Vandalia Elementary School

We have been approved for free lunch and breakfast for all students attending through December 31st. Signup is the same as when we started school this year. If you have questions contact your student's school.

Good afternoon. Please see the letter regarding our COVID-19 updates.

We will continue to update you as we have new positive COVID-19 cases. Please read the letter for our update today.

To all students/parents - please listen to this video regarding submitting your child's mandatory attendance via Teacherease. This video is a step by step tutorial of how to do it. We still have many parents not submitting their child's attendance on their remote days. This is very important! Thank you, Mrs. Mesnard, Principal https://www.loom.com/share/078068f4aec2447b9229606adf6282e6

Just a Reminder- There will be no school on Monday, September 7th in observance of Labor Day! Enjoy your weekend!

We are now reporting our internal COVID data at least weekly to the public. You can find the link here: http://bit.ly/vandalscovid Stay safe and enjoy the Labor Day weekend!

Good news this evening to share! The USDA announced yesterday that the free meal program has been extended until December 31st. We are able to provide free meals to all students effective immediately.

We are currently having phone bandwidth issues. I am working on this issue, so sorry for the inconvenience this morning.

We will move forward with our hybrid learning model next week based on our updated metrics that I shared yesterday. This is being sent out in response to Fayette County hitting the COVID Warning level today. Thank you for your patience and understanding this week.

September Breakfast and Lunch Menu: https://5il.co/kd5i

Informational update- Our COVID-19 Mitigation Metrics have been updated to reflect the new IDPH COVID-19 County & School Metrics released this week.

Please complete the meal request form for Monday and Tuesday before 8:00 a.m on 8-24 if you want to order meals. https://forms.gle/fxqg28rFe9qg3hbc9 Details: Two meals will be available for pick-up on both Monday and Tuesday during our adaptive pause Remote Learning Days. Times: 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Location: Outside VES/VJHS, VCHS, the old post office in Hagarstown, the church at Vera, old water tower in Shobonier, and the storage shed in Bluff City. Wednesday hybrid remote learners will receive their meals for Wednesday during the Tuesday distribution.

We are doing our best to honor in-person learning while being mindful we must have a safe learning environment for all who walk through our doors. My hope & request is that we can find a way to be respectful regardless of opinions. In my heart I know we are #VandalStrong.

Good morning Vandals. I am attaching our COVID-19 Mitigation Metrics as a means for transparency. We are contact tracing within our staff currently. Please see the bold section which is from the most recent IDPH guidance.

Dear Parents and Guardians. Please read the attached letter. We will be Remote Learning for all on Monday and Tuesday. More information will follow.

VCUSD 203 We Have Started School! Vandalia Schools have ventured into the new school year successfully. Many things have changed due to COVID-19. Our schools have to adhere to recommendations of Illinois State Board of Education, IDPH, and balance these with Fayette County Health Dept., and the needs of the 1700 students and faculty we serve. This is a challenging time for both school and community. The criteria for attending school and staying in school are posted on the school website and may also be viewed on the school app. The basic criteria to remember is to wear a mask, social distance, and stay home if you're sick. More info is available on the School website. The purpose of the criteria is keeping our schools healthy and safe. Politics and personal opinion have been set aside to get our schools open. The Board of Education thanks Administrators, School Nurses, Teachers, Bus Drivers, Food Service, maintenance, custodial and all other staff for working together to get our schools started. We appreciate all you are doing. Success in education comes from all our team working together in concert for the good of students. Success in our schools is also a partnership with parents and community. We are not perfect and take input seriously. We ask the input given will be in a kind manner- speak as you wish to be spoken to. Take an opportunity for positive comments when appropriate. Encourage your children and those in your sphere of influence to work together for the best school outcome possible. Unity is the strength of our community. Let’s keep working together. Thankfully your Vandalia School Board. Joe Lawson, Joe Schaal, John Campbell, Connie Goldsmith, Ryan Lewis, Adam Braun, Kevin Satterthwite

Good Evening VES Parents/Guardians:As you know, we have experienced quite a few hiccups today with TeacherEase and attendance reporting. Here is a rundown of the glitches and what they mean/how to navigate around them. It is your responsibility to Check-In your students on their Remote Learning days. To do so, you will need to log into your TeacherEase account (Mrs. Lay will be send out a video on howto do this later today). A popup window should appear immediately saying “E-Learning Check-In”. You need to click this and then click the green “Check-In”. You will receive a confirmation. If the popup does not show up, there may be unpaid fees on one of your children’s accounts. To bypass this, click “Pay fees, then unclick all boxes until it reads $0.00, then click continue. This process should solve that problem. The next problem that we encountered was absence sbeing reported for Remote Learners whose attendance had not been reported yet by the parent. When the secretary imported daily attendance for all in-person learners, it also imported for our remote learners. Our VES parents have until 11pm each day to report their remote students’ attendance; all remote learners will be counted present today, 8/17/20.If you get this alert by mistake, please let it serve as a reminder to check your student in before 11pm. There is not a way to separate remote learners from in-person learners in the attendance system. We will run attendance each morning from the day before, this will clear up any attendance errors. If you still cannot report attendance, please email the VES counselor, Kim Major, kmajor@vandals203.org and she will mark them present. 

All Elementary School Parents have to fill out this semesters home lunch form, by August 21st. These lunches will be for the week days when the student/s are learning at home. Students lunches are normal charge. E-learning only: https://forms.gle/4eH34PXBTvDEQ3Pz5 Group A (Monday/Wednesday): https://forms.gle/pDC3orc95JXDanZcA Group B (Tuesday/ Thursday): https://forms.gle/eRRw4EcyjPmtCwea6

Just A Reminder if you are an All-In Remote Learner: Chromebook Pick up for Grades K-8 is from 5:30-7:30pm tonight, August 13th under the canopy between VES and VJHS. Please Enter from VETERANS Avenue. There will be an informational meeting if you are interested in the VES cafeteria. Grades K-3 will be from 6:00-7:00 and grades 4-5 will be from 7:00-8:00 on August 13. Mrs. Philpot, Mrs. Mesnard, and Mr. Holliday will be there to answer your questions and pass out general information about the program. VCHS All-In Remote Learners can pick up their materials and Chromebooks between 9am - 3pm tomorrow, August 14th in the VCHS office. You must wear a mask when entering our buildings.

For students coming for in person instruction twice a week: Bring you backpack with supplies that will fit on the first day. Anything that won't fit can be sent in on the next day you are in attendance. Keep some crayons, glue, pencils, and paper at home also to use on the "off" days. Bring a refillable water bottle if you wish. Come to school/get on the bus with a mask from home on- we will give you a Vandals mask on the first day(s). Every single staff member will be stationed throughout the building in the hallways helping students find their teacher and classroom. This is my promise to you- we will make sure that all children are properly escorted to their classrooms and feel comfortable and safe. If a child does not acclimate quickly to his/her teacher, either myself, the assistant principal, or the teacher will personally call the parent for assistance. Students may bring their lunch from home, but no food or snacks may be brought into the school by parents or via deliveries during the school day. All breakfast and lunch will be served in individual servings in a paper lunch bag. Students will be separated by six feet while eating lunch. Arrival is from 7:45-8:30. Breakfast is served from 7:45-8:15. Arrival is from the circle drive in front of the school (please stay in your car and proceed through the circle drive) or from the bus drop off in back of the school. Dismissal is at 3:00 for students who are getting picked up. It is best for parents to stay in their car and proceed through the circle drive to pick up their child. Early bus riders dismiss at 3:00 and late bus riders dismiss at 3:15. - Mrs. Mesnard, Principal