Main Office News
Parking Lot Safety: If you transport your child to or from school, you’ve seen the orange barriers in the front parking lot. They
help route traffic one way into the lot down the first row of parking spots. Please do not exit out of the parking lot this same way.
Stay in the vehicle drop off or pick up lane or exit from another row of parking spots so that you can see and be directed by our
school patrols or staff members assisting in the lot. If you are among the first to arrive at drop off or pick up time, wait behind the
crosswalk until the patrols are out for duty. Once they are in place, the line of cars may advance all the way to the adult at the stop
sign.
October Conferences: Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences occur next Monday and Tuesday. Thank you for signing up online.
If your child is in a multiage classroom, his/her conference will be 30 minutes in length. The first 15 minutes are led by your child.
The teacher will join in during the second half of the conference to discuss and celebrate progress and help with goal setting.
Conferences for students in Gateway classrooms will be 15 minutes in length. Teachers will meet with the student and family
members to discuss and celebrate progress and set goals. The 30 minute conference format will be used in February.
If you are a parent of a student in kindergarten, you will be receiving a progress report for your child at the conference. Teachers
will mark development in the area of social/emotional learning. A few academic skill areas will also be marked. You’ll see many
more of the skills assessed on your kindergartner’s next progress report that will be shared in February. The final kindergarten
progress report will go home at the end of the school year. Families with students in first grade and up will receive their progress
reports at the end of each trimester.
Families are strongly encouraged to visit briefly with other members of our teaching staff (e.g., EL teacher, specialists, and special
education teachers) on conference nights. These individuals will be in their classrooms or near the main entrance.
If there are specific questions or concerns that you’d like to talk about, please email your child’s teacher in advance. In many
cases, items can be discussed during the conference. Sometimes it may be necessary or more appropriate to discuss an item at
another time by phone or in person.
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Reminder: There is no school for students on October 20 and 21 .
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Election Day Helpers: Our school is a polling site on November 8 . We’d like to have some extra adults on hand to serve as hall
monitors during the day. Hall monitors will help direct voters to and from the gym. This will help students move safely throughout
the building and for learning activities to continue as regularly scheduled. Shifts will be two hours in length (between 8:00 am and
4:00 pm). Click here to sign up to volunteer.
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Honoring Veterans: On November 11 at 10:00 am we will honor veterans with a special program. Valley Crossing students may
invite a veteran they know (parent, relative, or friend) to attend the assembly. Veterans (and their student hosts) get to sit up front.
While we’ll listen to a guest speaker and spend time singing, the highlight of the program is when the veterans who are present
have a chance to introduce themselves by saying their name, which branch of the military they are affiliated with, and the years
they served. This is a special event for our school community. We hope you can join us!
PTA News
Happy fall! Our October newsletter is now available, with full listings of our activities and events.
With conferences coming up next week, we’re reflecting on how lucky we are to have such fantastic teachers and staff. Help us
provide food for our teachers on those two very busy conference days. We’re in particular need of folks to help out during the
school day. Check out the options for helping, and sign up where you can. Thank you!
The Fall Book Fair is also right around the corner. Volunteering is a great way to meet other Valley Crossing families and get
some exposure to popular kids’ books.
A few key upcoming events include:
October 17-18: Fall Conferences: Feed the Teachers. Sign up to help!
October 17: Culver’s Dine Out Night, 5 to 7 p.m.
October 31-November 3: Scholastic Book Fair. Sign up to help!
As always, check out our website to learn more about what we’re all about and what we have planned. Connect with us on
Facebook and Twitter, and we’ll see you online and in person soon!
-Your Valley Crossing PTA Board