Van Buren County Schools

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!

This is just a reminder that VBC schools will be will be closed starting tomorrow, March 18 – April 5. Starting tomorrow buses will be delivering breakfast and lunch to their afternoon routes. Buses will leave the school at 9 AM. Meals are available for all children in the home that are 18 and under. This includes children that are not enrolled in school. The person receiving the food needs to be visible so that bus drivers will know to stop. If your child does not ride a bus, and you want to pick up food, we have several locations where food will be available. The pickup locations are as follows: Spencer – Back lobby of High School Piney – Fire Station #1 on Old Highway 111 Cedar Grove – Fire Department Fall Creek Falls – Fire Department Rocky River – Fire Station #1 at foot of mountain Old Cummingsville School – Cane Creek Road (*Added location) Food will be available at these sites from 9:30-10:30 AM. Food will be delivered on the following dates: Wednesday – March 18 Friday – March 20 Monday – March 23 Wednesday – March 25 Friday – March 27 Food will NOT be delivered March 30-April 3. Handouts with educational resources will be given out at each site and will also be available on the school website at vanburenschools.org. Thank you, Cheryl Cole

March 16, 2020 Dear Parents/Guardians, Van Buren County Schools will CLOSED Wednesday, March 18, 2020, and will remain CLOSED until Monday, April 6, 2020. Buses will run their regular routes to deliver breakfast and lunch to any children 18 years of age or under in the household. This will begin Wednesday, March 18th and will be delivered each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through March 27, 2020. Buses will deliver enough food for two days. They will depart from the back of the high school at 9:00 A.M. Parents who want to pick up food for their children may pick this up at the back of the high school or at the following food distribution locations beginning at 9:30 A.M. on Wednesday, March 18, 2020.: Food Distribution Locations in the County Spencer- Back lobby of High School Piney- Fire Station 1 on Old 111 Cedar Grove- Fire Department Fall Creek Falls- Fire Department Rocky River- Fire Station 1 Food should be at these locations by 9:30 A.M. each day listed and will be available for pickup until 10:30 A.M. Food will not be distributed during our regular Spring Break which is Monday, March 30th through Friday, April 3rd. Thank you, Cheryl Cole Director of Schools

Juniors: the ACT test will still be given as scheduled tomorrow morning. Junior students should report to the Ag. Building promptly by 8:00am. Be sure to get plenty of rest tonight and eat a good breakfast in the morning. We want you to be ready to do your best!

This is a clarification for school activities for tomorrow, Monday March 16th and Tuesday, March 17th. School activities, athletic events, and after-school care will still continue as scheduled. However, beginning Wednesday, March 18th all athletic events, practices, extra-curricular events, and after-school care will cease until further notice.

Van Buren County Schools Families, No one in our school system has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus. As of today, Van Buren County Schools will be open this Monday, March 16th and Tuesday, March 17th. Our schools will then be closed beginning Wednesday, March 18th and will remain closed until Monday, April 6th. During the closure, only employees will be allowed inside the buildings. All extra-curricular activities will cease until further notice. You will be contacted in the coming days to inform you of our future plans for providing services to students and families. You can also check the school websites and Facebook pages for more information.

SES Spring Pictures are tomorrow!

We invite all adults who live in Van Buren Co. to complete the Community Health Survey. The survey link is now on our school website! Results will be used to help in planning future community health projects! There is a $25 gift card drawing each week from submitted surveys!

Van Buren County Schools Families, This is a friendly reminder that the 2020 U.S. Census begins this Thursday, March 12th. You can fill the census out online by going to www.2020census.gov after you receive your invitation between March 12th-20th. 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.