Van Buren County Schools

This is a reminder about tomorrow’s pick-up for student report cards: Report cards can be picked up from each school between 3:00pm-6:00pm tomorrow, May 19th. If you are just picking up your student’s report card then stay in your car and a staff member will assist you. If you have not returned school items (textbooks, uniforms, etc.) you will need to do so tomorrow night. You may also pick-up your student’s belongings if you have not done so. If you need to pay fees you will need to park your vehicle and go to the front door of the school building. Staff will assist you there. AR rewards can be picked up in the building – a separate call will go out for those recipients. Also, the summer feeding program will begin in June for pick-up only locations. More information will be shared at a later date.

SENIOR CELEBRATION PARADE - Good afternoon Van Buren County Families. This message is to let you know about a parade for our senior class. On May 15, 2020 There will be a parade honoring our 2020 Graduates. This parade will take place at 7pm starting on HWY 111 at Spencer Funeral Home and ending at the HWY 30 OVERPASS. Please make a sign and come out and support our class on the original graduation date. Cars will be allowed to park on the sides of HWY 111 during the parade. You may stand outside your car at parade time but please be aware that we will continue to practice social distancing and congregating will not be allowed. Please remain beside YOUR vehicle at all times. Please come out and support and celebrate our graduating seniors.

This is a reminder about tomorrow’s pick-up and drop-off for student belongings and school items: PICK-UP OF STUDENT BELONGINGS & RETURN TEXTBOOKS – Students will pick-up their personal belongings and return any textbooks, library books, uniforms, etc. tomorrow, Tuesday, May 12th from 9:00am-12:00pm. We are still required to practice social distancing. If you are just picking up or dropping off items then stay in your car and a staff member will assist you. Pickup locations will be set up at the front of the preschool, and elementary school. Middle School (6-8) students will go to the front of the high school building and High School (9-12) students will go to the back of the high school. Any owed fees (cafeteria, library, uniforms, damaged textbooks, snacks at Pre-K, etc.) will need to be paid on this date. If you need to pay fees you will need to park your vehicle and go to the front door of the school building. Staff will assist you there. SENIOR GRADUATION CAPS - Senior graduation caps will not be given out tomorrow. They can be picked up on Monday, June 1st between 9:00am-12:00pm. FINAL REPORT CARDS – can be picked up on Tuesday, May 19th between 3:00-6:00pm at the front of each school building. Fees still owed to the school must be paid before report cards can be picked up.

StoneCom Radio wants to do an on air yearbook for the Class of 2020. Record your encouraging message and email it to maddy@stonecomradio.com. She wants to hear from faculty, staff, coaches, class officers, valedictorians and other students. Tell who you are and where you’re from. Submissions are due no later than Sunday May 10.

SES Yearbook update: Yearbook delivery has been temporarily delayed. As soon as they are ready for pickup, you will be notified. We will ensure you receive your child's yearbook and/or have the opportunity to purchase if you've not already done so. A limited supply will be available for purchase for $30 once the shipment is received.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! We would like to take a moment to thank our teachers who work so hard each day for our students! During these uncertain times our teachers may not be in their classrooms but they are certainly working hard to ensure their students' needs are met. Our teachers always show a tremendous amount of love and care, but have shown even more in these past few months. Please take the time this week to thank the teachers in your life and in your child's life that have made such a difference!

UPDATED GRADUATION INFORMATION: Governor Lee has issued new guidelines for prohibiting social gatherings of 10 people or more through May 29th. Because of this, the graduation ceremony that was planned for May 15th has been postponed. The Van Buren County Board of Education met for a regular session tonight to discuss Kindergarten and Senior graduation. Here are the following tentative plans: KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION – Kindergarten graduation will now be tentatively held Saturday, June 6th at 3:00pm or in case of rain Sunday, June 7th at 2:00pm. SENIOR GRADUATION – Senior graduation will be tentatively held Saturday, June 6th at 6:00pm or in case of rain Sunday, June 7th at 5:00pm. When other details become available we will communicate those to you. Juniors and Seniors will be contacted by their sponsors with more information.

END OF YEAR INFORMATION (Part #3 of 3): YEARBOOKS – Spencer Elementary yearbooks: At this time, SES yearbook delivery is on schedule. Typically, they are given out the 2nd week of May, but this could change due to so many closures. As soon as they are ready for pickup, you will be notified. We will ensure you receive your child's yearbook and/or have the opportunity to purchase if you've not already done so. A limited supply will be available for purchase for $30 once the shipment is received. VBHS yearbooks will be late. The company that publishes the yearbook has shut down all printing facilities. We will let you know more information about when these will be printed and distributed at a later date. MEAL DELIVERIES – meal deliveries and pick-up locations will continue on the Monday/Thursday schedule until May 18th. May 18th will be the final day for meal deliveries. ATHLETIC BANQUET – Athletic banquets have been cancelled. Players should be on the lookout for information from their individual coaches about possible team activities during the summer if the current situation improves. AWARDS – Remaining PreK-11th Grade awards will be given to students at the beginning of next school year.

