Knightly News

Hello Valley View families,

I hope that everyone is having a relaxing Labor Day weekend. At Valley View we had a wonderful first week. Students and staff started to learn new routines over the first three days. Teachers and students are connecting and creating strong communities that will enhance learning. I am excited to watch these relationships continue to grow next week and beyond.

1. Monday, September 6th is Labor Day. There is no school for students or staff.

2. Start of the day - everyone is adjusting well to the drop off procedures at the start of the day. A couple things to keep in mind are that we do not have supervision on the playground until 8:30 am, for our walkers, please do not arrive before 8:30 am. For our parents that drop off via car, please make sure not to start unloading until 8:30 am as well. We do not have supervision in our drop off zone until 8:30 am. Please be patient as we get more efficient with our start of day routines.

3. End of the day - over the first three days we have had to make some small adjustments to ensure that all students know how they are getting home and where to go. Please let your child’s teacher know if there are ever changes in the pick up routine (i. e. Bus one day and parent pick up other days). For our parent pick ups, it has been very helpful if you can have a sheet of paper with your child’s name and grade level on it. As we learn the students, this helps us line up kids for their pick up.

4. Our Parent Information Night (PIN) will be held on Tuesday, September 14th. We will be hosting this event virtually, as we did last year. Your child’s teacher will be providing more details in the coming days around the time and format.

Thank you for all your support during the first week. I look forward to continuing to build the relationship between home and school over the course of this year. If you have any questions, please reach out by phone or email (whitaar@sdmfschools.org).

Thank you,

Aaron White

Valley View Principal

Hello Valley View families,

Over the weekend, our country had the chance to remember and reflect on a somber time in American history. This past Saturday was the 20^th anniversary of September 11^th, a date when many can remember exactly what they were doing or where they were when this happened. For our students, who were not around for this event, we will talk about the ways that our country came together to support each other, the bravery by many first responders, and the way we came together as a country to move forward.

1. The image below outlines the mitigation protocol levels. The SDMF will consistently review student impact, staff impact, and burden rate - the scale of community transmission - to determine the mitigation protocols and adjust as needed. Currently, our mitigation level is MODERATELY HIGH.

Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image

2.Start of the day – Our drop off procedures continue to improve as walkers, car drop off, and bus students get back into routines. We continue to ask students and families to wait until 8:30 am to drop off, as that is when our supervision begins. Also, please do not drop students off on Town Hall Road, instead please wait until you have pulled into the Valley View driveway.

3.End of the day – Our end of day procedures are going smoothly, as our 3^rd graders are adjusting to the end of day procedure. If your child has a change in their plan or routine, please communicate any of these adjustments with the office (Deb Mattson) and classroom teacher.

4.***Our Parent Information Night (PIN) will be held on Tuesday, September 14th. *** There will be an adjustment to our PIN event to help improve access for families. The 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th grade teams have been or will be sharing video content related to their classrooms. We are inviting families to watch these videos with your students, and then log in to a Virtual classroom Question and Answer session on Tuesday, September 14^th. Here is the schedule for the Q and A sessions:

a. 3^rd grade from 6:00 to 6:30 pm

b. 4^th grade from 6:30 to 7:00 pm

c. 5^th grade from 7:00 to 7:30 pm

5. Are you are interested in joining the Cub Scouts? There will be an informational event at Oakwood Park on Sunday, September 19^th from 1pm-3pm. Cub Scout Leaders will be there to provide information and answer any questions you may have about what scouting is, what they do, and how your son may be involved. There will be activities for the kids as well.
6. Finally, if you still have any forms from the Summer Reading/Math program, we want to celebrate your child for their hard work this summer! If your child completed a reading log or earned a completion certificate from the summer library program, please send that to school by Tuesday, September 14^th.

If you have any questions, please reach out by phone or email (whitaar@sdmfschools.org).

Thank you,

Aaron White

Valley View Principal

Hello Valley View families,

I hope that everyone was able to enjoy the beautiful weather over the weekend and spent some time with family and friends. Thank you to families for your participation and engagement in our Parent Information Night last week. The 'flipped' version with content that was pushed out with a follow up question and answer session was designed to allow families to see what kids are doing and learning at Valley View in a way that worked with your schedules. We appreciate everyone's flexibility with transitioning this event to a virtual format, as it helped us to keep in line with our current mitigation practices.

1. Sorry for the late notice, but tomorrow (Monday, September 20th) will be a school wide Green and Gold day. Go Pack, let's see if we can help cheer on a win on Monday night!
2. We have a new school counselor, Mrs. Bakalars (she goes by Mrs. Bak). All of the students at Valley View have had a chance to meet Mrs. Bak through their guidance classes and some additional check ins. We are excited to welcome Mrs. Bak to our school. She has been a counselor in Waterloo and Cedarburg, and spent the last two years as a school liason for Children's Hospital. She will be sending a quarterly newsletter with information for parents and contact information.
3. The first Shady Valley PTO meeting is this Tuesday, September 21st at 7:00 pm. This first one will be held virtually. It is our hope that we’ll get to the point where we can come together in person, but for now, we’ll start virtual via Zoom. Just follow the link below.

https://zoom.us/j/93750443831?pwd=b2pyUVY3bWlDVzhPQ0JuTFRibXFPUT09

Meeting ID: 937 5044 3831

Passcode: 1Ds7z2

4. Speaking of our PTO, this Wednesday, September 22nd will be the FIRST Shady Valley PTO restaurant night from 4:00-8:00pm at Chipotle! Take the night off from cooking and help support the Shady Valley PTO in this fundraising effort. A portion of sales will go directly to our organization!

