Service Valley Students Enjoy a Trip to The State Capital
It's not often you get a call from a State Representative... so I was a little nervous when our secretary told me that a state representative was waiting on the phone for me. I thought to myself, "Great what have I done now?" . . . read more
This Omniscient Speller Embarked Upon a Circuitous Journey
Mouthful huh??? Try spelling those words in front of a room full of people with dictionaries! That's exactly what Service Valley Charter Academy student Matthew Wegner did at the Labette County Spelling Bee this Thursday. He . . . read more
Spinning Their Wheels
The eighth grade science class at Service Valley Charter Academy has been studying work and the six simple machines. As a project they set up several different types of pulley systems testing the mechanical advantage of each system and . . . read more
Dance Class 101
What do you do with a group of 3rd-5th graders when they are full of energy and it is raining outside? Line Dance! Mrs. Wimp moved all the desk in her classroom to make room for 2 teachers and 20 students to show their dance moves. . . . read more
Construction Crew to Demolition Crew
Winter break, a visit from Jack Frost and Mother Nature helped a group of energetic students in grades 2-5 construct and demolish an igloo in the cold tundra of Southeast Kansas. Students returned to SVCA from break with more than . . . read more
If You Build It, They Will Come!
I have been teaching for 20 years and in that time we have never had the learning opportunity that was presented to us by the weather last week. Monday afternoon K/1 students had perfect weather for being outside to work on their snow . . . read more
Confucius Say
Confucius say... he with loose laces catches many chicks! read more
Up Hill Both Ways
We have all heard stories that our grandparents have told about when they were young. Stories like we had to walk to school in all kinds of weather and of course it was up hill both ways. Well they have nothing on our students at . . . read more
The Show Must Go On
The SVCA Christmas program was held on Tuesday, December 8, 2009. Students in 4-5 were in for a challenge when their music teacher/classroom teacher had to attend/coach a high school basketball game. The class took control and . . . read more
Pretty in Pink
Why pink? Well, back in August when we were in the process of ordering shirts and discussing color choices, Mr. Huff said he did not care what color we ordered as long as it wasn't pink. So, we settled on green but . . . read more
SVCA CHRISTMAS PROGRAM.... They Sang Their Hearts Out!
SVCA students sang their hearts out last night! Thanks to all students, staff, and community members who made this possible! It was a HUGE success! read more
SVCA K/1 Students participate in NASA Experiment
Wednesday Nov. 4 SVCA students are one of 400 schools chosen to take part in the NASA experiment to determine how the microgravity of space will affect the development of monarch caterpillars. NASA will watch from cameras on the . . . read more
WILD BIRDS
K/1 students put up a bird feeder right outside the classroom window. K/1 students were excited to see which wild birds would visit our feeder. The next day we noticed over half of the birdseed was gone but we had not . . . read more
Sunflower Hut!
To recap: K/1 students from last school year, 2008-2009, shared the book “The Sunflower House” by Eve Bunting. We purchased mammoth sunflower seeds and planted them in the K/1 garden in hopes of being able to pull the sunflowers . . . read more
Appreciation Dinner
.....THANK YOU!
We recently had an Appreciation Dinner for all our volunteers and donors. It took a few hours to prepare and decorate our barn and, although it was a little chilly, I believe it was a huge success! It . . . read more
Dirty Jobs
The RAIN came last week. The MUD was way past our ankles but it did not keep students in grades 2-5 from doing one of the most dirty jobs on the school farm. Yes, we cleaned out the stalls in the barn. The students, Mrs. Sheddrick, and I . . . read more
The Last To Go!
The days are getting shorter and temperatures are falling. The last of our monarch butterflies emerged from its chrysalis. We decided to do some research to found out how the falling temperature would affect the migration of our final . . . read more
Neither Rain, Nor sleet, Nor Dark of Day.....
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of day will stop the K/1 students from delivering the necessary care for the SVCA’s new chicks. K/1 students started daily chores last week. Twice a day K/1 students take fresh water and feed out to . . . read more
Final Day of Harvest
With Old Man Winter knocking LOUDLY at our door, we thought it best to start preparing our gardens for next Spring. With this in mind we started by first harvesting all the vegetables from the garden.... and little did we know how many we . . . read more
Service Valley Students Are Turning Green!
SVCA students were surprised today after receiving shirts... complete with school logo.We hope the new shirts will foster school pride and a sense of unity for our students and staff. Several of the older students were surprised . . . read more
K/1 Students Explode!
Sept. 21st brought SVCA K/1 students their first close up look at a Monarch butterfly that emerged around eight o'clock. On Tuesday we had 2 more butterflies emerge. I am sure the whole building heard the K/1 classroom . . . read more
Timing Is Everything
Our first Monarch butterfly emerged from the chrysalis on Sunday over the holiday weekend. We have our second Monarch chrysalis nearing maturity by Sept. 13th and yes it too is on a Sunday. But……. We have at least 11 more chances to . . . read more
Roll'em Again
4-5 took time out of their busy day to play a dice game. What they didn't realize... they were working on probability and computation skills while playing a game of chance. Here are a few student comments: . . . read more
If At First You Don't Suc"Seed" ......
