Sophomore Brenda Amador was unanimously chosen by all staff members to be our February Bright News! student. Brenda was given a candy lei and her photo is now hanging on our Bright News! wall in building #1. All staff created a Bright News! letter that was mailed to her family. We are proud of you, Brenda! Congratulations!!! All students who have demonstrated academic excellence in the past month are discussed at staff meetings and one is chosen to be honored. Our Bright News! form letter is posted on our school website.

In a special "Pin Ceremony" last month, VOS teachers, Ms. Abelli-Amen and Ms. Halsey, and VOS senior secretary, Peggy Soares were celebrated and honored for their many years of honorable service with Petaluma City Schools. A third teacher, Ms. Kylee Cecchini Haynes from San Antonio High School was also honored. Pictured here from the left is principal Becky Lofton, teacher Therese Abelli-Amen, teacher Kylee Cecchini Haynes, teacher Moneca Halsey, senior secretary Peggy Soares, and Superintendent Gary Callahan. Food and cakes were enjoyed and speeches and gifts were given including the ceremonial pins presented by the superintendent: 15 years for Ms. Abelli-Amen and Ms. Halsey, 20 years for Ms. Soares, and 30 years for Ms. Cecchini. Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to our 8th grader, Elias Leventhal who recently won three regional prizes from Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a New York City based nonprofit started in 1923. He earned a first place for his Ballad of the Itsy Bitsy Spider and is currently being considered for the national level competition. His other two submissions, a satirical comedy on climate change and a short story, Stroll Through the Garden, both won 2nd places. Elias says he enjoys the balance that competing in both math and English competitions gives his analytical and creative sides. Elias won at the February MATHCOUNTS competition and is moving on to the state level at Stanford in a couple of weeks. He just took the Bay Area Math Olympiad test on February 26th, and here at VOS he and others took the AMC10 test and we're 88% sure he qualified for the next level (Americal Invitational Mathematics Exam) - we'll find out for sure very soon! Good Luck, Elias!!

Junior Casey Poni, pictured here on the left with her co-worker at their store, Aéropostale®, a specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories. She has been working here in the Outlet Mall since November and says the best thing about her job is all her nice co-workers. Casey says Aéropostale® is a pleasant, quiet environment and she had to struggle to think of what the most difficult thing could be. She decided to say that sometimes she has a tuff time when a customer only speaks in a foreign language. This is Casey's second job - her first was at another clothing store. Casey was quick to share that she has learned the cash register and many different social skills. Basically, Casey really enjoys her job and plans to stay for a long time!

Newcomer, freshman Ava Milus has been in dance for the past 7 years - 6 of which have been at The Movement Lab, a dance studio in Santa Rosa. Currently she is in hip-hop, jazz, modern, and musical theater dance classes for 7 hours a week and when she gets closer to a performance she will double those hours. Ava says she has always wanted to attend an alternative ed school and did many hours of research before deciding on VOS. In this photo, Ava is on the left and is preparing for an advanced hip-hop performance. Although she plans to "dance for the rest of her life", she is interested in some day possibly becoming an esthetician. She grew up primarily in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, and Cotati and is a Native American of the Coast Miwok tribe now known as The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, (which includes Southern Pomo Indians).

Pictured here is junior Audrey Hendrix at her Starbucks job. This is Audrey's second month at her first job. What initially attracted her to apply is all the benefits that Starbucks gives their employees! Every time this interviewer asks one of our VOS students what they like most about their job (and likewise about being on sports teams), the student says it is their co-workers (or teammates). Audrey is just another example - she says what she loves best about her job is her co-workers. The most difficult thing? - "keeping her temper with all the customers". One customer actually waived his hand angrily just a couple of inches from her face! The most complicated skill Audrey says she has learned is how to make all the drinks - especially the ones with a long list of ingredients!

This was our second ever required student assembly and we were very pleased to have 80% of our population attend! Thank you students for showing up as asked! We understand that there were very legitimate excuses and reasons why some could not attend. We plan to continue to have one required assembly near the start of each semester to hear students talk about their community service experiences from the prior semester, to present Honor Roll certificates from the prior semester, and to support students with their Digital Portfolio assignment.

Our 8 Principal's Honor Roll students for Fall 2019, were given their certificates by Principal Ms. Lofton and Assistant Principal Mr. Smith. All 8 earned 4.0 Grade Point Averages for the semester and were given unanimous staff approval of their academic behavior. We had no students make the regular Honor Roll which starts at a 3.5 GPA. Pictured from the left: Mr. Smith, Jade Polaski, Althea Patchett, Channing Matthews (who also was coenrolled in Chemistry), Teja Burgess, Brenda Amador, Sofia Doolittle, and Ms. Lofton. Not pictured are Flynn Loveless who is coenrolled in chemistry and had to attend class and Shelby Curr who graduated in January.