PRE-K & KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION – Pre-K & Kindergarten registration for the 2020-2021 school year will be conducted through a Google Forms survey located on the school website at vanburenschools.org. Parents enrolling a student in Pre-K MUST ALSO fill out the “Income Eligibility Form” that is also located on the website. This form must be turned into the central office as soon as possible. If you need a printed copy of the form you can pick one up at the central office. If you need assistance filling out the form you may call Spencer Elementary at (931) 946-2171 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please register by May 18th, 2020.

END OF YEAR INFORMATION (Part #2 of 3) PROM - It is with deep regret that we must announce that this year’s prom has been cancelled. Due to our current national crisis, this decision was made in the best interest of our students’ safety and well-being. Any student who paid a guest fee will be reimbursed the money and can pick it up at the school on Tuesday, May 12th. Junior class fundraising money will be saved and placed toward the Juniors’ upcoming Senior year fund. GRADUATION – Kindergarten Graduation has been cancelled for this year. Senior Graduation will still be held on Friday, May 15th @ 7:00pm. For this to take place, it must be certain that all safety requirements are properly met. The ceremony will be held in the back parking lot of the high school. Seniors will be allowed two guests each and Juniors will be allowed two guests each. Senior and Junior class sponsors will be reaching out to students to find out if you will be participating and the names of your guests you plan to bring. Guests must bring their own chairs and will sit spread out in the parking lot. All cars will park in one of the surrounding lots. The ceremony will be shown live and recorded for later viewing on BLTV. Scholarships and Senior awards will be presented during the ceremony. Saturday, May 16th and Sunday, May 17th will be reserved as alternate dates in case of rain. More details will be released in the coming days. PROJECT GRADUATION – Project Graduation has been cancelled. Students will receive their money the night of graduation.

END OF THE YEAR INFORMATION (Part #1 of 3) PICK-UP OF STUDENT BELONGINGS & RETURN TEXTBOOKS – Students will pick-up their personal belongings and return any textbooks, library books, uniforms, etc. on Tuesday, May 12th from 9:00am-12:00pm. Tables will be set up at the front of the preschool, elementary school, and high school and staff will deliver belongings to vehicles. Senior graduation caps will be given out this day also. Any owed fees (cafeteria, library, uniforms, damaged textbooks, snacks at Pre-K, etc.) will need to be paid on this date. If you cannot come on this date you will have to wait until a later determined time. STUDENT WORK – The last 3 weeks of paper packets will be available for pick-up at your child’s respective school this coming Monday, April 27th between 8:00am-12:00pm. Monday, May 11th will be the final day that teachers will provide work through Google Classroom, packets, or the website. FINAL REPORT CARDS – can be picked up on Tuesday, May 19th between 3:00-6:00pm at the front of each school building. Fees still owed to the school must be paid before report cards can be picked up.

At this time, SES yearbook delivery is on schedule. Typically, they are given out the 2nd week of May, but this could change due to so many closures. As soon as they are ready for pickup, you will be notified. We will ensure you receive your child's yearbook and/or have the opportunity to purchase if you've not already done so. A limited supply will be avaliable for purchase for $30 once the shipment is received.

Van Buren County Schools Families, Upon the recommendation of Governor Lee, Van Buren County Schools will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. We will continue our online learning plan and our Monday and Thursday meal delivery and pick-up through the end of the school year. We know there are now many questions about how we will proceed to close out the year, return students’ belongings, and celebrate our students’ accomplishments – particularly our seniors. District and school leaders will be meeting in the coming days to put a plan in place to address these concerns. Please be on the lookout in the coming weeks for information detailing our plans. Staff will be in the school buildings and at the central office on Mondays and Thursdays. Please contact your school with any questions you may have. We are so disheartened that we will not formally return to see our students and end the school year as we traditionally do. We do know, however, that we are EAGLE STRONG and we will come through this together!

