Gertrude Chamberlin School
Family Newsletter December 10, 2021 Volume 16 Issue 17
IMPORTANT DATES:
December 17th - Early Release, 12:30 PM Dismissal for Staff Development
December 23rd - December 31st - No School, Early Winter Break
December 11th Author Visit at the South Burlington Public Library
Join us on Saturday, December 11 for an author event at the South Burlington Public Library — Ashley will be reading aloud, drawing pictures and signing books. Shelburne’s Flying Pig Bookstore will be there, too, with a full range of her storybooks available for purchase and signing.
Dec 11, 11:00 a.m., South Burlington Public Library, South Burlington VT
Ashley Wolff has been an artist since she declared herself one at the age of 5.
She grew up in Middlebury, Vermont and holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design.
Ashley is the author and/or illustrator of over 70 children’s picture books including WILDFIRE!, How to Help a Pumpkin Grow, Compost Stew, Bear Sees Blue, Baby Beluga, and the Miss Bindergarten Series.
Every summer Ashley teaches writing, drawing and introduction to media in the Children’s Picture Book Writing & Illustration MFA and certificate programs at Hollins University.
One of Ashley’s favorite pastimes has been traveling to schools all over the US, speaking to children about finding, nourishing and using their passion and imagination to help them find their own paths to the future.
She lives and works beside a lake in Leicester, VT.
Natacha Liuzzi
Children’s Specialist
South Burlington Public Library
180 Market Street
South Burlington VT 05403
802-846-4140
We are open at our new location on 180 Market Street!
Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 10:00am – 7:00pm
Friday: 10:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am – 2:00pm
The Book Drop is available at our new location. It is to the RIGHT of the City Hall Drop Box, around the corner.
Congratulations to our 5th Grade Authors!
Join our GCS Team!
LIbrary Media Technician - We are so grateful to have had Mrs. Donahue in this position since 2015. She will be leaving the job as of December 22nd. We wish Mrs. Donahue the best of luck and thank her for all of her wonderful work in the library with students and staff. This position is 4 days a week from 8:00 AM - 2:30 PM.
Interventionist - This position is working 1:1 with students who have Individualized Education Plans and need direct support to access their learning.
Recess Monitor - This is the perfect part time job! You can get fresh air every day and have fun outside with our students during recess. This could be 5 days a week or a few days a week for a few hours each day.
Please let us know if you are interested in supporting students at GCS and joining Team Chamberlin!
Time to Order Your Yearbook!
It's time to order your 2021-2022 yearbook! It comes in full color with tons of pictures and are only $20.00! You can also order personalization for an extra $2 and $1 for each icon. You can order online at https://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A09886709. Deadline to order is April 22nd, 2022. All orders are online. This year, the cover will be artwork from our awesome 5th graders! If you have questions about the yearbook, please contact Heather Osborne at dauben20@gmail.com
We Are Grateful To Our Community Friends For Their Support
We know that the holidays are again challenging this year, and we are coming together as a school and a community to once again support our families. We are especially grateful for the following people and organizations who have donated their time, talents, money, gift cards, and food baskets to our school. We have been able to support many families with winter clothing, food and gift cards to help make the holidays a little brighter. We thank these wonderful GCS friends for the love and caring that they show to our school community!
"SCHOOL LUNCH FAIRIES"
VIBRANT CHURCH
UVM VOLUNTEERS IN ACTION
TARGET'S HEROES AND HELPERS PROGRAM
SOUTH BURLINGTON POLICE DEPARTMENT - School Resource Officers Bri Williamson and Dennis Ward
THE HOWARD CENTER
ROBERT AND EILEEN BOUVIER
THE VIVIAN AND BRIAN COMPANION FAMILY
BRENDA "MIMI" WELLS - our "shopping elf"
BRENDA MCDOWELL BEER - masks sewn for our school...with adjustable ear straps and nose pieces!
PEBBLESVTCRAFTS/CHATTERING HENS - Beautiful hand knit hats and scarves.
EES BOOK GROUP - donation of new children's books
THE COVER FAMILY - boxes of handwarmers for the staff outside at arrival and dismissal!
THE AMAZING GERTRUDE CHAMBERLIN SCHOOL STAFF
1st Grade Wolf Pack on taking perspective! #Empathy
4th Grade Wolf Pack on patience! #EmotionManagement
Our SRO Bri Williamson helped some students shop for their families through the Heroes and Helpers program! #Target
December 14th Covid Vaccination Clinic at GCS
Winter Sing Along! We will be enjoying these videos at an all school Zoom assembly on December 21st. Here is each class singing in music! We hope you enjoy the GCS Winter Sing Along from the comfort of your home!
