VO News You Can Use
Dr. O's Weekly Parent Newsletter
NCSD Mission Statement
Developing each student's potential with a world class education.
March 16, 2020
Dear Village Oaks Families,
Henry Ford once said, "Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success." As the VO Principal the sense of pride that I've felt watching our entire learning community grow stronger together as a family while navigating through this uncertainty has been amazing. Hats off to our VO staff for their professionalism, hard work, and the compassion they've shown our students during this time. As a district we will continue to be proactive, flexible, and positive knowing that plans may be altered as things unfold. We truly appreciate our wonderful families for their patience, encouragement, and support as our district rolls out our plan to support student learning during our time away from school. Please see the important information below:
- All schools in Novi will be closed on Monday, March 16th and will tentatively resume on Monday, April 13th.
- If your child was absent on Friday, Village Oaks will be open for you to pick up your child's personal belongings on Monday, March 16th between the hours of 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM. Please ring the bell at the main office entrance. After 9:30 AM, the building will close for all families until our tentative reopen date on April 13th.
- For families in need of meals for their children, the district has arranged for curbside pickup of food items at Novi High School every Tuesday, beginning March 17th, from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM at the Atrium entrance off of Taft Rd. (24062 Taft Rd). Students may receive 7 days of breakfast and lunch at no cost.
- Please see the important message below from Dr. Matthews outlining our district's timeline of events. I also encourage you to check your email over the next few weeks for district updates from our Superintendent. More specific information about learning opportunities and technology distribution for families in need of tech. support will be forthcoming in the next few days. Additionally, you will receive weekly updates via Seesaw from your child's teacher about ways to support your child academically during our time away from school.
I firmly believe that it takes a village to support the needs of our children, particularly during times of uncertainty. We will successfully work through this challenging time together!
Warmest Regards,
Alex
Sample Daily Schedule
VO McDonald's Night
The Winter Spirit Wear Sale has been extended!
Orders can be placed on the following website using this link: https://stitchandscribe.com/collections/village-oaks-spirit-wear/Village-Oaks-Spirit-Wear
20% of all spirit wear sales will go directly back to VO!
If you need additional info, please let me know.
Candice Kronsbein, CEO
Stitch & Scribe Inc.
Giving Warms the HEART
March is Reading Month
VO Important Reminders
- Make sure you have provided our secretaries with an emergency contact number of someone who we can reach out to if you are unavailable to pick up your child from school.
- During dismissal time, while in the car loop please stay in your car at all times, continue to move forward as directed by staff members, and keep your pets in your cars at all times.
- Please refrain from parking in handicapped spots if you are not handicapped.
- We realize that many parents arrive before 4:00 pm to pick their child up, but we ask all parents to please wait outside of our building until dismissal time. We understand occasionally parents need to pick up their children up early for a wide range of reasons, but this should not be regular occurrence.
- After 3:20pm we ask parents to please park their car in the parking lot and refrain from using the parking spaces in front of the school in the car loop. We have had several incidents this year during dismissal where cars backing out of the parking spots have nearly collided with cars moving forward in the car loop. We have also experienced students running through traffic to get to their parked car in the front parking spots.
We thank you all for your consideration and continued support!
A Greener VO
Energy Saving Can Add Up!
Reducing household energy usage not only helps the environment, but can also help you save big on monthly utility bills. Check out the Government’s Energy Star website to learn more about which home appliances earn their awards for being energy efficient.
Please remember to send a daily SNACK for your student!
VO Yearbook 2019-2020
Remind Transportation Updates
Click here to sign up for Remind
If you don't have a smartphone, you can get text notifications for Village Oaks Bus updates. Text the message @cf3aa7 to the number 81010. If you're having trouble with 81010, try texting @cf3aa7 to 248-236-1777.
VO School Day Conversations
How can you lead with HEART at home?
Share one thing your teacher did on Friday to make you feel safe or happy in school?
What are some steps you've learned in school to prevent the spread of germs?
At VO, we have HEART!
In Novi Community School District we believe in promoting high expectations for academics, meeting the emotional well being of our students and celebrating positive behavior for all of our learners.
At Village Oaks Elementary, we are building a culture of collaboration, leadership, and citizenship. As a school community, we strive to:
- Have a growth mindset
- Empathize and show kindness
- Act responsibly
- Respect everyone
- Team up and collaborate with others
Last week our Sunshine Squad spread kindness by creating bookmarks with positive messages on them. They then hid them in books throughout our library to surprise students. Check out a few pics below!
Novi Mental Health Alliance--Parent Emporwing Parent Program
The Parent Emporwing Parent Program connects parents in need with parents who know. PEP pairs up a parent who has experienced challenges in his or her own parenting to providing support, encouragement, and knowledge, to another parent going through a similar situation. Below are the flyers for program.