Ordering details:
* Show the attached flyer in store when you stop in to order. ChipotleFlyer 2021

* Orders placed online use code C2XM93T in the ‘promo’ field

5. Our 5th grade students will begin their DARE classes with Officer Jay Weber this week. They will receive DARE shirts to wear for the days of the program. This is a wonderfully run community outreach program that concludes with the DARE graduation. 5th grade students will learn their schedules and have their first meetings this week!
6. The image below outlines the mitigation protocol levels. The SDMF will consistently review student impact, staff impact, and burden rate - the scale of community transmission - to determine the mitigation protocols and adjust as needed. Currently, our mitigation level is MODERATELY HIGH.

Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image

7.Looking ahead, please mark your calendars for our picture re-take day, which will be Tuesday, October 5th. Their will also be a Father Daughter Dance being held at the gymnasium at Ben Franklin for 4K - 5th grade students on Saturday, October 16th. Watch upcoming Knightly News editions for further details.

If you have any questions, please reach out by phone or email (whitaar@sdmfschools.org).

Thank you,

Aaron White

Valley View Principal

Hello Valley View families,

What a beautiful weekend as we transition from summer to fall. The weather was great for activities, being outdoors, and engaging in festive fall events. I hope that everyone had a restful weekend and is ready to get back to routines this week.

1. We had our first Shady Valley PTO meeting last week, this is an outstanding group that is continuing to grow and support our students and mission. If you are interested in getting involved, watch this space for future meetings. As we move forward, the goal of the team is to increase opportunities for volunteering as they become safe and available.
2. Our picture re-take day will be Tuesday, October 5th. Students will have a chance for re-takes (or first takes) beginning at 8:45 am. If your student gets a photo taken during this day, they will come home with directions around how to order any photo packages. There is no need to send anything the day of the retakes, just communicate with your child's teacher around the desire to have a re-take.

3.This week, we will be have a college spirit day on Wednesday and Falls/Valley View pride day on Friday. Feel free to join our staff and wear college wear on Wednesday and Valley View or Falls gear on Friday.

4.Speaking of Valley View gear, we are working on getting a School Spirit online store set up for families in the coming weeks. Watch this space.

5. The image below outlines the mitigation protocol levels. The SDMF will consistently review student impact, staff impact, and burden rate - the scale of community transmission - to determine the mitigation protocols and adjust as needed. Currently, our mitigation level is MODERATELY HIGH.

Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image

6. Looking ahead, please mark your calendars for the Father Daughter Dance being held at the gymnasium at Ben Franklin for 4K - 5th grade students on Saturday, October 16th. Watch upcoming Knightly News editions for further details.

If you have any questions, please reach out by phone or email (whitaar@sdmfschools.org).

Thank you,

Aaron White

Valley View Principal

Hello Valley View families,

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend, and avoided any of the spotty rain that happened from Saturday night into Sunday morning. Here are some reminders and announcements as we head into October.

1. Our picture re-take day will be Tuesday, October 5th. Students will have a chance for re-takes (or first takes) beginning at 8:45 am. If your student gets a photo taken during this day, they will come home with directions around how to order any photo packages. There is no need to send anything the day of the retakes- (unless you ordered a picture package and received it from their first take on 8/17/21, then please return that), just communicate with your child's teacher around the desire to have a re-take.
2. McDare Night is coming up on October 14th, from 5pm to 7pm at the McDonald’s on Appleton Ave. MFPD officers and McGruff will be there to help raise money for the D.A.R.E. program. The 5th graders at Valley View have been working and learning with Officer Jay Weber for the last few weeks, this event is a great way to support the DARE program. See here for more information. McDare.pdf
3. It was recently brought to my attention that our practice for reciting the Pledge of Allegiance each day was not compliant with Wisconsin Legislature 118.06, which requires Wisconsin schools to offer the Pledge of Allegiance daily. After learning that our current practice was not consistent across all classrooms, we immediately took action and now say the Pledge of Allegiance daily, together as a school. Our past practice had been to recite the Pledge of Allegiance together as a school each Wednesday and in classrooms on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. I appreciate that we were made aware of this situation and apologize for the disparity with this important practice.
4. The image below outlines the mitigation protocol levels. COVID 19 Valley View Elementary Mitigations: We continue to closely monitor the student impact of COVID-19 and our mitigation measures at school to find the right balance between our commitment to safeguarding student and employee health and our obligations to student attendance and learning. You may have noticed in the district e-mail news on Friday that our district has decided to make some immediate changes to our quarantine procedures at North Middle School and Menomonee Falls High School including quarantines being voluntary for school based contacts for students that are symptom free. However, many of our positive cases at the ELEMENTARY level have come when students have been in quarantine. Quarantining remains an effective mitigation tool at the elementary level. At the building level, we are reviewing and exploring ways to spread out students over the lunch hour with our current spaces and supervisors. Changes may include eating in different spaces, which would allow for more space between students. Any changes to our protocols will be communicated at a building level. Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image
5. Mark your calendars for the Father Daughter Dance being held at the gymnasium at Ben Franklin for 4K - 5th grade students on Saturday, October 16th. Forms for this event have been handed out through classrooms and can be returned to the school office. Please return these by October 12th.

If you have any questions, please reach out by phone or email (whitaar@sdmfschools.org).

Thank you,

Aaron White

Valley View Principal

Hello Valley View families,

We hope that you had a wonderful weekend. The first reminder is that this will be a short, four day school week. There is NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY, October 15^th. We hope that staff and students enjoy this fall break day following a strong start to the school year.

