Happy 50th Anniversary Valley Forge Middle School
Happy 50th Anniversary Valley Forge Middle School
Save the Date for Friday, May 13th at 6:00pm for our 50th Anniversary Celebration!
Event: Join us for a night of friends, family and al umni at VFMS as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Valley Forge Junior High / Middle School. The evening will include an "Alumni Homecoming" celebration, DJ and activities for family members, food for purchase and more. A link to an invitation for you and your family to RSVP to attend the event will be coming later this week - save the date and get ready to reply!
Commemorative T-Shirts: Wait until you see the spectacular commemorative anniversary T-shirts that were designed by Christine Wells and Karen Seifert. Thank you to Chris and Karen for all your hard work on the 50th anniversary logo! Julie Kanto will be coordinating this special T-Shirt order for the PTO - a link to place your order will be coming later this week!
Sponsorships Available: Anniversary event sponsorships are available! If your family or business is interested in sponsoring this great event or if you know of any local businesses who would be interested in promoting their business while supporting the VFMS PTO, please complete the attached sponsorship form and contact us at VFMS50th@gmail.com to let us know! Please consider sponsoring this important event!
Volunteers: We will be looking for a few volunteers to help us at the event on May 13th. A sign up genius will be posted soon!
Next Committee Meeting: Our next planning committee meeting is this Tuesday, April 5th at 7:00pm at Panera Bread. All are welcome to join us! Thank you for all of the hard work of our current committee members: Joe & Rebecca Griffith, Allison Hayes, Julie Kanto, Heidi Kelly, Cinda Marturano, Kristen Mayock, Dalia Osman, Stacey Pellegrini, Allie Richardson, Angelica Riley and Christine Wells.
Please continue to check the VFMS PTO Website for more information about our 50th Anniversary and to share your alumni stories. Contact VFMS50th@gmail.com with any questions. |
Our VFMS Community
VFMS community members and parents of current students -
THANK YOU to all of our parents and friends who have shared their alumni status with us! We have created a Facebook group page called "Valley Forge Middle School 50th Anniversary" in an effort to reach out to our community and identify Alumni from all of our graduating classes from 1965 through 2015. If you are an Alum, please join this page and share your graduation year, photos you may have and your memories!
We have a few new current VFMS parents to add to our Alumni listing - John Bucher whose daughter Addie attends VFMS!
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VFMS Teachers and Staff Gift $5,000 to iPad Fundraising Campaign!
 Each school year, it has been a long standing tradition that the PTO give each teacher and staff a small financial gift as a thank you for their efforts serving our children. In honor of the school's 50th anniversary, the VFMS teachers and staff have asked that this year's gift, totaling $5,000, instead be given to the iPad Fundraising Campaign. We can't thank them enough for such a generous gift! We have now raised $18,600 which leaves $11,400 to reach our goal! If you have not yet donated to the iPad Fundraising Campaign please consider making a donation today. No amount is too little (or too great)! Have questions about the campaign? Read full information on Parents' Questions and Answers here. Thank you to all who have donated so far! |
8th Grade Parent Updates
Please mark your calendars for the evening of Monday, May 9th from 6:30 - 7:30 pm. This date will be for signing of District permission forms for the overnight trip as well as a presentation of the itinerary and list of items to pack. As a general reminder, the dates of the Sandy Hill trip are Thursday and Friday, June 9th-10th.
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 Chaperones Wanted
Chaperone's Wanted! Spring Dance - Friday, April 29th
Please email VP_Socials@vfmspto.org if you would like to chaperone the final 7th/8th grade dance of the school year at VFMS. As always, we appreciate your help and Mr. Gibson will make every effort to ensure that you do NOT have to interact with your child during the dance! |
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8th Grade Slide Show Photos
 Attention 8th Grade Parents - Graduation Slide Show Photos Wanted!
8th grade parents will soon be receiving a request for photos spanning your 8th graders time at VFMS from 5th through 8th grade for the graduation slide show. Start gathering your photos from VFMS school events such as the drama or musical, "getting ready for the dance", trips, field days, sports and friends throughout your children's years at VFMS.
The slide show will feature all of our 8th grade graduates through their four year career at VFMS - more information about where and how to upload photos for consideration coming soon!
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 T&E Care Grab Bag Event
COME TO THE KIDS' CLOTHING GRAB BAG!
Don't miss out on the 5th annual Kids' Clothing Grab Bag on April 15 (2-6) or April 16 (9-noon) at St. Matthew's United Methodist Church on Walker Road in Wayne. Again this year is a teen girls Pop-up Shop. Check out the event poster here. Teen girls are encouraged to come and get some "new" clothes! This fundraiser for T&E Care was very successful last year, with LOTS of high quality clothes for infants through teens available for your selection.
Everyone in the community is invited to come and fill bags with kids clothing of your choice. The suggested donation amount is $10 per bag.
Tell your neighbors and friends to come and "shop"! Please go to www.tecare.org for more information about this event, to sign up to receive the T&E Care blast e-mail, for a list of items that are and aren't accepted, and/or other ways you can get involved with this important LOCAL non-profit! |
Donate to the T&E Care Grab Bag
T&E CARE IS LOOKING FOR KIDS CLOTHES FOR THE GRAB BAG - Needed: donations of new or gently used clothing for infants through teens.
