Dear Victory Families,
I hope you have enjoyed the three-day weekend with your children. With the snow days this month, I know it feels like we've been out of school quite a bit! I am hopeful that the upcoming weeks are filled with only sunshine and just a few rain showers.
This past Thursday, the 13th, all of the classes enjoyed Valentine's parties. There were many beautiful cards created and lots of friendly compliements exchanged. Thank you to our teachers and room parents who helped make the parties fun and engaging for all! It was wonderful to see so many heartfelt expressions of love and gratitude throughout the building.
Friendly Reminders and Items of Interest (New)
New Report Cards Coming in March
Since the start of the 2013-2014 school year, Victory has responded to staff and parent feedback about the necessity of revising our reporting system. A Committee was formed (comprised of Tricia Hasbrook, Ashley Hatchett, Tin Callister, Molly Smith, and Brittany Vos; in addition, four parents offered dedicated feedback as reports went through many re-writes and versions). There were three primary goals: 1) to capture a student's customized education plan through detailed, individualized goals 2) to provide parents with objective progress notes and a streamlined coding system 3) to encompass within the report the true nature of Victory's approach to learning: combining academics and therapies, with an emphasis on building language, independence and social cognition skills.
The Committee is proud of the final result, which is a report card that can be used across all of our classrooms, K-8. The report contains three major areas: Academics, Electives, and Victory Core. In addition, every child will have a Teacher's End Note and two Specialist End Notes.
Parents will see the new report cards for the first time in March, prior to conferences on March 14th. Teachers are working diligently to transfer the November goals into the new reporting system and to write additional goals, as needed. Specialists reports are now integrated into the document, enabling parents to reference goals across curricular and therapeutic areas.
If you have any questions, please ask Tricia.
Space Available: Parents' Night Out!
I ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS WIN-WIN OFFERING!
On Friday, February 21st, Victory will offer its first Parents’ Night Out for the 2013-2014 school year. If you are new to Victory, these evenings offer parents respite time on a scheduled Friday evening. Students stay after school, are engaged and fed by staff, and parents pick up by 10:00 p.m.
The evening is theme-based and includes art activities, games, and dinner. In the past, it has been a very popular event and “spots” go quickly.
This Parents’ Night Out is even more special, as Ashley Hatchett, Kiely Corti, and Shaun Goodman have volunteered to gift all proceeds to Victory’s Capital Campaign. The staff is steadfast in their commitment to help Victory raise money toward the $200,000 matching gift.
Details:
*$60 for one child/$100 for child and sibling
*3:30-10:00 p.m., dinner and all activities included
*Sign-up sheet is posted on the Office Door. Six spots are currently open!
Postponed: Special Olympics Information Meeting
The meeting scheduled for Wednesday, February 19th, at 2:00 has been postponed. Please stay tuned for a new date and time--most likely within the next few weeks.
Reminder: Medications and Supplements
As a friendly reminder, Victory staff cannot administer any kind of over-the-counter medication, doctor's prescription, or supplements without a Permission to Administer Medication (etc) Form. While your child's teachers are happy to fulfill your requests, a text, email, or phone call do not suffice as "permission" or offer enough details. For your child's health and safety, please take the time to fill out the required form. *Uploaded into Parent Documents
New Policy and Procedures: Elopement and Wandering
Victory holds itself to the highest standards when working with your children, and their safety is a top priority. Due to the complex nature of Autism, some students demonstrate different degrees of wandering and/or elopement. To ensure that the entire staff is trained and reacts consistently in such an event, Victory has adopted a formal policy and related procedures related to these behaviors.
Your child's teacher sent home these documents in last week's Friday Folder. Please return the questionnaire no later than Wednesday, February 19th. We will use this information to create individualized plans as needed and offer families additional supports.
Work Party: Help Needed!
Due to snow, the original work party was cancelled. We now need YOUR help to spruce up Victory for the Open House and Tour, now scheduled for Sunday, March 2nd.
Every year, a group of parents fulfills some of their service hours, while helping with those tasks that never seem to get done: cleaning, small maintenance and painting jobs, and clerical work. It’s always been a fun time with lots of conversation between workers.
Please contact Tricia if you are available and willing to help--much appreciated!!!
When: Saturday, March 1st, 9-11:30 a.m.
*Coffee and Treats Provided.
Items of Interest (Old)
Sensory Friendly Peformance at NW Children's Theater
On Saturday, March 1st, at 12:00 noon, the NW Children's Theater is offering a "sensory sensitive" performance of Good Night Moon. Victory's OT, Carrie, is organizing our families. If we have ten or more attending, the price for children and adults is only $7 per ticket. Please contact Carrie via email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to reserve your spots. Thanks Carrie!
Update: Scrip
Thank you to Cecilia Tsai for coordinating all of our Scrip orders. This month, Victory turned in $3720 in Scrip orders, with a profit of $165.90 for Victory!!!
The next Scrip orders will be due on Monday, March 3rd.