1. Unfortunately, the upcoming McDare Night had to be cancelled. The fundraiser, which is held at the local McDonalds, needed to be cancelled due to staffing concerns at the restaurant. If the event can be re-scheduled, we will let families know.
2. Fall Conferences – We are quickly approaching our fall parent teacher conferences, which will be held across November 3^rd through 5^th. These conferences are a key touchpoint between home and school, and we look forward to checking in on student progress. A sign up form will be sent later this week, likely by Wednesday, which will allow you to sign up for a conference and decide if you would like to attend in person or virtually.
3. We have a new school counselor, Mrs. Bak, who has been meeting with classes, small groups of students, and individuals over the course of the school year. Mrs. Bak will be putting out a quarterly newsletter, a copy can be found here -> Counselor Corner Newsletter_ V1_I1 (002).pdf
4. Looking for some new Valley View gear? We have an online store that is available for families, staff, and students. The link is here -> Valley View Elementary Fall 2021 | Sew Impressed | powered by OrderMyGear (itemorder.com)
5. The image below outlines the mitigation protocol levels. COVID 19 Valley View Elementary Mitigations: We continue to closely monitor the student impact of COVID-19 and our mitigation measures at school to find the right balance between our commitment to safeguarding student and employee health and our obligations to student attendance and learning. Quarantining remains an effective mitigation tool at the elementary level. At the building level, we are reviewing and exploring ways to spread out students over the lunch hour with our current spaces and supervisors. Changes may include eating in different spaces, which would allow for more space between students. Any changes to our protocols will be communicated at a building level. Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image
6. Low Lunch Balance Notifications & A la Carte Milk Purchases - School Nutrition has disabled the low balance notifications for the 2021-22 school year. Therefore, to check your family’s School Nutrition account balance, log in to either PowerSchool or Wordware at https://family.wordwareinc.com/ where you can also add money to your account. While each student is able to take one breakfast and one lunch each day at no cost to families, a la carte items such as milk with a cold lunch or juices and snacks at the middle and high school levels do require money to be available in your students’ account. If you have any questions, please reach out to School Nutrition at 262-250-6461 or 262-250-6462.
7. Mark your calendars for the Father Daughter Dance being held at the gymnasium at Ben Franklin for 4K - 5th grade students on Saturday, October 16th. Forms for this event have been handed out through classrooms and can be returned to the school office.

If you have any questions, please reach out by phone or email (whitaar@sdmfschools.org).

Thank you,

Aaron White

Valley View Principal

Hello Valley View families,

Although the nights have been cooler, the days have continued to be beautiful. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the long weekend and was able to have some fun outdoors.

• 1.Fall Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up on November 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th. We will be hosting an important touchpoint between home and school with these first round of conferences. They will be held on the evenings of November 3^rd, and 4^th, and the morning of Friday, November 5^th. You should have received an invitation to sign up via School Messenger, with follow up from your child’s teacher. The links to sign up are also below. *Please be sure to note if you would like to do your conference in person or virtually in the notes. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the office at 262-250-2620.

3rd Grade : https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e044faea629a2f85-3rdgrade1

4th Grade: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E044FAEA629A2F85-4thgrade1

5th Grade: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E044FAEA629A2F85-5thgrade1

2.Looking for some new Valley View gear? We have an online store that is available for families, staff, and students. The link is here -> Valley View Elementary Fall 2021 | Sew Impressed | powered by OrderMyGear (itemorder.com)

3.This week Wednesday, we made a change to the way students are served and eat their lunch. The lunchroom and lunch hour have been challenging this year, as we do not have as much space to distance students and supervise as we did last year. With this in mind, and based on some parent feedback, we have found a temporary way to adjust our lunch service which helps to provide additional distancing while students eat. As a result, some classes will need to eat in the classroom, but this allows us to have half as many students at each cafeteria table. We tried this change on Wednesday and Thursday, to see the impact on supervision and sustainability. Students will continue to eat with their classroom cohort, as they have all year. We will use the new configuration on a temporary basis, as we keep an eye on local metrics and measures. The image below outlines the mitigation protocol levels. COVID 19 Valley View Elementary Mitigations: We continue to closely monitor the student impact of COVID-19 and our mitigation measures at school to find the right balance between our commitment to safeguarding student and employee health and our obligations to student attendance and learning. Quarantining remains an effective mitigation tool at the elementary level. Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image

4.Wednesday, October 20th is Unity Day. Valley View, along with schools from the district and all over the U.S., will be wearing ORANGE to unite for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion to prevent students being bullied. Learn more about Unity Day HERE.

5.The Junior Phoenix Wrestling Club is looking for any boys or girls from grades K-8th with registration tomorrow night at the High School. See the attached flyer for more information. Falls-Youth-Wrestling-Club-Flyer-2022.pdf

6.At Valley View, we are focusing on Kindness during the month of October. At the end of the month, each classroom teacher will select a Knight of the Roundtable for Kindness. Each Wednesday, a quote is used during the morning announcements which focuses on the character trait. This week Wednesday our quote will be, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” Classroom teachers, support staff, and myself will continue to bring attention to the impact of kindness and simple acts, which can have a lasting impact on others.

Thanks,

Aaron

Hello Valley View families,

Fall seems to have arrived with full force this weekend, the leaves are changing, the air is crisp and we had frost on the grass this morning. As the week starts, remember to send kids to school with jackets or layers as we have cooler weather.

