October Newsletter 2023

Dear Families,

The first month of school flew by! Students and teachers are working hard to establish relationships that will propel our classrooms through the year. Strong relationships foster a safe learning environment for students to learn and grow. Strong rituals and routines lay the ground work for all of us to live and learn together. Classrooms will continue to work on rituals and routines into October, and will revisit them throughout the year. I am so proud of the success they are having embedding these routines into the classrooms and how it's impacting our school community.

October is a busy month with many opportunities to get involved! I encourage families to take advantage of these events. Virtual BINGO, Parent Academy, PTO, Parent-Teacher Conferences, and Safety Night are all ways to connect with your child’s teacher and the school. These events offer opportunities to engage in different activities for your entire family to attend. Your partnership is critical for your child’s educational success.

Another way to partner with school is by helping your child complete their homework. This year, our goal is to engage families in their child’s learning. Homework is a great way for students to get additional practice on a subject, and allow parents a glimpse of what their child is working on in school. Homework should not become overwhelming and cause anxiety at home, rather provide students with practice on skills they already learned at school. Homework will be coming home in backpacks and on Seesaw. It should only take 5-10 minutes to complete and will be very simple to begin with. As students learn more, homework will become more rigorous. Please check your child’s backpack for homework.

As we start the second month of school, I want to remind parents of our uniform policy. Students must come dressed in their uniforms. Please see the uniform expectations below if you need more information on what is allowed and not allowed. Thank you for your help in following the uniform policy.

Sincerely,

Mr. Kuhlman

• Navy blue or gold polo, fleece, or ¼ zip sweatshirt with Valley View logo.

• Khaki or navy blue pants, skirts, or shorts. All skirts or shorts must touch the knee. No jeans, sweatpants, or leggings.

• All hijabs and abayas must be solid navy blue, gold or khaki. Valley View top must be worn over the abaya.

• Bandanas and hats may not be worn in the classroom.

• Tennis shoes are required for physical education class.
• Any solid navy or gold sweater, vest, or cardigan may be worn over the polo (no hoods).

• Solid navy blue, gold, black or white long sleeve shirts may be worn under the polo.

• Solid navy blue, gold, black, or white tights or leggings may be worn under shorts or skirt.

Kindergarten is off to a great start! We are meeting new friends and discovering what it should look like, sound like, and feel like to be a classroom community. Each student shared about their hopes and dreams for kindergarten. It will be exciting to achieve those hopes and dreams and so much more! We look forward to meeting with you in October at conferences to share about hopes and dreams you have for your student as they grow socially, emotionally, and academically in kindergarten!

First Grade is having fun and learning lots of new things. This month we have been reviewing the rituals and routines of school. We also are starting a new Phonics curriculum in first grade. We are preparing to be amazing readers that can sound out SO MANY WORDS! In science, we will be learning about the lifecycle of the mealworm and caterpillar. Finally, we will be working on our tens frame in math and learning about numbers that are greater and less than. Math homework will be sent home every Friday. We are so excited to see how much we grow as learners this year!

Virtual Family BINGO Night is on Wednesday, October 4! All students will receive a BINGO from their classroom teacher. Each grade level will have a specific Zoom link for families to join. The links for each grade level are listed below. These will also be shared through Seesaw on Wednesday. We hope to see you there!

PreK Zoom Link: https://colheights-k12-mn-us.zoom.us/j/81659410657

Kindergarten Zoom Link: https://colheights-k12-mn-us.zoom.us/j/81659410657

1st Grade Zoom Link: https://colheights-k12-mn-us.zoom.us/j/81375548763

2nd Grade Zoom Link: https://colheights-k12-mn-us.zoom.us/j/85844103837

3rd Grade Zoom Link: https://colheights-k12-mn-us.zoom.us/j/81485380845

4th Grade Zoom Link: https://colheights-k12-mn-us.zoom.us/j/82191048015

5th Grade Zoom Link: https://colheights-k12-mn-us.zoom.us/j/87257173791

*LEAP students will join their respective grade levels.

Conferences are Thursday, October 12 and Monday, October 16. Please come to Valley View during your assigned time slot to meet with your child's teacher. We look forward to seeing you!

