Dear Vanderlyn Families,

STEM Day was a HUGE success! Our instructional day began with a school-wide STEM pep rally with music, a dramatic presentation from our STEM team and STEM trivia with prize giveaways to students. We even had a surprise visit from Super STEM! (You will have to ask your students about that one!) After the pep rally, students returned to their classes to begin their individual STEM Day activities. Students in all grades were involved in learning activities that required them to engage in STEM disciplines while promoting higher-order thinking skills such as hypothesizing, critical thinking, problem-solving and synthesizing.

Because metacognition plays a critical role in successful learning, activities required the students to plan how to approach the learning task, monitor their comprehension, and evaluate their progress towards the completion of the STEM challenge tasks. Simply put, the activities required the students to "thinking about thinking."

In addition to the challenging STEM activities, students and teachers came dressed in their STEM career attire. There were scientists, doctors, artists, astronauts, engineers, construction workers, an adorable UPS guy and a tiny version of Albert Einstein and so many more! Again STEM Day was an unforgettable experience for our students and teachers! Thank you so much for your support as we continue to provide our students with "STEMtastic" learning opportunities that will prepare them for the 21st Century workforce.

As we prepare for Awards Day, please be mindful that we have very limited parking, so it is suggested that you carpool or walk if distance permits. In order to accommodate parents, we have scheduled each grade level to have its own Awards Day due to parking constraints. However, we want to solicit your support in making sure that each event goes smoothly. Because we will host two grade level programs on Tuesday and Wednesday, please understand that once the first program is over, parents will need to quickly leave the building so that the next group of students and parents can begin their program. After the second program, the same will be asked of parents as we will need to quickly prepare our students for lunch. There will not be an opportunity for you to visit with your child after the program, but please feel free to take pictures as they receive their awards. We want all parents to have an opportunity to see their child(ren) but to understand that we are trying to accomplish a great deal in a small time frame.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Mrs. Crenshaw 

It has been a privilege to volunteer as leaders with the Vanderlyn PTA! The successes of the PTA this year are attributable to the parents who have volunteered their time and donated their money to the school. Additionally, the support that we have received from the community through the VanderDash event is significant.

The PTA initiated the build out of a Science Lab and Courtyard Classroom this year. We have also chosen to invest in improvements to our technology platform. These initiatives will be ready for implementation in the next school year! Also important is that our traditional programs have ensured that the students benefit from continuity of experience.

Personally, I am delighted by the reports that our staff feels the support from our PTA community. Excellent teachers inspire excellence in students!

On behalf of the PTA Executive Committee, we thank you for being a part of the success of our school, and we encourage you to take action to continue the success next year.

Have a great summer!

Julia LeDoyen and Courtney Kuriger

Join Vanderlyn students and families at Yogli Mogli the afternoon and evening of our last day of school, May 23! Yogli Mogli is donating 20% of sales back to Vanderlyn at this last spirit event of the year. What a great way to start your summer!

Let's make this event really count! Encourage other students and families to meet you at Yogli Mogli on May 23!

Vanderlyn's Awards Days are coming! Mark your calendar to attend this event where your student will be recognized for the learning, effort and growth that transpired this school year.

May 21 - First Grade, 8 a.m.

May 21 - Second Grade, 9:15 a.m.

May 22 - Third Grade, 8 a.m.

May 22 - Fourth Grade, 9:15 a.m.

May 23 - Fifth Grade Celebration, 8:30 am

Be sure to check out Vanderlynpta.com website to discover opportunities in the area for summer fun and camps! These items are posted regularly to our website as we reserve Viking Views for school-specific news.

Thanks in advance for your assistance!