Welcome Back To School Assembly: The K-3 students have a GREAT time attending their first Virtual Assembly on Sept. 3. The energy was high! The smiles were large and the laughter was plentiful! Thank you to every parent who helped their child log in for the fun. We had 400 students attend the Welcome Back To School Assembly on Sept. 3. Remember, Mr. Manning wrote the morning rap and he has encouraged the students to write a rap about remote learning. Next, record it and send it to your child’s teacher. Let your creativity flow! Be on the lookout for more virtual assemblies.
Labor Day: Labor Day is scheduled for Sept. 7 and we are out of school for the day. Labor Day is a public holiday designed to honor the working people of our country. It was declared a national holiday in 1894.
Kindergarten Curriculum Night: Our kindergarten team is ready to host its annual CURRICULUM NIGHT on September 10 at 5:30 pm. The classroom teachers will invite all parents to come and receive highlights of some of the amazing things your students will learn this year. You do not want to miss this event. Mr. Manning and Mrs. Schollmeyer will be greeting all of the kindergarten parents at 5:15 pm. The link for the 5:15 greeting is attached here. Greeting from Administrators
Grandparents and GrandFriends Day: Our students have been working diligently to honor our grandparents and grand friends. This fun and educational event will take place on Friday, Sept. 11 during your child’s morning meeting time. Remember, National Grandparents Day is Sunday, September 13.
Remind App: VAES will use the Remind App to send out quick and important school updates. In order to utilize this tool, parents will need to sign up. If you do not sign up for Remind, you will not receive the quick texts I send out. Please follow the directions listed below:
Kindergarten: In the “To” section of the text, please type 81010 and in the message section please type @vak2021
First Grade: In the “To” section of the text, please type 81010 and in the message section please type @vafirst21
Second Grade: In the “To” section of the text, please type 81010 and in the message section please type @vasecond21
Third Grade: In the “To” section of the text, please type 81010 and in the message section please type @vathird21
Packet Pick-Up: Thank you to all of our parents who have partnered with us to make remote learning work! We appreciate your willingness to pick up and drop off weekly packet work. We feel it is extremely important for students to be able to complete some paper and pencil activities and your willingness to partner with us makes that happen. Packets are available all weekend. We hope that flexibility helps you as you are trying to make it through a very busy week.
Helpful Tips for Remote Learning: Voyager has created some helpful tips to help make remote learning as successful as possible. We hope you will take the time to talk about these tips with your student.
- Establish a daily routine to be prepared for the learning experience (wake-up, dressed, eat breakfast and then begin instruction, lunch break, etc.).
- Identify a good working space, at home, where you can work effectively
- Identify a good space, free from distractions, where you can participate in live instruction. Be careful of what is in your background so that you do not distract others.
- Daily monitor online platforms (SeeSaw for K-2; Google Classroom for 3)
- Help your child create a daily checklist of the activities and assignments they need to complete during each day.
- TAKE SCREEN BREAKS AND DO SOMETHING ACTIVE! Students should be physically active for at least two 30 minute periods per day.
- Encourage your student to be involved with their learning decisions. They need to have some say in what their day looks like.
- Engage in all learning with academic honesty and best effort
- Establish a set time to come to campus to pick up weekly packets and to drop off completed work. The packets may be picked up from Friday afternoon through Monday morning.
- Ask your child about what they are learning each day. This is a great way to reinforce the various learning skills.
- Be proactive with teacher communication if you cannot meet deadlines or if you require additional support. The teacher is available to help. Reach out to them during daily office hours.
- Know who and how to contact if you have a question related to your class assignment (classroom teacher, EC teacher, paraprofessional or therapist, during office hours)
- Know who and how to contact if you have a personal, or social-emotional concern (counselor/paraprofessional/therapist)
- Comply with Voyager’s Internet Safety policy, including expectations for online etiquette
- Be prepared to listen and learn by having all needed materials and being on time
- Preview the material (if possible)
- Make sure computer is charged
- Join virtual meetings with video on and microphone off
- Take turns to comment during virtual lessons
- Model Kindness (with words, facial expressions and written words)
- Ask questions in the chat
- Encourage other classmates to participate
- Respect property, by taking care of school owned equipment
- Take pride in completing all assignments and submitting them on time