Author: DONIA SAADAH

Village Green Environmental Studies School welcomed some very special guest readers during Literacy Week. We had a blast having special readers who filled our classrooms with stories and joy. Amongst our special guests, Village Green had the honor of having Sheriff Richard R. Del Toro Jr. help us celebrate Literacy Week and partake in the activities. Mrs. Fraser -Wittingham’s 3rd grade students were thrilled to have him spread the love of reading! It was a special opportunity to connect with the younger generation while promoting the joy of reading. Village Green students were all ears as they delved into new … Read More

A mini study focusing on natural selection and competition was carried out in Dr. Venzen’s 5th-grade Science classroom. The characteristic that student scientists explored was adaptation. Upcoming scientists were made aware that adaptation to an environment is not solely based on the seasons. The food items students used were black beans, popcorn seed, lima beans, small red beans, and large red beans. The food items were first distributed, and then students were randomly given their beak utensils. Students quickly realize the quantity of food they would be able to gather based on their beaks. Seconds after realizing their dilemma, many … Read More

To end off our amazing Literacy Week, Village Green Environmental Studies School celebrated with an epic Career Day Parade! At VGESS our World Changers are getting ready for the future. Students dressed in their future careers and marched around our garden displaying various careers. We had doctors, nurses, artists, chefs, and of course, we had a lot of future educators! Thank you to all of the parents who came out to support their children and thank you to Village Green’s Dean, Mrs. Christopher for leading the parade in style. Everyone had a great time and it was a great way … Read More

This past weekend Village Green Environmental Studies School had the privilege to celebrate our Night of the Stars winners at St. Lucie County district’s prestigious annual event. Our hearts swelled with Manatee pride as our exceptional teachers and staff graciously accepted their well-deserved awards. Please help us in congratulating and cheering on Village Green’s Teacher of the Year, Dr. Venzen, who teaches fifth-grade science and math. Mrs. Sleap, our School-related Employee of the Year, is our exceptional ESE Paraprofessional. Our First Year Teacher of the Year winner is Mrs. Barbieri, she is one of our fabulous second-grade teachers and last … Read More

Literacy Night for Village Green Elementary, hosted at the Morningside Branch Public Library, emerged as a remarkable event that fostered significant community partnerships. This initiative provided an excellent opportunity for parents and students to engage with the library’s offerings, including the process of signing up for library cards and discovering the plethora of free resources available for children. The evening commenced with students creating personalized bookmarks while their parents were introduced to an array of resources, such as ebooks and audiobooks accessible through platforms like Tumblebooks, Libby, Cloudlibrary, and Hoopla. Following the bookmark-making activity, students were captivated by a story … Read More

Congratulations to Village Green’s Martin Luther King Jr. Parade Committee, led by ESE specialist, Mrs. Sykes, who took first place in this year’s parade celebration! Village Green’s float theme was “The Change Begins With Me.” Village Green’s strong teamwork was on full display as we came together to deliver a truly spectacular performance. Students performed a song and dance to the famous Michael Jackson song “Man in the Mirror.” The float has a beautiful garden to represent Village Green and in between two of the trees was a mirror where two students stood. The back of the float read “The … Read More

This year’s Mel Fisher Pop-Up Museum’s theme is “The Bermuda Triangle.” Media Specialist, Mrs. Sievers, has put together the 8 panels that the Museum consists of for her students to enjoy over the past few weeks. Students were able to learn about the fascinating history of the Bermuda Triangle, learning all about the facts and the fantasies that came along with it! Students have used their critical thinking skills to investigate this media mystery that started with a news article written by a Miami newspaper in 1950 that showed many of the missing vessels that were last seen in an … Read More

The 1st Grade Holiday Performance was truly a show-stopper! Each little star shone brightly, sharing their joy and creativity with us all. Their hard work and enthusiasm made every moment so special. A heartfelt thank you to our talented young performers, families, and the wonderful teachers who helped bring this magical event to life. Dr. Reynolds, Village Green’s music teacher, truly outdid herself with this year’s “Gnome for the Holidays” program. VGESS 4th graders were included as special guest narrators for the show. Our village knows how to put on a performance and we can’t wait for the next show!

What an epic day at Village Green Environmental Studies School! A whopping 222 students with perfect attendance during the month of December turned into wall-hanging artists as they taped our amazing Assistant Principal, Mrs. Drost, and Principal, Mrs. Boria to the wall in the cafeteria for everyone to see. Talk about an extremely sticky situation! Our students and staff had a great time watching their principals participate in this fun event. We could not be more proud of our awesome world-changing Manatees for making attendance a top priority. Can’t wait to see what fabulous incentive awaits us in January! Stay … Read More

Some of our sweet Village Green Manatees were able to participate in this year’s Winter Celebration at the Rotary Club of Port St. Lucie. This annual Christmas party helps alleviate some of the holiday stress for families in our community and we are very grateful to be able to give some of our students the opportunity to participate. Thank you to our school counselors, Mrs. Hood and Ms. Collins, who accompanied a few VGESS Manatees to this event. The students enjoyed a lunch provided by the Rotary Club and had the opportunity to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus who brought … Read More

Village Green Environmental Studies School hosted their annual “Pancakes With Santa” event this past Saturday, it was a festive and fun way to bring together students, families, and the community during the holiday season. Families enjoyed a delicious pancake breakfast with their loved ones. Santa and his elves were busy visiting with the children and creating lasting memories! There were Christmas-themed activities and crafts and plenty of photo opportunities for families to enjoy. A huge thank you goes out to the PBIS team for putting together another fun-filled event for our students, we appreciate your dedication.

