Gertrude Chamberlin School
Family Newsletter February 5, 2021 Volume 15 Issue 26
Free Food, Saturday, February 6th 10 AM - 12 PM. Drive to Vibrant Church on Williston Road and they will put boxes of food from the USDA into your trunk! This is free and open to anyone!
Black Live Matter Flag Raising at GCS
While the Black Lives Matter flag has been raised at SBHS during the month of February since 2018, the proposal to fly the flag year-round at all five of the District’s schools was presented to the South Burlington School Board back on December 16, 2020 by high school students who are members of the Student Justice Union. A recent additional proposal to fly the BLM Flag year round at all five schools was unanimously approved by the board at their January 6, 2021 meeting, where members also heard compelling testimony from middle school students who are involved with SOAR (Students Organizing Against Racism).
Superintendent David Young added, "We are grateful for the incredible leadership demonstrated by our students and staff to raise awareness around racial inequality and for the support we've received from our school board. We see the raising of the Black Lives Matter flag as a visible commitment to our students of color. It is also a powerful symbol of our work to dismantle structural racism, which is an important part of our democratic mission in public schools. We look forward to the courageous conversations about race that will continue to take place in our school community. We want the raising of the flag to be the start, not the end, of better conversations about racial justice in our school community."
Flying the flag year-round at all of our schools serves as part of a wider District initiative indicating support of and solidarity with our Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students, staff, and community. Our intentions around this action include:
· That this becomes a symbol of our school's pledge to fight racism and racist acts
· For students of color, demonstrates our school's commitment to their well-being
· Shows that we denounce any form of racism and discrimination of our BIPOC students
· Communicates our pledge toward being an anti-racist school
· That talking about social justice is part of our democratic mission as a public school
· Raising the flag is the start, not the end, of conversations about racial justice
This week, the flag was raised at the Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School. Before the February break, flags will be raised at Orchard and Rick Marcotte Central School. At Gertrude Chamberlin School, March 5th is the date when we will raise the Black Lives Matter flag. This event will involve our 5th grade leaders and will be viewed by classes online. We will follow COVID guidelines with masks and social distancing, and this event will not be open to the public. In preparation, we will continue our focus on anti-racism during our Wolf Pack Time. On February 9th, we will use the book A Kids Book About Racism or a video from the South Burlington High School Student Justice Union to discuss the Black Lives Matter flag being flown at our schools. There will be continued conversations and work done in classrooms as we promote social justice year round. As families, here are a couple of articles that might be helpful as you have your own conversations about race and racism at home.
Report Card Updates
The purpose of a report card is to provide you with current information on your child’s growth in developing specific academic skills. The report will also include a narrative section so that teachers can speak to your child’s individual strengths and needs as a learner. If a skill hasn’t been taught and assessed this year, you will see “n/a” on the report card.
The reality of this year is that we celebrate each day we have your child in school, and we know that this trajectory could change by June. Every score on the report card will represent where your child is at currently. When you look at your child’s report card, we want to be realistic about the situation we have been faced with since March. These arbitrary benchmarks that we are again using this year do not take into consideration the fact that we were in school closure for 3 months, that we have not yet returned to a full week of in-person learning, that our in person days are shortened, and that many children have missed school days as we focus on the safety of our health during a pandemic.
The pandemic greatly impacted the way students received instruction and also what they learned these past months. Some of our report card standards are not applicable to the teaching and learning that has happened this school year, and this varies across classrooms. Your child has endured a year that is unprecedented, and much of their learning goes beyond traditional academics. They have learned to socially distance and how to connect with loved ones through phones and computers. They have learned how to stay home and explore their own backyards. They have learned how to cope with the sadness of not seeing their family and friends, and for some, how to grieve the death of a loved one. They have learned how to wear a mask and the importance of good hand washing. Depending on your family situation, their brains may have been focused on where their next meal is coming from, how to keep themselves entertained while their parents were working from home or how to navigate the complexities of new technology to access their distance learning. We want to celebrate the resiliency of our incredible children. We have spent time listening to their stories, and helping them identify as learners in our community, and also make sense of a world that changed suddenly and is still in flux with a deadly disease.