1.We all play a role in keeping our community safe. Next week, our school counselors will share “Stranger Danger” information with students in response to information that circulated on local social media pages earlier this week. We are stronger, working together to protect our children and each other. The district strongly encourages students and their parents to immediately report any safety concerns to a school administrator, School Resource Officer, school counselor, teacher, or other employees. Please encourage your children to be aware of their surroundings, of the behavior of other students, of the presence of unaccompanied visitors on campus, and anything else that makes them uncomfortable or seems unusual. Create a plan for them when they see or hear something that bothers them to report the situation to teachers, administrators, front office staff, or anyone else who works at school.

2.Fall Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up on November 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th. We will be hosting an important touchpoint between home and school with these first round of conferences. They will be held on the evenings of November 3^rd, and 4^th, and the morning of Friday, November 5^th. You should have received an invitation to sign up via School Messenger, with follow up from your child’s teacher. The links to sign up are also below. *Please be sure to note if you would like to do your conference in person or virtually in the notes. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the office at 262-250-2620.

3rd Grade : https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e044faea629a2f85-3rdgrade1

4th Grade: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E044FAEA629A2F85-4thgrade1

5th Grade: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E044FAEA629A2F85-5thgrade1

3.We appreciate your partnership with us. The School District of Menomonee Falls continues to work each day to provide a great place for students to learn, teachers to teach, employees to work, and parents to send their children for an excellent education. We are committed to listening and responding to your experiences as a parent. Our partners at Huron | Studer Education are providing an opportunity for you to provide feedback anonymously on a Parent Satisfaction survey. This survey will help us recognize what we do well as well as areas that may need our attention. Here is a link to the survey: Parent Engagement Survey - Valley View

4.Red Ribbon Week - This week we will celebrate Red Ribbon Week and it is a nationally recognized week that schools celebrate making good healthy choices and saying "no" to things that are unhealthy. We have some fun things planned including spirit days and students will receive Red Ribbon bracelets on Mondays with numbers on that will be used for daily raffle drawings. Our spirit days for the week include:

a.Monday - Red Out Day (Wear as much red as possible)

b.Tuesday - Neon Day (Wear neon from head to toe if you can)

c.Wednesday - Team Day (Celebrate your favorite team)

d.Thursday - PJ Day (Come in your comfy pajamas)

e.Friday – Valley View/Falls Spirit Wear Day

5.Our online Scholastic Book Fair will be November 1st-14th. Our school goal is 500 books! Keep up with our progress on our web page. All orders over $25 will ship free directly to your home. Send suggestions to family members for gifts for the upcoming holiday season. Check out the webpage: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/valleyviewknights

6.The image below outlines the mitigation protocol levels. COVID 19 Valley View Elementary Mitigations: We continue to closely monitor the student impact of COVID-19 and our mitigation measures at school to find the right balance between our commitment to safeguarding student and employee health and our obligations to student attendance and learning. Quarantining remains an effective mitigation tool at the elementary level. Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image

7.The Junior Phoenix Wrestling Club is looking for any boys or girls from grades K-8th with registration tomorrow night at the High School. See the attached flyer for more information. Falls-Youth-Wrestling-Club-Flyer-2022.pdf

Thanks,

Aaron

Hello Valley View families,

We hope that everyone enjoyed this weekend, and for those of you that participated in trick or treat had a lot of fun! As we turn the calendar to November, our days continue to be busy. We have Parent-Teacher conferences beginning this week on Wednesday evening. Please be sure to sign up for a conference, if you have not already, using the links below.

1. Fall Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up on November 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th. We will be hosting an important touchpoint between home and school with these first round of conferences. They will be held on the evenings of November 3^rd, and 4^th, and the morning of Friday, November 5^th. You should have received an invitation to sign up via School Messenger, with follow up from your child’s teacher. The links to sign up are also below. *Please be sure to note if you would like to do your conference in person or virtually in the notes. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the office at 262-250-2620.

3rd Grade : https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e044faea629a2f85-3rdgrade1

4th Grade: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E044FAEA629A2F85-4thgrade1

5th Grade: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E044FAEA629A2F85-5thgrade1

2. There is no school this Friday, November 5^th due to parent teacher conferences.

3. We appreciate your partnership with us. The School District of Menomonee Falls continues to work each day to provide a great place for students to learn, teachers to teach, employees to work, and parents to send their children for an excellent education. We are committed to listening and responding to your experiences as a parent. Our partners at Huron | Studer Education are providing an opportunity for you to provide feedback anonymously on a Parent Satisfaction survey. This survey will help us recognize what we do well as well as areas that may need our attention. Here is a link to the survey: Parent Engagement Survey - Valley View

4. Our online Scholastic Book Fair will be November 1st-14th. Our school goal is 500 books! Keep up with our progress on our web page. All orders over $25 will ship free directly to your home. Send suggestions to family members for gifts for the upcoming holiday season. Check out the webpage: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/valleyviewknights

5. The image below outlines the mitigation protocol levels. COVID 19 Valley View Elementary Mitigations: We continue to closely monitor the student impact of COVID-19 and our mitigation measures at school to find the right balance between our commitment to safeguarding student and employee health and our obligations to student attendance and learning. Quarantining remains an effective mitigation tool at the elementary level. Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image

6. The Junior Phoenix Wrestling Club is looking for any boys or girls from grades K-8th with registration tomorrow night at the High School. See the attached flyer for more information. Falls-Youth-Wrestling-Club-Flyer-2022.pdf

Thanks, let’s make it a great November together,

Aaron White

Hello Valley View families,

November is making its presence known with temperatures warm enough for shorts, and then a quick turn to flurries and cold wind. Please keep an eye on the weather forecast and make sure that students are prepared for cooler temperatures. This week we highlighted Veteran's Day on Thursday and continued to keep focus on our current trait of Never Giving Up. The quote during our announcements was, "Veterans are a symbol of what makes our nation great, and we must never forget all they have done to ensure our freedom." We talked about the ways that our Veterans did not give up, which provides us with opportunities to do the same in school and at home. As November continues, we will continue to focus on Never Giving Up.

