Valentine View
An e-newsletter from Valentine Hills Elementary School
April 3, 2020
Upcoming events at Valentine Hills
Letter from Principal Samec
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I hope this email finds you healthy and safe in uncertain times. I understand that everyone is settling into this new temporary reality in various ways. Many are facing stressors of food, job, and financial insecurities. Many are on the front lines of showing up to an essential job where you are stressed or at risk. Many are just attempting to find a new rhythm with everyone sharing the same all the time. We are all experiencing a new temporary normal.
All of you are being asked to partner in your child’s education in a completely new way. Some of you have plenty of space to spread out and create learning spaces and support for your children. Some have limited wifi access if at all. Some are relying on your older children to support the younger children due to jobs, space, language, tech-savviness, etc. Some of you are looking for more activities to fill the day, and some of you are asking for less. All of you are parenting and educating the best you can in a completely new format.
For that, I say thank you. Thank you for modeling perseverance and advocacy for your children. Thank you for being assertive to ask for help. Thank you for showing empathy as our teachers also work to adjust their rhythm, expectations, and communication while also balancing educating their own children and navigating these strange times. Thank you for asking questions and sharing your perspective.
Here are a few questions that have been coming up, so I wanted to address them here.
Basic Needs: Our school staff and district are working hard to make sure kids have meals and ways to connect to the learning. If you have questions about meals, childcare or wifi, please call the main office at 651-621-7800.
Daily Routine Expectations: Each student will have a live daily morning meeting, a pre-recorded math lesson and practice activity and a pre-recorded reading lesson and practice activity which should take each student 1-2 hours total. They will also have specialist activities and other optional opportunities available to them if you are looking for them to be engaged in more learning opportunities throughout the day. Teachers will also start scheduling check ins with individual and small groups to check in on learning in the future. Help your child get into a routine of reading and writing every day! That alone will go far during this distance learning experience.
Data Privacy Questions: Teachers will be sharing some pre-recorded lessons and also some live options for interactions. When students are present on the screen, teachers will not be recording moving forward. If you have questions about this, please let me or your child’s teacher know.
School Calendar: With our distance learning plan, we do not need to add additional days to the school calendar. All of that will remain the same. Keep in mind that April 3 and 10 are days off and will remain that way. Students will not have a daily schedule to follow that day but can definitely work on some of the optional activities if you’re looking for ideas of how to fill the day.
Attendance: We are monitoring attendance by students accessing and participating in their daily activities. Our goal is to make sure everyone has access, but you do not need to call your child in sick to the main line if they won’t be able to do the learning with the class that day. Simply communicate with the teacher.
Grades: We will be creatively assessing student learning, and each student will get an end of year report card communicated to you as parents. Students will not be penalized or retained at the end of the year due to this change in learning format.
Communication: I realize that there has been a LOT of communication as we have started to roll all of this out. We are working on refining that as we get into our rhythm moving forward. You can expect a weekly email from your child’s teacher at the beginning of the week and individual check ins as we go along. Please reach out to your child’s teacher as questions arise.
As we move forward in this distance learning, as a school we will be looking for feedback from your children and you on how it is going. Distance learning will look different as it evolves, and I appreciate in advance your flexibility as we learn the new ropes as well. Learning will look different when we don’t have classrooms full of students, but kids will continue to learn and grow through this time. And for what is missed from a distance, we will circle back and reteach in the future.
Thank you for your partnership. Be well.
Sincerely,
Lindsey Samec, Principal
651-621-7803
lindsey.samec@moundsviewschools.org
Yearbook Order Deadline Has Been Extended!!
Playworks is Still Here
Playworks is still available on-line! In addition to their game guide and accompanying videos, they also have an edition of the game guide in Spanish!
Three additional videos should be uploaded to their YouTube playlist and they are continuing to offer 5-10 minute Facebook Recesses every Monday thru Friday with new videos posted at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Summer Band for 4th & 5th Graders
While we are uncertain about what the end of the school year will look like, we are hopeful that we can look forward to a somewhat normal summer. Which includes Summer Band! The dates are July 6-July 30, with various times and locations for students at all levels. Check out our website for more information.
Current Band Students
The Intro to Middle School Band will meet Mondays through Thursdays and then perform a concert on the last evening. Rehearsals times are from 12:00-12:45 p.m.at Chippewa Middle School and Highview Middle School or 5:00-5:45 p.m. at Highview Middle School. You may complete the online registration for Summer Band HERE.
Current 4th Graders
We are making a few changes to the registration process since we will not be able to meet with students or parents in person. You can look for a video for students to watch with their parents in a couple of weeks. This video will have information to help students choose an instrument. There will also be information on how to rent an instrument and how to sign up for summer classes (click HERE for specific dates, times and locations). District band directors will be available to talk/meet with you on-line during one of our Band Sign-Up Nights in April:
Tuesday, April 21
Thursday, April 23
Tuesday, April 28
Thursday, April 30
Summer Orchestra for 3rd & 4th Graders
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Prepared and paid for by Mounds View Public Schools (Independent School District 621)
4570 Victoria St. N., Shoreview, MN 55126
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