So, yes, we believe in these learning expectations that are on your child’s report card…and with all of the changes that we have been faced with, we decided that re-writing the entire report card to truly reflect on the unique learning experiences that children have had would be an impossible task. Instead, we want to be here for your children and take advantage of every moment of learning that we have…not to “catch them up” because the reality is that the typical school learning trajectory has been disrupted. As educators, it is our job to meet them where they are and to stretch their learning, and that might mean the numbers and letters on this report card look very different from past years. In many cases, we have prioritized content areas, choosing math and literacy over social studies and science given the time constraints we have been faced with.
We know this might cause some of you to worry. We share your concern. Please know that your child is learning and working very hard at school and at home, including many new skills that it takes to live through a pandemic, and we are here as partners to support that journey. We choose to not think of all of our children as being “behind.” We choose to celebrate and nurture their resiliency, focus on their social emotional needs, and continue to offer rigorous learning opportunities whenever we can. First, we are supporting our children in their health and well being as they navigate a world that was turned upside down in a very short time. We will continue to keep track of your child’s growth as a learner and address any needs that arise along the way.
So we ask when it arrives home on February 12th that you read your child’s report card with a lens of understanding and celebrate all of the skills that your child has mastered (like communicating with peers and teachers while wearing a mask for 7 hours!) that are not on the document. Please check in with your teacher if you have any questions or feel like you need more clarification about your child’s progress.
Thank you for your support of our school community and also the important role you play in your child’s development as a learner.
Principal Holly Rouelle
Gertrude Chamberlin SchoolPrincipal Mark Trifilio
Orchard School
Principal Kathleen Kilbourne
Rick Marcotte Central School
Save All Animals...GCS Students Turn Their Passion Into a New Website!
Social Emotional Learning
For February and March, our schoolwide theme is emotion management, using our Second Step curriculum. We will be reminding students to notice their own feelings by paying attention to clues in their bodies, to stop and name their feelings, and how to use the Calming – Down Steps:
· Stop – Use your signal
· Name your feeling
· Calm down: Breathe, count, use positive self-talk
These skills will help students calm down strong emotions when faced with learning and social challenges, which helps them succeed academically and get along well with others. The Second Step Emotion Management Unit focuses on calming down and teaches students how to manage strong emotions such as anger, disappointment, frustration, and anxiety. You’ll be receiving home links that describe why managing strong emotions is important and include fun activities to do with your child to help him or her identify strong feelings and calm down. We hope the home links will give you tools to use together when your child is upset.
Farm To School News
Hello South Burlington Families, Teachers, and Friends!
Common Roots is making great progress on our new Farm to School educational video series and want to make sure you all have the latest resources. Our first three episodes are available to view for free and are accompanied by curriculums packed with fun projects and recipes to explore at home. See the descriptions of each lesson and links to our content. We hope you will view these videos. If you like them, feel free to forward to anyone else who may benefit. Enjoy!
Episode #1: Apples Through the Seasons / Curriculum
Most Vermonters can tell you a story or two about the wonderful apple harvest traditions they have experienced. In this lesson we take a sensory walk through an apple orchard to learn about the hard work apple orchardists do each year to create a bountiful harvest in the fall. We explore the health and wellness benefits apples provide our bodies while we learn some of the best ways to get a big serving of Vitamin V for vitality. After that we take a trip through history and figure out how apples started to grow all across the United States. Finally, in our Digging Deeper section of this lesson we focus on reciprocity and consider how we might give back to our community during the fall harvest time.
Episode #2: Winter Squash and Abenaki Foodways / Curriculum
With gratitude for the Abenaki agricultural traditions our second episode about squash celebrates the gifts of today and yesterday. Journey with Farmer Fae into the fall harvest on the farm, discover the Seven Sisters, and enjoy a culinary lesson with Abenaki Chef Jesse and our own Chef Zack.
Learn how to carry on the tradition of seed saving and be surprised to learn that familiar squashes on our dinner table have been tended by the Abenaki for ten thousand years. Curriculum wellness support written for ages 4-7, 8-12, teen to adult, prenatal, and elders is available and invites you on a deeper journey into how to cultivate a community that caretakes our soil and ourselves.
Episode #3: Microgreens and Soil Health / Curriculum
Restoring Ourselves, Our Soil, and Sprouting Microgreens scratches the surface of soil, the heart of our continuing food journey through the year. Winter’s hush across the landscape inspires restorative immune support practices boosted by the amazing benefits of microgreens, holders of sunshine and deep nutrition. Follow along using our demos on composting food waste with earthworms, sprouting and making microgreen confetti recipes, and microgreen yoga.