The first sunflower house we planted in early spring bloomed in July. When school started the sunflowers had already turned to seed. Our plans to pull the stalks together to make a sunflower house did not come to pass. But if at first . . . read more
It's a Dirty Job! But K/1 Will Do It!
SVCA students are stripping the gardens and removing old dirt to be replaced with a more nutrient rich soil. Soil has three main kinds of different sized particles: sand, silt and clay. Students felt sugar and salt to represent . . . read more
Jalapeno Peppers and Tomatoes For Sale!
K/1 students spent time outside with our first task harvesting sunflowers. Harvesting sunflower seeds is no easy task but the end result yielded a wagon full of seeds to use for replanting, and setting out for the birds in the winter. . . . read more
What Was I Thinking
Bird Watching requires quiet and no movement. I was expecting K/1 students to sit still and stay quiet at the same - What was I thinking! We put up a humming bird feeder one day and the next day we had two humming birds . . . read more
And So It Begins......
August 26th brought the sighting of our first monarch caterpillar. It was full grown and by the next morning had transformed into a beautiful green chrysalis. We had two small caterpillars emerge from their eggs with at least 3 . . . read more
Are We There Yet!
The first day of school K/1 went on a scavenger hunt to help to familiarize the new students with the school grounds. The students were given clues to objects hidden around the school. The first clue lead the students to the green . . . read more
School ..... Is Hard Work!
K/1 took to our sunflower garden to prepare it for fall planting! Before the new plants could go in the ground the old plants had to come out and that …. is where the work came in! We harvested the sunflowers by using a saw to take . . . read more
First Day of School and......... YUCK!
Not exactly gourmet cooking: )
I don't know if we would have had as many students enroll at Service Valley this year if they knew they were going to have to eat Fried Green Tomatoes the very first day of school. Mrs. Farris had . . . read more
Service Valley Open House... a HUGE SUCCESS!
Hundreds attended
A lot of hard work went into making this summer's Open House a success. Mr. Ward and his wife Sonja spent countless hours planting, watering, and weeding the gardens. Mrs. Farris put a lot of hard work in her Sunflower/Pumpkin Patch as . . . read more
Short to Tall
The first month of summer is over and our K/1 sunflower garden has made amazing growth. Three summer storms with high winds and hail leaving their mark on our garden but it could not slow its growth. We now have the signs of our first . . . read more
Oh, It's a Lovely Little School!
Nanny McKae was not too excited about her first visit to SVCA back in the fall. (She disliked the fertilizer.) It is now springtime on the school farm and she enjoys each and every visit. This current visit was to bring ice cream . . . read more
Opportunities for Learning
Service Valley Students will: Experience a well-rounded curricula that includes core academics as well as project-based learning Utilize advanced interactive classroom technology including . . . read more
Kitra Cooper Presents Agricultural Program to SVCA
Kitra Cooper, K-State Research and Extension Office, presented an agricultural program to the 2nd and 3rd grade class at SVCA. This was a opportunity for students to gain knowledge about agriculture and understanding of how our charter . . . read more
The Adventures of Cletus Ralphie Smucker
A couple of months have passed since Cletus Ralphie Smucker left our school to travel the world. He has meet hundreds of people, visited many places, and returned with photos and memorabilia. The 2nd and 3rd grade students, at SVCA, have . . . read more
SVCA School Chores
This is book two in the series written about Service Valley Charter Academy chores. read more
Chores aren't so bad......
K/1 wanted to share some of the important lessons that we have learned. While helping with the daily chores that came along with Service Valley becoming a charter school we have learned…. • When the temperature gets below 32 . . . read more
Nanny McKae Arrives Bringing Awards
Students and staff at SVCA were surprised to see Nanny McKae arrive at their recent awards assembly. She returned early from her recent vacation in the Bahamas to present awards. K-1 and 2-3 classes received awards for passing 446 AR tests . . . read more
Where In The World Is Cletus Ralphie Smucker?
In early October, 2nd and 3rd grade students at SVCA took their class cartoon mascot, gave him a name, gathered names and addresses of friendly fun loving folks, and sent Cletus Ralphie Smucker packing to travel around the world. Our . . . read more
Ladybugs
Ladybug by Maria Fleming Ladybugs all dressed in red Strolling through the flowerbed. If I were tiny just like you I'd creep among the flowers too! Service Valley students got up . . . read more
K-State Prepares SVCA Staff For New Program
Educators Learn to Bring Agriculture into the Classroom Manhattan, KS - Teachers at Service Valley Charter Academy, recently learned how to integrate agriculture into their classroom. All members completed . . . read more