Dr. Jacqueline Venzen,  Dr. Thomas Gay, and their fifth-grade students celebrated recent learning gains by engaging in a large-scale interactive math activity. Utilizing the hallway walls, a vast coordinate grid was constructed to support student learning based on current math curriculum standards.  Students first rolled their colored dice to represent numbers along the X and Y axes, then the numbers were identified and plotted on the coordinate grid in the quest to find a sweet treat.  Each student had the opportunity to locate the selected plotted points as they enjoyed this student participatory activity.  After this whole group activity, students … Read More

Ms. Cole’s 4th graders at Village Green Environmental Studies School had some classroom fun comparing and contrasting life cycles of Florida plants and animals, such as those that undergo incomplete and complete metamorphosis, and flowering and nonflowering seed-bearing plants. Students were using their notes, science books, and charts to create Venn diagrams out of hula hoops of incomplete and complete metamorphosis of two insects.  They had to create 3-dimensional models of each stage and write the name of the stage and what occurs during that stage of the life cycle. Thank you Ms. Cole for an innovative way of teaching this … Read More

The VGESS Girls on The Run Team had an amazing 5k event on Saturday! A huge thank you to our amazing VGESS coaches – Coach Latowski, Mrs. Hood, Mrs. Collins, Mrs. Scimeca, and Dr. Venzen – for their dedication and enthusiasm in leading our girls! And a special shoutout to our wonderful teachers, Mrs. Price, Mrs. Angle, Ms. Nikki, Ms. Harris, and Mrs. Baptiste-Harris, who joined in the fun and made the experience even more special. To our fantastic students and supportive parents, thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we are the Village, and together, we WILL … Read More

Village Green Environmental Studies School hosted a successful food drive to help our school families in need over the holiday season. Mrs. Collins, Mrs. Christopher, Mrs. Dressel, Mrs. Francois, Mrs. Hood, and Mrs. Johnson collected non-perishable food items over the past two weeks to help benefit many of our VGESS families! The grade level with the most donations earned of items earned extra recess time and get to play BINGO in the cafeteria. Thank you to our Coaches and Guidance Counselors for organizing this food drive for our families, this was a great way to kick off the holiday season!

Village Green Environmental Studies School hosted a Fall into Success: Title 1 and Curriculum Night. This wonderful event provided families with helpful information and resources to ensure their children’s success. A huge thank you goes to VGESS Faculty and Staff, parents, students, and community partners for joining us for Success Night. Your participation and enthusiasm truly made this event special and meaningful!  

Village Green’s wonderful Music Teacher, Dr. Reynolds, and our fabulous third graders put on a special Veterans Day Concert last week. Students sang and performed for their friends and families a number of patriotic songs. A huge thank you goes to the Port St. Lucie High School Color Guard, a group of JROTC cadets who perform at ceremonies and competitions, for opening the night for us! Job well done, Dr. Reynolds, VGESS third graders, and PSL HS Color Guard!    

VGESS hosted a fabulous Garden Community Event over the weekend, where Village Green families, faculty and staff, and community members came together to help rebuild our beautiful garden. Volunteers helped with cutting branches, planting new trees, and creating paths for students to explore the garden. A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who came out to support our efforts to revitalize the garden.  We also donated over 40 banana trees and plants. The community was so appreciative of our generosity. We were especially honored to have a special guest, Mr. Terry Davis, the principal who initiated the garden many … Read More

Frances Peyton, meteorologist from WPTV, came to Village Green on Tuesday, October 29th to converse with all fifth-grade students about their current science topic on Weather and Climate (Unit 3), which is taught by Dr. Jacqueline Venzen and Dr. Thomas Gay. Ms. Peyton and our students were very engaged in a myriad of topics such as the formation of clouds, climate, weather, hurricanes, high-and low-pressure systems, and a variety of other climate and weather-related topics. She presented data on the largest tornados in the area, checklists for weather alerts, and hurricane hazards. We appreciate Ms. Peyton sharing her meteorological expertise with … Read More

Village Green’s Kindergarteners had a special backstage tour of the kitchen last week. They met the kitchen staff and were shown the different areas of the kitchen. Kindergartners learned about healthy foods and how to pick them in the lunchroom. The friendly cafeteria staff allowed them to watch as they cooked pizza. They also showed them the tools in the kitchen, the pantry, and the freezer. They ended their tour with a delicious slice of pizza! Thank you to Ms. Kinder and her wonderful staff for allowing our Kindergartners to explore your kitchen!