1. Mark your calendars! Ms. McKendry's Art students have finished their kinetic art sculptures to adorn our Valley View tree during the upcoming Festival of Trees. This exciting event celebrates joy, community and the winter season. Ben Franklin, Riverside, Shady Lane and Valley View students will invite their families to this wonderful after-school event on Monday, November 22, 2021 from 4:30-5:30 pm in front of Valley View School. Each child will have the opportunity to decorate their school tree with their kinetic art sculpture. If you cannot attend, we will place your child’s kinetic art sculpture on the tree for them. Please remember this is an outdoor event, so check the weather report for that evening!

2. Our online Scholastic Book Fair will be ending today, November 14th. Our school goal is 500 books! Keep up with our progress on our web page. All orders over $25 will ship free directly to your home. Send suggestions to family members for gifts for the upcoming holiday season. Check out the webpage: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/valleyviewknights

3. November PTO meeting is this Tuesday, November 16th at 7:00 in the Shady Lane Cafeteria. We will also stream the meeting (the best that we can) for anyone who would like to join from home.

o Join Zoom Meetinghttps://zoom.us/j/92050981227?pwd=OTh6Wk5mMFREVE5oNk8zeFRwaEQ3UT09

o Meeting ID: 920 5098 1227

o Passcode: G4RfRq

4. COVID 19 Valley View Elementary Mitigations: We continue to closely monitor the student impact of COVID-19 and our mitigation measures at school to find the right balance between our commitment to safeguarding student and employee health and our obligations to student attendance and learning. Quarantining remains an effective mitigation tool at the elementary level. Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image. SDMF strongly recommends that students and staff wear masks in school buildings to help minimize the spread. Our COVID-19 mitigation level continues to be Moderately High. Today, our COVID-19 dashboard indicates, that we have 4 active cases at Valley View with 19 students in quarantine. As we have continued to do throughout the pandemic, we will monitor any trends and adjust our mitigation protocols based on the data and recommendations from Waukesha Public Health. We continue to use two cafeterias for lunches, keep students in cohorts as much as possible throughout the day, frequent handwashing, same seating arrangements in specials as in homeroom classes.

5. COVID-19 Vaccine - Throughout the pandemic, our school nurses have played a critical role in learning by supporting the health needs of our students. With the COVID-19 vaccine now available for children 12, if you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, please consult with your child's health care provider to make the decision that is best for your family.

6. Policy Update: Use of Personal Communication Devices - The School District of Menomonee Falls establishes policies and regulations in compliance with state and federal laws to improve student achievement. Throughout the year, the administrative staff will review information, research, and draft policy recommendations which are presented to the Board at two separate meetings. After the second presentation, the Board votes to approve the policy recommendations or request additional review.

At the November 8, 2021, Board of Education meeting, the SDMF Board approved Policy 443.7 Use of Personal Communication Devices changes. This Policy is available to view on BoardDocs and will be added to the Student & Parent Handbook. The approved changes to Policy 443.7 include:

1. The Code of Conduct is now referenced when students violate cell phone expectations. Disciplinary action will be taken in accordance with this Policy.
2. The following language and expectations were added to the Policy: Under no circumstances may cameras, video recorders, or other devices used to record and transfer images be used without the consent of those being recorded or in any area where students or staff can reasonably expect privacy, such as, but not limited to, in a restroom or locker room. No student shall use a cell phone or any other electronic form of communication to transfer materials or images to another student that are obscene, sexually explicit, threatening, or harassing. Even if such conduct occurs off school grounds, such conduct may be investigated by the District and may lead to discipline, up to and including expulsion, if the District determines that a connection exists between the conduct and the school environment.

Please support your children with reminders regarding the privacy of others when considering using their cell phones, as the above expectations are in effect for all students. Your collaboration is appreciated with guiding students to follow school expectations and rules.

Thanks, let’s make it a great week,

Aaron White

Hello Valley View families,

I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend, it was definitely a bit cooler and more seasonal. As we head towards the Thanksgiving holiday, there is so much to reflect and be thankful for at Valley View. The connections between home and school, which help ensure that our students are growing social, emotionally, and academically, are something that I am very thankful for. As we close in on the end of the first trimester, I hope that families and our kids are able to take some time to spend time with family and friends and appreciate all the people that we are thankful for in our lives.

As we continue our focus on Never Giving Up, the quote for students this week was, “Never give up, because great things take time.” We will continue to focus on ‘never giving up’ for the last part of November and December. Last week, we talked about staying with our work, hobbies, and activities, even when things get tough. This work will lead to good things and success in the classroom, at home, and in the community.

1. No School Wednesday, November 24^th through Friday, November 26^th. Happy Thanksgiving!

2. No School Monday, November 29^th as well, as teachers will be completing report cards for all our students. The report cards will be available on December 8^th.

3. The Festival of Trees will be on Monday, November 22^nd. Please consider joining us for this event to celebrate joy, community and the winter season. Ben Franklin, Riverside, Shady Lane and Valley View students will invite their families to this wonderful after-school event on Monday, November 22, 2021 from 4:30-5:30 pm in front of Valley View School. Each child will have the opportunity to decorate their school tree with their kinetic art sculpture. If you cannot attend, we will place your child’s kinetic art sculpture on the tree for them. Please remember this is an outdoor event, so check the weather report for that evening!

