Hello all- Yesterday your student heard about a fundraiser we are doing for Vestal school...Pennies for Peace! We would like to buy a Peace Pole which will be on our playground...it is a symbol and a location for problem solving! The Peace Pole will have "May Peace Prevail on Earth" in the top 4 languages spoken at Vestal (English, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Somali) If you have any spare pennies or change, please send it with your student!

Great news...the peace pole costs about $200.00 and we have already gotten $85.00 in donations!

Have a peaceful day, 

Sabrina Flamoe

Hello Vestal Community~

Happy sunny Thursday! The weather has given us a little bit of everything this week! Please know that we try our very best to get our students outside for recess every day...even if it is slightly rainy. The other day is was both sunny and then rainy during a 15 minute recess! Please be sure your students has a jacket or hat or an umbrella for rainy days. If the rain is coming down hard and it is just miserable outside, we will stay inside, but again, we aim for outside as often as possible! Students have the option to stay in at the library during recess, too.

Both this week and last we had a fire drill during the school day. The students did a great job of practicing leaving the building quickly and quietly. Each month we will have at least one drill to practice for various things such as fire, earthquake, lock down, or lock out. Our teachers do a wonderful job of supporting students before, during, and after drills. If your student is concerned about drills, please talk with their teacher. We can often give extra support for students who find drills to be stressful.

We are starting a before school Vestal choir for grades K-5! Yippee! The kids have heard about the choir and have been asked if they are interested. We will be sending out an official form with all the details next week.

Remember-

* Every Friday is Vestal Spirit day!

* Next Wed. at 8:15 is Principal's Coffee-please join me in the teachers lounge for conversation about how the school year has started! This is an open time (I do not bring an agenda) where we can discuss anything abut Vestal!

* Food Pantry OPEN TO ALL every Friday in the Studio! Please come! Students do need an adult with them in order to shop. If you have extra paper bags to donate to our pantry, please bring them to the main office...thanks!

* Please encourage your student to read, ReaD, REaD and then READ a little more:)

Social Justice News-

We are really focusing on individual identity and community diversity as we begin the school year.

We are teaching students that Social Justice means SOCIAL (all of us as a community) JUSTICE (do what we can to help others in need).

Thanks everyone, 

Sabrina Flamoe

sflamoe@pps.net

PTA News-

Pies, cobblers and fruit -your kiddos brought home the Willamette Valley pie info last week!  Turn in your order  forms by September 25th.  

Thanks to all who were able to come to the PTA meeting Tuesday-great to see so many new faces and all are welcome at the next one.  That is October 1st at 8:15am.

PTA is responsible for hosting community-building activities and raising money to support students and teachers at Vestal. Vestal PTA has a few positions that we would like to fill President, Vice President, and Volunteer Coordinator. Please consider volunteering to help continue this critical work!

If you are interested, please contact Galen Gamble, Vestal's PTA President, at galenblairg@gmail.com by Tuesday, September 17.

Hello and happy Thursday!

This week has flown by...guess that happens when we have Monday off! The school year is truly off to a wonderful start. Our older students are doing a terrific job of modeling the type of helpful and kind behaviors we expect and the younger students are quickly learning about what SKL's (safe, kind, learners) look and sound like at Vestal! I have so enjoyed getting to visit each classroom and seeing the rigorous academics already happening!

A few things to note-

* Tomorrow, Friday, is Vestal Spirit day! Wear your Vestal t-shirts, Vestal colors (Blue and Yellow) or shirts with positive, social justice messages/images!

* Monday is our 1st Town Hall meeting of the school year. Town Hall meetings are a welcoming assembly each Monday from 8:15-8:45. Families are welcome to join us in the auditorium for learning, singing, and celebrating together.

* Tuesday is our 1st PTA meeting...everyone is welcome! We would love to have new families join us! The meeting is at 8:15 in the Teacher's Lounge.

* Please remember that we are here to serve you and your student. If you have any questions, concerns, wonders...please reach out to your child's teacher!

Social Justice News- each week I will try to put in a note about our social justice work at Vestal!

This year we have added a wall of social justice inspiration by the front entrance. When you visit, please take note and ask your child about the posters!

Peace,

Sabrina Flamoe

sflamoe@pps.net

PTA NEWS-

Welcome back to school everyone from the Vestal PTA!

Upcoming events:

1st PTA Meeting this Tuesday September 10th at 8:15am In the Teacher’s Lounge.  All are welcome!

Willamette Valley pie fundraiser fliers will go out soon.  Order yummy fruit cobblers and pies and raise money for Vestal! Be sure to check out the flier in your kiddos backpack.

We will be sending out a 2 month calendars of events soon so keep an eye out!

P.S.- We cannot have ANY cars driving on the black top at school dismissal time (2:00-2:45)

If you are picking up a student, you need to park first, THEN walk onto the black top to meet your student.

We will try our best to put up a big whiteboard sign reminding people...no driving on the black top when students are getting dismissed:)

Thank YOU!

Hello Vestal community~

We have had a wonderful beginning to the school year! Although the first two days have been HOT, students have been very focused on building classroom community and starting academic work that will grow throughout the year!

Next week is only a four day week, which will be a bit cooler (hopefully) and will allow classes to get into routines. Remember, there is no school on Monday. Just as a reminder, school starts right at 8:00. Please help your child get used to being at school on time and ready to learn. The first few minutes of each day truly help set the tone for the day! FREE breakfast is available every day for any student that wants starting at 7:40. We also have BrainDance available every day in the auditorium this year, also at 7:40. If students are not eating breakfast or doing braindance, students need to wait outside or in the lobby until 7:53...this is the time teachers are prepared and ready to start the day!

This Friday...and every Friday, we celebrate VESTAL spirit by wearing Vestal t-shirts, Vestal colors (blue and yellow) and/or Social Justice focused clothing. (For example, just today I saw a t-shirt that said Love for All, another shirt with a colorful peace sign, and a shirt that simply said EQUALITY). Tomorrow we will also be sharing temporary tattoos with our 5 circles with each student! (Absolutely optional) As a reminder, our five domains of social justice are- academic engagement, social justice, local action, individual identity, and community diversity.

If you are interested, you may want to join our Vestal Facebook page. This is a place I post many pictures of Vestal kids!

We are searching for some folks to join our PTA leadership...if you are at all interested, please email me and let me know!

I hope your child has had a wonderful start to the year...please let us know if there is anything we can do to help!

Peace, 

Sabrina Flamoe

sflamoe@pps.net

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Esther Omogbehin has accepted our offer to join Portland Public Schools as a Regional Superintendent. Dr. Omogbehin has a long history of utilizing her leadership skills to create an environment that prioritizes the needs of all students and the health of the communities she serves.

In this week's PPS Pulse: Help plan futures of Cleveland, Jefferson, Wilson; program helps migrant families

In addition to the significant 2017 school improvement work now underway across the District, the 2017 Health Safety and Modernization Bond includes funding for the development of Conceptual Master Plans for Jefferson, Cleveland and Wilson High Schools. PPS is seeking community involvement to help create the Conceptual Master Plans for these schools.