From Principal Fort

Columbia Heights Public Library Events

Valley View

Elementary School

800 49th Ave NE

Columbia Heights, MN

55421

763-528-4200

colheights.k12.mn.us/

vves

Principal

Willie Fort

Dean of Students

Camille Erickson

OUR MISSION Columbia Heights Public Schools create worlds of opportunity for every learner in par tnership with supportive small-town communities by challenging all to discover their talents, unleash their potential and develop tools for lifelong success.

V A L L E Y V I E W E L E M E N T A R Y S C H O O L

January 2017

Valley View News

Listed are free events hosted by

the Columbia Heights Public Li-

brary.

LEGO Club: Second Thursday of

each month, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.,

Jan. 12, Feb. 9. For grades K-6,

registration not required.

Maker Club: Last Wednesday of

each month, 3:30-4:30 p.m.,

Dec. 28, Jan. 25, Feb. 22. For

grades K-5, registration not re-

quired.

Book Warms: January and Feb-

ruary 2017. Escape from the

cold by curling up with a great

read! Book Warms is the winter

reading program for children

and teens. Open to children

birth-grade 12. Watch for more

details.

4-H Tech Wizards: Tuesdays,

Jan. 3 to Feb. 21, 4-6 p.m.

Grades 5-8 registration re-

quired.

Storytime: Jan. 9-Feb. 25th, no

registration required.

Toddler storytime-Mondays 10:30-

10:50 a.m.

Family storytime (all ages)- Tuesdays,

10:30-11:00 a.m.

Baby Read, Baby Grow (birth-24

months)- Thursdays, 10:30-11:00 a.m.

For more information about any of

these events, please contact the Co-

lumbia Heights Public Library at 763-

706-3690 or go to

www.ci.columbia0heights.mn.us.

Dear Parents,

I hope you and your fami-

ly had a wonderful holi-

day break. Welcome to

2017!

We currently have open-

ings in this year’s pre-

kindergarten and kinder-

garten program. Enroll-

ment is also open for all

1st through 5th grade stu-

dents for the 2017-2018

school year.

Congratulations to Doran

Schoeppach, Valley View

music teacher, for taking

a bus load of students

and parents to the Mall of

America on December

9th to participate in the

annual “Clouds Choir”

concert. Thank you to

the school PTO for paying

for the bus and serving as

chaperones for our stu-

dents. Sixty-four students

have been practicing

with Mr. Schoeppach to

prepare for this highly

publicized event.

Have you heard about

two new activities our

Physical Education

teachers introduced to

students in December?

Ms. Amber Bromley and

Ms. Heidi Ostrander start-

ed two new units in their

classes. As of December

9th, all pre-K through 5th

grade students had com-

pleted “Pound”. Students

used drum sticks to make

synchronized rhythmic

sounds then pounding

their drumsticks on the yo-

ga mats on the floor.

“Drumfit” (similar concept

as “Pound”) was intro-

duced the week of De-

cember 12th through De-

cember 22nd. Drum sticks

and exercise balls are

used for this activity. Our

students love the units.

Several teachers partici-

pated as well which

makes it even more fun.

Sincerely,

Willie Fort

V A L L E Y V I E W E L E M E N T A R Y S C H O O L

Valley View News

Page 2

Pre-K

Kindergarten

Do you just play in Pre-

K?!??! As Pre-

Kindergarten teachers we

get that question a lot

and the answer is YES! we

play a lot BUT it’s not

“just” play. Our play is

purposeful and has an

equal importance to our

academic time. As Mr.

Fred Rogers once said,

“Play is often talked

about as if it were a relief

from serious learning but

for children, play IS serious

learning. Play is really the

work of childhood.” In

our classrooms we have

play centers that are pre-

pared specifically to

challenge, engage and

enlighten our stu-

dents. Dramatic play is a

center that will change

with our theme. Students

are able to play and

learn together in a crea-

tive environment. This

kind of play teaches chil-

dren to work together, to

communicate and re-

spond to the actions of

their peers. Children

begin to demonstrate self

-direction and independ-

ence as they explore the

world around

them. Some common

dramatic play themes

are housekeeping, com-

munity helpers, garden,

zoo, museum and

farm. Students use their

imagination to act out

real life situations. This

area, helps student

achieve the following

Minnesota Early Indicators

of Progress (our state

standards).

Students will…

explore and respond

to a wide range of

emotions

develop an aware

ness of self and of

others

begin to partici-

pate successfully

as a member of a

group

sustain interaction

through coopera-

tion, sharing, and

helping others

use words and oth-

er constructive

strategies to solve

conflict

generate ideas

and make sugges-

tions

begins to under-

stand family structures

and roles

describes jobs that

people do

pop-up and you will see

what we are doing in the

classroom. Your child’s

teacher might upload

video of your child read-

ing or pictures of projects

we are doing in the class.

