School News

Hello Valley,

Picture day this year will be on Wednesday, October 9th.

Retakes will take place on Friday, November 15th.

Parent-teacher conferences are Tuesday, September 17th and Wednesday, September 18th from 4:00-7:00 PM. Conferences will be held in-person only in the individual teacher classrooms and no appointment is necessary. We ask that the duration of each conference not exceed five minutes. If you need additional time with a teacher or are not able to meet in person these days, please arrange to communicate via email or in person at a later date.

RISE Testing– The testing schedule is below. The RISE test is a measure of student learning and it also serves as a school accountability tool that we use to plan for the next school year. Students, please make sure that you are in class on time and ready to show what you have learned this year. Phones, earbuds, and smart watches are not allowed to be out at all during the test. Please make sure that all devices are turned off and stored properly during the tests.

Writing- March 25-29

English- April 15-19

Science- April 22-26

Math- April 30-May 3

Make-up Testing- May 7-14

Attendance– Parents, if you would like assistance in tracking your student’s attendance and grades, please go to https://www.graniteschools.org/infosystems/parent-portal-resources/. If you are getting phone calls about unexplained absences/tardies, checking the parent portal can help you see what is happening. We are concerned about the number of students with dozens of tardies and absences in a week. For students who make an effort to skip class or to be excessively late, we will be escalating consequences to correct this behavior. We would appreciate your added support in encouraging your students to attend on time 90% and to have passing grades, at minimum. This helps ensure that students are prepared for high school.

1^st Lunch– Parents, we have had repeated issues with soccer during 1^st lunch. Despite our efforts to reteach, including 2-week breaks from soccer, the negative behaviors have continued. For the time being, soccer will not be allowed during 1^st lunch. There are plenty of other activities that students can participate in, however.

Parent-teacher conferences are next Monday, February 5th and Tuesday, February 6th from 4:00-7:00 PM. Conferences will be held in-person only in the individual teacher classrooms and no appointment is necessary. We ask that the duration of each conference not exceed five minutes. If you need to discuss further with a teacher or are not able to meet in person these days, please arrange to communicate via email or in person at a later date.

Dear Valley Jr. High Students, Staff, Parents and Families,

We want to alert you to a situation that has come to our attention this morning. A former student, who no longer attends our school or lives in the area, posted content online that was initially reported as a threat. Granite School District Police and Administrators have been able to source the postings and it is clear that there is no actual threat being made to our students or school. Police are continuing to investigate but we have no reason to believe any of our students or staff are in danger.

To be clear, there is no threat and school is proceeding as normal today.

We are grateful for the students who reported this and the prompt assistance from Granite Police to investigate this matter. Please discuss with your student the importance of contacting trusted adults when they see unsafe behavior occurring. They can also report tips anonymously to the SafeUT app on any mobile device. It is also important to understand that making a joke about a threat is still a potential crime and will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted in addition to district safe school referral.

The best security system we have continues to be the eyes and ears of our students who contact trusted adults when they see unsafe behavior or situations. Please remind your students that we need their help to keep our campus and community a safe place. They can anonymously report unsafe behavior using the SafeUT app on a mobile device or web, or contact our police department at (801) 481-7122 to report issues. As always, they can reach out to a teacher or administrator for help with any concerns.

Student safety is always our primary concern and we will always address every tip very seriously and enact district safety protocols and involve police as appropriate.

Thank you for your patience and support while we work to keep kids safe.

Sincerely,

Brian Murray

Principal

Dear Valley Junior Parents and Families,

This afternoon after school ended, a distracted driver who appears to have been speeding caused a chain reaction auto accident after running into another vehicle that was stopped in front of our school crosswalk. This vehicle in turn was pushed into a large truck that was immediately in front of the crosswalk awaiting a student to cross the road. The driver of the vehicle that was initially struck had their vehicle totaled and was treated at the scene for non-life threatening injuries. 

No students were injured as a result of this accident. However, you can imagine our concern if this speeding vehicle had not been stopped by the other two vehicles and had run through the crosswalk with the student in it. 

