Happy Friday, Valley View!

It was a short week, but we packed a lot in!

Our Kindergarten classes had a very special trip to the farm this week. They got to see the cutest baby goats, meet lots of other animals, and even had the chance to pet some of them. There were plenty of smiles and lots of excitement. It was such a fun experience for our students!

• Be on the lookout for Read-A-Thon packets coming home from the PTO in your child's backpack.

• Trunk or Treat is coming up next week! If you have not signed up yet and would like to participate, please reach out to the PTO.

We hope everyone has a restful and relaxing weekend!

Ms. Mallory Emmons

Principal

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.

Busing in the Portland Public Schools is provided by M&J Bus. Bus route lists are posted here: https://www.portlandctschools.org/bus-routes 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.

 

A functional pencil grasp supports comfort, control, and legibility. It helps children draw, form letters, and write without tiring as quickly. While there is no single perfect grasp, developing an efficient grasp helps children manage increasing writing demands.

The best way to develop pencil grasp is through fine motor activities and regular drawing and writing practice.

Try these simple activities at home:

Alyssa Sampognaro, OTR/L asampognaro@portlandct.us 

Happy Friday!

As some parents may have noticed I am using ParentSquare to message if your child has been to my office for something I think you should be aware of.  If your child has an injury or illness that requires an immediate conversation, I will call a parent/guardian directly.   Please know that if I message you that your child has made more than one visit for an illness complaint, I am just making you aware.  It is not necessarily to ask you to pick up your child.

 

I continue to track illness daily.  Please continue to communicate the reason for your child’s absence as this helps me track trends in classrooms and in the school as a whole. Keeping me informed helps me keep our community informed.  

I hope you have an enjoyable weekend! 

 

Mrs. Karen Rettich

Valley View School Nurse

Phone 860 342 3226

During library classes, we have been learning about finding “just right” books using the parts of the book to help us find out if we are interested in the book or not.  We look at the cover, the title and pictures inside to help us choose the book we want to bring home each week.  Hopefully, parents or family members can help students read their choices at home!  

We are looking forward to our next birthday book club on October 28th for November and December birthdays.  Emails have been sent out.   If your child would like to participate in our next one and you didn’t get an email, please send me an email or message on Parent Square.  

Save the date! Our Scholastic Book Fair will be held November 16-24th in our Valley View Library.  We will need shopping helpers during the classes’ library times which are 8:45-10:15am.  I will be sending home more information soon. 

I am going to share our library stats as often as possible. See the picture below.  We are down to only 15 overdue books and we found 2 lost books that have been missing since last year- great job!  If you or your child is having trouble keeping track of the A-E special schedule, please have them keep their library bags and books in their backpacks daily - take them out to read them and then put them right back in.  That way, they will always have them ready to return.  Our 100% club on our board is classes who have ALL returned their books that week.  Thanks for helping your child keep track of their library book(s)!  

Finally, we received a shipment of new library books thanks to our generous PTO!  We made an unboxing video to show everyone some of our newest library books so if your child is interested in checking them out, they can let me know on their library day! They should be ready for check out in a couple of weeks once they are put into the system.  Thank you so much, Valley View PTO!  

Thanks for all your support!  Happy Reading!

Melissa Thorpe

Library Media Specialist

Science Meets Art: Our First Graders Reveal Autumn’s Hidden Colors!

This week in art class, our students explored how artists look to nature for inspiration. We tied our artwork to a bit of science by talking about how leaves lose their chlorophyll in autumn, exposing all of the beautiful, warm colors that were hidden there all along.

The artists added realistic veins to their leaf outlines and blended warm autumn colors to create their own Fall Leaf Banners.

They've been bringing theirs home this week, where in your home will you hang yours?

Mrs. Julie French

Visual Art Teacher

Breakfast is FREE for all students. If your child should be eating breakfast at school, let them know they need to come see me in the Cafeteria before they head to their classrooms. 

In order to purchase milk or snacks from the cafeteria, students must have a positive balance in their account or bring in cash. The easiest way to manage their meal account is by downloading the MySchoolBucks app.