April Newsletter 2022
Valley View Elementary School
From Principal Kuhlman
Dear Valley View Families,
Happy Spring!!
Each month brings us a little closer to a sense of normalcy. April is no different. On April 4, Columbia Heights Public Schools will no longer require face masks for students in grades K-12. PreK-3 and 4 will be required to continue to wear masks until a vaccine is available to them. This means families have the choice to mask or not in our schools. We have developed lessons to teach students to respect each other’s choices to mask or not. We want all students to feel safe and supported in whatever choice they make. We will continue to monitor community case rates and positive cases in our schools to make informed decisions regarding quarantining protocols as needed. I am very happy to report we have had very few positive cases in our student body lately.
As we strive to return to a normal school year, I encourage families to take part in some of our family engagement events. Our school thrives when we partner together to help our children succeed. To strengthen these partnerships, we host events to bring staff, students and parents together. We had a wonderful turn out for our Winter Extravaganza in March where our community could sled, make smores, grab a book and enjoy each other’s company. We have a number of other events coming up in April and May to do the same. I hope you to see you during our Cultural Night on April 6 and our School Carnival on April 22.
Together we are better!
Jason Kuhlman
Grades 3-5 MCA Tests
Reading: April 5
Math: April 12
5th Grade Science: April 25-29
Students in grades 3-5 will be participating in the Math and Reading MCAs, as well as 5th grade in the Science MCA. This assessment is a way to compare our students to other students in the state. This is one data point to measure your student’s success. Please know we measure success in many other ways, to which your children are showing amazing growth and achievement. To help you children prepare for these assessments we encourage all students to get good night sleep, eat breakfast either at school or at home, and relax.
One of the requirements during the test is to require students to either keep their cellphones in their backpacks, hand them into their teacher, or leave their phones at home for the above mentioned testing dates. Please talk to your child about this requirement.
LEAP
LEAP students are learning about investing in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds by participating in the Stock Market Game. Students are competing against other elementary schools in the U.S. to make the most money through their investments. LEAP has divided into 4 teams: KIDKOMPANY, #COOLINVESTINGFROGS, #SUPERCOOLFROGS, and THESTOCKFROGS. Each team started with $105,000 to invest. LEAP students are learning how to research investments companies, communicate with each other, and report updates to their team and teacher. So far some of the stocks they have purchased are Tesla, Delta Airlines, Scholastic, and Chevron. We are excited to see how much money we will make!
On Friday, March 11, LEAP students went to Fort Snelling to participate in maple syrup tapping. We learned about the history of maple syrup tapping and the types of trees in Minnesota that you can tap for syrup. Students were able to take turns tapping a tree and taste some maple syrup. Afterwards, Mr. Kuhlman was our grill master-grilling hotdogs for everyone. Despite the cold, Valley View and Highland LEAP families had a blast!
4th Grade
Fourth graders are currently writing a Choose Your Own Adventure or If/Then Story. In this fun writing project, students flex their creativity and cooperation muscles. They brainstormed story elements (Setting, Characters, Plot, Problem, and Solution) and created a flowchart to plan their story and each story option. Next, we’ll use Google Slides to create an interactive presentation. We’re excited to see how these wild adventures turn out! Check out Ms. Schiebe’s class planning page!
5th Grade
5th grade is getting incredibly excited and ready for spring! In science, students finished a unit about landforms and completed a one page research project. They worked incredibly hard on this and the end product showed off their dedication! In social studies, students learned about maps, cardinal and intermediate directions, and the seven continents of the world. Right after spring break, all of fifth grade focused on Social-Emotional Learning with a unit dedicated to Growth Mindset. Prior to spring break, students learned about point of view in reading and finished their algebra unit in math.
With the MCA tests happening this month, our focus has shifted to completing some fun and helpful review activities so students feel confident to show what they know on the upcoming tests. We are always proud of our fifth graders, but this year we are especially proud of their resiliency and ability to keep showing up and working hard. April will be packed with testing and a whole lot of learning!
PE
Track & Field is Coming……….
*Monday, May 16 Pre K-3rd @ VV- 8:30 - 10:30 Pre K all day, Pre K a.m., K & 1st
- 12:00 - 2:00 Pre K p.m., 2nd & 3rd
*Tuesday, May 24 4th @ CHHS athletic fields 9:00 - 1:00
*Wednesday, May 25 5th @ CHHS athletic fields 9:00 - 1:00
*Thursday, May 26 4th & 5th rain day
*Friday, May 27 4th & 5th rain day
On grade level specific track and field days, students may be out of uniform. If it is not their track and field day, students must be in uniform. More information to come soon on buying a Track & Field t-shirt or water bottle. Shirts and water bottles will be delivered to school similar to uniform purchases.
Art
Mark your calendars and come April 6th to our Cultural Night! All students will have art displayed in an informal art show in the cafeteria.
