Shelburne Community School
Weekly Newsletter
September 3, 2021
Principal's Message
SCS Families,
We hope this newsletter finds you enjoying the end of a long holiday weekend. It was certainly a great time to sit back, take a breath, and reflect upon the start of the school year. Completing the eighth day of school is not usually a moment to stop and celebrate, but this year feels different. This past Friday marked the end of the first five-day in-person week for our teachers and students since early March 2020. When this milestone was discussed at length this week (with students and staff), it really seemed to resonate and somehow put the last 18 months into perspective.
While we could choose to find sadness in this milestone, as it shines a light on the disruptions and lost opportunities our students have experienced. More importantly, there is joy to be found in our proven ability to overcome the challenges we've faced. "Getting in" a full week of in-person school does not signal that we are nearing the end of this pandemic or that conditions have rapidly improved. It is simply representative of our resolve to move forward and to learn how to live and learn within the constraints of the pandemic. We've come to the collective realization that holding our breath and waiting for "normal" to come back is not a viable strategy. While the ever-present focus on safety and the constant need for risk management can be exhausting, the rewards have been great. Our students are re-connected again, they are part of their community again, and they are learning together. That is worth celebrating.
While most of the feedback we have received about the opening of school has been extremely positive, we continue to receive emailed parent concerns, petitions, and communication directed to the CVSD School Board about cafeteria use and maskless indoor dining at SCS. As is understandable, the level of feedback and concern has increased as we have moved closer to having our cafeteria and kitchen re-opened late next week.
It is easy to imagine that to some SCS families less engaged in this discussion, it must seem that the level of public concern stems from our school trying to do something less or different with indoor dining than neighboring schools. I assure you we are not. Most schools across CVSD and in other school districts throughout the county already have their cafeterias in use. This conversation at SCS has probably been augmented by the delayed opening of our new kitchen, which has forced our system to stretch to provide both outdoor and indoor classroom dining over the first few weeks of school.
We are a system that supports and feeds nearly 900 children and adults each day. Therefore, we are unable to provide each individual family and employee the exact set of conditions they need to assuage their fears and meet their personal expectations around health and safety. We work to exceed both the basic guidelines provided by the state of Vermont and the district strategies/agreements vetted by the CVSD School Board. Our mitigation strategies have to find some balance with other needs like nutrition, supervision, and breaks for our educators. We hope that we can clearly define both the constraints we face and the advantages we enjoy when tackling our needs around student dining. This should help our community better understand our decision-making and our chosen path moving forward.
The Current Constraints
Last year, schools were able to offer outdoor dining for the warmer and drier months of the school year. This was due to the fact that hybrid learning drew far fewer students into the building each day. We had the staff and the capacity. Even with that said, the majority of lunches, especially for our youngest students were eaten indoors, in classrooms. Even now, while many SCS classes and teams are stretching to make outdoor lunch happen, snack times and some lunches are taking place indoors across grade levels. This year, with all students back in school and new additions to our rolls, SCS is back to educating 725+ students a day. Staffing shortages are being felt by all businesses across Vermont and schools are no exception. Schools across our district are doing everything possible to get back to being fully staffed, but current economic conditions have made that virtually impossible. These shortages (for lunch/recess supervisors and support staff for example) are a constraint that informs our decision-making and capacity.
The burden of having no cafeteria or kitchen in use negatively impacts our educators, their well-being, and their effectiveness. A K-4 teacher at SCS is afforded one 40-minute planning period and a 30-minute lunch each day. Currently, these teachers are giving up the entirety of their lunch break to make outdoor and classroom-based lunches possible. During planning periods, they often have to walk their students to and from EA classes (Music, PE, and Art) . This can lead to a day with nearly 7 hours of direct management of their students. This leaves only 25-30 minutes to take care of any and all basic needs (food, drink, bathroom) without any thought of using their actual workday for the planning of instruction or learning activities. While I know it is hard for all of us to empathize with conditions we've perhaps never fully experienced, I'll put it to you this way. Think about the energy it takes for 7+ hours of quality supervision of one single 5,6 or 7-year-old child. Now, multiply that responsibility by 18. Take virtually no breaks, eat no lunch, and while you're at it, please teach them to read! While I hope you forgive my slightly heavy-handed description, is it that far from the everyday reality of a teacher? This is a situation that must be remedied, and building sustainable systems for student lunches is an important part of it.
