VO News You Can Use
Dr. O's Weekly Parent Newsletter
NCSD Mission Statement
Developing each student's potential with a world class education.
February 25, 2019
Dear Village Oaks Families,
Our staff and students are thrilled to show off some of the great thinking and learning that has occurred this year at VO! Please join us on Friday, March 8th at 8:30am for our annual Celebration of Thinking! During this special event make sure you visit the media center to purchase books for your child to enjoy over Spring Break from our book fair. This year for our Celebration of Learning we ask that you enter the building through our main doors.
Sincerely,
Alex
Invention Convention
This year at Village Oaks we held our first Invention Convention. Students were asked to focus their thinking around Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics to create an original invention. On February 21st, students had the opportunity to present their inventions to an audience as well as to display their inventions in our gym at our school-wide Invention Convention! 3rd and 4th grade student participants had the opportunity to compete in the local qualifying event at Village Oaks and will have the opportunity to to participate in the Novi Regional Invention Convention on February 28th if they advanced. Top teams in the Novi Regional Invention Convention will move on to the Michigan Invention Convention at the Henry Ford Museum. Then, there is a chance to compete at the national level.
We truly appreciate all of the staff members and community members who were judges for the event. A very special thank you to Ms. Paige Morris and Mr. Nicholas W-H for working so hard to oversee this great program for our VO students. Please enjoy a few pictures below.
Mr. W-H & Ms. Morris
Invention Convention Banner
VO Participants
VO Participants
VO Participants
Students Observing a Presentation
VO's Helping Children Learn Newsletter
March is Reading Month
March is reading month and our theme this year is "Give it your best shot…READ!" Our theme this year is centered around basketball! In the near future you will receive detailed information from your child's teacher pertaining to the fun reading activities planned for the month of March. Throughout the month, students will be recording their reading minutes on "basketballs" (which will be sent home soon) and turning them in to their teachers for opportunities to SCORE some fun raffle prizes. Stay tuned for more information! Next month is sure to be a SLAM DUNK!
A GREENER VO
Village Oaks is undertaking the goal of creating a GREENER school space and Novi community. To achieve this goal we are educating students on environmental literacy in our classrooms, and will be sharing tips and ideas that can make our families healthier and households more eco-friendly.
Environmental Literacy Series 1- Air, Climate and Weather
Please click on the link below to learn about Earth’s atmosphere and global weather patterns, including resources from NASA.
NCSD Kindergarten Registration
2019 Spring Fling
Our 2019 Village Oaks Spring Fling is right around the corner and we need your help! Spring Fling is our school's biggest fundraiser and we can’t do it without you… we need well over 200 volunteers to make this night a success!
Just an hour of your time will get you tickets to the event and a fun evening with your family, friends and/or community group!
Please use the link to sign up today: Spring Fling Volunteer Sign Up
If you have any questions, please reach out to us at VOSpringFling@gmail.com or Shertina Spencer at(248) 904-2996.
Green Gala
The money raised from sponsorships, ticket sales, auction items, and donations is given to our schools to fund classroom grants, district-wide programs, and student scholarships. Every student at Village Oaks is impacted by the money raised by the Novi Educational Foundation through the Leader in Me initiative, Playworks, and Mindfulness Training, to name a few of the programs we help fund.
The Board of Trustees would like to personally invite you to attend our 13th annual Green Gala on March 23 starting at 5:30pm at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi. The evening will include dinner, silent and live auctions, a casino, a wine pull, a photo booth, and more. The live entertainment for the night will be The Killer Flamingos and the emcee is WXYZ Channel 7 Anchor, Alicia Smith.
Please join us as we celebrate the students and staff of Novi Community School District. We are expecting 500 attendees this year.
Ticket prices are lower than last year with the new early bird discount and are available now for purchase on the Novi Educational Foundation's website.
VO School Day Conversations
How do you earn a Shiny HEART Award at VO?
When an adult claps in the lunchroom how should you respond?
What is one thing that made you happy last week in school?
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 Leaderific Friday as a school we watched our latest edition of HEART Talk where our 4th grade leaders discussed cafeteria expectations. Enjoy the video below.
2nd Grade Concert
Community Resources
Autism Spectrum Disorder Community Events through Oakland University's OUCARES
Evening Enrichment Events with OUCARES: There is no cost to attend the Evening Enrichment Series. However space is limited so please RSVP to oucares@oakland.edu.
- Looking through the Eye of the Puzzle Thursday, March 14, 2019 6-7:30pm, Oakland University Oakland Center Building Lake Superior Room, Rochester, MI 48309. Presenter: Josh Stokes
- OUCARES Annual Family Fun Day, Saturday March 23, 2019 12-4pm Oakland University Recreation Center. Come and enjoy a day of fun for the entire family! Activities include an information fair with over 20 organizations. NO COST TO ATTEND.
PAASN
The Parents of African American Students in Novi is an officially recognized support group of the district, and they support all students. One way they do this is to offer tutoring sessions in reading and math. Please see the attached flyers for more information. All are welcome.
Mentoring Support for Students:
Novi Youth Assistance offers three types of mentoring programs for students in our community.
- If you are interested in having your child participate in or if you have questions regarding the Silver Lining school-based mentoring program, please contact our Social Worker, Amber Zarb at amber.zarb@novik12.org.
- If you are interested in more of a community-based mentoring support, please contact Novi Youth Assistance at 248-347-0410 for more information on Mentors PLUS and First Responder Mentors. http://www.cityofnovi.org/Government/City-Services/Youth-Services.aspx
- If you are interested in becoming a Mentor, please contact Novi Youth Assistance at 248-347-0410.
Volunteer and Donation Opportunities
PTO is CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!
Your support to our school in the volunteering of your time is extremely valuable to all of us! We cannot help our students and staff in the planned activities without YOU! Please consider signing up for one of our committees by clicking on the link below:
Your time is so greatly valued and appreciated!
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, England, 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, and Sri Lanka. 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.
February Shiny HEART Award Recipients, 4th Grade Bus Leaders, & DI Winners!
Destination Imagination Winners!
Playworks
Village Oaks & Orchard Hills Elementary were the first two elementary schools in NCSD to become part of the Play movement and make play a priority with Playworks in the 2017-2018 school year! This year all 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!
Learn more at https://www.playworks.org/services/welcome/teamup/
Here are some additional Playworks videos:
Looking Ahead
3/8/2019--Celebration of Thinking 8:30am-10:00am
-- Book Fair Starts Today-Parents may shop after Celebration of Thinking
3/11/2019-3/14/2019--Book Fair for students
3/13/2019--Half Day of School-12:30 Dismissal
3/14/2019--Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00pm-8:00pm
3/19/2019--Third Grade Concert 6:30pm-7:30pm
3/20/2019--Title One Family Math Night 5:30pm-6:30pm
3/21/2019--Reproductive Health Mtg for parents held at Novi Woods 6:00pm-8:00pm
3/23/2019--Report Cards Viewable in MiStar
3/26/2019--Bonaventure Skate Night 6:15pm-8:30pm
4/1/2019-4/5/2019--No School Spring Break
4/19/2019--No School
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.
- 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: 8:15 am-4:15 pm
Attendance line: 248.449.1301
Office phone number: 248.449.1300
Email: Alexander.ofili@novik12.org
Website: www.novi.k12.mi.us/vo/
Location: Village Oaks Elementary School, Willowbrook Drive, Novi, MI, United States
Phone: 248.449.1300
Twitter: @NoviVillageOaks