Book Fair
Valley View will be holding a Spring into Books book fair on Thursday, April 21 and Friday, April 22. This fair will be a BOGO - Buy One, Get One Free. For each item you purchase, you will receive a second item of equal or lesser value for free. (Take note that tax is not included on the price of each book so please send extra money to cover the tax for each item.)
Book fair hours will be:
- Thursday, April 21 from 8 am-2 pm for students and classes to preview and shop.
- Friday, April 22 hours are 8 am-2 pm and then from 5-7 pm during the Valley View Carnival.
For more information, to shop online, or to set up an eWallet for your student, please visit our book fair website, here.
Fun Run 2022
- The Kuhlman 5K
- The 2K Fenske Flash
- Children's Quarter-mile Run (1st grade and younger)
T-shirts will be provided to all registered participants and refreshments will be served after the race.
Cost: $5 for students and $10 for adults
To order a 2XL or 3XL shirt, please stop by Valley View between 7:30-3:30 pm to register for the Fun Run.
Click on the link below to register or complete the paper registration form that was sent home with your student!
PTO Information
Spring has sprung and PTO is now planning a variety of fun family events for the end of the year.
We are looking for people who are interested in helping us plan for Carnival this month, as well as volunteers to work to set up the event and run booths during the event on Friday, April 22. We plan to keep shifts short so families still have time to enjoy the event together. Donations of cans and 2-liter bottles of pop and individually wrapped treats like Little Debbie snack cakes can be brought to the school (see below) for Carnival. Although we haven't had Carnival in three years, we intend to keep ticket prices low as well as the number of tickets needed per game so that more families can participate in the fun. Thank you to everyone who used the Valley View code at Jersey Mike's during Parent-Teacher Conferences - we raised $500 that we can use toward our expenses for Carnival this year.
The PTO is also looking for volunteers to meet at Keyes Park at 9am on Saturday, April 23 to clean up the park for Earth Day. We will receive $100 for the PTO for our efforts. This fall it took under three hours to clean up the park with just a few people but it depends on how many people come to help so the more the merrier! The PTO provided beverages and Lions provided doughnuts from Heights Bakery for our volunteers so we are planning to do the same for this event. If you are participating in our Little Free Library Action Book Club this is our community service project event for our In Our Nature focus this year. Our books for April are A Kids Book About Climate Change by Zanagee Artis and Olivia Greenspan (ages 5 to 9) and Old Enough to Save the Planet by Loll Kirby, illustrated by Adelina Lirius (ages 8 to 12).
We are holding our first-ever Spirit Night event at Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park in Coon Rapids on Tuesday, April 26th from 4-8 pm. If your child won a bookmark pass during Virtual Bingo or at the Book Fair you can use it for a free Basic pass that day. For those purchasing passes that day the PTO will receive 20% back. Ticket options are $11.99 for children 5 years old and under, $25.99 for Deluxe, and $29.99 for Ultimate attractions. Parents can purchase a pass for themselves for 50% off the matching child's pass price so you can play together. Urban Air socks are required for $3.49 but you can bring in a competitor's socks (like Sky Zone) in trade or a discount. There is a cafe on site for snacks and beverages. For more details, please see the flyer or visit https://www.urbanair.com/minnesota-coon-rapids.
Summer is coming and students will be wanting to spend even more time online and with screens. Hear from an Internet expert about what kids are doing online and how you can help your kids use the Internet safely—and in positive ways. Our Family Tech Talk virtual event will be Tuesday, May 10 at 7 pm on Zoom and includes a live Q&A. Watch for more information to come.
Julie Granning is working on a new Little Free Library to replace the one that was damaged while it was located on the playground. Once the new library is complete, we plan to relocate it near the front door so it can be seen from the office and be on camera to hopefully prevent future vandalism. Thank you to Julie, Dee Sparks, and Watershed High School for the new LFL!
If you are interested in running for a position on the board of the PTO we will be holding elections during our meeting in May. Please consider running for President, Vice President, Treasurer, or Secretary for next school year or just come to the meeting to vote and get involved in general.
Keep up with the PTO online at any time at www.facebook.com/valleyviewmnpto and www.instagram.com/valleyviewmnpto.
We look forward to seeing our Valley View families in person more going forward so please come out to meetings and attend school events so we can come together as a community.
Samara Bilyeu-Anderson
PTO President 2021-2022
Carnival Donation Information
The annual Valley View Carnival returns - Friday, April 22nd from 5 pm – 7 pm! For the carnival to be a success we need donations from all of you! If you have any bottles or cans of pop or individually wrapped treats for the Treat Trot we would greatly appreciate donations!
Donations can be given to your teacher or directly to Ms. Berg in room 201.
Thank you for helping us make this a successful event!
About Us
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