Dates at a Glance

• Friday, March 5th — End of 2nd Trimester
• Monday, March 8th — Monday Morning Mindfulness
• Wednesday, March 10th — Board meeting
• Monday, 3/22 - Friday 2/26 — Spring Break
• Saturday, April 17th — 7th Annual Creek Clean-a-thon
• Fridays on-going — Drop-In Picture Day

 

Board Meeting Rescheduled for Wednesday, 3/10

I would like to invite our community to attend next week’s board meeting. We will be discussing our reopening plans and setting our timeline for in person instruction in motion. The zoom link and agenda will be sent out by Monday.

 

7th Annual Creek Clean-a-thon! Save the Date!

Saturday, April 17, 2021

7th Annual Creek Clean-a-thon... April 17, 2021… Save the Date!

Please find the event sign-up sheet posted outside your student’s classroom. Let us know if you are planning on participating and if so, what size t-shirt your student will wear. The student event participants will each receive a t-shirt to wear on event day (and for keeps). There will (most likely) be two options for our event…. appropriately joining together at the creek or conducting a household/neighborhood cleanup with your family. More details to come as they are known, thanks for signing up soon so we can plan accordingly. 

 

School Picture Day—ONGOING EVERY FRIDAY

Emma will be taking school photos every Friday (beginning 2/12) between 9:30 and 2:00 (earlier is encouraged for the better light), no appointment necessary.  You can find Emma in Room 22 or contact the office once you arrive.

 

Summer Camp 2021—June 16-July 30, 8:00-5:00

Coco and Mr. Matt are hoping to reinstate our VCS Summer Camp for 2021.

With safe guidelines for students and staff, students will be given the opportunity to socialize, learn new skills, and enjoy outdoor adventures and play. Cost: $1000-full summer; $350-2 weeks or 10 day drop off; $200-single week or 5 day drop off.

PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HAVING YOUR CHILD(REN) PARTICIPATE. We need minimum numbers to make the camp happen!

 

VCS School Shop

Did you know we have a school shop? Take a moment to browse the several items we have. All proceeds support VCS! Thank you, Emma, for keeping up our shop with new items and apparel!

www.shop.villagecharterschool.com
 

Yearbook

The 2020/2021 VCS Yearbook needs your photo contributions!

Email all of your VCS 2020/2021 photos to notification.photos.171173512@treeringphotos.com for the yearbook team to use, and keep 'em coming!

If you have any questions, contact Emma at erobbins@villagecharterschool.com.
 

Appreciations

Appreciations to the Nunley's and DryScape for the donation of mulch for the garden and much needed weed control. --Miss Malika

 

NEW: Support Our Community, Create More Connections

VCS wants to support our families' small businesses by sharing your business information with the community.  Please fill out this Google form or print the form and email to Rebecca with your business information (applies to both if  you own the business or you are an employee).  Your business information will be announced on the VCS web page and Facebook. 

https://ameliachapman.cabionline.com/ Amelia Chapman

 

http://www.cornerprojectales.com The Adamian Family

 

https://www.artandsoulschool.com The Kushins Family
 

https://bohemianroots.net/ Lauren Racusin McSweeney
 

http://brandflowmarketing.com Naomi Catalina
 

https://wildsageyoga.com/ Deneene Bell

Dates at a Glance

• Friday, 2/26—NO SCHOOL
• Monday, March 1^st — Monday Morning Mindfulness
• Friday, March 5^th —End of 2^nd Trimester
• Monday, 3/22-Friday 2/26—Spring Break
• Saturday, April 17^th—7^th Annual Creek Clean-a-thon
  
   

Reopening Survey Update

Thank you to the over 80% of you who took the time to respond to our survey. I am not surprised that there was no real trend that presented itself. This pandemic has hit all of us in such unique ways, and your responses and comments truly spoke to the varied needs of our families. Please know that we are taking into consideration everyone’s input and that whatever we decide to do regarding getting the students back on campus will be done with the best intent to serve the social, emotional, academic, and health and safety needs of ALL. I will keep you posted as we progress in our reopening process.

As always, thank you for your constant support and patience.

 

7th Annual Creek Clean-a-thon! Save the Date!

Saturday, April 17, 2021

Let’s continue our legacy as amazing Earth and creek stewards and join together in community service action for our 2021 Event. Look for updates and details in our weekly bulletin as they develop. 

 

VCS School Shop

Did you know we have a school shop? Take a moment to browse the several items we have. All proceeds support VCS! Thank you, Emma, for keeping up our shop with new items and apparel!

www.shop.villagecharterschool.com
 

Yearbook

The 2020/2021 VCS Yearbook needs your photo contributions!

Email all of your VCS 2020/2021 photos to notification.photos.171173512@treeringphotos.com for the yearbook team to use, and keep 'em coming!

If you have any questions, contact Emma at erobbins@villagecharterschool.com.
 

Enrichment Opportunity!

