Buzz From the Hive

Beekeeper's Corner: Message from Mrs. Fordham, Principal

Happy New Year! We are off to an excellent beginning of 2019! Next week, we have our elementary Parent Teacher Conferences. Monday, 1/7, Tuesday 1/8 and Wednesday 1/9 will be early dismissal days for all students in grade K-5th grade. Preschool students will follow their normal schedule. Valley Park kindergarten and first grade students will be dismissed at 1:40 pm. Please expect bus students to arrive approximately 2 hours earlier than their normally scheduled bus stop time. Also, if you haven't done so already, please make sure to sign up for your teacher conference using the Classtag system. Please contact our main office with any conference questions at 856-540-6200x7800. Thank you so much!

Administration of Medication in Schools

Administration of medication in schools can only be done under the following conditions: there must be a written request from the parent, written orders are to be provided from the private physician, and medication should be brought to school in the original container appropriately labeled by pharmacy or physician. The only person permitted to administer medication in school is the certified nurse or parent/guardian. Please do not send medication to school unless these conditions are met. Thank you!

The Great Kindness Challenge

During the week of January 27th-31st, Pennsville Schools will be participating in the Great Kindness Challenge. The Great Kindness Challenge is a national event in which schools focus on creating a positive culture of kindness through participating in various activities which encourage positive relationships between students. Information about The Great Kindness Challenges can be found at https://thegreatkindnesschallenge.com/

This year the Pennsville School District through PMHS Renaissance will be collaborating with the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware to support their fundraising efforts. The Ronald McDonald House has a Wish List of Items for the children staying there. Each school will be responsible for collecting one item from the wish list. Last year, we were able to restock the entire pantry at the Ronald McDonald House!! Through the generous efforts of the community members and schools we are able to provide months of food for visiting families. Flyers have been created for all the students in the district. Flyers will be distributed to students after the winter break. We will be collecting these items through January and February! The following is a breakdown of items to be collected at each school (flyer is attached):

Valley Park - Juice Boxes


Understanding Your Students Online Report Card

First Trimester Report Cards will be available in PowerSchool on January 9th. Here are some important things you need to know to best understand the report card:

  • When you first log in, you will see some categories without a grade. These grades will be listed on the “Standards Grades” tab. Just click on the tab indicated by the arrow, and you will see these grades.
  • On the “Standards Grades” tab, you will see a list of your student’s scores for each standard. Students will receive one of two scores: “ME” for “meets expectations” - the student knows and is able to do what is expected at the time of the report card, and “NI” for “needs improvement” if the student does not know or is not able to do what is expected at the time of the report card.
  • Comments can be viewed by clicking on ANY blue dot (as pictured below). Once you click on the dot, a box will pop up with detailed comments from the teacher.

If you have any questions at all about how to access or understand the online report card, please do not hesitate to contact the main office.

Report Cards Available Online - January 9, 2019

Please remember:

  • If you do not have internet access, you must request a printed copy of your student’s report card from the teacher.
  • On printed report cards, all teacher notes might not be visible.
  • Please contact the main office if you need help logging into PowerSchool.


How do I find my Child's Report Card

With the first trimester coming to an end, make sure to follow these simple steps, and you can not only view your student’s report card, but also review his or her grades throughout the year.

1.) Log into your PowerSchool account by going to www.psdnet.org, and clicking on the PowerSchool link found on the right hand side of the page.

2.) Type in your username and password. If you aren’t sure of this information for your student, please contact the main office.

3.) At this point, you will see a screen that lists your child’s positive behavior grade. You can also print a report card by clicking on the “Report Card” link on the left hand side of the page.

4.) To view current grades, click on the “Standards Grades” tab at the top of the screen. Anything with a black arrow to the left, you can click on to review more detail about the grade.

If you have any questions about this process or need us to send home a printed copy of the report card, please do not hesitate to contact the main office at 856-540-6200x7800. Thank you!

Bee Reading Initiative UPDATE!

We are excited to update you about our wonderful readers here at Valley Park! As of today we have four first grade students (and a few others who are close) that have achieved the goal of enjoying lunch with the principal, which will be on January 17th.

It's incredible that our readers have already read about 2,630 books! Keep up the AMAZING work!!! We can't wait to see which top five readers we will be recognizing at the end of this school year!

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