Superbowl Squares board. If any quarter's score of the Superbowl ends in your numbers, you win as detailed below OR you donate your winnings back to VAIS and win even bigger (our undying admiration)!

Quarter 1 = $100 Prize

Quarter 2 = $100 Prize

Quarter 3 = $100 Prize

Final = $200 Prize

The VASD Elementary School Family Handbook is a good resource for families. Families are encouraged to review this information and refer to it throughout the school year. It is also available on our website.

This year starts our use of the Savvas program. This meets the standards of the new Wisconsin legislation, which is a requirement for our school, integrates reading and writing, and promotes reading topics across themes. Because it is the same curriculum adopted by the rest of the district, the funding will come from VASD rather than our school funding. Our teachers are amazing and will be assessing how well this program meets our students' and teachers' needs for improvement, growth, and autonomy.

Our students experience having two different classroom teachers throughout the day. It can be confusing for families to know which teacher to communicate with at times. If you are reaching out to your child’s teacher, please include both teachers on any communication.

It is not always easy to decide if your child is sick enough to stay home or well enough to be in school. Children who come to school are expected to participate fully in school activities including recess and physical education. A note from a medical provider is required for activity restrictions.

Please use the following Verona Area School District guidelines to help in decision making (attached here).

Have you joined the VAIS Facebook Groups?

All Current families are welcome to join “VAIS Parents Group” on Facebook. We will be posting events and pop-up playdates in this group. This is also a great resource for new parents/guardians to ask any questions they may have. Please also like and follow our VAIS School Facebook here, or take a look at our website here.

If your student is ill, has an early morning appointment or early pick up, or will be late arriving to school for another reason, in addition to notifying their classroom teachers please make sure that you contact one of the following PRIOR TO THE START OF THE SCHOOL DAY:

1) EMAIL VAIS Attendance: vais-attendance@verona.k12.wi.us or

2) CALL the office at (608) 845-4500 (If you are making a change after 11:00 am the same day, then please call the office).

Please do not email the school secretaries directly, we appreciate it! The attendance line email is the best way to communicate with school.

If you need assistance with lunch costs please visit our Free and Reduced Lunch application for information on income levels and an application for assistance.

Here is the link to a Google Public Calendar with this year’s updated NCS events:

VAIS Public Google Calendar

This calendar will be updated continually throughout the year with school events, such as swim, Picture Day, Back to School Night, field trips, parent/teacher conferences, days off of school, Governance Council meetings, and so much more! We hope that this will make things easier for you!

The Bridging Brighter Smiles program is a safe, affordable, accessible way to meet a dental hygienist... right here in Verona Area School District!

Learn more at https://bridgingbrightersmiles.org/

Family volunteers help make VAIS the vibrant place it is and are so appreciated! Please consider signing up for one or more of the opportunities below. If you plan to volunteer in ANY capacity in the building this school year, NOW is a great time to take a few minutes to fill out the required background check form so you are ready to go when asked. Please note background checks must be completed no later than 1 week prior to the event. Once passed, this background check is valid for 2 years.

Volunteers for Recruitment events

Sign up to volunteer at our recruiting events. We need parents to share info about our school at tours, minischool, and kindergarten night.

Our upcoming tours are the first opportunities to help out:

Tour: VAIS teachers and staff will guide a tour of our school and explain our immersion program.

Wednesday, December 11 at 7:45am

Thursday, January 9th 5:45-7:15pm - Kindergarten night at Sugar Creek

Friday, January 17 at 9am

Thursday, February 6 at 7:45am

Have dinner with your VAIS friends and family at the Culvers in Verona on January 22nd at 5-8pm.

A portion of the sales will be donated to VAIS. Volunteers needed to help run orders. Sign up here.

Join a committee and support VAIS! Volunteers are key to our success and it's a super rewarding experience. Opportunities include: Governance Council, Family Engagement, Community Outeach, FUNdraising and Budget. To get involved, email jennifer.tzeng@live.com.

The Sunshine Committee is made up of many amazing family members of students from our schools whose mission is to spread kindness and support for families and school staff. They do this by providing support in the form of cards, meals, gift cards, and other resources to families and staff in need of a little pick-me-up. They also have provided support to our school through stocking those awesome bathroom supply baskets in our staff bathrooms and by helping organize our winter clothes.

Canned drinks and packaged snacks are always welcome in the teacher's workrooms, feel free to drop those off any time.

For more information and to assist in bringing sunshine to our community please contact Tiffani Roltgen at roltgent@verona.k12.wi.us or Hannah Merryfield at merryfih@verona.k12.wi.us.