Vowles Newsletter

May 22nd- Senior Farewell Walk @ Vowles- a.m.

May 23rd~ "GLOW" Party BEST Celebration- Wear Neon, bright, or white

May 27th~ No School- Memorial Day
May 29th~ Kindergarten Graduation 6:00-7:30; See specific classroom schedule below
May 30th~ Field Day Field Day and Book Fair; Rain date- June 3rd; Family Picnic 12:00-12:45

June 5th~ Last Day of School ~ 1/2 Day Dismissal at 11:47

June 5th~ Report Cards go home

Mt. Pleasant Public Schools Calendar 2023-2024

We appreciate all the staff shout outs coming in. Let's keep this momentum going!!!
Let us know how our staff is doing and help us to recognize them by completing our Staff Shout Out. You can recognize an amazing teacher by filling out a few questions in the link below. We will present them with a Shout Out Certificate that tells what they were recognized for and by who.

Staff Shout Out

If you have a child currently in 2nd grade here at Vowles, you will NOT need to do anything different for them to attend Fancher next year. Your child will automatically roll up in the system and be placed in a class.

Please watch this summer for an email from the District to update your Final Forms for your child. That is all you will need to do.

Field Day for Vowles will be Thurs. May 30th. We will have 2 different times of the day that grade levels will be going outside for some fun activities provided by Mr. Hofer, our PE teacher, and our PTO. We are looking for volunteers for that day. Please sign up using the link below if you are interested in helping!

All School Picnic~ 12:00-12:45; Bring something to sit on and your lunch and enjoy time together outside as we wrap up the last days of school.

Paper Pie Book Fair will be available for book shopping.

Field Day Volunteer Sign Up

Our building will be supplying each student with a Summer Book Pack. The pack will contain 6 books as well as a resource page to go with it on how you can use the book at home. Students can work through the book and activities on their own this summer. It will support reading, comprehension, and vocabulary. The packs will supply your child with engaging books of fiction and non-fiction text.

Families~

We are hoping you will help us out! We are new to Capturing Kids Hearts Program this year but would like to get end of the year data on how we are doing. We are hoping kids are talking at home about how they sharing things in class, building relationships with peers, and fostering student connectedness. Please take this 14 question survey that will take only 5 minutes of your time. It is ok, if there are answers you don't know. Just choose the best choice from the answer selection.
You may need to copy and paste this link in a separate browser.

https://iheartckh.com/squrl/2sdjppra

We are excited to send off our Kindergarten students. Please see the schedule below. Your child should also receive a paper copy about their graduation plans.

Mrs. Morkin- 6:00 p.m.
Mrs. Roehrs- 6:30 p.m.
Ms. Jablonski- 7:00 p.m.

Here is the most recent Touchstone Articles provided by each building at MPPS. See what good things each building is doing and sharing.

Click here to view the most recent Touchstone.

Families~

Have you recently moved? If so, please call our office so we can change your address for our records and to be sure any summer and Back to School mailings get to you.

If your address is no longer a Vowles address, you will need to fill out School of Choice paperwork to stay at Vowles School for the 22024-2025 School Year.

We want to ensure your child's enrollment and classroom placement for next year is not last minute and stressful for you. Please be sure to keep us updated throughout the summer. Leave us a message at 775-2280.

Thank you Vowles Elementary for sharing information about our GSRP Preschool Program with MPPS.

Applications are open for the 2024-2025 School Year. If you have a student that may be eligible for Preschool for the 2024-2025 school year, please apply at this website below:
https://michiganpreschool.org/index.php

Please have any interested families call us at 989-775-2280 or email kbishop@mp.edzone.net

Students will need to be 4 years of age by Dec. 1st, 2024.

This program allows you to donate to classrooms and teachers in our building by gifting teachers gift cards that they can use through the Caring For Classrooms program. Teachers can choose from a wide range of supplies, games, or books for their classroom. School Store also allows you or your family members to shop online at various stores such as Walmart, Kohl's, and BEST Buy. A percentage of your purchase comes back to the school.

Families can supply 6 email addresses to 6 different people or family members. If they supply all 6, they will get a code to put on their envelope. Bring your envelope back to school to receive a free safari "book buddy" animal.

Begins: January 22nd (students received their packets)

Ends: Ongoing. Donations accepted anytime.

Our School Code is: 50671

*Gift Card and Department Store purchases continue to add to our school all year long!!!

Are your FINAL FORMS COMPLETE?

We need to make sure we have all forms completed before your student goes on their next field trip.

Please log-in https://mtpleasant-mi.finalforms.com/

You do not need to enroll your student if they already go here, log in as current student.

Be sure to sign each enrollment form, even Nutrition Club & Educational Benefits form even if you aren't requesting or completing the entire form, just scroll to bottom and sign.