Around 50 students were still on campus when this occurred and may have witnessed the accident. Please speak with your student to see if they did witness the accident and if they need any emotional support or just someone to speak with. Our counseling staff is available to assist. Please contact the school and we are happy to follow up with your student tomorrow. 

This is an unfortunate reminder to please put down phones or other distractions while driving and pay particular attention in school zones. We need the support of our entire community to ensure the safety of our students while they walk and travel back and forth from school. 

Thank you for your support as we work to keep our students safe. 

Mr. Murray

Principal

Valley Junior High

Hello Ligers,

We hope you had an enjoyable summer and are prepared for the 23-24 school year! We want to welcome you back and have a couple of items for you:

1- Hot Dog Hello- August 14th from 6:00-7:00 pm. We will have food for the whole family. We will also have FOCUS Parent Portal tech support in the media center and our Family Center will be open during this time. As you walk around, we ask that you also complete an anonymous survey which will provide feedback for how we can better serve the Valley school community.

2. August 16th is the first day of school. 7th graders will start school at 7:45 am and 8th graders start at 9:45. 7th graders will have a chance to get to know the school better during the first two hours by being in each class for 10 minutes. At 9:45, all students will start in 1st period and go to all remaining classes.

BUS INFORMATION on August 16th- If you ride the school bus and you’re in 7th grade, the bus schedule remains the same. If you ride the bus and you’re in 8th grade, your bus pick-up time is two hours after the normal pick-up time. For example, bus 399 will pick up 7th graders on Cochise Dr. at 7:08 am and will pick up 8th graders on Cochise Dr. at 9:08. If you have general transportation questions, you can contact GSD Transportation at 385-646-4280.

See you next week!

Mr. Murray

Important dates:

Tuesday, August 1st: Registration opens

Monday, August 14th: Hot Dog Hello, from 6:00-7:00 PM.

Wednesday, August 16th: First Day of School. 7^th Graders arrive at 7:30 a.m. for Orientation. 8^th graders will start school at approximately 9:45. For students who ride the bus, the busses will do two pick-ups to accommodate the different start times for 7^th and 8^th graders. More details will be posted when available.

Additional registration information may be found on our registration page.

Valley Parents and Students,

A few reminders for the upcoming last week of school: 

1. No school on Monday, May 29th for Memorial Day. 

2. The last day of School is Friday, June 2nd at students will be dismissed 12:05 p.m. 

2.  We are excited about the activities we have planned with our students to round out an amazing year.  Thank you for your support this year and we wish you a great summer vacation

3. Students will have no need for a bookbag. Please keep all bookbags home starting Tuesday. Any bookbags that come will be held in the office for the duration of the day. Lunch bags will be permitted but searched.

4. Any student behavior that is not conducive to a safe and productive environment  will result in the student being immediately dismissed and parents will be contacted to come pick up their student. Please talk with your child about appropriate behaviors for the remainder of school. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Main Office. 

Thank you!

VJH Administration

Padres y Estudiantes del Valle,

Algunos recordatorios para la próxima última semana de clases:

1. No hay clases el lunes 29 de mayo por el Día de los Caídos.

2. El último día de clases es el viernes 2 de junio y los estudiantes saldrán a las 12:05 p.m.

2.  Estamos entusiasmados con las actividades que hemos planeado con nuestros estudiantes para completar un año increíble. Gracias por su apoyo este año y les deseamos unas excelentes vacaciones de verano.

3. Los estudiantes no necesitarán una mochila. Mantenga todas las mochilas en casa a partir del martes. Cualquier mochila que venga se mantendrá en la oficina durante el día. Se permitirán bolsas de almuerzo, pero se registrarán.

4. Cualquier comportamiento del estudiante que no conduzca a un ambiente seguro y productivo resultará en la salida inmediata del estudiante y se contactará a los padres para que vengan a recoger a su estudiante. Hable con su hijo sobre los comportamientos apropiados para el resto de la escuela.


Si tiene alguna pregunta, no dude en ponerse en contacto con la oficina principal.

¡Gracias!

Administración VJH

Valley Jr. Parents and Students,

The final day to order yearbooks for $11 is this Friday, May 19th.   We will not be ordering a second batch, so if you are interested, please do not miss this deadline.  Please come into the Main Office if interested.

Thanks.