Art & Soul is offering in-person dance classes OUTSIDE in our patio, in Windsor, if anyone is interested.  We have a few spaces open.  707-575-6858. We also have Virtual Music Lessons and Art Classes

 

NEW: Support Our Community, Create More Connections

VCS wants to support our families' small businesses by sharing your business information with the community.  Please fill out this Google form or print the form and email to Rebecca with your business information (applies to both if  you own the business or you are an employee).  Your business information will be announced on the VCS web page and Facebook. 

 

https://www.artandsoulschool.com The Kushins Family
 

https://bohemianroots.net/ Lauren Racusin McSweeney
 

http://brandflowmarketing.com Naomi Catalina
 

https://wildsageyoga.com/ Deneene Bell

Dates at a Glance

• Monday, 2/22— Monday Morning Mindfulness
• Friday, 2/26—NO SCHOOL
• Thursday, 3/4—PA Meeting (time TBD)
• Friday, 3/5—End of 2^nd Trimester
• Monday, 3/22-Friday 2/26—Spring Break

 

Reopening survey

A reopening survey is being sent out today to all parents. Please take a moment to respond to this survey. Your input is very important in helping us determine our best next steps. Thank you.

 

VCS School Shop

Did you know we have a school shop? Take a moment to browse the several items we have. All proceeds support VCS! Thank you, Emma, for keeping up our shop with new items and apparel!

www.shop.villagecharterschool.com
 

Yearbook

The 2020/2021 VCS Yearbook needs your photo contributions!

Email all of your VCS 2020/2021 photos to notification.photos.171173512@treeringphotos.com for the yearbook team to use, and keep 'em coming!

If you have any questions, contact Emma at erobbins@villagecharterschool.com.
 

Enrichment Opportunity!

Art & Soul is offering in-person dance classes OUTSIDE in our patio, in Windsor, if anyone is interested.  We have a few spaces open.  707-575-6858. We also have Virtual Music Lessons and Art Classes

 

NEW: Support Our Community, Create More Connections

VCS wants to support our families' small businesses by sharing your business information with the community.  Please fill out this Google form or print the form and email to Rebecca with your business information (applies to both if  you own the business or you are an employee).  Your business information will be announced on the VCS web page and Facebook. 

 

https://www.artandsoulschool.com The Kushins Family
 

https://bohemianroots.net/ Lauren Racusin McSweeney
 

http://brandflowmarketing.com Naomi Catalina
 

https://wildsageyoga.com/ Deneene Bell

 

Please take a moment to read...

Teresa Thayer Snyder, Superintendent of the Voorheesville district in upstate New York, wrote this wise and insightful essay.

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

I am writing today about the children of this pandemic. After a lifetime of working among the young, I feel compelled to address the concerns that are being expressed by so many of my peers about the deficits the children will demonstrate when they finally return to school. My goodness, what a disconcerting thing to be concerned about in the face of a pandemic which is affecting millions of people around the country and the world. It speaks to one of my biggest fears for the children when they return. In our determination to “catch them up,” I fear that we will lose who they are and what they have learned during this unprecedented era. What on earth are we trying to catch them up on? The models no longer apply, the benchmarks are no longer valid, the trend analyses have been interrupted. We must not forget that those arbitrary measures were established by people, not ordained by God. We can make those invalid measures as obsolete as a crank up telephone! They simply do not apply. 

 

When the children return to school, they will have returned with a new history that we will need to help them identify and make sense of. When the children return to school, we will need to listen to them. Let their stories be told. They have endured a year that has no parallel in modern times. There is no assessment that applies to who they are or what they have learned. Remember, their brains did not go into hibernation during this year. Their brains may not have been focused on traditional school material, but they did not stop either. Their brains may have been focused on where their next meal is coming from, or how to care for a younger sibling, or how to deal with missing grandma, or how it feels to have to surrender a beloved pet, or how to deal with death. Our job is to welcome them back and help them write that history.

 

I sincerely plead with my colleagues, to surrender the artificial constructs that measure achievement and greet the children where they are, not where we think they “should be.” Greet them with art supplies and writing materials, and music and dance and so many other avenues to help them express what has happened to them in their lives during this horrific year. Greet them with stories and books that will help them make sense of an upside-down world. They missed you. They did not miss the test prep. They did not miss the worksheets. They did not miss the reading groups. They did not miss the homework. They missed you.

 

Resist the pressure from whatever ‘powers that be’ who are in a hurry to “fix” kids and make up for the “lost” time. The time was not lost, it was invested in surviving an historic period of time in their lives—in our lives. The children do not need to be fixed. They are not broken. They need to be heard. They need to be given as many tools as we can provide to nurture resilience and help them adjust to a post pandemic world.

Being a teacher is an essential connection between what is and what can be. Please, let what can be demonstrate that our children have so much to share about the world they live in and in helping them make sense of what, for all of us, has been unimaginable. This will help them– and us– achieve a lot more than can be measured by any assessment tool ever devised. Peace to all who work with the children!