Our accompanying wellness curriculum for ages 4-7, 8-12, teen to adult, pre-natal, and elders includes “Soil Hero” instructions for worm farms, microgreen kits for the Food Shelf, and desktop composting in repurposed soda bottles. Older Soil Heroes are encouraged to dig deeper into the soil microbiome, soil-less growing, and examine fashion industry practices that exploit rather than restore soil, water, and human resources.
Look for Episode #4: Cabbage & Fermentation, coming right up.
Nourish to Flourish!
Lauren Jones
Common Roots, Farm to School Educator
PS. If you know educators, community leaders or health coaches who may be interested in receiving our film episodes and curriculum, please email: Lauren@commonroots.org
PTO News
https://sbschools.zoom.us/j/82716252823?pwd=bzdUUkpyOW1ocmY4bDhtaVN1dXlmQT09
Also, remember to sign up for a yearbook if you would like your child to have a copy of this wonderful keepsake.
The Hallways of GCS Are Bursting with Creativity!
Health Office Updates
SAFER WAYS TO ENJOY THE SUPER BOWL!
Gather virtually (host a Super Bowl watch party) or watch with the people you live with...avoid multi-household gatherings! This year choose a safer way to enjoy the game.
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COVID-19 VARIANTS
Is there anything different that we should be doing?
Viruses change and mutate over time; some mutations persist and some disappear. Early studies of the COVID-19 mutations show these variants transmit more easily and rapidly. Therefore, it is especially important to continue mitigation strategies to limit the spread and protect our community:
- Wearing a mask, hand hygiene, physical distancing
- Receiving the COVID-19 vaccine when available
- Following quarantine and isolating guidelines
Should I wear a double mask?
The CDC encourages choosing well-fitting masks with “two or more layers of washable, breathable fabric" and does not recommend double masking.
Mask Reminders:
Non-medical disposable masks:
These are single use (they are not surgical masks) and should be thrown out after one use.
Masks with exhalation valves or vents:
These are not recommended as they do not prevent the wearer from possibly spreading COVID -19 to others.
Other face protection (shield, goggles):
Not recommended as a substitute for a face mask.
Please consider sending in 2 EXTRA MASKS in your student's backpack, as they are getting wet
at recess.
Click here for more information and translations.
COLD WEATHER GEAR
Wear your scarf, ski mask or balaclava over your mask
Scarves, ski masks and balaclavas are not substitutes for masks
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DAY TRIPSDo I need to quarantine if I am making a quick trip out of state?
Per the health department, even if you leave the Vermont and don't have contact with anyone, you will need to quarantine upon return. The exemption to quarantine only applies to essential travel. Please see this link for more details.
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COVID-19 RESOURCES: Click on underlined below to follow the link.
- What to do when you are waiting for COVID test results
- Isolating, quarantining and self-observing
- COVID translations
- Frequently Asked Questions: COVID-19
- Return to School Following Illness guidelines
- COVID-19 PCR Testing Sites:
- If you/your student has symptoms of COVID-19, contact your health care provider first, to determine if testing is needed. If you don't have a health care provider, call 2-1-1 to connect to care.
- If you/your student are not sick, but need a test, consider scheduling a test at a pop-up site on the Health Department's website: "Where to Get Tested," through your provider, or call the Health Department @ 863-7240.
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FREE STUDENT DESKS
Is your child in need of a desk? Some handy Wake Robin retirees are making student desks and donating them to those in need of a workspace. Call Wendy at 802-345-1452; view the background story here and desk size information here.
Be Well,
Nurse Farrell
Changes in Valentine's Day at our Elementary Schools Due to the Pandemic
In an effort to keep everyone safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are asking for our students and staff to celebrate Valentine’s Day differently this year at school.
Please DO NOT send in any Valentine’s day treats or cards (homemade or store bought) to your student’s classroom (or school) this year. If your student's classroom teacher chooses to do Valentine's activities, all necessary materials and items will be provided. Thanks for your understanding.
School Budget Update
Yes, this budget is an increase in the expenditure budget by 5.88% AND we have an increase in our revenue to offset this increase.
