January Newsletter 2022
Valley View Elementary School
From Principal Kuhlman
Dear Families,
I cannot say thank you enough for all the support we are getting from you. This year has turned out to be one of the more difficult in terms of COVID. Valley View has been experiencing a number of positive cases, resulting in numerous students being quarantined. Parents and guardians have been so understanding and supportive each time we notify them of an exposure. Please know these decisions are not easy and always scrutinized. Your kindness and support do not go unnoticed. I am so proud of our school community!
I would like to thank everyone for all their hard work in making our first ever vaccine clinic such a huge success. We vaccinated 96 students on December 16th. A special thanks goes out to all the parents who brought their children in to be vaccinated. We will be hosting a second clinic on January 13th for second doses, as well as more first time vaccinations. More information will be pushed out after break. Children are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of the vaccine. After being fully vaccinated, they will no longer have to quarantine if they have a direct exposure to a positive case.
We are encouraging all students to be tested for COVID after winter break, before returning to school. Besides wearing our masks, testing is the second best way to prevent the spread of COVID in our schools. To help keep your child healthy and prevent the spread of COVID-19, Valley View will be providing free at-home rapid tests through the State of Minnesota’s free COVID-19 testing options for all school, child care and early education settings. More information will be sent out regarding this opportunity.
As if COVID wasn’t making life difficult for all of us, a new social media trend from Tik Tok is causing anxiety in our community. According to a new challenge, December 17th was National School Violence day. I want to assure you that your child’s safety is our number one priority. Our school is always secure. The only way into our school is through the front door, which is monitored by Ms. Shari. We take these threats very seriously and analyze each one for their authenticity and credibility. I appreciate all the parents who expressed their concern and brought this to our attention. It takes all of us to ensure our children’s safety, so please do not hesitate to communicate to us if you hear of anything.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Winter Break and look forward to seeing you soon!
Sincerely,
Jason Kuhlman
Uniform Expectations
Please review the Valley View uniform expectations below. Click here if you are interested in purchasing additional uniforms. Remember to label students' fleeces and outdoor clothes! Please encourage your student to check the lost and found if they misplace an item.
- Navy blue or gold polo with Valley View logo
- Khaki or Navy Blue pants, cargo pants, skirts, shorts, or capris. All skirts or shorts lengths must touch the knee (no jeans, yoga pants, holes, or sagging.) These may be purchased anywhere. They are available at Target, Wal-Mart, Savers, Old Navy, Kohl’s, etc.
- Tennis shoes are required for physical education class
- All hijabs must be solid navy blue, gold, black, or white
- All abaya must be solid navy blue or khaki--Valley View shirt must be worn over the abaya
- Bandanas may not be worn
Optional:
- Fleece jacket with Valley View logo
- Any solid navy or gold sweater, vest, or cardigan may be worn over the shirt (no hoods).
- Students may layer the polo shirt with solid navy blue, gold, black or white long sleeve shirts
- Students may wear solid navy blue, gold, black, or white tights or leggings under shorts or skirts
**You may donate new or used uniforms to the PTO in the donation bin in the school lobby. PTO offers discounted school uniform items for purchase.
PreK/Kindergarten Registration Night
If you have an incoming PreK or Kindergarten student stop by on February 10 to register your student for the 2022-2023 school year and learn more about our PreK/Kindergarten programming. If you'd like a tour of the school, please contact the office at 763-528-4201.
To begin registration now, or if you have questions about our PreK or Kindergarten programming, please contact Leueen at 763-528-4426.
5th Grade
Fifth graders have been working hard with fractions in math to gear up for our decimals unit that is quickly approaching. Students have been enjoying our skills block where they are on a two week rotation between Science, Social Studies, and Health.
In Science, students have been learning about variables. They have gotten to participate in a few experiments in order to test how different variables affect the outcome of an experiment. In the first experiment, they worked with pendulums. Students had to find out what variable would affect the number of swings a pendulum makes in a certain amount of time. The second experiment was testing the size of a “lifeboat” and how many passengers it could hold depending on its capacity. Students then were able to research a famous ship in history and create a presentation for the class.
Leading up to Winter Break, students had the opportunity to learn about holidays around the world. Students were able to research the holidays celebrated in different countries and create a book with all the facts that they learned.
LEAP
LEAP students spent the month of November and part of December learning about Indigenous People. We invited Wes Nugteren, from Blooming Heights, to speak about Food Sovereignty. He shared with us some special seeds from Blooming Heights, which they can plant this Spring and some delicious wild rice. He taught students about the significance of wild rice to the Indigenous People of Minnesota.
We also had the privilege of having Val Larsen, American Indian Education Mentor for Columbia Heights Schools, speak to us about Indigenous People. She shared a collection of handmade jewelry and told us stories about her childhood. We also used the Native American trunk to help us understand and learn more about Indigenous People. At the end of our unit, students created a one-pager. They used higher level questioning to show what they learned about Indigenous People.
PTO Information
Welcome back! I hope you and your family had a refreshing winter break and are ready to get back into the swing of things in the new year.
In the days before winter break the PTO provided our teachers and staff with a coffee cart full of coffees, creamers, flavored syrups, teas, and breakfast bars to thank them for their hard work. We thank everyone who has participated in fundraisers and donated to the PTO to make it possible to offer this and more to our school staff.
Our Reading for Education fundraiser runs the entire school year so be sure to remind your friends and family that they can order anytime and have items shipped directly to their home. Items include food, wrapping paper, books and magazines, home décor, toys, jewelry, and more! You can also donate to teachers so they can buy items for their classrooms. Registered students earn fun prizes from purchases made from their link so register and order online at www.ReadingForEducation.org.
We look forward to welcoming our students and their families to our Spirit Night at Urban Air in Coon Rapids, across from Northtown Mall, on Tuesday, February 15 from 4pm to 8pm. The building will be secure with just one entrance and has free wi-fi if you don't want to participate in the climbing walls, tunnels, trampolines, and other fun zones. Be sure to tell the front desk that you are there for Valley View's Spirit Night to support our fundraiser.
If you buy select products with the Box Tops for Education logo please remember to scan your receipt with the Box Tops app or deliver physical box tops to the lobby to raise money for our school. Get details at https://www.boxtops4education.com/. If you buy Coca-Cola products, you can scan codes or enter them online to raise money for our school as well. Find details at https://us.coca-cola.com/give/schools/.
Be sure to follow us on social media at www.Facebook.com/ValleyViewMNPTO and www.Instagram.com/ValleyViewMNPTO, join our email list, and attend our monthly virtual meetings to stay informed and involved. If you would like to help with anything, such as carnival, conferences, book fair, winter extravaganza, fun run, park clean up, fundraisers or other PTO events please reach out so we can connect with you at the right time. We would love to hear more opinions and see more hands at our events.
Thank you for everything you do to help our students, staff, and school. We appreciate you!
Sincerely,
Samara Bilyeu-Anderson
Valley View Elementary PTO President
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