Families of children Birth-3rd Grade: Free access to ReadyRosie has been provided through the state! This is will provide you short, educational videos that model games to supplement at-home learning. Watch this YouTube video for more information. https://youtu.be/6jq3QOj-Lkg Typically, users need an invitation, but for a limited time, it can be accessed via this Family sign up Link: https://readyrosie.com/tn/  *Click "Register Now" *If your child is enrolled in SES, select "VanBuren County". If not school-age, select "Birth to Five" then continue with registration. *If you have more than one child, you only need to enroll one time and will have access to all content for your children. Questions? Email them to ssullivan2@vanburenschools.org

The FFA and the greenhouse class still have plants for sale. Plants available are tomato, peppers, flowers, and hanging baskets. They will be available in the back parking lot of the High School tomorrow, Thursday April 9 from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. We will pursue this as a drive thru as we exercise social distancing. Thank you for your continued support of the FFA.

Update as of 4/8/2020 Van Buren Schools Families, Here are some updates and things to know in the coming weeks: As a reminder, food distribution has been dropped down to two days a week – Mondays and Thursdays. Bus routes and pick-up locations and times will remain the same. Students should be checking their Google Classroom or the school website weekly for resources provided from their teachers. If you have indicated to your child’s teacher that your student has absolutely no internet access or devices and your child will need a paper packet you may pick up your child’s packet at the Board of Education building on Thursdays. Teachers will be calling their 1st block/homeroom students twice a week to check with parents and students to see if they need anything and to help with any questions about the at-home school work. Again, please be patient and kind to our teachers – they miss their students and are working hard to help from a distance. The state has partnered with PBS to offer educational lessons each day on TV beginning at 10:00am. If you have access to PBS this would be a great resource for you to utilize. We will continue to communicate with you as best we can during this time. Have a safe and healthy rest of your day!

Van Buren County Schools Families, This is another friendly reminder that the 2020 U.S. Census is still being conducted. You can fill the census out online by going to www.2020census.gov after you receive your invitation.. You may also respond to the mail-in or phone questionnaire. Census data affects every part of our community including funding for our school system! It is extremely important that you participate and accurately respond. You have the power to help our county receive its fair-share of federal funding and resources!

As you know Spring Break is next week, March 30-April 3. The Van Buren County School System will be set up in the following locations on Monday, March 30 from 9:30 AM–11:00 AM: Cedar Grove FD​​​​ Fall Creek Falls FD Piney FD #1​​​​ Rocky River FD #1 Housing Project​​​​ Greenbriar Apartments Bone Cave Community Center Fall Creek Falls Community Center Welchland Baptist Church Each school family is allowed 1 bag of food. This is the ONLY day we will be providing food during Spring Break. We will resume bus delivery on April 6, 2020. Hope you and your family have a safe and healthy Spring Break!!!

Van Buren County Schools will be closed after Spring Break through April 24th. The current plan is for students to return on Monday, April 27th. However, this is subject to change. Yesterday afternoon and today, teachers and staff have been and will be contacting you to determine if you have appropriate internet and technology access where your student is staying. If you do not receive a call by 2:00pm this afternoon please call your child’s school. If you do not reach anyone at the school please leave a message and we will work to get back with you as soon as possible after Spring Break. Beginning the week of April 6th work for students will be distributed online through Google Classroom and by other means as directed by the student’s teachers. All students in 2nd grade through 12th grade have a school email address and G-mail login. If you have trouble accessing this please contact your child’s teacher. All teacher emails are listed on the school websites at www.vanburenschools.org. If you need internet access, three free Wifi hot-spot locations will be in Spencer. The Van Buren County Schools Campus, the public library, and the fairgrounds will all be available during this time to park your car and access the internet if needed. Teachers will be primarily working from home and will be regularly checking their school email. Teachers will hold office hours that you may contact them on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9:00-11:00am unless they are delivering food, in which case they will be available once they return. You may email teachers at any time with questions or concerns and they will check them during their office hours. Please be patient with our teachers and staff. This is a new adventure for all of us, including them. They are working hard behind the scenes to deliver meals, meet needs, and still help provide learning resources for your students. Please know that we miss all of our students! We hope everyone is staying healthy during this time of uncertainty. Things are changing on a daily basis and we will work to communicate with you as quickly as possible regarding school.

We just wanted to say a huge thank you to all of our faculty and staff who worked so hard to send out food on the bus routes and at the pick up locations! Parents and Families, we understand there were a few glitches today. Thank you for being patient as we navigate through this situation. We have worked to hopefully make Friday’s deliveries go even more smoothly. Our priority will always be our students and we want to ensure they are provided for. If you have any questions or would like to receive food and didn’t, please call the Board of Education central office at (931) 946-2242. Students, be on the lookout Friday morning for our staff handing out food. They plan to wear some spirited and silly outfits! Thank you and GO EAGLES!