Olivia Silenzi--still trying for more!

Congratulations to our Valley Catholic CYO Swim Teams for their first-place overall finish in the CYO Championship Meet!! The season recently concluded with some exceptional results. Finishing first in their individual team divisions were the cub boys, cadet boys and cub girls. Cadet girls finished fourth.

Valley has won the overall championship eight out of the past nine seasons and 15 times since 1990.

Valley had seven swimmers with individual victories in their events and one relay win.

Individual Winners:

• Olivia Silenzi (3rd grade, Polliwog): 50m Free *new CYO record, 25m Breaststroke
• Iseult McMahon (6th grade, Cub): 100IM, 100m Free, 25m Fly
• Lara Spurgeon (6th grade, Cub): 25m Free, 50m Free
• Teddy Senecal (6th grade, Cub): 100IM
• Sean Calkins (8th grade, Cadet): 100IM *tied the CYO record, 100m Free
• David Spurgeon (8th grade, Cadet): 50m Free, 50m Breaststroke, 200m Free
• Joshua Yadao (7th grade, Cadet): 50m Fly

Relay Wins:

200 medley relay (Cadet boys): Albert Buchalski, David Spurgeon, Samuel Yates, Sean Calkins

For more detailed results, click on the following links:

• Polliwog Championships
• Division 1 Championships
• All-Star Meet

Submitted by Juliette Friel of CYO Camp Howard

CYO Lacrosse is offered for first- through eighth- grade boys and girls.

First- and second-graders will play at Jesuit on Saturday afternoons—both practices and games—starting on April 14 and lasting until early June. For an informational flyer, click here.

Third- through eighth-graders will begin practices on March 12th, with games beginning on March 31 and lasting until early June.  For an information flyer, click here.

Sign ups are going on now at cyocamphoward.org - click on lacrosse!

Submitted by VCES Librarian Shauna Jasperson

Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) is a statewide reading program sponsored by the Oregon Association of School Libraries. OBOB promotes a love of reading and supports good sportsmanship while motivating young people to expand their reading experience and increase their reading comprehension. We had seven teams within our school in grades 3-5, competing to represent Valley Catholic at the Regional Competition at Sunset High School on Saturday, March 17th.

Each school is only allowed to send one team from each of the grade level divisions—3-5, 6-8, 9-12. The teams worked very hard to read the assigned books and retain the details that are needed to correctly answer the battle questions. We do now have our team that will be representing our school at the Regional Competition. For the second year in a row The Knights of the Valley have won our school competition and will go on to the regional competition. Two of their team members, Divya Amirtharaj and Preeti Devulapalli, were on the team last year that not only won at the regional competition, but also won the state championship. The team includes two new members, Maya Bedge and Jahnavi Handral. Congratulations to all of the students who participated this year!

Submitted by VCES Principal Joe Manning

We look forward to seeing many of you at our first parent night on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6:30 p.m. in our school cafeteria. Jessica Abel, the program director of Girls Inc., will be with us to discuss bullying and relational aggression and what tools can be provided to our children to prevent and respond to it. Refreshments will be provided. We will also offer a supervised space for your students while you take part in the evening. It will last no longer than one hour.

Our second parent night will be April 26, and Fr. John Kerns will be speaking on what it means to be a student and a family at a Catholic school.

Submitted by VCES parent Laura Kuhner

Interested in raising funds for your child’s school while doing everyday shopping? You can buy your grocery, restaurant, movie, coffee house cards, and much, much more!

Although we are no longer selling at the Scrip table, the Scrip team is now accepting orders on the last Monday of each month. This month orders can be submitted until Monday, February 27 at 8 a.m. Drop your completed forms including payment off at the VCEMS office, or email your order. Download the new 2012 Scrip form here or pick one up in the VCEMS office.

For more detailed information about the Scrip program, click here.

