May Newsletter 2021
Valley View Elementary School
From Principal Kuhlman
I cannot believe we are already in the last full month of school. So many things have happened over the course of the year. I am so appreciative we were together during this time. Valley View is a very special place. Each and every one of you bring so much to our school community. As we are finishing out the year, we are already planning for next year. As staff, we are envisioning the type of school we want Valley View to be. There are so many things we have learned during the pandemic that we want to replicate for years to come. One of the greatest things we have learned is how big of a part caring adults play in ensuring their child’s success. We will be reaching out to you to solicit your input on what parents want from Valley View for next year. Your opinion and perspective matter. Valley View is OUR school. If you ever have a concern please reach out to us. We are here to help.
As we finish out the year there are a couple reminders I need to mention. If you child has been exposed to COVID-19 or has had a close contact, they will need to stay home to quarantine for 14 days. It is critical you keep your child home during this time and call the health office. They will continue to participate in learning through their in-person classroom teacher’s Seesaw. To be counted as present, they will need to complete the assignments for the day or be in two-way contact with the classroom teacher. If this close contact happens at school or on the school bus, all parents will receive a notice informing them of a close contact at school. We want to be very transparent with our families on what is happening at Valley View. If your child was exposed and needs to quarantine, you will receive a second communication letting you know they need to quarantine and what day they may return to on-site learning. We know this is an inconvenience, but we are ensuring the safety of all children at school.
A second reminder is that families who opt for in-person learning are required to be at school. If your child is not at school they will be marked absent. The option of doing online learning only applies to families who need to quarantine or who will be gone for an extended period of time. We strongly encourage students to complete the classroom work to keep up with learning, however this will not take the place of in-person learning to be marked present. If you are worried your child may have symptoms of COVID-19, please reach out to Nurse Kelly for further guidance (763-528-4203). She can help make the determination of your child’s need to quarantine or not, and will give you testing locations if needed.
Together we will get through this!
Jason Kuhlman
The 8th-annual Fun Run will be on Saturday, June 5th at noon. The Fun Run, which will be held rain or shine at Valley View, is open to the public and includes:
- The Kuhlman 5K
- The 2K Fenske Flash
- Children's Quarter Mile Run (1st grade and younger)
Come out, support our school, and have fun by participating in one of our races!
Cost to participate is $5 for students and $10 for adults.
T-shirts are provided for all registered participants. Refreshments will be served after the race.
For more information or to register, visit colheights.k12.mn.us/2021FunRun. Registration is due by Wednesday, May 5th!
Pre-K
Our Pre-K learners have been busy learning and having fun! In literacy, we are learning letter names, letter sounds, rhyming, syllables, and alliteration. In math, we are focusing on number names and symbols, counting to 30, sets of numbers, patterns, and subitizing. We are finishing our study on building and blocks this week. The students have really had fun building with different materials.
Next week we start our insect study for the rest of the year. Spring is such a glorious time!
Kindergarten
Kindergarten students are learning about sentence structure and are composing their own written sentences. Students practice by fixing a scrambled sentence and putting it together in order so it makes sense, begins with a capital letter, and ends with a period. All students are able to participate in the sentence writing activities whether in-person at school or through Heights from Home on Zoom and Seesaw. We are so proud of our wonderful writers! Keep up the good work everyone!
First Grade
Second Grade
Second grade is enjoying the start of 4th quarter. Even though some of us are back at Valley View while other are doing Heights from Home, we are all working on telling time, identifying the main idea and supporting details in a text, and the life cycle of plants. Science is especially fun because in addition to reading and talking about plants, we are rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty! So far, we have planted marigold, grass and sunflower seeds. Some of our seeds have sprouted and we enjoy observing them and their changes each day.
Third Grade
Hello Valley View families! 3rd grade has been learning about our solar system and explorers in space as part of our reading curriculum. We are working to answer the following essential questions: What do we know about objects that orbit the sun? What have astronauts learned during trips to space?
Through stories, videos and planet research, we will work to answer these questions, while also growing as readers and writers. To help us learn about the order of the planets, student made solar system hats. Students also chose a planet to research and write about. Our learning this month will provide a foundation for 4th grade, when they will dive deeper into the subject as part of our science curriculum with Ms. Thompson. Ask your 3rd grader if they can tell you the order of the planets and several facts about the planet they chose to research!
Fourth Grade
Wow! Fourth Graders have learned many new 21st century skills this year and are working so hard! In writing, we are wrapping up our persuasive writing unit and will write a fiction story next. In math, 4th graders are learning about decimals and connecting them to our previous fraction unit. In reading, we have been working hard on taking three-column notes to support building our vocabulary. We will finish up the year learning to monitor our understanding as we read, while learning about Earth long ago. The fourth graders enjoy collaborating with one another and ask great questions during learning. We are so proud of them and are excited to see them continue to grow the last month of school!
Fifth Grade
Our fifth-grade students have been adjusting to being back in person very well! They have been working hard to prepare for the MCA tests and are excited to finish out their last year at Valley View strong! We are wrapping up our math unit on decimals and talking about point of view in reading! They are excited to share their writing projects with family and friends in the next few weeks! They have been following the writing process to create an “I Survived” book, which will be about their own personal experiences of living through the coronavirus pandemic. They are preparing to transition over to the middle school next year by practicing their skills socially, technologically, and academically, as well as trying to figure out how to use a combination lock!
LEAP
PTO Information
The end of the school year is in sight! As we wrap up a very difficult year, the Valley View PTO thanks all of our Valley View students, families, and staff for continuing to make our school community strong.
We wrapped up our Brands for Good fundraiser in April -- thank you for your support of PTO and our school. We hope that you are able to join us for the Fun Run on June 5th, too!
PTO needs YOU! Run for an officer position!
We will be holding elections for next year’s officers at the May meeting - please consider running for a position or volunteering for a coordinator role. We would love to have a full slate of officers going into the next school year. Taking on a position in PTO is fun, and it allows you to get to know other Valley View families, teachers, and staff.
Elections will be held at the May 13th PTO meeting, at 6:00 p.m. via Zoom. We are seeking nominations for the following positions: President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. We are also seeking volunteer coordinators for the Box Tops program, social media, and the Scholastic book fair. You can learn more about all of these roles here.
To run for a position, please complete this nomination form by Wednesday, May 12th. If we don’t receive nominations for all of the officer positions, we will also accept nominations at the May 13th meeting.
If you have any questions about the officer positions or the nomination or election process, please email us at valleyviewmnpto@gmail.com. We are happy to chat!
To join us at the May meeting, or future meetings, please fill out this contact form to be added to our PTO mailing list.
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