News from the

Eagle's Nest

Note from Mrs. Schacht

At Vaughn Elementary, we are always striving to improve and ensure that we are meeting the needs of our students and families. Your feedback plays a critical role in helping us achieve this goal.

We kindly ask you to take a few moments to complete our Parent and Family Engagement Survey. Your insights allow us to review our systems, celebrate what’s working, and make adjustments where needed to better support our students and the entire school community. Your voice matters!

You can find the survey link here. We greatly appreciate your time and input, and we look forward to continuing to partner with you in making Vaughn Elementary the best it can be.

Thank you for your support!

Warm regards,

Kendra Schacht

Principal

Has a staff member gone above and beyond for your child or family? If so, please let us know by completing the Staff Shout Out form.

Recognizing Student Accomplishments and Character at VES

We value and celebrate both the academic and personal growth of our students. We take pride in recognizing students who model our school's core values and dispositions, encouraging them to strive for their best every day.

Each month, homeroom teachers select one student who exemplifies our VES dispositions —perseverance, communication, collaboration, problem-solving, integrity, and compassion. These outstanding students are recognized at our monthly Eagle Summit Assembly, where they are celebrated for their efforts, and parents are invited to join us in recognizing their child’s accomplishments.

In addition, every staff member in the building has the opportunity to select one student each month who demonstrates our monthly core values. These values, such as wisdom, self-control, generosity, resilience, hope, and initiative, are highlighted during counselor lessons and morning meetings. Students recognized for their commitment to these values are acknowledged during our school announcements and receive recognition in both their classrooms and the front office.

Beyond these formal recognitions, we also celebrate student success in a variety of informal ways throughout the school day. Teachers frequently acknowledge student efforts through positive notes home, verbal praise, classroom rewards systems, and student shout-outs during morning meetings. These everyday gestures reinforce the importance of both academic success and good character, helping our students feel valued and supported.

Important Dates

See the calendar at the end of this page to view events scheduled throughout the year.

October Events

September 30 - October 4: Scholastic Book Fair @ VES
October 1 - Look for information about Parent-Teacher Conferences in your child's Tuesday folder or in an email from the teacher.
October 2 - PTO Meeting @ 8:30, Volunteer Training @ 9:00, Kindergarten Field Trip to McGarrah Farms
October 3 - PTO Fall Carnival 5pm - 7pm
October 4 - VES Student Council @ BWHS Homecoming Parade
October 21-22: No School for Students
October 24: Parent-Teacher Conferences 2:45-7:00
October 25: PTO Eagle Nest Store 7am-7:25am
October 28: Parent-Teacher Conferences 2:45-5:00
October 28-November 1: Strong Choices Week
October 30: Fire Prevention & Safety Demonstrations @ VES
October 31: Fall Parties
- 8:30-9:10 - 4th grade
- 9:20-10:00 - 2nd grade
- 10:10-11:00 - Kindergarten
- 11:10-11:50 - 3rd grade
- 1:10-1:50 - 1st grade

VES Fundraiser: Support STEAM, Student Incentives, and Resources!

We are excited to announce our school fundraiser to support STEAM programs, student incentives, and additional resources for our students! You can participate by sharing our fundraiser link with your family and friends. We’re offering delicious braided pastries and cookie dough for sale. All items arrive frozen and ready to thaw or store for later.

You can share this link with your family and friends.

Fundraising Place Link

Important Dates:

- The Fundraiser is open now and closes on October 11.

- Pickup Date: Items will be delivered to Vaughn Elementary for pickup by sellers on October 24. Sellers will be responsible for delivering the items to those who purchased through them.

Prizes:

If we sell 300 items as a school, individuals that sell the following totals will win the following prizes.

12 items = VES tshirt
20 items = VES sling bag
30 items = VEs sweatshirt

We appreciate your support in helping us provide enriching opportunities and rewards for our students. Thank you for making a difference!

Parent Resources

Tip: How to view your child's progress

Bentonville Schools uses TeacherEase, an electronic standards-based reporting system to record and report student progress toward learning targets. For more information about the grading scale and instructions to access your child's grades, please read the TeacherEase Parent Letter.

Bentonville Public Schools offers healthy meals every school day. Breakfast cost $2.05; lunch costs K-6 $2.85 & 7-12 $3.05. Your children may qualify for free meals or for reduced price meals. According to Act 656, for the 24-25 School year, students qualifying for reduced meals will no longer be charged the copay.