Thank you so much for your continued support to the Scrip fundraising program!
The Scrip Team

Submitted by VCES Principal Joe Manning

At the beginning of Lent, we will unveil our new Stations of the Cross prayerful meditation walk in the new building. We have two beautiful sets of the Stations of the Cross that will be displayed and used to help our students understand Jesus’ passion. One will be displayed throughout the wings of the building. Beginning from the chapel, our students will be able to walk the Stations through the K-2 wing, upstairs to the 3-5 wing, through the Middle School wing, and then back down past the music room and computer labs to the chapel. There they will find the other set of Stations displayed on the chapel’s walls.

Parents will be welcome to take the Stations of the Cross walk on March 8 at our parent prayer service or on March 22 before or after our coffee & doughnut social.

We look forward to offering this opportunity for prayer and connection to our faith to our students and families.

Submitted by VCS Parent Analizza Lambino

Save the date for our 2nd VCS International Festival – May 19, 2012

Let’s celebrate our cultural diversity at VCS and save the date for our 2^nd campus-wide International Festival – Saturday, May 19, 2012, 2 – 5 pm! There will be lots of exciting things to learn about different cultures especially with participation from the Elementary, Middle, and High School communities! Similar to last year’s International Festival, this year’s event will have the following components: tabletop presentations, cultural presentations, multi-cultural prayer service, and potluck.

We are looking for points of contact for each of the various cultures, so if you are interested to represent your culture, please contact Analizza Lambino. We would like to see as many cultures as possible represented, especially in the tabletop presentations – one table per culture (or group of cultures). 

We are also still looking for volunteers, so if you would like to help make this event happen, Elementary School parents please register here.  Middle and High School parents please email Analizza Lambino to express your interest in helping.

Dear VCES Community,

Hope you all enjoyed Valentine’s Day. It was an honor and blessing to receive so many kind notes from students, and I know the faculty and staff appreciated the sweets that many of you chose to send with your child to share! Thanks for thinking of us.

Valentine’s Day provides us a great opportunity to reflect on the love that sustains us. It is a love that is modeled for us by Jesus, and because of this modeling, we are better able to share it with others. As I reflect on this love this week, I realize that there is no better illustration than what I was able to observe last weekend at our Father-Daughter Dance. Words cannot describe the happiness and joy I saw in the faces of those gathered here Saturday afternoon. The happiness and joy I observed was, without doubt, a result of love – a reflection of God’s love – that is present in all of your families.

Thank you to all of the dads and students who joined us this weekend and to event chair Kristine Burton and her terrific crew of volunteers who helped organize and orchestrate a terrific event. Even though the Elementary School has fewer students this year with the move of sixth grade to the Middle School, we had 50 more people attend this year! That is an impressive leap in attendance. Thanks for all of your energy and passion for this event as it continues to grow!

We must, though, acknowledge that love does not always come easy, and there are often challenges along the way. Our parent night this coming Thursday will focus on empowering our students to combat some challenges to love – bullying and relational aggression – and to provide tools for parents to support their children. Please join us at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria to discuss this issue, so we can lead our students to be better examples of God’s love and to be advocates for themselves and others.

Enjoy the three-day weekend!

Blessings,

Joe Manning
Principal

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Monday
No School – Presidents’ Day

Tuesday
Auction Kick-off Assembly – Valiants’ Gym – 10:15 a.m.
Early Dismissal – 2:05 p.m.
Recess Supervisors: Joanna Beale & Loc Nguyen

Wednesday
All-Campus Mass for Ash Wednesday – Valiants’ Gym – 9:25 a.m.
Recess Supervisors: Kristine Burton & Ken Mann

Thursday
Parent Information Night: Bullying & Relational Aggression – Cafeteria – 6:30 p.m.
Recess Supervisors: Laura Schultz & Loc Nguyen

Friday
Recess Supervisors: Ivo Peev, Valerie Stecher, & Nirusha LeMouel

Submitted by VCHS Drama Director, English and Journalism Teacher Ginnie Sutfin

“Oh, the thinks you can think when you think about Seuss!”

Seussical debuted on Broadway in 2000, and has enjoyed great success in regional theatres all over the country ever since. With music from the folks who wrote Schoolhouse Rock, Once on this Island, and the movie Anastasia, Seussical takes us into the magical world created in some of the most famous children’s books of all time.