Benefits of the Cafeteria and Our Current Plan
Outdoor dining is not a viable option for the majority of the school year (due to our climate) and the supervision needs are largely untenable. So, the simple solution offered by many is to move lunches back into our classrooms. Just the word cafeteria evokes images of overcrowding and the classroom seems a smaller and safer environment. But, I would challenge us all to think more about those predispositions and compare factors that will truly impact health and safety in the current environment.
- The HVAC systems in both the cafeteria and gyms are engineered to support larger groups of students than our team spaces.
- The air handler in a team space is designed for 80-100 bodies at a target of 15 CFM (Cubic Feet Per Minute) of fresh air exchange per person.
- These classrooms are largely open to one another, often with no doors, and with smaller sets of windows for increased ventilation.
- Having food constantly in the classroom space complicates the management of student allergies and the overall cleanliness of these spaces.
- The new air-handling unit in our cafeteria is currently set to support 200 bodies at the same target of 15 CFM per person. It has the capability to be set to move even more air than that. This brand new system is also outfitted with MERV 13 rated filtration. The space has larger and more numerous windows for ventilation. It is simply the newest and best-ventilated space in the school.
- While also an open space, the cafeteria has the furniture and capacity to seat groups together, but with maximum distancing between those groups (A minimum of 6-10ft).
- SCS has made the commitment (by shifting and reimagining our daily lunch schedule) to not only having assigned tables but to never having more than one grade level in the larger space at one time. This means a maximum occupancy of about 88 students at a time in a space ventilated for 200+.
These are the constraints and facts that are leading the school to make the decision to offer cafeteria dining rather than dining in classrooms. With the renovation project likely to come to a close on Thursday or Friday of this week, we are actively planning to build new routines and expectations for students around the safe and effective use of this space.
The Hope for Short-Term Outdoor Dining Options
While we know we need to build a sustainable dining plan that can be utilized throughout the seasons and ever-changing outdoor conditions, we do recognize that outdoor dining is still a current option. In the short term, in order to make it a viable one, we will need community support. We have received an outpouring of offers from concerned families to have parent and caregiver volunteers help to supervise and support an optional outdoor dining opportunity for students. This week, we will do outreach and see if we can make this opportunity a reality for the next 1-2 months where the weather allows it. We are so grateful that folks may be willing to support our students and our school in this way.
While it will take some work, we think we can get there. But, we will not create this short-term system unless we can do it equitably. We will not give some classrooms an option to eat outdoors and shut out others based on volunteer capacity. We will either build a schedule that is robust enough to support all SCS lunches, or we will not offer it. Obviously, with dining only occurring for about 2-2.5 hours each day, we are hopeful we can make a volunteer system work. If SCS were able to build routines in our cafeteria, while simultaneously offering optional supervision for outdoor dining, it would be the best possible outcome over the next 1-2 months of the school year.
As in every situation where we have to make difficult decisions for our learning community, whether you agree or disagree with the outcomes, we hope you see thoughtful and caring intentionality in our process. We also hope you see our willingness to listen to our community and to communicate clearly and transparently when questions arise.
We apologize for coming away from our assigned Friday publication date for this particular newsletter. With a topic this important, which is somewhat divisive, it was clear we would get more readership coming out of a long holiday weekend than heading into one. Thank you for reading another long-winded missive. I hope that we can get these new systems in place throughout the week ahead. That will hopefully allow us to move forward together onto other important topics and celebrations, in future newsletters.
Please do not forget to review the announcements below.
Have a wonderful week!