To apply for free or reduced-priced meals, visit https://bentonville.familyportal.cloud/

For more information and to preview the application, click here.

Snack Packs

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SIGNING YOUR CHILD UP FOR OUR SNACK PACK PROGRAM PLEASE email Marisa Snow, msnow@bentonvillek12.org. Snack packs are 7-8 snacks that are sent home to help with food on the weekends.

A Note from Nurse Brittany

Hello Parents!!

Can you believe it is already October?? There is a lot of information from the Health Office.

I am finishing up hearing and vision on K,1,2,and 4th grade students. If your student needs further assessments, a letter will be sent home. Please make sure to follow up with their eye doctor or physician for hearing. If you are needing assistance in getting this accomplished, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am very happy to help!
Vaughn will be having our Flu Clinic on October 24th. Paperwork will be going home soon for you to complete IF you want a flu shot for your student to be given at the clinic. All of the paperwork must be completed and it must be returned October 14th (NO EXCEPTIONS).
Please make sure to have a change of clothes in your student's backpack. This is for every kind of accident; spills, nosebleeds, toileting, etc. Please make sure it is weather appropriate since we may have cooler weather coming.
With cooler, windier weather comes dry cracked lips. Please make sure to apply lip balm as needed or students may pack that in their backpacks.
If you have no completed your student's online health history, please complete that here.

I wish you all a happy cozy Fall season.

PTO Posts

Please join us for a night of fun! Wristbands are $5 for all who enter ages 3 and up! All games, inflatables, crafts and glitter tattoos are included. Food and silent auction items will be available for purchase, cash or card accepted. If you would like to participate in the cake walk, please bring cash! All proceeds from the cake walk go towards our Eagles Giveback program. Click here to order wristbands! If your family is in need of wristbands, please reach out to Mrs. Snow. All information is kept confidential.

For more information or to sponsor you eagle click here. Flyers and reading logs will be sent home in Tuesday folders on 10/1.

If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to vaughnptopresident@gmail.com

Counselor Connections

Core Value for October: Self-Control

SAY IT: Self-Control: Choosing to do what’s best even when you don’t want to.

KNOW IT: ASK A GROWN-UP: When is it toughest for you as an adult to have self-control? Do you have any tricks or strategies to help you develop self-control?

ASK A KID: When is it toughest for you as a kid to have self-control? Have you ever gotten in trouble for not having enough self-control? What were the consequences?

SEE IT: One of the easiest times for us to lose self-control is snack time. Some of us tend to make poor choices and eat food we know is not the healthiest for us. Unfortunately, many of us also lack self-control with our temper, with how we treat others, and making risky choices that could be very dangerous for ourselves or others. In this short video, Cookie Monster learns a few strategies to develop self-control: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0YDE8_jsHk. He realizes that self-control can be accomplished, even when it is difficult. When we develop self-control, not only can we make better food choices, we can also make choices that will help us with the Big 3. Self-control can help us consistently Make Smart Decisions, Treat Others Right, and Maximize Our Potential.

BE IT: Make a list of times when self-control is toughest. Ask your family to help you come up with a list and ask them to help you show self-control. Some good ideas might be setting goals to limit screen time, responding with kindness, sticking to a bedtime, eating healthy foods, listening and following directions at school, developing an exercise program. Try to set some goals and monitor your progress as you practice self-control.

Strong Choices Week @ VES - October 28th - November 1st

We believe in empowering students to make healthy, responsible decisions in every aspect of their lives. Strong Choices Week helps us highlight the importance of building positive habits that support their well-being, both academically and personally. Through fun dress-up days and classroom discussions, we encourage students to reflect on choices like self-care, staying active, being kind, and making safe decisions. It's a week to remind everyone that the small, daily choices we make add up to a strong and successful future!

School-Appropriate Costumes on October 31st

As part of our Strong Choices Week celebrations, students are invited to wear school-appropriate costumes on October 31st. This is a fun opportunity for our students to express their creativity while keeping our school environment safe and respectful for everyone.

Please keep the following guidelines in mind when helping your child choose a costume:

- No masks, weapons, fake blood, or scary costumes.

- All costumes must follow the school dress code.

