THE VIKING
Hinesburg Community School - February 19, 2021
The Principal's Corner
Dear HCS Families:
Hi everyone, as you know we have had two recent instances of members of our HCS community receiving positive COVID tests. We are very thankful that in each case we were notified by the individuals/family members of the positive test. This allowed us to immediately start our contact tracing process. As we mentioned in a previous post, this process takes three to four hours to complete, so please understand why we are not immediately releasing information and why our phone calls to people who are identified as close contacts is staggered. Also bear in mind that we might be making these calls during the evening from home, so please do answer the phone or at least check your messages.
Also understand that having an entire homeroom, or middle-level team going remote due to COVID has become a fairly common occurrence across the country because teachers are in such close proximity to students, and having a number needing to quarantine can make it impossible to provide in-school instruction.
It is also possible that we will hear of a positive result during the school day and we will need a send a homeroom home, or at the upper levels, an entire team might need to be sent home to quarantine until we can conduct the contact tracing process. In this case, we would be calling families to have you come pick-up your children. We hope this never happens, but if it does, we want you to be aware of the possibility.
Finally, we want to be clear that we all understand that even when people do everything right, short of living in a bubble, there is always the chance to contract the virus. Luck certainly plays a part, but like most Vermonters, we are personally taking all of the precautions that we can. Of course, it doesn't mean that we can't have fun, we just need to be smart about it, which means you might run into one of us over break going snowshoeing in the mountains or on a lake with a dog or two running ahead of us wondering why humans are so slow.
Have a wonderful February vacation!
John and Suzan
New Food Benefit Program for Families
We are excited to share a new food benefit program with families. An email went out about this on Monday, 2/8. We wanted to reach out in school newsletters as well to help inform families about this opportunity.
- There is no change to the current free breakfast and lunch for everyone 18 and younger. No action is necessary to continue to get free meals.
- Every enrolled student who qualifies for free/reduced meals is also entitled to an additional $60 - $100 per child per month - retroactive to September.
- Many families who did not qualify for free and reduced meals last year may qualify this year due to a change in family circumstances. Because meals are free for everyone, you may not have completed the application. In order to get this additional benefit, you will need to apply now.
- Families who were qualified last year are automatically enrolled. You do not need to do anything but are being asked to check the 'head of household" name and address so the electronic-benefit-card gets delivered to the right person/house.
Please see this letter for additional information. If you need assistance applying, look for the contact information in the letter or contact your school.
Reminders About Gatherings
Please keep this in mind now and when planning activities for the upcoming February school vacation week.
Vermonters are currently not allowed to socially gather with people they don’t live with. This includes gathering both inside and outside, and in public and private spaces.
The Health Department strongly advises against non-essential travel, even within Vermont.
All travel to and from Vermont AND travel to other households within Vermont requires quarantine.
Visitors to Vermont can only socialize with the people they are traveling with. They cannot gather with Vermonters in their home or elsewhere.
Students are not allowed to gather with people they don’t live with. Students who participate in multi-household social gatherings are excluded from attending in-person instruction and required to complete either a 14-day quarantine or a 7-day quarantine followed by a negative test. Please, follow these steps to protect others:
Quarantine. Your child now needs to complete either a 14-day quarantine or a 7-day quarantine followed by a negative test result, as long as they do not experience symptoms.
Day 1 of quarantine is the day after you return from travel or the day after you last gathered with someone from another household.
Quarantine means staying home and away from others. Do not go to work or school, or out to do errands or recreation. This helps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 before a person knows they are sick, or if they are infected with the virus and don’t have symptoms.
HCS Yearbooks Are On Sale
Order your HCS yearbook by clicking HERE or pick up an order form from your teacher or in the main office. The deadline to order your yearbook is March 31 and the cost is $28.00.
Order now as there may not be extras to purchase in the Spring!
Learn More About the CVSD Proposed Budget
We know that many of you are voting early or doing your best to get informed prior to voting on Town Meeting Day on March 2nd.This video provides just the information you need about the school district's proposed budget for the 2021-2022 school year.
Visit the budget page on our website for additional resources and information. https://www.cvsdvt.org/budget
Build Your Own Library
The last few days before vacation were very exciting for students in kindergarten through fourth grade! Each classroom had a special opportunity to go “book shopping” and take home a brand new book! There were selections from “Elephant and Piggie”, to “The Last Stop on Market Street”, “Pete the Cat”, and so many more wonderful titles.