New SCS Serving Line
New SCS Dishwashing Area
Kitchen Renovations are Nearing Completion
Updates from Ms. Celmer
We have had a wonderful (and HOT) first three days seeing all of our students, faculty, and staff filling the halls and classrooms with giggles and greetings. The first few days of every school year we experience the reality of what our plans/schedules truly look like and feel like, and make adjustments as we go until we get it to a place that works for the entire system. Everyone handled these daily adjustments with grace, patience, and kindness. Thank you for helping us to make this such a smooth start to the new school year!
As we head into our first full week of school next week we will be welcoming our youngest learners, our PreK students to SCS this Tuesday! The month of September is filled with exploration, guided discovery, interactive modeling, building relationships, establishing positive learning communities, and practicing daily routines. We'll start to work on some baseline assessments with students to get to know where each student is at, so we can use this information to inform our instruction in the months ahead. We'll have family conferences before the November break, so you'll get a chance to connect with teachers in just a few months.
On Wednesdays (early-release days), during the month of September, our PreK-8 faculty and staff will be diving into our DEI Book Club discussions. Each adult in the building selected one (of six options) book with themes on Racial Equity. We're looking forward to connecting with adults throughout the building, continuing this reflective work, and starting the conversations around ways to improve our practice and systems to be more inclusive of all learners.
I will be writing a monthly PreK-4 update in this newsletter. If you have any questions about upcoming events, please feel free to email me at acelmer@cvsdvt.org.
Here's to a happy, healthy, and fun 2021-2022 school year!
Alison Celmer
PreK-4 Principal
SCS NEWS
Thank you to those families who have set up their accounts in our new student information system, PowerSchool. If you haven't done so yet, please do by Monday, September 13th. Up to date information in our system is imperative and ensures that you receive communications from the school and the District. An important note, we have found in reviewing and approving submitted data that when a parent/caregiver checks themselves as the emergency contact for their student(s) they are removed from the primary communications list. Please DO NOT indicate yourself as the emergency contact for your student(s). If you have any questions, please contact Patty Spagnolo.
Instrument Delivery Altered due to COVID-19 safety. Students will receive their instrument at their first scheduled lesson at school. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
Morning Bus Rides
Because windows and roof hatches must remain open due to COVID, it is recommended that students wear clothing that will keep them warm on their chilly morning bus ride. We appreciate your help in reminding them and encouraging cool weather preparedness.
Student photo days are right around the corner! AMV Photography will once again be at SCS for three school days, as well as one Saturday morning (September 18th, 9:00-11:00am) for Sibling Portraits.
All PreK-8th grade students will have their individual portrait and class photo taken at school. The schedule will be shared with SCS Families via School Messenger on Wednesday, September 8th.
For families new to SCS, Ann-Marie Vannucci ~ owner, photographer, takes multiple outdoor shots of each student and then provides up to six proofs for families to choose from. No need to select a package prior to Photo Day, however, you may preview the package options here. If you have questions, please contact Garrath Higgins.
We'd like to remind everyone to seek alternatives to food-based celebrations in classrooms, for COVID, equity and allergy reasons. At SCS, we have a variety of severe life-threatening allergies beyond the most common (ie: pink lady apples, sesame, chia seeds, garlic, and soy) which makes it more and more difficult to serve food that is safe for all.
Please reach out to us if you have any questions.
Best,
Kelly and Jocelyn
CVSD News
Powerschool Parent Portal - Thank You!
Thank you to those who have created your Powerschool Parent Portal accounts and updated information about your child(ren) to help us start the school year. You can go into the portal at any time to make changes to that information. We do request that you do NOT make changes about transportation now that school is open and buses are running. Please call your school to make those changes instead. If you have not yet set up your Powerschool Parent Portal account to update the annual information for your child(ren) please do so as soon as possible. Reach out to your school if you need assistance.
Access CVU - New Class Registration is Open!