Sneakers Request for Physical Education
Dear Familes,
This is a note to remind people that sneakers are most comfortable on Physical Education days. Please help your children to remember to pack sneakers in their backpacks.
The sneaker collection at school is low. Chamberlin could use some donations of all sizes for students who forget or do not have them to wear.
Thanks for your help & cooperation!
Louise DeGuise
Health & Physical Educator
Lost and Found
Congratulations, GCS Artists!
School Nurse Notes
Has your Student Received Two COVID-19 Shots?
If your student has received two COVID-19 vaccinations, please email me a copy of the vaccination card, so I may update their health record. Email to:
OR
Call or email, to alert me of the completed vaccinations, so I can look up the dates on the Vermont Immunization Registry (however, not all COVID-19 vaccines are documented on the Registry).
OR
Send in or mail a copy of the vaccination card.
Thank you and be well,.
Kerry Farrell
Kaymen, our therapy dog, listening to a story!
A couple of members from the 4th Grade Ukulele Club wanted an extra practice session.
4th Grade Ukulele Club held a concert in the office!
December 9th Update from Superintendent Young
December 9, 2021
Dear Parents/Guardians and Staff,
What a busy time of year in our District! Among the flurry of activity, I love noticing the undercurrent of joy and the giving spirit that surrounds us. Taking note of these moments helps to keep me going when the world around us can seem daunting and uncertain. A few recent inspiring initiatives in our District have included food drives by Gertrude Chamberlin School and Rick Marcotte Central School students and staff. Collectively, they donated hundreds of pounds of goods to the South Burlington Food Shelf. The SBHS Key Club did the same. Orchard School collected gift cards for families in need to purchase goods through their annual Thankful Giving event while the SBHS career development center has been receiving similar donations.
Then, just this week, I heard about the mental health club at SBHS seeking donations for care packages that students will be putting together for families in need. Whether it’s students, staff or a combination of both leading the way, I am heartened to see these selfless acts taking place. Thank you!
Dates of Note:
Zoom Drop-in Chat with David Young for Families: December 13, 6-7:15 pm (Meeting ID: 886 9396 2746Passcode: 894283)
SB Rotary Annual Ugly Sweater Run to benefit the SB Boosters December 12
SBHS Choral Concert: December 12, 2:00pm (in SBHS Auditorium) or livestream here
FHTMS Choral Concert: December 14, 7:00 pm (in SBHS Auditorium): or livestream here
Regular School Board Meeting: December 15, 7:00 pm
SBHS Jazz Ensemble: December 16, 7:00 pm (in SBHS Auditorium)
Reminder on concerts: masks are required for all participants and audience members.
Zoom Drop-In Chat with David Young and School Board Members on Running for the Board: December 16 at 6-7:00 pm (Meeting ID: 861 9635 6876 Passcode: 065224)
Late Start (10:35 am) at MS/HS and Early Release (12:30 pm): December 17
Executive Director of Equity Search Update
The district has contracted with Rhiannon Kim as an equity consultant to assist in the Executive Director of Equity (EDOE) hiring process. Rhiannon has previously worked in SBSD as a Speech Language Pathologist and is currently self-employed as an Equity Consultant. She is highly regarded among her peers in her knowledge of equity and bias. She also brings with her institutional knowledge of the district. She will be doing an audit of our current hiring protocols, developing a timeline, and coordinating the hiring activities. As previously noted, our hope is to have an individual hired and on board for this position in February or March of 2022.
RFP for Audit Services
The City of South Burlington and the South Burlington School District are soliciting proposals for audit services. The schedule for consideration of response to this RFP is below: For detailed information see this document.
Due Date: January 15, 2022
Interviews: Week of February 7, 2022
Selection: Week of February 16, 2022
It’s Winter Sports Season!
Winter sports have begun! You can enjoy SBHS home indoor sports games in person (masks required) as well as through a livestream. See the details and latest information in these SBHS winter sports guidelines.
Test-to-Stay
Test-to Stay continues to be a great way to help keep our students in school. During the week of 11/29-12/3 the district conducted 177 antigen tests. Thanks for the continued support from our students, staff, amazing community, and volunteers.
COVID in SBSD
These figures cover Thursday, December 2 at 4 pm - Thursday December 9 at 4 pm. Please note, we are only reporting cases that were infectious while in school.
