CCS Newsletter
January 11, 2019
ADMINISTRATION UPDATE
Dear CCS Friends and Families,
We hope this newsletter finds you all well (and warm!). We wish to share a couple of events happening at CCS within the month of January.
Next Thursday, January 17, 2019, CCS will join the rest of the Champlain Valley School District as host to a team of educators from neighboring school districts, along with staff from the Vermont Agency of Education, as part of our triennial Integrated Field Review (IFR). The IFR is a review of documents, interviews with students, parents and staff, and observations of schools, designed to reveal common practices in a supervisory union or school district. This is a collaborative and reciprocal process, and staff members from our district will visit and review neighboring school districts in the weeks that follow. A sampling of students and teachers have been invited to participate in interviews with the visiting team. A sampling of parents from all CVSD towns have also been invited to a panel interview at CVU that day.
This Integrated Field Review process leads to a written report, featuring school district-level commendations and recommendations in the areas of Academic Proficiency, Personalization, Safe Healthy Schools, High-Quality Staffing and Investment Priorities, the five domains of Vermont’s Education Quality Standards. The IFR process is flexible and is not evaluative; the results of a school district’s IFR can be used at their discretion, be it to support continuous improvement planning, to create networking opportunities with neighboring districts, to guide future professional development, or other.
Another upcoming event is the participation of CCS in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAEP is largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. A sample of CCS grade 4 students will be taking mathematics and reading assessments on January 30, 2019 and a sample of grade 8 students will be taking math and reading assessments on January 31, 2019. Families in grades 4 and 8 have received additional information.
Collectively, information gathered from such experiences as the Independent Field Review and NAEP is combined with other data (SBAC, classroom assessments, teacher/student/parent input) helps us to inform our programming for students. As we receive feedback and results, we will continue to share those with our CCS families and the townspeople or Charlotte as our fellow stakeholders in the CCS educational community.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kind Regards,
Stephanie, Jen and Cassandra
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
Tuesday, January 15th
Early Release, 1:55pm
Bolton Valley Ski & Ride, at dismissal
Thursday, January 17th
CVSD Independent Field Review
Sunday, January 20th
Make-A-Wish Family Formal, CVU Cafeteria, 4:30pm - 7:30pm
Monday, January 21st
NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tuesday, January 22nd
Early Release, 1:55pm
Geo-Bee Preliminary - see inside newsletter for grade times
Field Trip - Alpha 5 to Flynn Theater, 9:15 - 11:30
Thursday, January 24th
5/6 Winter Assembly, MPR, 1:45pm
5/6 Winter Concert, MPR, 7:00pm
Friday, January, 25th
Winter Ball - Grades 7 & 8 Only, MPR, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Monday, January 28th
CCS GeoBee, MPR, 8:30am
Tuesday, January 29th
Early Release, 1:55pm
Wednesday, January 30th
Grade 4 NAEP Assessment
Thursday, January 31st
Grade 8 NAEP Assessment
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING 3SQUARESVT
Because of the government shutdown, Vermont’s Department for Children and Families (DCF) will be issuing February 3SquaresVT benefits early, on January 20th. These benefits will be for the entire month of February, so it is important that participants budget accordingly.
Because these benefits will be issued early, DCF needs to complete interviews and receive any required documentation from 3SquaresVT applicants and participants on or before January 15th (Tuesday).
If you need to complete an interview for your 3SquaresVT application or re-certification, please call the interview line at 1-877-403-7668 right away.
If you are currently in the application or re-certification process, if you need to complete an interim report, or if you recently received a notice from DCF requesting documentation (pay stubs or proof of income, proof of medical expenses, etc.) you must send your documents in immediately to continue your benefits.
If you aren’t sure if this applies to you, call the Benefits Service Center at 1-800-479-6151 to speak to a benefits specialist who can help. Expect a long wait time, but please stay on the line and do not give up! It is important that you hang on and get the information you need.
This is an ongoing situation, and there will likely be more updates to share in the coming days. Please visit https://www.hungerfreevt.org/government-shutdown for the most up to date information.
WORDS FOR THIRDS!
SCRIPPS SPELLING BEE
The CCS Scripps National School Spelling Bee will take place on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 at 1:15 p.m. in the MPR! Qualifying grade-level bees will be on Friday, February 15th - exact time and location TBD. Parent volunteers Chea Evans and Michaela Grubbs will be running practices on 1/30, 2/1, 2/5, 2/7, 2/8 during lunch and recess blocks!
Here are links to study materials, which will also be made available to students at school.
