Valley View Newsletter
Jeremy Karel - Principal
[email protected]
Address: 405 Summit Ave, Rockford, MI 49341
Website: www.rockfordschools.org
Phone: (616) 863-6366
a note from mr. Karel
Dear Valley View Families,
Today, a group of our fifth graders represented Valley View at the RPS Battle of the Books. It was a hard fought battle and our team brought home the silver! The Battle of the Books is a reading and trivia competition where student teams read selected books and answer question about them. Congratulations to our wonderful group of fifth graders who represented Valley View in the best possible way. We are SO proud of you!!
Parents, it’s hard to believe but it's time to start planning for winter conferences. This year’s dates are:
- Tuesday, February 24 and Thursday, February 26
- Both nights are in-person from 4:30-7:30pm.
Our link to book is now open and can be found HERE.
Warmly,
Mr. Karel
Valentine's parties
Classroom Valentine's parties are on February 12th this year, as we have mid-winter break February 13th and February 16th! Each individual classroom teacher will create a time that works within their
classroom schedule on this day to celebrate. Teachers will be asking for some assistance in planning the short celebration that will include a snack and activity. We thank you for your willingness to donate to your child's classroom.
We are looking forward to having students have a great time together. The following are some helpful guidelines.
- All food items must be store-bought.
- All items for the celebration should be dropped off to school by the morning of February 12th. Feel free to drop items off any day that week.
- When dropping off items, please label with the classroom teacher’s name, and staff will deliver the items to the classroom.
Yearbook covers
Each year, our talented students design our covers—and this year, we had more entries than ever! Our covers are put on display and voted on to determine the top ten, and ultimately, our cover winner. Clearly, our students put TONS of effort into their work, and boy oh boy, do we appreciate it! Check out our top ten selections, along with all of this year’s entries, below. Which design will be on the cover? Purchase one to find out!! The basic yearbook is $15 and all orders are ONLINE ONLY. You can order your yearbook HERE. Valley View's yearbook code is 14568526.
HAND2HAND
Rockford Public Schools is teaming up with Hand 2 Hand again this year
to help raise awareness for the support needed by hungry kids in our district. The top raising school will get a fresh-baked cookie day from Dr Matthews!
h2hkids.org - (616) 209-2779 - 306 Chicago Dr. Jenison, MI 49428
Nearly 65,000 children in West Michigan are at risk of hunger. That's roughly 834 school buses filled with kids being dropped off at home each weekend, who are at real risk of having little to no food for 68 hours!
Hand2Hand exists to eliminate that 68-hour gap so every kid has an opportunity to thrive. They do this by mobilizing schools, churches, businesses, foundations, and individuals to provide a backpack of nutritious food over the weekend and extended school breaks. Beyond physical nutrition, this food provides hope for students who are experiencing hunger. RPS wants to do our part and join volunteers across West Michigan who drive the Hand2Hand grassroots movement to eliminate child hunger ... because a hungry child hurts.
• RPS has 163 Students getting H2H assistance.
• Each Friday, H2H delivers backpacks of food to each of these students discreetly to keep them from going hungry over the weekend.
• A backpack with two days' worth of food is approximately $4.00.
• RPS students utilize $23,000 a year of H2H resources.
• H2H helps over 10,200 students across 280 schools and 145 churches throughout West Michigan.
HOW TO DONATE: February 2nd – 13th
Bring your donations to your school office. For every four dollars collected, a backpack gets placed on your school wall. Bring in a dollar and share a backpack with four friends or bring in all four dollars for yourself! The entire district will compete to see who can collect the most backpacks by raising the most money to feed hungry children in our community. The school that raises the most money will get a Cookie Day from Dr. Matthews!
GRASP
Do you want to help your child maintain reading and math skills over summer break? GRASP is an at home program used by families for 50 years!
Grand Rapids Academic Summer Program (GRASP) is a summer math and reading correspondence program that helps scholars in grades kindergarten through 8th retain skills learned during the school year by providing review exercises.
GRASP Curriculum
Teachers and curriculum professionals developed GRASP as a cost-efficient substitute for traditional summer school. Lessons were written to correlate with the Common Core Standards which most states have adopted.
GRASP offers nine lessons to be submitted during the summer - one per week or at a scholar's own pace as long as they are submitted before the final due date. Each lesson reinforces the basic skills typically found in most curricula at that particular grade level. GRASP staff score the lesson and return it to the scholar with comments.
Packets are available for scholars finishing grades K-8 to review their math and reading skills. Scholars finishing grades 4-8 can select online resources instead of the packets.
We recognize our scholars' efforts by awarding a certificate to those who successfully complete at least seven lessons with 70% accuracy. A medal is given to scholars who successfully complete all nine lessons from their packet.
ENROLL HERE:
Nominate your favorite teacher!
One of your staff members may be selected for a well-deserved day off with our own super substitute, Dr. Matthews! Once a month, Dr. Matthews will be trading his Superintendent’s office for the classroom and stepping in to substitute for a day.
How it works: Each $10 donation to the Rockford Education Foundation nominates a teacher to win a day off while Dr. Matthews takes over the classroom. All donations support REF educational grants, celebrate our incredible educators, and give Dr. Matthews a front-row seat in the classroom.
- $10 = 1 entry to nominate a teacher - multiple entries gladly accepted!
- Teachers may nominate themselves or a colleague
- One winner will be drawn monthly, January–May 2026
Link: Nominate a teacher
March is Reading Month!
Believe it or not, March is coming up sooner than we think.
This year, we are doing something fun in addition for reading month. We are looking for some volunteers to sign up to decorate doors around the school. The day to decorate is February 25th, during the Early Release Day afternoon, so students will be surprised coming in the next morning to a transformed school.
There are slots to decorate classroom doors all over the school - more will be added if there is enough interest.
The theme this year is "Animals". Please keep this theme in mind for your door decorations. Since this is reading month, you can do ideas such as Clifford the Big Red Dog or the Rainbow Fish or simply a door decorated with an animal theme with a reading quote.
The large paper rolls at the school will be out in the hallways for use, but all other supplies will need to be brought in with you.
Let's make March a little extra special!
Valley View PTO 2025-2026: Reading Month Door Decorations
Please note: when signing up, please DO NOT put your student's name. Just teacher's name please!
Save the date
The Rockford Education Foundation invites you to The Taste on March 5, 2026. This is REF's annual signature event, serving up amazing support for education through great food, drinks, and community partnership. The Taste hosts many local restaurants and businesses. Learn more, sign up to sponsor or purchase tickets online. The sponsor deadline for marketing materials is January 10, 2026.
Upcoming events
- February 2: 4th grade field trip
- February 4: Early release day: 1:30 dismissal
- February 4: Mental health night (details below)
- February 6: 4th grade field trip
- February 9: 4th grade field trip
- February 11: 5th grade field trip
- February 14: Valentine's day parties
- February 13 - 16: Mid-winter break - no school
Mental Health Education
Join us for a cost-free evening dedicated to strengthening our community through mental health education, awareness, and connection. Visit with over 20 vendors and listen to two speaker presentations. Gues speakers are Mariah DeYoung, LMSW, CAADC, CCS and Chloe Metzger, LMSW. Wednesday, February 4th - 5:30 - 8:30pm at the Rockford High School Auditorium - 4100 Kroes Street, NE, Rockford, MI 49341
RPS Skate Night
Join us for the RPS Elementary School family open skate on Saturday, February 28th from 3-5pm at the Cedar Rock Sports Plex. Admission fee is $10 and if you sign in for Valley View, our PTO receives $2. We hope to see you there!
