Christine Elmgren presents long-time Jog-a-Thon organizer, Kelly Alfieri, with a Spirit Award for her decade of service to the Elementary School.

Submitted by Christine Elmgren, Jog-a-Thon Chair

Gross Amount of Money raised: $37, 915

Thank you to our incredibly supportive Valley Catholic students, families, friends, and sponsors.  Raising this amount of money was a huge accomplishment, especially without our 6^th grade!  (We missed them on the track!)  We appreciate each of you for participating in this fundraiser and taking the time to help your child be involved and understand the value of being a contributing member of their community.  I was overwhelmed with the number of families who were so eager to jump in and help with these efforts.

Awards were presented during our assembly this week.  We recognized as many students as possible in various categories.

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Dear Valley Catholic Elementary School Families,

What an October! It has been a busy month for our school’s students, families, faculty, and staff, and it does not yet seem to be slowing down. As I write this, so many of our parent volunteers are preparing for our annual Halloween Carnival which will send us into the end of the month with an opportunity to enjoy ourselves. I look forward to seeing all of you in attendance at the carnival as we bring our Elementary School community together for a night of fun.

As you have looked over the school calendar, you have probably noticed that there are some days that school will not be in session because of accreditation preparation. Accreditation, in short, is a process of school improvement that looks at all aspects of the school program in relation to student learning. As part of the accreditation process, a school conducts a self study that serves as the basis for review by an accrediting agency that visits the school. We are currently working on a self study of our school for continued accreditation through the Western Catholic Education Association (WCEA), and that is what the faculty and staff will be completing on the days school is not in session. We look forward to learning more about our school and making improvements to what the school already offers.

In the next couple weeks, you will be receiving a few different emails from the school. One will explain some changes to the way we do our parent-teacher conferences, and others will help you better understand the accreditation process and ask for your input on our school through a series of survey questions. We ask that you read these emails thoroughly and carefully because they ask you to provide a response.

Please remember that Monday is a special dress day for Halloween. For more information, see the posting under the Important Reminders section of the Elementary School’s webpage called Halloween Dress Guidelines Explained.

I look forward to seeing you all at the Halloween Carnival on Friday and am hopeful that many of you will be able to make it to our first parent prayer gathering of the school year on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 8 am.

Enjoy the weekend.

Blessings,

Joe Manning
Interim Principal

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Monday
Happy Halloween!
Special Halloween Dress
Recess Supervisors: Florin Gilca & Maria Cober

Tuesday
All-School Mass – Valiants’ Gym – 9:25 a.m.
Early Dismissal – 2 p.m.
Recess Supervisors: Karen Kustritz & Suchma Peruri

Wednesday
All-Campus Initial Called to Protect Training – VCHS Library – 6 pm
Recess Supervisors: Shree Thite & Rejendran Manickavachakam

Thursday
Parent Prayer – School Chapel – 8:00 am
Recess Supervisors: Mebel (Mei Po) Chiu & Joanna Beale

Friday
Recess Supervisors: Darien Curl, Valeria Stecher, Maria Cober, & Ivo Peev

Saturday
Campus Chili Cook-off – VCHS Cafeteria – 5 p.m.

For information about attending the chili cook-off as a guest, click here.

If you are a cook and you want to be crowned the campus “Culinary King or Queen,” email Dale French at dfrench@valleycatholic.org, VCHS Dean of Students, by Wednesday, November 2 with your name, the name of your chili dish, and your  contact information.  The contest will be held on Saturday, November 5.

Participants should create a four-quart creation and have their crock pot ready to go in the HS cafeteria for the 4:30pm judging.  Entrants will be competing for the following prizes:

The panel of judges will be comprised of five of our finest campus staff members.  Their identities will be kept secret until after the community chili dinner and after the winners are announced, in order to protect the integrity of the results.

Submitted by VCHS Dean of Students Dale French

Come one, come all! All students, parents, faculty and staff of the whole SSMO campus are invited to enter our first “Chili Cook-Off Championship.” It will be a busy day on campus between volleyball and the murder mystery play. You’ll be here anyway!!

Entries will be judged by a panel of five impartial tasters, and great prizes will be given for first, second and third place contestants.

Stay tuned for more details—the time, place, rules and prizes. Meanwhile, work on making the world’s best chili!

Announcing the Valley Catholic 2012 Auction:

“All That Jazz”

Save the Date:  Saturday, April 14, 2012

It is time to get excited about our very own Mardi Gras celebration!  This annual fundraiser benefits all of the Valley Catholic School community; proceeds keep tuition affordable and enhance our education programs.

JOIN the Auction team today!

This event takes a team of over 100 outstanding volunteers. Please get involved today.

We are looking for volunteers to fill the following roles:

1. Auction Chair
2. Silent Auction Chair
3. Public Relations/Media Chair
4. Setup volunteers, creative basket wrappers, decoration committee personnel, and many more. 

Some volunteer hours can be performed from home.

Take a look in the Volunteer Database today.

Volunteer chairs automatically receive 30 hours!! Hours spent volunteering for this event can be applied to regular volunteer hours.  It is a fun, easy way to meet other parents. 

Please contact Sharla Tinsen at 503.718.6485 or email her at stinsen@ssmoministries.org. 

Thank you for being involved,

Sharla Tinsen
Valley Catholic School Auction Coordinator
SSMO Foundation

Submitted by VCES Interim Principal Joe Manning

Beginning in November, the Elementary School will have two monthly parent gatherings. Each month, there will be a parent prayer service in the school’s chapel and, later in the month, a coffee and doughnut social. We’d love to see you at these events! Please consider attending as we look toward strengthening our parent community. 