- Adults attending school events in costume must also wear school-appropriate costumes and may not wear masks.

Students will follow their regular schedule on this day, including lunch, recess, and activity periods, so please make sure costumes are comfortable and won’t interfere with daily routines.

We look forward to a fun and safe day of learning and celebrating Strong Choices!

Thank you for your cooperation!

October is National Bullying Prevention Month and we will have discussions with all classes about the difference between being rude, mean, and bullying. Be sure to review the common language with your child.

Updates from Activity Classes

Tales from the Library

We’re so excited about our Book Fair running this week from September 30th to October 4th! This is a fantastic opportunity for students to explore new books and add to their personal libraries. Be sure to stop by and find something special!

4th Grade: Students are diving into informative books and practicing the important skill of inferring meaning. They'll discover how to read between the lines!
3rd Grade: Our third graders are exploring various genres, learning to identify and appreciate different types of literature.
2nd Grade: This week, second graders are focusing on understanding different character perspectives in stories, enhancing their comprehension skills.
1st Grade: First graders are learning to identify the central message in stories, helping them connect with the narratives they read.
Kindergarten: Our youngest learners are discovering story elements, setting the foundation for a love of reading!

K-2 Parents: Rainbow Reading Challenge! Don’t forget, the Rainbow Reading Challenge has begun! Mrs. Hundley and I are here to support and guide you through this exciting challenge!

Thank you for your continued support in fostering a love for reading. We can’t wait to see you at the Book Fair!

P.E.

Hello Vaughn Families!

We are having a blast so far this year! In October, our older students will be focusing on soccer skills. These skills will include passing and trapping the ball, kicking for accuracy and distance, and dribbling the soccer ball. Our younger Eagles will be busy learning and reviewing skills such as kicking, rolling, bouncing, and throwing. Thank you! - Coach Mackey, Coach McFadden, and Coach LaValle

Music Notes

Music in October includes:

Kindergarten: Intro to rhythm, Sing, play and move to rhythm

First Grade: Practicing rhythm, Ostinatos (short repeated patterns)

Second Grade: Ostinatos (short repeated patterns), Introduction to singing

Third Grade: Lines and spaces (reading music), The Classical Period of music and Patriotic Songs.

Fourth Grade: Ascending and descending scales, Major and minor melodies.

Guiding questions/ideas to ask your children:

Share with your children your favorite songs and find the rhythms and special meanings behind those songs.

What makes a song happy or sad? (rhythm, key signature)

Global Connections

Hello! Happy Fall!

We are off to a great start this season. The kids have enjoyed learning about North America, and we are starting to wrap it up as we head to South America. We have discussed Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, as well as Hispanic Heritage Month. The children have enjoyed the activities and little experiments we've conducted. They were particularly shocked when I put a Canadian bill in the water and it didn’t rip!

As we begin to learn about Mexico, I’m very impressed that they still remember how to dance Merengue from last year. Next, we will explore South America, focusing on the Amazon Rainforest, Brazil, Peru, and so much more!

Digital Literacy

This month in Digital Literacy class, our students are diving into the world of digital citizenship! They're learning how to be responsible and safe online while having some great conversations about what it means to be a good digital citizen. Plus, they're also working on their keyboarding skills.

Across the Grade Levels

4th Grade

4th grade students recently took a STEM field trip to the Benton County Fair. Students visited various learning stations that focused on learning about farming and agriculture, robotics, interacting with farm animals and learning about their care.

3rd Grade

Third grade is working on understanding place value concepts through metric measurement. Here students are estimating the weight in grams of familiar objects and then reading the scales to see if their estimates are accurate.

2nd Grade

Second graders counted collections of objects to practice counting efficiently. Students grouped objects into groups of 10 and 100 to count the collections and build place value knowledge.

1st Grade

First grade is learning about parents and their offspring. We had the opportunity to watch a caterpillar egg transform into a beautiful monarch butterfly! Students watched a butterfly come out of its chrysalis and then released it. We are learning how parents have traits that are similar to and different from their offspring and how they care for them. First grade is loving science and all of the fun learning opportunities!

Kindergarten

Kindergarten is currently conducting investigations to compare how different strengths and directions of pushes and pulls affect the motion of objects. This hands-on approach is fostering their understanding of basic physical concepts while engaging their curiosity.