If you have never got an email please email our secretary anelson@mp.edzone.net so we can make sure we have your correct email on file.

It is important to us that your child is here each day. Research does say that lack of attendance does affect student outcomes. However, if your child cannot be in attendance, it is important to us that we know they will be here. If you are receiving a Power School call/alert at 10:15, it is because your child is not in school and their absence should be Verified with our Office. Please call us at 989-775-2280 to let us know why your child is not in school that particular day.

If you know ahead of time that your child will not be attending, you can always call our office and leave a voicemail for us at 989-775-2280. This will avoid you receiving the Power School call/alert.

Just as a reminder, this is our attendance policy for our district as we follow the Isabella County School Attendance and can be found in the front pages of your child's agenda:

Attendance Policy

When a student is unable to attend school, the parent should contact the school office by 9:00 AM. Good attendance has a positive impact on learning. If your child’s absences reach 5 you will receive a letter from the principal. At 8 absences, a letter will come from the principal. The MPPS District Attendance Policy requires that the name of any student with absences and/or tardies over 10 be forwarded to the area Truancy Officer. Excused absences include: illness (with Dr. note), death of a relative or observation of religious holiday.

A.M. Absence: arrival after 9:15 a.m.

P.M. Absence: leave before 2:45 p.m.

MPPS will use the following ATTENDANCE CODES to document the reason for your child’s absence:

UA-Unexcused Absence

AV-Verified Absence

EA-Excused Absence

We would like our families to remember the following about Arrival and Dismissal as we know that parents have other school drop offs or places to be in the morning and we are encouraging safe procedures for students as well:

• Please use the circle drive only if your child is ready to go. Children should be able to get out on their own. It is meant to be a quick drop and release.
• Parents should stay in their vehicle if the circle drive is utilized.
• If kids still have things to gather, a parking spot should be utilized.
• For their safety, students should exit their vehicle on the south side (closest to the sidewalk and fence)
• If you are walking students up to the school or picking them up from the teacher at dismissal, for everyone's safety, please use the Crosswalk and do not cross in-between traffic.

Thank you for your support in making Arrival and Dismissal a smoother transition.

Hello Viking Families!

We can't say THANK YOU enough for how efficient you have continued to help make our arrival and dismissal time at Vowles. Just as reminders, here are the things you need to know:

Students can be dropped off beginning at 8:20 every morning. Students will not be allowed at school any earlier than that as the playground is not supervised. Please use the parent drop off/Circle Drive located off Watson St. We ask that parents stay in the car and let your children out the "passenger" side of the vehicle onto the sidewalk. Staff and Student Leaders will be there to greet students and direct them where to go.

If your child rides a bus, they will be dropped off at 8:20 am and be escorted into the building by staff.

If you are a neighborhood walker, we ask that you let your child go on their own once they get to our main gates. If you pick up your child at the end of the day by walking to get them, we ask that you wait near our Marqui sign or awning and we can bring your child to you.

Dismissal: This will work similar to morning drop off. Please use our Circle Drive off Watson St. Stay in your car. Staff will bring students to your car. Please plan for your child to enter the "passenger" side of the car.

End of Day Changes- If you are planning to change your child's End of Day plans, we ask that you contact us by 3:00 PM with those End of Day Changes.

Thank you!

Mrs. Bishop

Student Attendance is important to us. If your child is sick, please call the school Office at 775-2280 before 10:00 each morning to let us know.

For safety reasons, families will soon begin receiving a phone call by 10:20 am for any student that is marked as Absent each morning in Power School. You can deter getting that call from our system by calling us in the morning to let us know of your child's absence and their reason for the absence.

Our codes we use for absences are:

UA-Unexcused Absence

Any absence that has not been reported by a parent or guardian and/or any absence that is not listed as an Excused Absence in Board Policy.

AV-Verified Absence

An absence that the parent verifies or explains. Example: (1) The student doesn’t feel well, and is staying home, but is not visiting the doctor. (2) The family is taking an extra long weekend, vacation, etc.

EA-Excused Absence

Absences that meet the definition of an Excused Absence based on MPPS Board Policy.

*Illness or professional appointments with a doctors note *Death of a relative

*Observance of Religious Holidays

Below are images to our attendance policy but it can also be found in the front of your child's Agenda....

All our JK-2nd grade classrooms will be using the Remind App for their classroom communications. This is a great way for them to communicate reminders, easy building or district information, and pictures of learning. Please view your teacher's classroom code in their most recent newsletter, welcome letter, or flyer that may have been sent home.

Each Friday we will sell Popcorn for $.50/bag. Students can bring their coins or dollar bills in sandwich baggies or put in the back of their agenda in the clear pocket or a safe zipper. Teachers will collect popcorn in the morning and place the order.