Each student was given a Chromebook and a 3x5 card. Mrs. Parker talked for a few minutes about the significance of a Digital Portfolio. Students then found two students and one staff member to view and comment on their Digital Portfolio's progress. They had these people sign their 3x5 card after viewing. Before leaving students turned in their 3x5 card with the three signatures on it.

Congratulations to sophomores Rebecca Koh and Nicholas Barajas and to 8th grader Harland McCready who are the first three VOS students to complete their 5 hours of required community service for Spring semester 2020! These three students are also in the Community Service Course earning elective credits for their weekly commitment of community service. Five hours from January were deducted from their course contracts. Becca works at the Rohnert Park Animal Shelter, Nicholas works at Liberty School's 4th and 5th grade classrooms, and Harland works at Bikes-for-Kids repairing bikes to be donated. In addition, a BIG thank you to sophomores Henry Wilson and Sofia Doolittle who are currently preparing presentations to the Petaluma City Schools' School Board to fulfill their community service requirement. These two have agreed to be "the faces of Valley Oaks" for this school year and to say and present things that will remind the school board, the district office professionals, and others in the audience of our value as a school.

2 Upcoming Local Scholarship Opportunities!

1) FAFSA -

Remember that the deadline for the first round of the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is coming up soon. If you submit your application by... continue reading HERE

2) McDowell Drug Task Force

Amount: $250

Deadline: 4/1

Website: Application in the Career Center

Eligibility: GPA of 2.0 or better, completion of 40 or more hours of community service, going into a field of education, health services, public safety, counseling or environmental.

SRJC

Any Valley Oaks seniors interested in attending Santa Rosa Junior College next year are invited to attend a 45 minute presentation by the SRJC counseling staff on the Jump Start Program on.. continue reading HERE

Tours

Any junior or senior interested in theater, staging, graphic design, or other related careers, we can schedule small tours of Lucasfilm Studios in San Francisco. Please let Ms. Leigh know.

Were you aware that there are two types of hours that we talk about here at VOS? There are 1) Attendance Hours and 2) Credit Hours.

Attendance Hours go on the Attendance Cards (see one pictured above). The Attendance Cards are shared with students and also with parents if they give us a gmail account. VOS receives funding for these hours - VOS "gets paid" for these hours. Credit Hours are the hours that get converted into credits. Credit Hours do not always match attendance hours. You will see this with the five VOS online courses (OWE, Goal Setting, The Community Service Course, and My 10 Year Plan).

Laurynn's mother and father and grandfather (not pictured here) came to the short and sweet celebration.

Last month, senior Laurynn Malilay rang the bell to mark the exciting and significant life-changing occasion - the end of her high school career!

All staff members try their best to schedule and attend every Bell Ringing Ceremony! This day, six of us were there to cheer and clap and enjoy the happy moments with Pomp and Circumstance. From the left: senior secretary Peggy Soares, principal Ms. Lofton, teacher Ms. Kesseru, Laurynn Malilay, teachers Ms. Halsey and Ms. Parker, and VOS secretary Susan Cook.

Last month all the VOS teachers and Ms. Lofton, Mr. Smith, and Susan Cook were off-site at the annual California Consortium for Independent Study, CCIS. We all gathered many new skills, resources and and critical new policy information specific to independent study schools. Pictured here is Ms. Parker with the CCIS president, Dr. Jody Graf on her left. On the left of the picture is co-Executive Director of CCIS, Dr. Leslie Clifton and on the right of the picture is co-Executive Director of CCIS and past president, Machele Kilgore.

Pictured from the left: Ms. Halsey, Ms. Parker, and Ms. Abelli-Amen

The VOS administrators and PCS district office administrators schedule Pin Ceremonies to honor PCS certificated and classified staff members if and when they have completed 15 or 20 or 30 years of honorable service. A special pin is given. It was a fun ceremony last month!

Our Assistant Principal Eric Smith hosted our February Informational Meeting. We are looking forward to hopefully enrolling these five families soon! The steps for transferring to VOS are: 1) Read our website, 2) Talk to your current school's counselor, 3) Attend an Informational Meeting with Mr. Smith, 3) Meet with our VOS principal, Ms. Lofton, and 4) Wait to hear if the district Transition Team has approved your transfer request to VOS.

This was the #2 day - the February GWO that is not required yet we had a great voluntary turn out and it was a lot of fun!

Pictured from the left: sophomore Sophia Munoz, senior Violet Provencal, sophomore Nicholas Barajas, 8th grader Bella Perrone, sophomore Sofia Doolittle, senior Nozomi Hallberg, and sophomore Becca Koh.

a microscopy lab on the classification of living things

This was the #1 day - the required Group Work Out for the month of February. A small but perfect group! Attendance always varies because of the unique needs of our students each week. Senior Flynn Loveless chose to do the alternate assignment since he was out of town visiting colleges this day. Pictured from the left: Sophomore Nicholas Barajas, 8th grader Harland McCready, and sophomores Becca Koh and Brenda Amador.

construction of a geologic time scale

models of plant and animal cells

dissection of a bovine kidney and a sheep brain