Valley View Newsletter - September 26

Dear Families,

We are in full swing here at school.  Looking forward, we have lots of great events coming up.  Our Valley View Voyage is on October 17th.  We appreciate all of your support; to date, we are more than halfway to our goal!  We also are in the planning stages of our Halloween festivities.  See below for more details on our events.

Congratulations to our 2025/2026 student council leaders.  Thank you to all the students who applied.  I know it's hard to put yourself out there.  We applaud you all!  5th grade: Zoey Koryto, Eleanor Lancioni, Cassidy Mcclain, Caleb Deryke, Casey Clements, Eric Gunderson.  4th grade: Everett Beimers, GraceLynn Rock, Bennett Bush, Teagan Bailey, Lachlan Fletcher, Ada Dillon, Jacqueline (Jax) Ryan, Monroe Faasen.  Congrats again!

Warmly,
Mr. Karel

Halloween festivities

We are excited to celebrate Halloween on Friday, October 31! Parents are invited to join us for our Halloween Parade at 10:15 a.m. This year, we are blending traditions from both Parkside and Valley View to make this event extra special.  The parade route will go up Glen Eagle, over to Highland Drive, and then back to school. We’ll be joined by the Middle School Marching Band and are working with Rockford Public Safety to help make this a safe and fun experience for everyone.
Parents are welcome to:

• Walk along with their child(ren), or
• Line the parade route, cheer, and take photos as students pass by.

More details will be shared as we get closer!

Costume Guidelines 

• Students may wear all or part of their costume to school on Friday, October 31 (no changing into costumes once at school).
• Please keep comfort in mind for sitting in class, riding the bus, and participating in normal school activities.
• For everyone’s safety and enjoyment, no weapons, scary costumes, fake blood, or frightening images. Students with these items will be asked to remove them.

Party Donations 
If you’d like to send in items for classroom celebrations:

• Food must be store-bought and individually wrapped.
• Please drop items off by the morning of October 31 (you may send them in earlier that week).
• Label donations with your child’s teacher’s name, and staff will deliver them to the classroom.

Thank you for helping us make this a safe and fun day for all of our students—we can’t wait to celebrate together!

STEAM NIGHT

Mark your calendars! Our annual STEAM Night is coming up on Tuesday, November 11th from 5:30–7:30 PM at East Rockford Middle School. Please note the important updates: the date has changed from November 4th to November 11th (due to voting day), and the location has moved from the Freshman Center to East Rockford Middle School. More details can be found on the attached flyer.  In addition, our STEAM program is still collecting recyclable materials to support student projects. We are currently accepting cardboard tubes, plastic containers, cereal boxes, plastic water bottles, and corks. A flyer with more details is attached.  Thank you for supporting our students as they explore science, technology, engineering, art, and math!