4. COVID 19 Valley View Elementary Mitigations: We continue to closely monitor the student impact of COVID-19 and our mitigation measures at school to find the right balance between our commitment to safeguarding student and employee health and our obligations to student attendance and learning. Quarantining remains an effective mitigation tool at the elementary level. Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image. SDMF strongly recommends that students and staff wear masks in school buildings to help minimize the spread. Our COVID-19 mitigation level continues to be Moderately High. Today, our COVID-19 dashboard indicates, that we have 6 active cases at Valley View with 44 students in quarantine. As we have continued to do throughout the pandemic, we will monitor any trends and adjust our mitigation protocols based on the data and recommendations from Waukesha Public Health. We continue to use two cafeterias for lunches, keep students in cohorts as much as possible throughout the day, frequent handwashing, same seating arrangements in specials as in homeroom classes.

5. COVID-19 Vaccine - Throughout the pandemic, our school nurses have played a critical role in learning by supporting the health needs of our students. With the COVID-19 vaccine now available for children ages 5 -12, if you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, please consult with your child's health care provider to make the decision that is best for your family.

6. SDMF Exceeds Expectations on DPI State Report Card - Top 15% in State - Menomonee Falls High School again earned a 5-star rating from the state for reaching the top rating of "significantly exceeds expectations," according to annual report cards issued Nov. 16 by the state Department of Public Instruction. Menomonee Falls High School has achieved this highest-rank rating for three reported years, starting with 2017-2018. Menomonee Falls High School earned an overall accountability score ranked in the top 6% of all public, non-charter schools statewide.

The School District of Menomonee Falls received an accountability ranking of Exceeds Expectations on the DPI issued Report Card, which earns SDMF a spot among the top 14% of public school districts in the state. This high rating supports students' continuous improvement and strong academic success in the School District of Menomonee Falls.

"There is a lot to be proud of in this report," said Corey Golla, Superintendent of Schools. "Our student achievement continues to place us among the top districts in Wisconsin, and our growth scores reflect the outstanding collaboration of our students, employees, and families."

Thank you to all Valley View families, let’s make it a great (short) week,

Aaron White

Good afternoon Valley View Families,

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and break with your family and friends! We certainly have a lot to be thankful for, and this break offers a period of time to spend with family, friends, and to reflect with gratitude. Here are some announcements about the upcoming week. Tonight also marks the first night of Hanukkah, we wish our families that celebrate Hanukkah well as they celebrate the festival of lights over the next eight days.

• There is no school on Monday as staff will be working on report cards as the trimester grading period ended just before the holiday. Report cards will be able to be accessed electronically later next week.
• COVID 19 Valley View Update: We continue to closely monitor the student impact of COVID-19 and our mitigation measures at school to find the right balance between our commitment to safeguarding student and employee health and our obligations to student attendance and learning. Quarantining remains an effective mitigation tool at the elementary level. Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image. SDMF strongly recommends that students and staff wear masks in school buildings to help minimize the spread. Our COVID-19 mitigation level continues to be Moderately High. Today, our COVID-19 dashboard indicates, that we have 5 active cases at Valley View with 33 students in quarantine. As we have continued to do throughout the pandemic, we will monitor any trends and adjust our mitigation protocols based on the data and recommendations from Waukesha Public Health. We continue eat in two different spaces for lunch (cafeteria and/or classroom), keep students in cohorts as much as possible throughout the day, frequent handwashing, same seating arrangements in specials as in homeroom classes.
• COVID-19 Vaccine - Throughout the pandemic, our school nurses have played a critical role in learning by supporting the health needs of our students. With the COVID-19 vaccine now available for children 12, if you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, please consult with your child's health care provider to make the decision that is best for your family.
• Elementary Quarantine Protocol - Quarantining helps protect others from getting COVID and slows the spread of the virus. Due to the clear evidence of spread in the elementary classroom, we will continue to quarantine elementary students when there are close contacts in the classroom when students are not wearing a mask. However, there are circumstances where quarantine is not needed:
  • Children who are two week past their second dose of the vaccine do not need to quarantine.
  • Children who have had a positive COVID case within 90 days are considered to have natural immunity.

Our end goal is to keep healthy students and staff in school. As always, SDMF will work to refine procedures wherever possible to minimize quarantines.

• PTO Opportunity - Please consider supporting the PTO by participating in our fundraising event on 12/2/2021 from 4-8 pm at Noodles and Co in Menomonee Falls! For online and Noodles Rewards app orders, apply the coupon code, “GIVING25” in the Coupon Code line at checkout. Ordering online is quick and easy and allows you to skip the line by grabbing your meal at their Quick Pick-Up station. When ordering in-restaurant you must mention our Menomonee Falls Shady Lane/Valley View PTO when placing your order for it to count toward our fundraiser!
  • We appreciate your support and hope it makes for an easy dinner planning evening for your whole family!

• Student Web Activity

We're excited to share that the School District of Menomonee Falls is finalizing a platform that will help parents stay connected and informed about their child’s web activity.

Through a parent portal and weekly report emails, parents will be able to view their child’s web activity. This service will improve communication between school and home to empower parents and guardians to help keep students safe online. The parent portal also helps establish healthy screen time limits with controls to pause web browsing on their child’s school device while at home and outside of school hours. Please watch for an email with additional information soon.

Let’s work together to make it a great week as we move into December,

Aaron White

Hello Valley View Families,

We hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend, and the introduction of winter weather and some snow. Please remember to help your students bring the right gear to school so that they can stay warm and dry. Here are some reminders for the coming week:

• 1.Please see the latest updates from our School Counselor Nicole Bakalars (Mrs. Bak) in her update: Counselor Newsletter - Counselor Corner Newsletter_ V1_I2.pdf

• 2.There will be no December Meeting for the Shady Valley PTO due to busy schedules this month. The PTO is currently running it’s Un-Fundraiser, which was sent our via School Messenger last week. If you have any questions, please contact the Shady Valley PTO at shadyvalleyPTO@gmail.com.

