VAIS Family Newsletter

10/09/23 Governance Council Meeting 6:30pm-8:30pm

10/12/23 Family Conferences 3pm-6:30pm

10/13/23 Homecoming Day Parade 4pm

10/19/23-10/20/23 No School Fall Break

10/27/23 Community Gathering 7:35am-8:00am

11/02/23 Fall Party 1:00pm-2:00pm

11/03/23 Asynchronous Learning Day

11/04/23 Kids Expo Badger Ridge Gym 8am-12pm

11/13/23 Governance Council Meeting 6:30pm-8:30pm

11/14/23 Picture Retakes

11/22/23-11/24/23 Thanksgiving Break

12/11/23 Governance Council Meeting 6:30pm-8:30pm

12/20/23 Community Gathering 7:35am-8:00am

12/22/23 Asynchronous Learning Day

We would love to have you walk with VAIS is the Homecoming Parade on October 13. We will be walking with Middle and High School Chinese Students. Please click here to signup or visit our Facebook event here for more information.

Parent Teacher conferences are coming up. Teachers and staff will be staying late for school conferences on October 12, 2023 from 3-6:30pm. Support our teachers and staff during the long conference day: sign up here to bring dinner to the school on October 12th.

Welcome to Merrianne Call who will be our new AmeriCorps Reading Volunteer. She will be working with K-3 students.

Interested in getting to know our kiddos and helping to build community within our schools? Do you have a couple of hours to spare occasionally or is your time flexible enough that you can come once a week? We would love to have you assist in our lunchroom.

All volunteers will need to be background checked through the district here.

Please complete this short survey with your availability.

Ms. Roltgen would love for you to come in and volunteer to help out in the Library. Please visit the Signup to find a time that would work for you.

Save the date for upcoming VAIS social events:

• Parents Social at Stone Porch Alehouse, Oct 4, 5-7pm
• Ice Age Trail Hike, Badger Prairie Park, Oct 7, 10am
• VAIS Family Fall Party, Saturday, Oct 28, 3-5 p.m. at Harriet Park

Check your email or our Parents Facebook group for more information!

We will be celebrating student learning at our Community Gathering on Friday, October 27th fr

om 7:35 am to 8:00 am. Families are invited to join this celebration. This is an informal opportunity for kids to share some of their learning with the entire school community.

Families can join us in the gym after kids enter the building at 7:30 am. For safety reasons, we ask that family members enter at Door 1 and go straight to the gymnasium. A staff member will be at Door 1 to let families enter. If families need to go somewhere else in the building, then they should enter at Door 2 and get a visitor badge in the office.

We will send a reminder with more information about the actual celebration itself closer to the event.

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 and gym days, library days, 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!

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. Alumni families are welcome to join the “VAIS Alumni Parent Group” Facebook Group.

Additional resources for new and current families are here and here.

One of the things that makes VAIS so special is our community of teachers, staff, students, and families. This community is fostered through events promoting Chinese culture and increasing our presence in the greater Verona area. But to have a successful charter school like VAIS, we need volunteer help! Please consider joining a committee to get involved in VAIS!

Community Outreach Committee

The Community Outreach Committee is tasked with recruiting next year’s kindergarten class of 22 students, as well as coordinating activities to increase community awareness of our school. We need your help in getting the word out about VAIS! Our recruitment season unofficially begins in November, with the bulk of the recruitment events are between mid-January and mid-February. Our biggest need presently is a volunteer to coordinate our Lunar New Year display in the VPL Children’s Area and a volunteer to help run and organize community story time at Kismet Books. If interested, please attend our next meeting on Tuesday, October 17th or email Kelly Gibson and Paige Jany.

Parent Engagement Committee

This committee will offer a wide variety of ways for families and community members to engage at VAIS including volunteer opportunities, staff/teacher appreciation, school parties/events and

student/family social activities. For more information contact Jennifer Tzeng.

FUNdraising Committee

The FUNdraising Committee oversees raising funds for the charter school materials such as Chinese curriculum, special events, extra materials for teachers, etc. We achieve this through a variety of events, direct fundraisers, and community events. For more information contact Joanne Huang.

Budget Committee

This committee works with the VAIS Director to plan and manage the annual school budget. For more information contact Evan Henderson.

Our next Community Outreach Meeting will be Tuesday, October 17th at 8pm via Zoom. Please join us as we work to revise our print materials for the 24-25 recruitment season.

Zoom instructions:

https://bakerstreet221b.zoom.us/j/85128696458?pwd=u5YCUg7c4cT4benbAtXu4srJCEh4Vs.1 )
Meeting ID: 851 2869 6458
Passcode: 628199

The VAIS Governance Council makes the high level or “big picture” decisions concerning the day-to-day operations of VAIS. The Governance Council generally meets on the 2nd Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m in the library and via Zoom and the meetings are open to the public. The next meeting is Monday, October 9th, 2023 at 6:30pm either in person at the VAIS Library or on Zoom. For more information, please join us on the 9thth or email us here. Thank you for your time and consideration!

We are excited to share that Fourth Graders and their family members have free access to parks, lands and waters for an entire year. This opportunity is part of the US Government through the Bureau of Land Management, the Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife, Forest Service and other agencies who are working together to help capture the curiosity of students in this age group.

This program runs Sept 1 to August 31, so enjoy while you can! It's entirely free and the opportunities are all across the US.

Here is where families can sign up for free: https://everykidoutdoors.gov/parents.htm

If you do take this opportunity and enjoy the adventure, please feel free to share your pictures with Miss Amelia or Miss Jenni.

We’re asking for your help to keep all children safe near and on Main Street. Our city is growing, our schools are growing, and Main Street is at times very busy. We have, combined, nearly 1,000 elementary students attending our three schools here on Main Street, including many students who are walking or biking in the area. Our close neighbors on this campus, Core Knowledge Charter School and Badger Ridge Middle School, have an additional 1,200 students. We need your help to keep each and every child safe, and that means:

• Recognize that you are in a school zone, and please follow the posted speed limit.
• Be aware that this area is populated by … children. They are small, not as careful as they should be, and need all of us adults to keep them safe.
• Accept that a school zone will naturally result in times when there is a great deal more traffic.
• Increase your awareness around crosswalks for pedestrians and bikers.
• Be on the lookout for buses. We support our drivers at Sugar Creek, New Century and VAIS! They are trying their best to get their riders to and from school on time and safely.
• Please obey crossing guards. We are so lucky to have the great team we do, including Laurie and Rhonda, pictured above.
• Conditions will generally deteriorate as we move into autumn and then winter, as our world becomes darker, snowier, and colder. It is imperative that drivers give themselves more space and time to stop in the event of an emergency.
• We team with the Verona Police Department. They know our concerns, our suggestions, and our busy times, and they have been good partners.
• Drive like every child you see was your own child.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Do you have some extra golf umbrellas around your house from special events or given to you as corporate gifts? We have many staff members greeting kids and keeping them safe during arrival. This is Rain or Shine. We would appreciate donations of large, sturdy umbrellas for staff members to use during this time. Golf umbrellas are usually large enough for us to also include a few kids. You can bring an donations to our office.

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.

For more information and to assist in brining sunshine to our community please contact Shannon Ratchman.

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.

If your student is ill, has an early morning appointment, or will be late arriving to

school for another reason, in addition to notifying their classroom teacher please make sure that you one of the following PRIOR TO THE START OF THE SCHOOL DAY:

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

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.