Valley Heights Elementary Schools

Dear Community Members,

As your new Superintendent, I am pleased to share a review of our year, highlighting our progress and achievements. This year, I established three primary areas of focus: Passion, Purpose, and Connections.

In our efforts to strengthen community and business connections, we have:
- Conducted in-service visits to local businesses as a gesture of appreciation.
- Toured Titan Manufacturing and the Weaver Hotel, and plan to tour GP and the Blue Rapids Museum in the fall.

To enhance our connections further, we:
- Engaged with the Rotary Club monthly, rotating between our buildings.
- Increased communication through district and building-level newsletters.

Our district's activities have seen significant success:
- Sports teams and forensics had excellent seasons, with the addition of baseball and softball.
- The community will have access to the weight room again this summer.

In our schools, driven by purpose and passion, we achieved:
- Receiving the National Blue Ribbon Award and ESEA Distinguished Award for the second time, with the support of Rotary for the Waterville sign.
- Applied for Kansas Star Recognition in Social Emotional, Civic Engagement, and Kindergarten Readiness areas.

Our state assessment results were outstanding across all categories, reflecting the hard work of our staff, parents, and students. Great job to everyone involved!

Next year, our district will focus more deeply on data and instructional strategies as part of our KESA (Kansas Education Systems Accreditation) efforts.

Regarding facilities, we are working on long-term planning and capital improvements, addressing critical areas like roofs, track, HVAC, and lighting.

We have applied for the SVPP Grant for school safety, which, if awarded, will provide $500k in funding, matched by $125k from the district. This will enhance our security systems, including cameras, intercoms, signage, outdoor security, the E3 app, and key fobs for all entrances and teacher doors.

Lastly, our strategic planning process, led by KASB, will involve four meetings with the community, school, and board. We will focus on key areas such as student development, educational programs, physical infrastructure, personnel, and culture/communication. These meetings will address future changes, strengths, and challenges.

Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our district's success.

Sincerely,

Sean Spoonts
Superintendent

Thank you for sharing your children with us this year! We had a great year and we're looking forward to seeing our students out and about this summer!

It's never too late to sign up for our wonderful Camp Exploration summer program. It is for students who just completed Kindergarten through sixth grade. This program is free and students receive free breakfast and lunch. We also offer summer school embedded in the summer camp program, for those students who qualify. If your student qualifies for summer school you would have been contacted by their classroom teacher last week.

Have a safe, healthy summer!

On the last day of school students got to rotate to fun activities with their friends! This room was a fun craft room!

Preschool

Kinder Prep

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

It was a great week at Blue Rapids Elementary! The students did an outstanding job with their end of the year program. Thank you Mrs. Popejoy and Miss. Coleman for all your hard work, the students sounded great. After the music program we recognized the 6th grade students. I am just so proud of them all and know they will be a great addition to the junior high school. As we close this year out, I want to thank the community, parents, teachers and staff for an amazing year. We are all so blessed to have such an amazing school. I wish everyone a safe and relaxing summer and look forward to seeing everyone's smiling faces in the fall.

As always, I want to thank you for the blessing that it is to work with your children. My door is always open if you have any questions or concerns.

-Mr. Staples

Thank you to Blue Rapids Chamber and Valley Heights Rotary Club for their contribution of funds to have signs made for Waterville and Blue Rapids Elementary Schools. These will be displayed in each town for all to see as they pass through our Communities.

Thank you Fire and Ice for the free slushes and supporting the 3rd through 6th grade students. The students were proud to show off their blue tongues when returning to school! 😝 It was a beautiful day to enjoy a cold drink!

The 6th graders jotted down their favorite memory(ies) for this last school year. Several referenced a memory of Connor, under what he thought Mrs. Joseph instructed him to do, but ended him out in the hall. Maybe not funny at the time, but there sure have been a lot of giggles from reading the memories.

Summer is right around the corner and we're gearing up for Camp Exploration to head into orbit! Registration is now open for Valley Heights students currently in Kindergarten through 6th grade. We look forward to another great summer!

https://forms.gle/zAb38gyvVRYKmczw9

Each day in the elementary schools, we teach our students how to have purposeful interactions and goals. We believe that having a common purpose will promote the academic and social emotional well-being of each student. We teach students the VHS model.

To celebrate students accomplishing these things, we have created positive office referrals, with VHS tickets. Teachers and staff hand out VHS tickets when they see a student doing the right thing.

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