Dear SCS Families and Caregivers,

Happy Friday! This week's message focuses, appropriately, on communication. After school safety (and often intertwined with it), communicating the information that our students, staff members, and families need is probably the most important -- and challenging -- aspect of our jobs. Providing the right people access to the right information at the right time is never an easy task. With that in mind, we want to share some of the ways we'll be communicating throughout the year.

We're excited to host family conferences beginning in October. Many teachers have already begun scheduling conferences, and you'll hear from your child's teacher shortly if you have not already. Please note that the "Parent Conference Flex Day" you see on the district calendar for October 11 is not a full day of conferences! Teachers may schedule conferences on this day, but they may also offer them at different times throughout the month. In addition, we are also committed to hosting an in-person event as a school community later this fall. We can't wait to welcome families back into our beautiful building, and we want to make sure we plan a thoughtful event in order to celebrate the amazing work taking place at SCS.

Our grading portal, JumpRope, will also be opening to families on October 21. At that point, middle-level families can see the progress students are making towards meeting our district-wide learning targets. JumpRope is updated regularly, and it will show how your child is progressing with respect to all district-wide learning targets by the end of the year. We will also send reports via email at the end of each semester for students in grades K-4, and at the end of each trimester for students in grades 5-8. There seems to be a playground theme for our communications platforms, as teachers use SeeSaw to communicate updates and reminders about what's happening in class on a more regular basis.

One way students shouldn't be communicating this year, at least during the school day, is via cell phone. We're doing our best to enforce a "personal device-free" school day policy for all students. All phones, wireless airpods/earbuds, and smart watches are expected to be powered off and in students' backpacks throughout the day. All staff members are part of this effort, and the progress we're making is noticeable. We appreciate your support in reinforcing this expectation, which is also being tightened at CVU this year. Eliminating these distractions allows students to focus on real-time communication with their peers and teachers, a skill that will serve them well regardless of where they go in life.

Communication involves an exchange of ideas - it's not a one-way street. In that vein, we encourage you to reach out directly when you have questions, ideas, or concerns about your child's school experience. We're easy to reach and open to talk, particularly when challenges are approached with a spirit of collegial problem-solving. We look forward to sharing more and to hearing from you throughout the school year.

Take care,

Alison, Brett, & Emily

Oct 5th - Yom Kippur

Oct 10th - Indigenous Peoples Day

Oct 11th - Conference/Professional (flex) Day

Do you want to grow good food, and make great friends? If you also care about making SCS look wonderful join us for the great gardening SKAT program on Mondays from 3-4:15 in October (the spring program will be announced at a later date) to glean and clean the gardens. We will also make a plan for the spring of 2023, making signs and then make a long term plan for the next five years to grow SCS great and feed our school and community. Contact Sarah Sargent at ssargent@cvsdvt.org or register here. Joey Adams (Garden Club Coordinator) can be reached at jadams@cvsdvt.org or at 802-985-3331x177

SCS is pleased to announce the start of an afterschool club for students from 4th-8th grade that

focuses on teamwork, robotics, and coding. All are welcome no matter their past experiences or current knowledge in these areas! The mission of our SCS First Lego League team is to foster a collaborative and diverse community of STEM-curious members that will build and compete in a mission-based robotics game using the LEGO® Education SPIKE Essential platform. If you're interested, please complete the online application.

A huge 'thank you' goes out to our incredibly generous Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) for their organization and coordination of several fundraisers that provide incredible experiences and resources for our students. The current fundraiser that is underway is our Dynamic Dates. A big shout-out goes out to SCS parent and PTO volunteer, Liz Carney, for coordinating this FUNdraiser :) The proceeds from all of our fundraisers go right back to our students. Our PTO just awarded over $4500 through our Fall Grant process - some of the projects funded are to upgrade classroom libraries, provide equipment and tools for laser cutting in our makerspaces, bringing the Friend 2 Friend presentation to our 3rd grade students, and recycling containers for our sustainability efforts. Thanks to everyone who has shown support for these initiatives.

A few of us in this group also sit on the Town of Shelburne's Equity & Diversity Committee. The Committee, in partnership with Shelburne Parks & Recreation, is hosting the First Annual Heritage Potluck. The flyer is linked here, but here are the quick details:

Why: To celebrate the diversity in our town and honor the different cuisines that nourish our community.

When: Sunday, October 23, from 3-7 pm

Where: Shelburne Town Gym

What: Bring a dish to share that highlights your family's traditional cuisine

Link for sign up: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S3HPCB5

Circle of Parents is a network of professionally facilitated, peer-led, support groups for parents. Circle of Parents groups are ongoing and meet weekly for 1 ½ to 2 hours. This program allows for parents to come together in a confidential setting to share their experiences, challenges, and successes with parenting. Many parents come to the support groups because they feel isolated and alone; afraid that they might abuse their children; are experiencing conflict with a current or former partner on how to parent children; or simply because they want new parenting ideas as their children grow older. Attending a Circle of Parents meeting allows parents to: learn new ideas; replace old, harmful parenting ways with newer, healthier ways; and give and receive support to and from other parents.

Nurturing Parenting Programs and Strengthening Families Programs are curriculum-based, parenting education programs that work with the whole family. Families participate in 2-hour fun, educational sessions that meet weekly for 12 to 14 weeks, depending on the particular program and curriculum. The programs are appropriate for anyone who wants to improve their family life. There are no fees or dues to attend.

2022 Walk for Children Event

ParentIN CVSD is working with the Champlain Valley School District to better understand the perspectives and needs of parents and caregivers of tweens and teens in our district. Those with students in grades 6-12 will soon receive a survey via email.

Your honest opinions on the questions in the survey are appreciated. Your answers are completely anonymous and will not be used to identify individual respondents in any way.

Results will help us evaluate current programs and plan new ways to support youth and families in our area. If you have any questions about this survey, please reach out to Amy Sayre at asayre@cvsdvt.org or 802-482-6290.