School Spelling Bee List Combined
School Spelling Bee List 2-Pager
MUSIC NEWS
Please mark your calendar for the 5th and 6th winter concert: Thursday, January 24th at 7 PM in MPR. Performers should dress their best and arrive at 6:30 PM in the band room. This concert will feature the 5th grade band, 6th grade band, and the 5/6 chorus. We hope to see you there!
The District Music Festival is on February 1-2 at Essex Middle School. Students should arrive prior to 9 AM registration that morning and are responsible for transportation to and from the festival. Please be sure to check your email for information from Gary Moreau, the festival manager, regarding other logistics. There will be a concert at 2 PM on February 2 as the culmination of the festival.
5th and 6th Grade Jazz Band and 6-8 Ukulele Band have begun! Jazz Band meets on Wednesdays at 7:30 and Ukulele Band on Fridays at 7:30. Come join the fun! No jazz rehearsal on Wednesday, January 23rd.
Please contact Andy Smith or Monica Littlefield directly if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you!
READ MORE ABOUT THE CVSD INTEGRATED FIELD REVIEW
GEOBEE INFORMATION
Our CCS National Geographic GeoBee is coming up! The Geo-Bee is open to all students in Grades 4-8. The school GeoBee will be Monday, January 28th at 8:30 a.m. in the MPR. Preliminary grade-level bees will take place on Tuesday, January 22, 2019. The top 2 scores from each grade level will move ahead to the school bee.
See important details/schedules are below.
GeoBee Dates:
School GeoBee - Monday, January 28, 2019 8:30 - 10:00 a.m. (MPR)
Preliminary GeoBee - Tuesday, January 22, 2019
- 8:30 - 9:15 - Grade 7
- 9:15 - 10:00 - Grade 8
- 10:00 - 10:45: Grade 4
- 11:30 - 12:15: Grade 6
- 1:00 - 1:45: Grade 5 (please note change in time due to Alpha 5 field trip)
GeoBee Practice Sessions (11:00 - 1:00)
Lunch/Recess periods
- 11:00 - 11:30 - lunch 5/6, recess 7/8
- 11:30 - 12:00 - lunch 3/4
- 12:00 - 12:30 - recess 3/4
- 12:30 - 1:00 - lunch 7/8, recess 5/6
Week of January 7
- Monday - Jean Anderson-Swayze - Downstairs Art Room
- Wednesday - Debbie Deale 11:00 - 12:00; Maura Wygmans 12:00 - 1:00 - Room 211
- Thursday - Jean Anderson-Swayze - Downstairs Art Room
Week of January 14
- Monday - Jean Anderson-Swayze - Downstairs Art Room
- Wednesday - Debbie Deale 11:00 - 12:00; Maura Wygmans 12:00 - 1:00 - Room 211
- Thursday - Jean Anderson-Swayze - Downstairs Art Room
Week of January 21
- Monday - Jean Anderson-Swayze - Downstairs Art Room
Below are links to some documents for your information that have been shared with staff and students.
Please contact me if you have any questions!
Stephanie
2019-2020 KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
Dear Charlotte Families and Pre-School Providers,
We are writing to inform you that Charlotte Central School will be opening our Kindergarten Registration for the 2019-2020 school year starting December 3, 2018. 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.
Naomi Strada, Administrative Assistant to the Principals, coordinates registration for CCS and she is looking forward to hearing from you! You can contact Naomi at 802-425-6600. Please do not email as she will need additional information about your child(ren) and for you to select a time for the February 6th screening date. Once an appointment has been made, Naomi will mail you all the necessary paperwork. Vicki Nelson (our K-2 school counselor), Tanya Vyhovsky (School Services Clinician) and Stephanie Sumner (PreK-4 Principal) are happy to help families complete the paperwork, just let us know how we can help you.
We are looking forward to meeting our new Kindergarten students and families at our Kindergarten Screening Days (February 6, 2019) and Kindergarten Visiting Day (May 24, 2019) in the Spring! This is such an exciting time for you and your child, and we are happy to be a part of this experience with you.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Sumner, PreK-4 Principal
TWO WAYS TO ORDER YOUR YEARBOOK
2. Print out order form below and submit to your support room teacher of CCS Office ALONG with a check or cash.
MAKE-A-WISH FAMILY FORMAL
Event: Make-A-Wish Family Formal
Venue: CVU Cafeteria
Date: Sunday, January 20, 2019
Time: 4:30pm - 7:30pm
Tickets: $22.00 for adults / $6.00 for child
To order tickets: https://www.ticketsource.us/cvufamilyformal
JANUARY LUNCH MENU
CHARLOTTE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Check out our website.