3.COVID 19 Valley View Update: We continue to closely monitor the student impact of COVID-19 and our mitigation measures at school to find the right balance between our commitment to safeguarding student and employee health and our obligations to student attendance and learning. Quarantining remains an effective mitigation tool at the elementary level. Click here for a link to the Mitigation Image. SDMF strongly recommends that students and staff wear masks in school buildings to help minimize the spread. Our COVID-19 mitigation level continues to be Moderately High. Today, our COVID-19 dashboard indicates that we have less than 8 active cases at Shady Lane with 29 students in quarantine. As we have continued to do throughout the pandemic, we will monitor any trends and adjust our mitigation protocols based on the data and recommendations from Waukesha Public Health. We have a new plan for lunch involving some students eating in classrooms on a rotating basis. This will allow students to spread out more, reducing the number of close contacts during lunch, an unmasked time. We should be able to begin that plan later this week. Please continue to keep your children home when they are ill.

4.COVID 19 Vaccine - Throughout the pandemic, our school nurses have played a critical role in learning by supporting the health needs of our students. With the COVID-19 vaccine now available for children 12, if you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, please consult with your child's health care provider to make the decision that is best for your family.

5.Elementary Quarantine Protocol - Quarantining helps protect others from getting COVID and slows the spread of the virus. Due to the clear evidence of spread in the elementary classroom, we will continue to quarantine elementary students when there are close contacts in the classroom when students are not wearing a mask. However, there are circumstances where quarantine is not needed:

a.Children who are two weeks past their second dose of the vaccine do not need to quarantine.

b.Children who have had a positive COVID case within 90 days are considered to have natural immunity.

Our end goal is to keep healthy students and staff in school. As always, SDMF will work to refine procedures wherever possible to minimize quarantines.

Let’s make it a great week at Valley View!

Aaron White

Hello Valley View Families,

Our winter weather is getting interesting, we have had snow flurries, rain, and it looks to warm up again this week. Please help keep your students prepared for the changing weather conditions by packing them with sweatshirts, coats, hats, and gloves. As the snow does begin to fall, we will require students to have boots and snow pants in order to play on grass and snow-covered areas.

PTO Candy Grams: The PTO Candy Grams (green form) were sent home last week with your student. If you are interested, please fill out the form and send in with the payment. If you need extra, please see attached Candy Gram 2021

Directions and payment info are on the order form. Please note all orders are due by Monday, December 13th. Any questions feel free to email the PTO @ shadyvalleypto@gmail.com. ***Please note candy canes are allergen friendly (Spangler Brand).

Dress Up Day: As we move towards our winter break, we will have the following dress up days for students and staff.

Monday, December 13th - Green and Gold day, hopefully to celebrate a Packer win

Thursday, December 16th - 70's Day to celebrate the 70th day of school

Friday, December 17th - Valley View gear

Monday, December 20th - Mad About Plaid: wear your flannel/plaid with jeans

Tuesday, December 21st - Over the Top Celebration - holiday sweaters or any sort

Wednesday, December 22nd - Don't Snooze Too Soon - Wear your PJs to school

Resources & Supports Parent Survey: The School District of Menomonee Falls understands that the whole family is impacted when a student is experiencing mental health challenges. The Collective Impact of Menomonee Falls mental health team has access to many resources to support families. To help Collective Impact of Menomonee Falls understand which resources and supports you value and how we can work together, we ask that you complete a short survey. Results from the survey will guide Collective Impact to establish offerings in our community. Please click here to access the survey.

COVID-19 Dashboard: The resources SDMF relies on from the State to update data on our COVID-19 dashboard have not been made available to us since December 3, 2021. Please interpret the burden status listed on the SDMF COVID-19 Dashboard with caution.

COVID 19 Vaccine: Throughout the pandemic, our school nurses have played a critical role in learning by supporting the health needs of our students. With the COVID-19 vaccine now available for children 12, if you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, please consult with your child's health care provider to make the decision that is best for your family.

Elementary Quarantine Protocol: Quarantining helps protect others from getting COVID and slows the spread of the virus. Due to the clear evidence of spread in the elementary classroom, we will continue to quarantine elementary students when there are close contacts in the classroom when students are not wearing a mask. However, there are circumstances where quarantine is not needed:

Children who are two weeks past their second dose of the vaccine do not need to quarantine.

Children who have had a positive COVID case within 90 days are considered to have natural immunity.

Our end goal is to keep healthy students and staff in school. As always, SDMF will work to refine procedures wherever possible to minimize quarantines.

Flu & Colds: Alongside our continued efforts to reduce COVID-19 infections, cold and flu season has arrived. It’s important that we continue to work together to keep our children healthy and prevent widespread viruses and common colds that spread quickly among children in schools. Throughout SDMF, we are experiencing an increase in reported Influenza absences. You can help prevent the spread of flu and the common cold in our schools and throughout the community by keeping your child home if they have any of the following symptoms:

Fever greater than 100 degrees. Students may return to school if they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication. Please do not give acetaminophen or ibuprofen to cover the fever and send them to school. When medicine wears off, the fever will return, and you will have exposed your child’s classmates and teachers to your child’s illness.

