Jeremy Karel - Principal
jkarel@rockfordschools.org
Address: 405 Summit Ave, Rockford, MI 49341
Website: www.rockfordschools.org
(616) 863-6366
a note from mr. Karel
Dear Families,
What a wonderful first week we’ve had! Thank you so much for helping your child come to school ready and excited—it truly makes a difference in starting the year off strong.
We also want to thank you for your patience and support as we work to make drop-off and pick-up smoother for everyone. If you pick up your child, we kindly suggest parking in the neighborhood next to the school and walking over to meet them at the south side of the building. If you use the car line, please pull all the way forward, stay in your car, and be as quick as you can to keep the line moving. If your child needs help getting into a car seat or buckling up, parking in the lot or neighborhood is a great option.
Finally, please don’t forget to complete your student’s information verification. This is important so your child can participate in fun activities like field trips, picture day, and our yearbook.
Thank you again for your partnership!
Warmly,
Mr. Karel
Resources for families
Everyone needs help at times. We are here to help! We have many resources from food assistance to free counseling sessions; check out these sources or reach out and we'll be happy to point you in the right direction!
Hand2Hand Permission Slip
-This program helps provide a student with food for the weekends and is intended for families who currently may be experiencing a financial burden.
School Assistance Program
-This program provides mental health support, confidential counseling services, financial trainings, elder care, legal consultation, infant feeding support, real estate consultations, and more.
Kent County Resources Guide
-This guide provides you a list of all of Kent County's resource centers and support facilities.
Treats
Birthdays are such a special time to celebrate your child! Each day, I announce our birthdays and invite our birthday students to visit the office to receive a special coin to use at our Book Vending Machine. It’s always a fun way to recognize and celebrate our students! We also encourage families to celebrate by donating a book to their child’s classroom. It’s a simple and meaningful way to make your child’s birthday feel special while helping add new and exciting books to our classroom libraries. To help keep all of our students safe, we ask families to avoid sending birthday treats or food items to school. We have several students with severe food allergies, and we want every child to feel safe, included, and able to enjoy their school day. If you’d like to do something special for your child’s birthday, please connect with your classroom teacher.
Ride K-12 App
My Ride K-12 capabilities include the following:
- Stop location, assigned route, and scheduled pick up time.
- GPS geolocation push notifications, giving estimated time of bus arrival and information concerning bus status changes.
- Real time communication and messaging.
- Secure and confidential log in.
- Android/iOS app and web version available.
Cellphones
We know that cell phones and smartwatches can be helpful for families and older students, especially after school. During the school day, however, these devices can become a distraction and take away from student learning. If your student brings a cell phone to school, we ask that it be turned off, kept in his or her locker, and not used during the school day. Please also avoid calling or texting your student on their device while they are at school. If you need to reach your student during the school day, our office is happy to help, or you can email your student’s teacher. Students who wear an Apple Watch or another smartwatch should also refrain from using the device to communicate during the school day. If a student needs to contact home because they are feeling ill or have a question about their end-of-day transportation or pickup, they should speak with their classroom teacher. The teacher will help them determine the appropriate next steps. Our goal is to keep classrooms focused on learning and minimize distractions. Whenever possible, we encourage families to leave cell phones and smartwatches at home unless a student needs the device for communication after school.
picture day!
September 16th is our Fall Picture Day! To pre-order your student's pictures visit www.mylifetouch.com. Valley View's picture day code is: HW7R3GTVE.
Let's party!
We’re excited to bring back one of our favorite school traditions this year—classroom parties! These are special opportunities for our students, teachers, and families to celebrate together.
Our classroom parties are scheduled for:
- October 30 – Halloween
- December 17 – Holiday
- February 11 – Valentine’s Day
Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll send information to families about how you can sign up to participate in one of the three parties. We’ll be able to have a maximum of five parents/guardians per classroom for each party.
To give as many families as possible the opportunity to participate, each family may sign up for one party per child during the school year. This will help ensure that we can have a variety of parents and guardians represented at our celebrations.
We’re really excited to welcome families back into the building and bring this tradition back for our students, parents, and staff! Parent volunteers will help with planning, organizing, and running the parties, which will also help take some of the load off our classroom teachers.
More information and sign-up details will be coming your way in the next couple of weeks. We can’t wait to celebrate with you!
Hitch's Happenings
We are getting excited to have Hitch start making visits to classrooms this year!! Want to learn more about our wonder dog? Read on!
Student Verification
PowerSchool is Rockford Public Schools' new Student Information System. Through the PowerSchool Parent Portal, parents and guardians can access important student information, including:
- Student schedules
- Attendance records
- Grades and academic progress
- Contact information
- Student forms and registration information
- School and district communications
If you haven't already, please create a login and register your student/s. Thank you!
PowerSchool: Everything You Need To Know - Our District - Rockford Public Schools
