Vandalia Elementary School

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

Attention Vandalia School District Parents/Guardians/Community Members: Please read the attached document at this link: https://5il.co/jiv3 for the new sick day guidelines set by VCUSD#203.

Wondering about masks on the first day(s) of school? Here is how it will work. Your child cannot get on the bus without a mask. It is best if you provide the mask for that first bus ride. If you are bringing your child to school, please bring him/her with a mask on. On the first day(s) (August 17/18), each student will be issued two Vandal masks. These will be for them to keep and wear back and forth from home. It will be the parent and students' responsibility to launder the mask and wear it to school daily. - Mrs. Mesnard, Principal

K-12 School Supply Lists can be found on our website : https://www.vandals203.org/o/vandalia/page/2020-vcusd-registration-information

Want to know who your child's teacher is for this year? The wait is almost over! We had a long, successful week of registration here at VES and I have been working all week getting students placed into homerooms. The K-3 grade class lists will be posted on the front doors of VES on Monday, August 10 by 8:00 a.m. and will remain there for the week. The PreK lists will not quite be ready by then as PreK registration was today and we need a bit more time to finalize those lists. K-3 grade lists will also be sent to the students' parents via email on Monday, August 10. If you have not registered your child for school yet, you need to do so asap either in person at VES from 8:00-3:00 or online via the online registration link on the district's website. - Mrs. Mesnard

Information about the first day(s) of school - August 17 and 18 If your child is a M/W kiddo, your first day will be August 17. If your child is a T/T kiddo, your first day will be August 18. Parents and visitors will not be allowed in the school, but we have come up with the next best plan to address this. Below is our plan: PreK and K parents only - If you would like to bring your child to school and meet their teacher, you may do so by parking in the lot and coming to the front yard of VES between 7:45 and 8:15. The PreK and K teachers will all be standing in the yard (socially distanced of course) with a name tag on and they will be watching for their students. You will have a chance to speak to the teacher for a few minutes at this time and introduce your child to his/her teacher. If you are not able to bring your child on this day, that is perfectly fine as well. There is always lots of staff members standing in all of the areas of the school helping children get off the bus, helping them find their classrooms, getting them to the proper teachers, etc. It is my promise to you that we will absolutely makes sure that all children find their way to their teacher and their classroom. All VES students - Sometime between Monday, August 10 and Friday, August 14, your child's teacher will be sending you an email that includes a video of herself. She will be introducing herself and welcoming her students via this video. It will give the children and their parents a chance to "meet their teacher" before the first day of school. I'm excited to see all of these videos and how I know you will be so happy and excited as well when you see the teacher's smiling face! - Mrs. Mesnard, Principal

Information about School Supplies - If your child is returning to school in person, here is some information about how to handle the school supplies. Please send the more important items on the first day such as pencils, crayons, glue, scissors, paper, and whatever else you can fit into the backpack. The paper towels, Kleenex, GermX, baggies, etc. (don't quote me on those exact items as each grade level has specific items that are not all the same) can be sent in a bit at a time in the backpack on subsequent days. I know there is a lot to bring and we don't want to overload the backpacks so just send it in as you can please. Also, please remember, leave some of the supplies (such as a few pencils, a few crayons, a glue stick, some paper) at home so your child can use those on the "off days" - they days they are learning at home. If you have questions, please type them below for all to see. - Mrs. Mesnard, Principal

I would like to give some information about the All In Remote Learning option for grades K-5 specifically. For the students who select this option, it is absolutely imperative that they have reliable and consistent internet on a daily basis. The use of a cell phone for this will not suffice. There will not be any paper packets created and distributed for these students. Mrs. Philpot is working on an email that will be sent out to the parents of the All In Remote Learning students sometime this weekend explaining more about this program and also details about Chromebook pickup. If you have registered for this option, please watch your email for more information.

Attention K-5 Parents/Guardians with Hybrid Learners- please complete the application for support provided by our community partners. https://forms.gle/LKe3qyVasrZenhVy8

Letter announcing our Vandalia ONE Community Partnership for Hybrid Learners in Grades K-5! Application live tomorrow.

Our website and email services are back up and live! We are back online, if you are still having trouble viewing the website you may need to clear your cache. Sorry for the delay. Chipman- Tech Director