Panther Press
From the Desk of Dr. Cady:
Dear Panther Families,
As we continue our Tradition of Excellence, we embrace and celebrate the partnership that exists between our VCS teachers and families. The close partnership between home and school is just one of the exceptional strengths at Viera Charter School. It is because of this partnership that our students thrive and succeed both academically and socially. Throughout the school year, you will have many opportunities to develop the partnership in a variety of ways. If you haven’t done so already, please take time to volunteer in your child’s classroom, join the PTSO, help at the various school events, and attend our Governing Board meetings. These are just a few of the many ways that you can show your student that their education is important. Working together, our Professional Learning Community will provide a stimulating and nurturing learning environment that fosters and maximizes student achievement.
Warmest Regards,
Dr. Julie Cady
VCS Safety Patrol
The Viera Charter School Safety Patrol have been working hard this month to assist students and teachers. VCS has approximately 70 students participating in the Safety Patrol. During the first 2 weeks of school, students in grades 4th through 8th were eligible to apply. As part of the application process, students write why they think they would be a good candidate for Safety Patrol and must include their homeroom teacher’s signature. Students who participate in Safety Patrol pledge to be positive role models and possess leadership qualities. Safety Patrol supervisors for the 2022-2023 school year are third grade lead teacher, Ms. Basirico, and fifth grade lead teacher, Mrs. Allarding.
Depending on the time of day, Safety Patrol duties are varied. In the morning, they are positioned around the perimeter of the building. They open doors for students and greet them with a smile and a “Good Morning!" Ms. Basirico said, “Safety Patrol students are the first face VCS see, and we want all students to start their day off right.” Little ones who need escorts to their classes, a hand held, or just a little TLC can receive that from Safety Patrol students. Other Safety Patrol students are positioned in areas throughout the building reminding students to stay on the right side of the staircase, walk instead of run, and not to fool around. In the afternoons, Safety Patrol are positioned at every exit door, as well as at the car loop stations, and Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms to help ease the chaos of afternoon dismissal.
Ms. Basirico and Mrs. Allarding have appointed 5 Patrol Leaders, who are responsible for making sure every Safety Patrol student is spread out, not talking too much, and setting a good example for others. Those leaders are Anna Kate Burley (6th grade), Beatriz Alves (4th grade), Wyatt Smith (5th grade), Matthew Desrosiers (6th grade), Addie Mugele (4th grade) and Josh Grant (4th grade). Ms. Basirico said, “These students have been seen demonstrating the qualities we want every Safety Patrol member to exhibit continually, not just when someone is watching.”
Based on how many students stick with the program, Ms. Basirico and Mrs. Allarding are expecting sports and other activities to pull them in other directions, new students will be able to apply in the spring.
From the Desk of Ms. Herbert
THE 4/4 TIMES - SEPTEMBER
Hello VCS families!
I am Ms. Roxanne Herbert, your new music teacher here at Viera Charter. I am joined by the amazing Mrs. Christine Parsons in teaching your children all the wonderful things about music! I will be sending out a newsletter every month to let you know what is going on in our room! This first month has been filled with Puppets, slide whistles, folk dances and drums!
The Kindergarten through 2nd graders have been working on their echo voices singing pie songs and echoing our slide whistles. We have learned 2 folk dances. One from Denmark called “7 Jumps”, and one from the United States called “Blackberry Quadrille”. Finding the steady beat and playing that on our bucket drums graciously donated to VCS by Lowe’s. They visit Arioso land where they explore their voices every week with our friend “Mrs. Music”.
Our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders have been reviewing different note rhythms by making noteworthy creations which are now proudly displayed on our hallway bulletin board. Our bucket drums have gotten a workout in class against class challenges where a rhythm is shown on the board and each class performs it. The more unified team earns a point. They have also been moving learning both “Blackberry quadrille” and “Les Saluts” from Canada.
K-4 have each learned their own welcome song upon entering the music room, and EVERYONE leaves to “Bye Bye Butterfly” sung by Ms. Herbert and Mrs. Parsons on the ukulele.
Our 4th and 5th grade chorus The “Panther Pulse” will be starting September 6th with an amazing 60 singers! So much excitement here! We are proud to be Panthers!
We look forward to more drumming, singing, instrument playing in September, and grade level performances coming soon! 4th grade, look for your “Showtime” letter with the details coming soon!
“Sing”cerely, Ms. Herbert and Mrs. Parsons
AUGUST HIGHLIGHTS:
Elementary Steam
In Elementary Steam, students worked on projects that allowed the new VCS Steam teacher, Ms. Porter, to get to know them. “I wanted to know how they think, how they create and how well they could work together,” said Ms. Porter.
Students were challenged to work together in teams, and as engineers, to come up with a project idea to build together. Their job was to voice their opinions, merge their ideas, create a blueprint, assign jobs, and then execute their plan. Ms. Porter said, “The beauty of this project was seeing the collaboration between students who may or may not know each other and create something using a most basic material that they had used hundreds of times before, but not necessarily in this way.” At times there were differences of opinion, but the project provided students the opportunity to learn how to communicate with one another and to come to an agreement.
One student described her creation as a self-sustaining home: the house is built into the hill, and it relies on rain, water, and solar energy for power. Another student built “a bridge in the air” and essentially described it as a floating bridge. Ms. Porter said, “It was a joy watching him build it, as he was incredibly focused and detailed.” Other teams created various blue prints and unique designs such as “an apartment on wheels”.
Campus Happenings
August has been an busy month at VCS! Students and teachers are working on learning new rules and routines, getting to know new faces and setting the pace for the 2022-2023 school year.
Viera Charter School SRO, Cpl. Overmeyer, has visited classrooms and is going over school safety procedures.
Students in Mrs. Power's first grade classroom were learning about space while anxiously awaiting the launch of Artemis 1.
We've even been able to slip in a few fun dress down days: Wild about learning, tie-dye day, and a special space themed day.
PTSO
Visit the Viera Charter School PTSO website where you can sign up for their monthly newsletter, shop for spirit gear, find their calendar of events, volunteer information and much more.