Parent Prayer in the School Chapel (8:00-8:25 am):

Thursday, November 3
Thursday, December 1
Thursday, January 5
Thursday, February 2
Thursday, March 8
Thursday, April 5
Thursday, May 3
Thursday, June 7

 Parent Coffee & Doughnut Social in the Cafeteria (8:00-8:45 am):

Tuesday, November 15
Thursday, December 15
Thursday, January 19
Thursday, February 16
Thursday, March 22
Tuesday, April 17
Thursday, May 17 

Submitted by VCES Interim Principal Joe Manning

Kindergarten students will be invited to dress up in their costumes, and our first through fifth grade students will be asked to wear Halloween colors. This special non–uniform dress means that at least one of the visible clothing items (tops, pants, jacket) are black or orange, or the top has a Halloween design (a white shirt with a pumpkin design is acceptable).  Please keep in mind that the spirit of the day is to dress in black and orange. Clothing need not be 100 percent black or orange, but a strong attempt at making at least half the clothing in these colors is expected (orange t-shirt with blue jeans, black pants with a yellow top, etc.).

Submitted by Art Literacy Coordinator Beverly Bruer

We’d like to welcome parent volunteers to a new year of Art Literacy at Valley Catholic Elementary School.  This year we will complete a major, contemplative art project: creating icons.  If you choose to volunteer, you’ll be helping the students paint religious icons under the direction of renowned iconographer, Kathy Seivers.  Visit her website at www.elizabethwonderworkerstudio.com.  We will also create an additional art project later in the year.  Come see what art literacy is all about by attending the VCES parent volunteer meeting for Art Literacy on Tuesday, October 25, 8:00 am in the school cafeteria.  If you have questions, please contact Beverly Bruer, Art Literacy Coordinator, at bpbruer@msn.com or 503-579-8676.

Submitted by Steve Aragon, event organizer

The 2011 Halloween Carnival will be on Friday, October 28 from 6-9 p.m. We have listened to our parents and restructured our admissions to make it more affordable and easier to enjoy the games.  We have dropped the bracelet price this year to only $10 and eliminated the use of tickets for the games. 

Bracelets and tickets (for food only) will be on sale before school starting Monday, October 24^th from 7:25-7:55 a.m. at the school.

Now to put this night of fun together we need your help! The VCES VALOR Network is looking for volunteers to assist in setting up the Eagle Gym (floor cover and games), running the games and inflatables, ticket/bracelet and food sales, and, lastly, the cleanup of the gym after the carnival. 

If you are interested in helping set up or volunteer at this fun event, please e-mail Steve Aragon at steven.aragon@intel.com. Like anyone who volunteers for VCS, you need to have the standard background check and your Called to Protect Training must be complete before you start your hours.

Download and print our spooky Halloween Carnival Flyer here

Dear Valley Catholic Elementary School Families,

I have a hard time believing that it is almost Halloween. It seems like just yesterday that I was meeting so many of you for the first time at the VCES VALOR Network’s ice cream social. As I reflect on how quickly the year is passing, I find myself grateful to be part of such a wonderful community. There is something very special here at Valley Catholic, and our school’s families, all of you, play a huge role in making it the place it is.

We are gearing up for our annual Halloween Carnival, coordinated by our Elementary School parents. We invite you to all attend the festivities that get underway at 6 pm on Friday, October 28 in the Eagles’ Gym. We invite our students to come with their families, wear their costumes, and have a great time playing games, visiting the Haunted House, and snacking on the carnival food! For more information, please follow this link.

On Halloween, October 31, we will continue to celebrate Halloween at school in much the same way we have in the past. Kindergarten students will be invited to dress up in their costumes, and our first through fifth grade students will be asked to wear Halloween colors. This special non–uniform dress means that at least one of the visible clothing items (tops, pants, jacket) are black or orange, or the top has a Halloween design (a white shirt with a pumpkin design is acceptable).  Please keep in mind that the spirit of the day is to dress in black and orange. Clothing need not be 100 percent black or orange, but a strong attempt at making at least half the clothing in these colors is expected (orange t-shirt with blue jeans, black pants with a yellow top, etc.). Many classes have Halloween parties planned for this day. We encourage all first through fifth grade students who want to show off their costumes to attend the Halloween Carnival.

I want to make you aware of two things we will be starting this school year. Beginning in November, the school will be hosting two parent gatherings each month. At the start of November, we will host a parent prayer service in our school chapel. In the middle of the month, we will set one morning aside for a parent coffee-and-doughnut social in our cafeteria. Please look at the schedule, see when you might be available to attend, and block out the dates. We hope that many of you are able to attend and take advantage of the opportunity to pray together and get to know parents in the VCES community. For more information on dates and times, please follow this link.

I hope to see many of you at Soup’s On this weekend!

Blessings for the weekend and the week ahead,

Joe Manning

Interim Principal

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Monday

Recess Supervisors: Kristine Burton & Joanna Beale

Tuesday

VCES Art Literary Parent Meeting – 8:00 am – Cafeteria
Early Dismissal – 2 pm
Recess Supervisors: Natalia Gurzhiy-Hughel, & Julie Decker

Wednesday

Pumpkin Decorating Contest Due Date
Jog-a-Thon Assembly- 9:35 am – Eagles’ Gym
Recess Supervisors: Bev Bruer, Laura Kuhner, & Annie Jensen

Thursday

School Vision Screening
Recess Supervisors: Sheryl Schultheis & Laura Schultz 

Friday

VCES Halloween Carnival – 6 pm – 9 pm – Eagles’ Gym
Recess Supervisors: James Noll, Tam Do, & Kim LaVeine