SBSD: 0
FTMS: 0
GCS: 0
RMCS: 1
Orchard: 0
COVID19 Vaccination for Children Q and A
Questions about the COVID19 vaccine for children? Join local pediatricians for the following Zooms. All are held from 7-8 pm, will have an ASL interpreter and live captioning available:
Monday, December 13th with Stanley Weinberger, M.D. (Burlington)
Click here to join Zoom meeting
Wednesday, December 15th with Sarah Weidhaas, M.D. (Springfield)
Click here to join Zoom meeting
Monday, December 20th with Rebecca Yukica, D.O. (Upper Valley/WRJ)
Click here to join Zoom meeting
FY23 Budget
We held our second virtual community forum on the budget December 7. Thanks to all who joined us! If you missed it you can watch the video and review the pdf of the presentation here. We plan on holding another virtual community forum (date TBD but likely in early January).
Our next budget presentation will be held this coming Wednesday, December 15 at the regular school board meeting which begins at 7:00 pm. The agenda and Zoom information will be posted to the District website tomorrow afternoon. As a reminder, you can always livestream the meetings via the Media Factory website. At this meeting, we anticipate having the equalized pupil figure from the state which will factor into our budget workshop sheet. Have a question you want addressed? Email budget@sbschools.net. We want to hear from you!
School Happenings
SBHS Launches Wolves PAS (Peer Academic Support)
Meghan Sweet, Director of Guidance and Counseling noted that last week, SBHS kicked off an exciting new student program that they are calling Wolves PAS (peer academic support). Sweet said, “I am really excited about this new club and the opportunity for SBHS students to support each other. I already have 25 juniors and seniors who are volunteering to tutor and after just 1 day we have 17 students who have or will soon be matched with a tutor. I could not be happier about the response and I expect that we will continue to see it grow in terms of more tutors and more students asking for help.” Drop-in peer academic help is available during FACEtime every Monday-Thursday in the library Think Tank. Students can access peer academic support before school or during their study hall as needed as well!
FHTMS: Fostering a Culture of Kindness
School Counselor Matt Guyette reported that their Teacher Advisory program has been encouraging conversations around kindness for the past few weeks. Each TA made a heart for display in the FHTMS lobby. Students were asked to identify acts of kindness they have witnessed at FHTMS and thoughts on future acts of kindness they could do for others. Students also discussed how they could help move FHTMS toward a greater culture of kindness.
Gertrude Chamberlin School Writers to be Published!
Wow! Twenty GCS 5th graders will be published authors! Teacher Dan Diamond had any student who wanted to enter the Young Writers Project writing contest, Ridiculous Writers - The Weird and Wonderful. Twenty students accepted the challenge to write a short story in only 100 words. Some of them worked together on their stories and some were individual compositions. The contest received over 3,500 entries and all 20 authors were chosen to be published in a book that comes out next year! With intriguing titles like “The Magical Pizza,” “The Freaky Foot,” and “Hi, my name is…Cheese Puff!” sounds like I’ll be in for some fantastic spring reading.
Rick Marcotte Central School: The Mighty Moose Comes for a Visit
As I’m sure many of you have seen in the news, VTrans ran a program in early winter, seeking the creativity of elementary school students in naming their fleet of plow trucks. All three of our elementary schools participated and received fun visits from a plow truck driver showing off “their '' named truck! While GCS and Orchard hosted visits prior to the Thanksgiving break, Central students received a visit from their truck last Friday. The Mighty Moose joins the Chamberlin Chomper and Obi-wan KenSNOWbi. Keep your eyes open for them on our roads this winter!
Orchard Students Take Part in Hour of Code
Orchard Librarian Donna Sullivan-MacDonald reported that the entire school joined the "Hour of Code" this week, which is Computer Science Education Week (December 6-12). More than 100 million students in over 180 countries have already tried an "Hour of Code." Last week, students got a preview of some coding activities that sparked their interest!! She added, “We live in a world surrounded by technology. We know that whatever field our students choose to go into as adults, their ability to succeed will increasingly depend on understanding how technology works.” Check out Ochard's Instagram for pics of the fun!
I hope you can get out to enjoy the beauty of Vermont this December. Maybe a drive to check out some festive lights? The Burlington Free Press compiled this handy map of incredible light (and timed music!) displays throughout Chittenden County. Could be a good weekend for some hot cocoa and sightseeing.
Thanks as always for reading,
David
Does Your Child Need Milk for Their Home Lunch?
If you have any questions, please contact Rhonda Ketner rketner@sbschools.net.
This school year ALL STUDENTS can have FREE Breakfast and Lunch! We would still ask everyone to fill out the Free and Reduced Lunch form. See the links below for the form and the breakfast and lunch menus.
Gertrude Chamberlin School
Email: hrouelle@sbschools.net
Website: https://vt01819219.schoolwires.net/Domain/10
Location: Chamberlin School, White Street, South Burlington, VT, USA
Phone: 802 652 7403
Twitter: @hrouelle