- Items can be dropped off anytime between March 31-April 8 (only when schools/libraries are open).
- Locations for donations include: local TESD schools (including ours), the Tredyffrin Library (Wayne) or the Easttown Library (Berwyn).
- Clothing for all seasons, plus good quality shoes, boots, coats, belts or other accessories will be accepted.
- Again this year is a teen girls Pop-up Shop (we'll need lots of girls teen clothes)!
- A suggested donation of $10/bag is appreciated.
- There is a collection bin (with receipt papers) outside of the main office until April 8th. We're collecting all sizes of kids clothes, infant through teen! Any questions, contact Karen Ridder or Rita Gosnear.
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 Spain Trip Fundraiser
This summer 29 Valley Forge Middle School students will be traveling to Spain with Teacher Ana Axtmayer to get immersed in the culture and develop their linguistic skills. Please support the group with their fundraising efforts by shopping at Five Below in Gateway Shopping Center between April 9 through April 16. By showing the attached flyer (preferably in hard copy), Five Below will donate 10% of sales to our cause! Please contact Debbie Ealer at with any questions. Thank you!
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 8th Grade Leadership Seminar Gift Card Sale
The 8th grade Leadership Seminar is continuing to place orders for GIFT CARDS in order to help raise the funds we need to put on the Senior Citizen's Prom in May. We have a variety of cards available to restaurants and stores. These could make great VALENTINE gifts!! You might want to have some on hand for last minute BIRTHDAY or other occasions as well. Click here to check out the variety on our order form. Mail the form and payment to IRENE CLEMMER at VFMS (or drop in the box in the main office). THANK YOU!!! |
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| THIS WEEK AT VFMS |
Wed. April 6:
Learning Support Transition Night, 7-8pm
End of MP3 coming up on Friday, April 8th.
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| PTO Board Meetings |
Please be advised that we have changed our meetings to the third Tuesday of every month. Meetings are
held in the conference room in the main office at 12 noon and all are welcome to attend. Missed a meeting but still interested? Click here to be directed to February PTO Board Meeting Minutes.
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Health Fair--CHS
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Buy or sell crafts or household goods while supporting the student Health Fair at Conestoga! The CHS Peer Mediation Club will hold its annual Craft Fair & Flea Market on Saturday, April 9th from 8am to 12pm at Valley Forge Middle School. Admission is free to the public. Vendor spaces are $30 (17.5'x24'). For information, please email CHSpeermediation@tesd.net. Vendor registration deadline is April 4th. Full info here.
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Yankee Candle Fundraiser for the Dental Clinic
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The Dental Clinic is holding its annual Yankee Candle fundraiser now through June 30th. 90% of all monies raised go directly to patient care! To order, click here. To see full information, check out the flyer. Thank you in advance for your support!
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Steps to Cure Sarcoma
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"Steps to Cure Sarcoma"--Join Mark Herzlich, our VMS alum and NFL football Sup  er Bowl winner, along with the community on June 12, 2016. All welcome---even your dogs! Register here. Full info here .
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Philadelphia Soul
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Come out to see the Philadelphia Soul while also supporting VFMS! For each ticket, Philadelphia Soul will donate $10 back to VFMS. A family-friendly event downtown and support for our school! Full info here.
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Showcase of Jazz
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On Saturday, April 9th at 5pm, Conestoga High School and TEMPO (Tredyffrin Easttown Music Parents Organization) will sponsor the second annual Stoga Showcase of Jazz... a Cavalcade of Bands Jazz Festival, to be held at Conestoga High School. We are excited to bring together students and community in an effort to promote the Jazz genre of music -- which is in fact America's only true art form begun hundreds of years ago. Tickets will be available at the door... mark your calendars now for a great nite of jazz at CHS! Full info here .
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| Box Tops for Education! |
BOX TOPS for EDUCATION!!! Parent - keep those box-tops coming! For the last collection period that ended in Nov. 2015 we had collected over $200 for VFMS, and we already have about $70 more since then to send in. Thanks to everyone who keeps them coming. This is easy money for the school!
If you have any questions, contact
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Running Programs
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VFMS is interested in hosting both Girls on the Run (girls) and Stride (boys) clubs this coming spring, sponsored by the Upper Main Line YMCA. We are in need of volunteer coaches to make the programs 'run.' If any parent is interested in volunteering to help, please contact Laura Bender. Thank you! |
Shop Amazon/Help PTO
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There is nothing you can't find on Amazon and we know many of you use this site frequently.
But, did you know that by making a slight adjustment to the way you access their website, you could be benefiting the VFMS PTO?
When you shop at AmazonSmile (www.smile.amazon.com), rather than the regular Amazon site, Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price to Valley Forge Middle School Parent Teacher Organization. Bookmark the link http://smile.amazon.com/ch/23-2936863 and support us every time you shop.
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| Important Numbers | |
VFMS Main Office:
610-240-1300
Attendance Line:
610-240-1330
T/E Transportation:
610-240-1680
T/E District Office:
610-240-1900
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Blast Submissions
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If you have school news you want to have published in the Blast, please write it up exactly how you want it to appear and send it in email to the editor, Lori Benedict, at lori.mb@gmail.com by NOON the preceding Friday afternoon. Blast will go out each Sunday afternoon.
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