Learn more about the Novi Mental Health Alliance by visiting the website at: https://www.novi.k12.mi.us/community/novi-mental-health-alliance
Volunteer and Donation Opportunities
VOICE 2019-2020
Hello Parents,
Our VOICE (PTO Organization) is seeking volunteers for chairpersons for several of our committees. If you have interest in volunteering with VOICE during this school year, please check out the Sign Up Genius link below. If you'd like more information, please contact Debbie Luke at debbielukehomes@gmail.com
Yearbook Committee Seeking Photos
Do you have some great photos you would love to see in the yearbook?
Please submit them to the Yearbook Committee e-mail: VOYearbookPTO@gmail.com
Be sure to include a description of the event/activity in the photo, as well as the class if appropriate.
Save the date for Spring Fling! April, 24, 2020
We need many volunteers for this event to be successful. If you have any questions about a committee position please email debbielukehomes@gmail.com
Please consider volunteering by using the link below to sign up.
VO Flags
One of the things that makes our building so special is our diverse student population--we have families in our community who come from all over the world! To celebrate our global diversity we have hung flags in our cafeteria that represent many of the countries of our VO families. As a gift from VO retirees we were given flags of the following countries: Israel, India, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria, South Korea, China, and USA. Thank you to our parents who have also donated the following flags: Poland, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Nepal, Greece, Pakistan, Uruguay, Ecuador, Portugal, Spain, Central African Republic, South Africa, Wales, Iceland, Australia, Armenia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Russia, Scotland and Yemen. If you would like to purchase a flag of your country of origin or to represent one of the many nationalities of our school please visit Amazon and search for an ANLEY 3x5 flag: VO Flags
Before purchasing and donating the flag to our school’s collection please contact me or one of our secretaries with the flag information so we can make sure that another family has not already ordered the same flag.
VO DI Winners
Congratulations to the Dumpster Divers our 4th grade Destination Imagination (DI) team who took first place in the DI Regional Competition last week! Please the picture of our student leaders and the attachment below highlighting their special accomplishment.
Playworks
This year NCSD elementary schools will partner with Playworks to enhance the learning experiences for students throughout the district. Playworks is the leading nonprofit in Michigan and nationally using play to transform schools. A Playworks recess creates a place for every kid on the playground to feel included, be active, and build valuable social and emotional skills. Please click on the link below and read the attached Playworks article to learn more about our partnership and Patrice our Playworks Coach!
Looking Ahead
3/16/20--Beginning of third trimester
3/19/20--*CANCELLED*Parent/teacher conferences
3/24/20--*CANCELLED*3rd Grade Concert 6:30pm-7:30pm
3/26/20---*CANCELLED*Bonaventure Skate Night 6:00pm-8:30pm
DATE TBD--Book Fair
4/3/20---*CANCELLED*Celebration of Thinking Grades K, 1 & 2 9:15am-10:15am
4/3/20---*CANCELLED*Celebration of Thinking Grades 3 & 4 2:30pm-3:30pm
Parent Pick-up/Parking & Bus Stop Expectations
As you pick-up and drop off your children please be mindful of the following:
- Do not park in front of our neighbors' driveways or mailboxes.
- Park in our parking lot and keep your pet in your car during dismissal.
- For the safety of our students do not walk your children through our bus loop as students are loading/exiting our busses.
- Stay in your car as you drive through our car loop.
- Please do not drop off children before 8:55am. We do not have any supervision outside prior to this time.
- If you arrive late, please walk your child into the office and sign them in.
We ask that you remind your children that VO expectations/rules apply at our bus stops. We expect all of our students to be on their best behavior as they wait for their bus and we appreciate your help.
Thank you for your support!
CARE
Please remember if there is a change in your child's CARE schedule you need to notify Holly Bengle no later than 3:15. She will then contact the teachers. Holly Bengle can be reached at
holly.bengle@novik12.org or (248) 449-1307.
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VILLAGE OAKS MISSION
The mission of Village Oaks Elementary is to create and maintain an educational environment that supports academic achievement, consistent with district, state and national standards to meet all students' learning needs.
VO 2018 National Blue Ribbon Exemplary School
Village Oaks Elementary
VO school hours: 9:08 am-4:00 pm
Office hours: 8:30 am-4:30 pm
Attendance line: 248.449.1301
Office phone number: 248.449.1300
Email: Alexander.ofili@novik12.org
Website: https://vo.novi.k12.mi.us/
Location: Village Oaks Elementary School, Willowbrook Drive, Novi, MI, United States
Phone: 248.449.1300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoviVillageOaks
Twitter: @NoviVillageOaks