Our book fair will be Thursday, October 12 from 8:00 am-7:00 pm (during conferences in the evening), Friday, October 13 from 8:00 am-3:00 pm and on Monday, October 16 from 8:00 am-7:00 pm (during conferences).

Check out more information online: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/valleyviewelementaryschool16

This is a reminder that students must wear tennis shoes to participate in PE. Students have PE every four days in Kindergarten-2nd grade and every three days in PreK, 3rd-5th grade.

Every year our school practice drills to ensure that our students and staff know how to respond during an emergency situation. There are different kinds of safety drills and descriptions of those safety drills are on a separate document. The safety drills are: Evacuation Drills (formerly called Fire Drills), Secure Drills, Lockdown Drills and Shelter Drills (formerly called Tornado Drills). Holds are also described on a separate document and they are times when students stay in classrooms and are used if there is a medical emergency to keep the hallways and building entrance clear.

We encourage you to identify people in your community who are first responders and discuss with your child how these people will be of help in an emergency. In addition, we encourage you to have your student practice their name, phone number and address, as is age appropriate.

The dates for the Lockdown drills at Valley View are listed below.

• October 10
• November 2
• April 12
• May 3

Please check out our CHPS Resource Hub! Here is the link: https://www.colheights.k12.mn.us/Page/3544

Our Social Workers update this throughout the year.

• Here is the link to the 2023 Immunization Clinic Schedule in English
• Here is the link to the 2023 Immunization Clinic Schedule in Spanish
• Here is the link to the 2023 Immunization Clinic Schedule in Somali

Our next PTO Meeting will be on Wednesday, October 4 at 9:30 am after Parent Academy. We would love to have you join a meeting! This is a great opportunity to meet new families, share your ideas, or ask questions. We hope to see you there!

We will also have Spirit Days at Jersey Mikes' in Fridley on both Conference Nights, October 12 and 16. Anyone can order online, in the app, or in person with the Promo Code VVE50 we will get 50% of the sale donated back to us.

Starting in October, CHPS Community Education will be having youth swimming lessons! They will be at the Columbia Heights High School Swimming Pool every Saturday, October 7-November 18. All levels are open to students in 1st grade-12th grade, as long as they have completed the level prior to the one they are signing up for.

Swimming lessons will cost $45. Registration is required. Please bring/wear a swimsuit and towel to class. Goggles are optional.

• Level 1 - For students who have never had swimming lessons: 8:30-9:00 a.m.
• Level 1/2 - For students combining skills from levels 1 and 2: 9:50-10:20 a.m.
• Level 2 - For students comfortable in water and able to do basic swim strokes on front and back: 9:10-9:40 a.m.
• Level 3 - For students to build on skills working on different strokes and important water safety skills: 10:30-11:00 a.m.
• Level 3B/4 - For students to increase endurance and to perfect the strokes from level 3 as well as other water safety skills: 11:10-11:40 a.m.

• There are two referendum questions that will be on the ballot. There is a “revoke and replace” of an Operating Levy and there is renewal of an expiring Capital Projects Levy.
• “Levies are for learning and bonds are for building” is a phrase that describes the difference between operating levies and bond referendums.
• CHPS has not increased the Operating Levy amount in 18 years. The amount of $308.93 was renewed in 2014.
• In 2023, taxes on an average priced home decreased by $4.25 because of an expiring CHPS bond levy. If the operating levy passes, the monthly tax increase for property owners for this levy would be $12. This is a total tax increase of $7.75 per month from 2022 on an average priced home.
• The 2023 Operating Levy is a 10-year levy. The school district would first receive these funds in fiscal year 2025 and would continue to receive these funds through fiscal year 2035.
• The second question is for a renewal of the of the expiring capital projects levy. Authorization of this levy will not increase taxes, as it is simply a direct renewal and would be authorized for ten years.

Creating worlds of opportunity for each and every learning.

All Belong, All Succeed

Email: KuhlmanJ@colheights.k12.mn.us
Website: https://www.colheights.k12.mn.us/VVES
Location: 800 49th Avenue Northeast, Columbia Heights, MN, USA
Phone: 763-528-4200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VVisd13