The kindergarten teach-

ers look forward to shar-

ing what we are doing in

the kindergarten class-

room.

Communicating with par-

ents is valuable to the

kindergarten team. This

year all of the kindergar-

ten classrooms are using

an app called SeeSaw as

a way to stay in touch.

We are encouraging par-

ents of kindergarten stu-

dents to download the

app. If you need more

information about how to

download the app, ask

your child’s kindergarten

teacher. When you have

the app, notifications will

V A L L E Y V I E W E L E M E N T A R Y S C H O O L Page 3

Music

First Grade Winter has arrived and

the first grade team is ex-

cited to talk about our

wonderful achievements

from 1st quarter. First

grade has been working

hard on becoming good

readers, scientists, and

mathematicians. In read-

ing, first grade has fo-

cused on comprehension

strategies including; mak-

ing predictions, making

connections, and com-

paring/contrasting stories.

As a grade we have fo-

cused on stories from our

past. Students are making

great connections be-

tween characters from

our stories and their own

lives. In math we have

spent time learning about

addition, subtraction,

patterns and shapes. Stu-

dents are very engaged

with all of our hands-on-

learning tools we use in

math. Movement makes

math more fun! First quar-

ter science lesson al-

lowed students to ob-

serve the life cycle of

mealworms and butter-

flies. Students watched as

mealworm larva turned

into pupas, and then

beetles. Then, students

patiently observed cater-

pillars change into pupas,

and then transform into

beautiful butterflies. It was

a lot of fun to have

these living creatures in

our classrooms! This

month, we were able to

have a special visit from

the Columbia Heights

Fire Department. The

firefighters taught the

students about fire safe-

ty, and how to help

families prepare for an

emergency. As we

move steadily into win-

ter please make sure

you are sending your

student with warm coats,

hats, gloves, scarves, and

boots!

For the second year in a

row the Valley View com-

munity participated in the

KS95 Clouds Choir “Choir

for a Cause.” Each year

the Clouds Choir Radio-

thon raises money for the

Children’s Cancer Re-

search Fund. This year the

radiothon raised over

$510,000.

From the Valley View

community we had 64

students and 27 adults

sign up to sing in this choir

with over 4,000 other

people. With the large

response our PTO decid-

ed to sponsor a bus to

take us to and from the

event. The bus was filled

to capacity.

Though the Valley View

community was regis-

tered and confirmed to

sing in the Clouds Choir-

there was a mix up in the

t-shirt order. At the press

time of this newsletter—

we are in contact with

KS95 to straighten up the

t-shirt order and hopefully

get t-shirts to those who

participated in the

Clouds Choir.

To those who participat-

ed in the Clouds Choir—

thank you! And thanks

for your patience as we

resolve the t-shirt issue.

Nonetheless keep singing

in 2017!

Valley View News

V A L L E Y V I E W E L E M E N T A R Y S C H O O L Page 4

District News

Winter Weather

Valley View News

Winter is here! Please remem-

ber to dress your child appro-

priately to be outside. Students

go outside in the morning be-

fore school from 7:20-7:45 and

during their recess time. Make

sure students have jackets, hats

and mittens.

Important Dates

Dec. 23-Jan. 2nd No School— Winter Break

Jan. 3rd 7:00 pm School Board Organiza-

tional Meeting

Jan. 10th 7:00 pm School Board Meeting

Jan. 12-13 Early Childhood Screening

Jan. 16-17th No School/Adventure

Club Open

Jan. 24th 7:00 pm School Board Meeting

Jan. 26th Last day of Quarter 2

Jan. 27th No School– Grading Day

Feb. 2nd 3:30-7 pm K-5 Conferences

Feb. 3rd Pre-K Conferences/ No

Pre-K Classes

Feb. 7th 3:30-7 pm K-5 Conferences

STAFF SPOTLIGHT!

Name: Krystle Murphy

Position: Custodian

Hometown: Northeast, Minneapolis

Education: Dunwoody College of Technology,

Associates of Applied Science in Electrical

Construction and Maintenance

Family: Krystle is a single mother of one son,

Johnny, who is 4 years old. They have a little

kitten, Bruce Lee.

Hobbies: Some hobbies Krystle enjoys doing

are going bowling with her son, playing

games of pool with friends, remodeling my

house and scrap booking old photos when

she has time.

Superintendent Kathy Kelly is on Instagram!

We invite you to follow her @thesuptcolheights as she shares stories, news, people, photos, videos

and more that happens in Columbia Heights Public Schools. Start following her today!