Dear Valley View Families,

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our Valley View teachers, staff, students, and families for their support and participation in TOWN. This special experience was a tremendous success once again this year! Students had the opportunity to run their businesses and shop throughout “TOWN,” and the excitement and joy were evident throughout the day. It was wonderful to see such creativity, collaboration, and enthusiasm from everyone involved!

Looking ahead, next week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Please join me in recognizing and celebrating the incredible dedication of our teachers and staff. Their daily commitment to our students makes Valley View such a special place to learn and grow.

A sincere thank you in advance to our PTO and parents/guardians for helping to make this week so meaningful for our staff. Your continued support is truly appreciated.

Take care,

Ryan Walstrom

Principal

Valley View School

Please make sure to email vvattendance@portlandct.us if your child will be absent or if there is a change of dismissal/transportation plans. Please do NOT send messages directly through ParentSquare to the office. The email should include your child’s first and last name, name of teacher, reason for absence, and the date or dates of absence. Please make sure the email is sent the night before or the morning of the absence to ensure the office staff, nurse and teacher are aware. Please make sure the office is aware of all transportation updates regarding your child.

Valley View held it's annual PK Role Model Screening for the upcoming 2026-27 school year in March. For those with summer birthdays or who missed the March screening dates there will be a May 15th screening.

 

Requirements for Peer Model:

 

Busing in the Portland Public Schools is provided by M&J Bus. Bus route lists are posted here: https://www.portlandctschools.org/transportation. The bus lists identify each stop's pick-up/drop-off time and location.

 

On a typical day, when all drivers are present and there are no abnormal road conditions, we expect that the routes will pick up and drop off students at times identified on the bus lists, give or take ten minutes.

 

If parents/guardians need real-time information about the whereabouts of a bus, please call M&J Bus at (860) 342-2217. The dispatcher at M&J Bus has real-time access via radio to all bus drivers.

Your child’s school works with Community Health Center, Inc. School Based Health Center program to provide health services (behavioral/mental health) services to your child during the school day. This means they won’t miss as much class and you don’t need to miss work to support their health care needs. 

Lean more about the services offered at your child’s school and enroll today at SBHC1.com! Interested families can also seek this service through the link or through our school website.

 

Happy Friday!

May is Mental Health Awareness Month.  Our country is in the midst of a mental health crisis. Our young people are exposed to school violence, social media pressures and we continue to see an increase in anxiety and depression.

It is important that we as adults are aware of what affects our children. Smartphones and social media are an enormous culprit to tanking the mental health of our young people and adults alike.

There are signs we can look for in our young people if we are concerned about them. Change in sleep pattern, loss of appetite, choosing a different friend group, changes in mood or behavior. It is important to have open and age-appropriate conversations with our children. We need to let them know that all of their feelings are normal and being sad or scared is okay. They need a safe space to be able to tell adults how they feel.

We as parents have a difficult job, beyond just the normal parenting our own parents did. We are trying to navigate a world we did not grow up in and we have many forces working against us via social media. Keeping our children off social media as much as possible and as long as possible is important and building their self-esteem is crucial. It is a tough job but I know we can do it.

 I can recommend two books that have been eye opening for me.

“Stolen Focus” by journalist Johan Hari

 “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt

Knowledge is power and understanding what we as parents are up against is half the battle.

If you have any concerns about your child’s mental health, please talk to your pediatrician for guidance.

Have a nice weekend.

Mrs. Karen Rettich

Valley View School Nurse

Phone 860 342 3226

We have been busy during library classes beginning our final unit of the year- research projects! Students have been really enjoying the database Pebble Go. They can use it at home as well and they have been asking me to give them the password so here it is!  Go to www.pebblego.com and our username is ducks and password is read.  There are tons of interesting topics for students to explore!

Our last book club for July/August birthdays or anyone who missed theirs this year is May 20th. I sent out the email this week to everyone who signed up, but if anyone else would like to participate- let me know! 

Valley View has 44 overdue library books so please bring those in as soon as possible! 

Thank you for your support of the Valley View Library!  

Melissa Thorpe

Library Media Specialist

Meeting Dates:

Snacks will be offered in the cafeteria on Thursdays. Snacks include things like cookies, rice crispy treats, chips and even ice cream. The cost for these items range from $1 to $1.50. Students will only be allowed to choose one item each week. In order to purchase a snack, children will need to bring in cash on Thursdays or have a positive balance established within their MySchoolBucks account. Please reach out if you need any further information.

Thank you for your help,

Ms. Denise