This second annual “Build Your Own Library” event is an effort to support building students’ home libraries. According to a 2014 study in the sociology journal, Social Forces, the quantity of books in a person’s home was the most important predictor of reading performance. “The researchers measured the impact of the size of home libraries on the reading level of 15-year-old students across 42 nations, controlling for wealth, parents’ education and occupations, gender and the country’s gross national product.” Findings revealed greatest effect to be in home libraries of about 100 books, which resulted in approximately 1.5 extra years of grade-level reading performance.
Hooray for these new books!
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/fashion/our-bare-shelves-our-selves.html
Join The HCS Social Justice Club
The HCS Social Justice Club has been meeting on Wednesdays and wants to remind all 5th-8th graders that they can join. Have you noticed the Black Lives Matter flag flying in front of HCS? Did you hear about or attend the Black Lives Matter march in Hinesburg in June 2020? Have you heard about current events related to people’s rights and freedoms that you want to know more about?
If you are a 5th-8th grader and would like a safe place to learn about issues of social justice, to ask questions, have discussions, and learn with each other about social action, come to the Social Justice Club. The goal is to provide a safe place for students to talk, learn, and act on social justice issues that concern them. We meet every week on Wednesdays at 1:00pm on Google Meet.
A Message from the HCS Equity Coach, Ms. Luna
Hola! My name is Ainaka Luna. You probably know me as the HCS Spanish teacher. Do you also know I am the HCS Equity Coach? This is a new position this year. I am also a part of a larger district team. I am a Sociologist, Medical Interpreter, M.A. in Spanish Language, VFLA Board member, dancer, mother, hiker, gardener, woman, immigrant, bipoc, Afrolatinoamerican.
Born in Colombia I survived the most violent years of our history and as a college student traveled and fell in love with the culture and biodiversity of my country. I lived in Australia for a few years and moved to Vermont in 2005. I have worked with diverse communities in three different countries and continue learning through experience and training.
I bring personal and professional perspectives and I am committed to the building of a culture of acceptance and respect where students and adults are empowered to find their voice and feel safe to express their identities free of any discrimination from race, gender, sexuality, class, language, abilities, or place of origin.
I am inspired by the women that died fighting for human rights that sometimes we take for granted today. A quote that is meaningful to me is “We can disagree and still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.” by James Baldwing.
CVSD Mid-Year Check-In: Share Your Thoughts!
We are excited to launch this Thoughtexchange to check in with you mid-year. Your thoughts about the first half of the year and suggestions for the second half will be reviewed as we plan for the remainder of the school year. We want to know what is important to you and what is going well.
This exchange will be open until February 21, 2021. Please share your thoughts and then rate the thoughts of others. See the tips in the Thoughtexchange to assist you.
Thank you for sharing your perspectives with us!
The Champlain Valley School District Administration
Kindergarten Registration Is Open
Champlain Valley School District (CVSD) is asking families to register their Kindergartners earlier this year, in an effort to get more accurate enrollment numbers for our schools. These enrollment numbers help us to plan our staffing needs for the upcoming school year and help us to coordinate our site visits for placement in the spring.
We really appreciate your help with registering your child early this year and we’re looking forward to meeting you at our Kindergarten Screening Day and Information Night in the spring if things open up!
Please contact Deb Lavalette at the Hinesburg Community School by emailing her at dlavalette@cvsdvt.org or call 482-2106 if you have a child that will be 5 years old before September 1, 2021.
Winter Clothing
With the colder weather, having the right clothes for recess and outdoor learning is necessary. Please ensure your children come to school with jackets, gloves, hats, snow pants and boots .
CVSD COVID-19 Reporting Dashboard
The CVSD Dashboard is an online tool that gives families a chance to view of up to date data (updated each Thursday) from around the district concerning COVID-19. The tool shows a cumulative tally of testing and quarantine data for staff and students across the school district. You can access this information here.
About Us
Suzan Locke, HCS Co-Principal, Grades K-4
482-6299, slocke@cvsdvt.org
John Pontius, HCS Co-Principal, Grades 5-8
482-6298, jpontius@cvsdvt.org
Alicia Kurth, HCS Special Education Administrator
425-6285, akurth@cvsdvt.org
Email: hcsinformation@cvsdvt.org
Website: https://www.cvsdvt.org/hinesburg
Location: Hinesburg Community School, 10888, Route 116, Hinesburg, Vermont, USA
Phone: 802-482-2106
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hinesburg-Community-School-125786304154731/
The Viking Newsletter is published bi-weekly, when school is in session. It is available on our web site and is also delivered to email via Blackboard Connect. If needed, a hard copy can be provided for your child to bring home. The Viking includes upcoming events, after school opportunities, notes of interest for parents and the community and updates from our school administration.