Sore throat

Vomiting

Diarrhea

Fatigue, discomfort, weakness, or muscle aches

Cough that is congested or croupy

Each day, our custodians disinfect surfaces, doorknobs, and railings to help reduce the spread of germs. It is also important to encourage your children to use good hygiene habits:

Wash hands frequently

Avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth

Cover mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing, use a paper tissue, throw it away and then wash hands

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Thank you for helping make this year at school as healthy as possible.

Let's make it a great week at Valley View,

Aaron White

Good Afternoon Valley View Families,

We hope that you had a wonderful winter break and enjoyed the festive season. School resumes tomorrow and we are excited to have students back at Valley View to start a new year of learning.

Our primary focus continues to be keeping students and staff healthy so that we can continue to provide the best academic experience. Last week, we announced eliminating school-based exposure quarantines for elementary students now that they have access to the COVID-19 vaccine. This means all SDMF students and staff, K-12, who have school-based exposure will no longer be required to quarantine starting on January 3, 2022.

There is no change in protocol for home exposure. Unvaccinated students and staff who have exposure in the home will need to quarantine as these exposures often result in positive cases.

Given the recent increase in cases we are closely monitoring our employee burden rate to assure we have adequate staffing to meet our student needs.

Next week, the SDMF Leadership Team will review the new CDC guidelines along with our partners at Waukesha County Health and will communicate if any changes are made to current protocols. Should data indicate evidence of increased spread, SDMF may consider applying its multi-tiered mask policy for a fixed period of time in classrooms and schools to mitigate severe spread. This includes:

1. In an elementary school classroom, anytime the class exceeds 10 percent active positive cases.

2. In an elementary school, anytime one-third of classrooms exceed 10 percent active cases, and

3. In a secondary school, when the total case count meets or exceeds 10 percent in that school.

Please help SDMF stop the spread of COVID-19 in our schools by monitoring your child for symptoms of COVID-19 after potential exposure, keeping students home when they are ill, and reporting positive cases. The Waukesha County Health Department and the CDC recommend vaccinating your child for COVID-19. Please work with your healthcare provider to discuss this recommendation.

Visit the SDMF COVID-19 metrics dashboard for the most up-to-date information regarding COVID-19 cases in our community.

Thank you for your continued support. Have a healthy and happy New Year!

Thanks,

Aaron White

Hello Valley View Families,

We hope that everyone was able to enjoy the weekend and stay warm. As temperatures continue to stay on the winter side, please make sure to send your students to school with appropriate winter gear to keep them warm and safe.

Here are some updates for this week, to accompany the updates from the district level.

Covid - As the four elementary schools move forward with new guidelines related to quarantines and mitigation, we want to make sure that each building and all parents are on the same page around exposure notices. Having a consistent format is the goal of the elementary buildings, so parents can make an informed decision should their student be exposed to a positive case. Developmentally, classrooms look different at each grade level. Moving forward, if there is a positive case of Covid in your child's classroom, a letter will be sent to inform all classroom families and caretakers that their child(ren) have been exposed to Covid and should monitor for symptoms. This is a change from prior letters which identified students as a close contact (determined to be less than 6 feet from a positive case for more than 15 minutes). So, if a student receives a letter moving forward, parents and caretakers should monitor symptoms and can choose to quarantine their child from school for a period of 10 days, with access to virtual instruction, or send them to school if they are symptom free and have not tested positive for Covid. Our goal is consistency across our buildings.

MAP Testing - Our students will begin MAP testing this week in Reading and Math. This is the one time this school year that students will take the MAP test, which measures students in their reading and math performance. The MAP test is nationally normed, so students are compared to their peers across the country, not just our district. This assessment provides teachers with an annual measure that allows us to look at trends, patterns, and growth. Along with our classroom instruction and assessments, MAP is another way that we continue to develop supports and plans to best support our students.

Shady Valley PTO - The next meeting of the Shady Valley PTO is scheduled for Tuesday, January 18th, so mark your calendars. Further details about this meeting will come in next week's Knightly News.

Let's make it a great week,
Aaron White

Good Evening Valley View families,

We are off of school on Monday, January 17th - Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Martin Luther King Jr. Day honors the famous American civil rights leader who dedicated his life to achieving equality for people of all races. It is a day that not only honors the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but it encourages all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. Let's continue to empower individuals, strengthen communities, bridge barriers, create solutions to social problems, and move us closer to Dr. King's vision of a “Beloved Community.”

We have NO SCHOOL the next two Mondays

oMonday, January 17th - Martin Luther King Day

oMonday, January 24th – mid-year professional development day

Covid Update: We are seeing an increase in COVID-19 positive cases at Valley View. SDMF strongly recommends that students and staff wear masks to help minimize the spread. Our COVID-19 mitigation level continues to be High. Today, our COVID-19 dashboard indicates that we have 6 active COVID-19 cases at Valley View with 16 students in quarantine. As we have continued to do throughout the pandemic, we will monitor any trends and adjust our mitigation protocols based on the data and recommendations from Waukesha Public Health. Please continue to monitor your child for symptoms of COVID-19 after potential exposure, keep students home when they are ill and report positive cases. ***If your student is staying home ill, please continue to call them in and let Mrs. Mattson or Mrs. Lucas know symptoms. This will help us keep track of absences. Call the attendance line 262-250-2620, or email mattdeb@sdmfschools.org ***

This Tuesday, January 18^th we will be hosting a Shady Valley PTO meeting. The meeting will take place in person at Valley View beginning at 7 pm. There will be a virtual option, the Zoom information is:

oJoin Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/92050981227?pwd=OTh6Wk5mMFREVE5oNk8zeFRwaEQ3UT09

§Meeting ID: 920 5098 1227

§Passcode: G4RfRq

Let’s make it a great week,

Aaron