Popular classes fill quickly! Sign up today, tell your family and friends, and please help spread the word about our AWESOME classes!- 202 awesome classes
- Back to in-person learning at CVU!
- 42 Online classes via Zoom
- 27 New instructors!
- 100% FUN - Bring a friend & sign up today!
Community Resources
Prevent Child Abuse VT Family Support Offerings - Fall 2021
Each year, the Family Support Team at PCAVT coordinates a variety of Nurturing Parenting Programs (NPP), Strengthening Families Programs (SFP), and Circle of Parents Support Groups (COP) throughout the State. At this time, meetings are not in person, but are continuing to be offered virtually. In addition to the weekly group Zoom meeting, Heather Niquette is scheduling weekly 1:1 check-ins with participants in her curriculum based programs to discuss how the week’s material is working specific to their family. (A positive take away from the year of virtual learning!) This component will be scheduled if/when families have regular contact with their children.
You are welcome to get in touch with one of our four Family Support Programs Coordinators (Heather Niquette hniquette@pcavt.org; Cindy Wells cwells@pcavt.org; Amber Menard amenard@pcavt.org; and Cindy Atkins catkins@pcavt.org) with interest or questions about the particular programs listed below.
We currently have scheduled:
Ongoing Circle of Parents - If you are interested in any of Heather Niquette's group, but the day/time doesn't work – please let her know. She is able to adjust her schedule to meet the larger need.
- Open Circle of Parents with Cindy Atkins on Thursdays from 10-11:30am
- Circle of Parents in Recovery with Cindy Atkins on Wednesdays from 5-6pm
- Circle of Parents for Moms of Color with Heather Niquette on Wednesdays from 10-11am
- Circle of Parents for Single Moms with Heather Niquette on Fridays from 10-11am
- Circle of Parents with Children Identifying as LGBTQ with Heather Niquette starting Monday October 4th 10-11am
New Nurturing Parenting and Strengthening Families Programs
- Nurturing Skills for Families in Recovery with Amber Menard on Wednesdays from 5:45-7:15pm starting September 1st.
- Strengthening Families Program for Families with Children 6-11 Years of Age with Cindy Wells on Mondays 10:30-12:00pm starting September 13th.
- Nurturing Skills for Families with Heather Niquette on Tuesdays 6-7:30pm starting September 14th.
- Nurturing Fathers Program with Heather Niquette on Wednesdays 12-1:30pm starting September 15th.
- Strengthening Families Program for Families with Children 12-16 Years of Age with Heather Niquette on Thursdays 6-7:30pm starting September 16th.
- Nurturing Skills for Families with Cindy Wells on Thursdays 6-7:30pm starting September 16th.
- Nurturing Skills for Families in Recovery with Cindy Wells on Tuesdays from 4-5:30pm starting September 21st.
- Strengthening Families Program for Families with Children 6-11 Years of Age with Heather Niquette on Wednesdays 6-7:30pm starting October 13th.
- Nurturing Skills for Prenatal Families with Cindy Atkins starting mid-September. Date/time tbd.
- Strengthening Families Program for Families with Children Birth to Age 3 with Cindy Atkins starting mid-September. Date/time tbd.
All programs are free of charge. Space is limited in each program and will be given on a first come, first served basis.
Important Upcoming Dates
(A complete calendar can be found on the SCS website)
Sept 6th - Labor Day, No School
Sept 13th - PowerSchool Parent Portal Deadline
Sept 13th, 14th, & 15th - Student Photo Days (Schedule TBA)
Sept 14th - SCS PTO Meeting, Green Commons (6:00-7:30pm)
Sept 16th - Yom Kippur, No School
Sept 18th - SCS Sibling Portraits, Breezeway (9:00-11:00am)
Shelburne Community School
Scott Sivo - Lead Principal (5-8)
Email: ssivo@cvsdvt.org
Website: https://www.cvsdvt.org/shelburne
Location: Shelburne, VT, USA
Phone: 802-985-3331
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShelburneCommunitySchool/
Twitter: @SCSLearns