Audiences will recognize characters like the Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, the Grinch, Yertle the Turtle, and others as their stories interweave to tell a tale of friendship, loyalty, and the importance of imagination. This production is suitable for all ages, and will be enjoyed by the young, the old, and everyone in between. With infectious music, delightful dancing, bright, colorful sets and costumes, and an energetic, dedicated cast and crew of 37 Valley Catholic students, this show is guaranteed to leave audiences smiling and inspired with their own “thinks!”

Direction: Ginnie Sutfin
Musical Direction: Jeffrey Childs
Choreography: Elizabeth Esch Brown
Light Design: Bradford Johnson
Set Design: Megan Miller

To see the cast list: click here.

Music by Stephen Flaherty, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Book by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens

Co-conceived by Stephen Flaherty & Lynn Ahrens & Eric Idle

Based on the works of Dr. Seuss

Dear VCES Community,

As you know, the faculty and staff have been hard at work on accreditation over the past few months. The entire process allows us to look at what we are currently doing, listen to our community (students, parents, faculty/staff, board members, etc.), and think about how to build upon and improve our overall program. We are learning a lot, and it is an educational but also a fascinating process for me in my first year here.

I would like to share with you two items that have changed as part of this process. We have revised both our mission and philosophy, based on feedback from our community. Our mission statement has been rewritten so that it is shared by our Early Learning School, Elementary School, Middle School, and High School. We are all Valley Catholic School, so we now have one common mission statement instead of four individual ones.

We also revised our philosophy to be more community-centered and more inclusive. It also has an increased emphasis on the important partnership between the school and parents. We are, indeed, all in this together!

Here is a look at our revised mission statement and philosophy:

MISSION
Valley Catholic School, sharing in the mission of the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon, fosters a faith-filled community of lifelong learners and compassionate leaders committed to living out Catholic values and following Jesus’ example through prayer, service, and love.

PHILOSOPHY
Valley Catholic Elementary School provides an academically rich faith-filled learning environment, creating a Catholic values-based education. We are a joyous faith community in which students, staff, and parents respect, affirm, and support one another. The Valley Catholic Elementary School community models and nurtures the development of a personal relationship with God through various forms of prayer and worship. We encourage our students to develop a sense of justice, peace, compassion, and respect for all people.

Valley Catholic Elementary School supports our families in their role as primary educators of their children. Together we educate the whole child – spiritually, intellectually, culturally, socially, emotionally, and physically. We honor the dignity and diversity of our students by fostering their ability to recognize and develop individual strengths and talents. We maintain high academic and social standards, preparing our students for lifelong learning, leadership, and service in the community, country, and world.

Thank you for all of your feedback in this process. We look forward to sharing more with you in the months ahead.

I would also like to offer one note regarding parking and traffic on campus. As we have watched traffic since Bob Weber’s latest announcement regarding parking, we have determined that there is a need to keep some of the spots closest to the school open for drop-off-and-go traffic in the morning. We have kept the “No Parking” signs in place for the spots on the Elementary & Middle School side of 148th Ave. between St. Mary’s Drive and the school’s rear parking lot. Please keep these spots clear except for drop-off and follow the guidelines on the signs.

We hope to see many of you at the Father-Daughter Dance this weekend.

Joe Manning
Principal

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Saturday
Father-Daughter Dance – 3:30 to 6 p.m. – VCES Cafeteria

Monday
Recess Supervisors: Sarah Spiering

Tuesday
Early Dismissal – 2:05 p.m.
Valentine’s Dress (see post on website)
Recess Supervisors: Toni Masingale, Janice Harman, & Loc Nguyen

Wednesday
Mass (2G) – Convent Chapel – 9:35 a.m.
Recess Supervisors: Annie Jensen & Ken Mann

Thursday
Parent Coffee & Doughnut Social – Cafeteria – 7:50 a.m.
Recess Supervisors: Stephanie Matthews & Mei Po Chiu

Friday
Recess Supervisors: Darien Curl & James Noll