Yes, our enrollment is growing, including here at Gertrude Chamberlin School. To support our increasing enrollment, this budget has an additional teacher to support our growing numbers. This will allow us to NOT have a class size of 23 or 24 students at any grade level.
Out of 168 school districts in VT, there are 100 districts that spend MORE per pupil than South Burlington School District.
There is also a bond that would support improvements for our buildings. At GCS, this means that we would be able to replace door hardware that is failing, continue asbestos floor abatement and replacement, and replacement of our circulation pumps, controls, and expansion tank.
Voting will be on Tuesday, March 2nd, or you can vote earlier by mail.
Here's a short video from Mrs. DeGuise of our students snow shoeing in PE!
January 29th Update from Superintendent Young
Dear Parents/Guardian and Staff,
Winter is here! Officially. After experiencing such mild temperatures so far this season, today’s wind chills are a bit of a shock. Be sure to layer up this weekend too. On the bright side, this shift means good news for our SBHS ice skating rink! Please remember that high school programming takes priority in terms of rink use and you can always see the status of whether it is open or closed on the high school website. Shout out to our facilities team and the city crew who has been helping to keep the ice in shape! Please see my weekly updates below.
COVID-19 Vaccine
Vaccination eligibility opened this week for Vermonters age 75 and older. Appointments to get a COVID-19 vaccine can be made by visiting the Vermont Department of Health website. If someone you know in this age group does not have access to online registration, they can make an appointment by calling 855-722-7878.
Black Lives Matter Flag Raising at FHTMS
The Black Lives Matter Flag will be raised at Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School Wednesday morning, February 3. A livestream of the event can be viewed here. The event is scheduled to begin at 8:45 am and will last about 15 minutes. At 8:45 am, Principal Karsten Schlenter will be saying a few words followed by short student speeches (these speeches are all pre-recorded to ensure good sound quality). Then, at 8:55 am, the actual raising of the flag in front of the school will take place followed by a final statement.Students and staff will attend virtually. There will only be a few adults and students attending the actual flag raising in person for safety reasons.Thanks to the IT Department for assisting with the technical logistics along with Chris Johnstone.
Plans to raise the Black Lives Matter Flag at the elementary schools are underway and more information will follow on those events once solidified.
Nutritional Services Update: Meal Delivery by Van Begins Next Week and P-EBT
Beginning Monday, February 1st the transportation department will begin using a white transit van to deliver meals on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. On remote Wednesdays, they will continue to use regular buses as well as the transit van. The van was purchased specifically to transport/deliver meals for Nutritional Services through Federal coronavirus relief funds (CRF).
In addition, if the online meal order form is closed and your student has transitioned to remote learning due to quarantine and you need access to meal delivery, please contact Rhonda Ketner, Nutritional Services Director (rketner@sbschools.net) to be added to the delivery list for the current week.
There is a new round of P-EBT (pandemic electronic benefits transfer) in the works, the State will be issuing guidance, FAQ's, and information for communicating with families.Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) is part of the U.S. government response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Through P-EBT, eligible school children receive temporary emergency nutrition benefits loaded on EBT cards that are used to purchase food.
FY22 Budget
This past week, I was joined by School Board Chair Bridget Burkhardt and school board member Brian Minier for a budget presentation on Channel 17. You can also review our proposed budget slide presentation as well as the annual warning on the budget section of the District website. Please note that this year, due to COVID restrictions, there will not be an in-person pre-town meeting day budget presentation, but rather a virtual meeting held via Zoom on March 1 at 7:00 pm. You can find the link to the virtual public hearing as well as the City’s annual meeting warning here. If you have questions about the budget or articles, please feel free to contact school board members or myself. The next school board meeting will take place next Wednesday, February 3 at 7:00 pm.
Ballots and Voting
This year, ballots will be mailed to all registered voters. According to City Clerk Donna Kinville, they should be in the mail February 10 and hopefully in mailboxes around February 12. There will be return postage affixed to the envelopes. The ballots can be brought to the polls, left in the City Hall night drop box before midnight March 1, or received in the mail no later than 4:00 pm on March 2. Residents can also vote in person at all regular polling locations from 7:00 am-7:00 pm Town Meeting Day March 2.
Update on Athletics
At the Governor’s press conference today, Secretary of Education Dan French said that the state has yet to make a decision on whether to allow high school sports competition this winter. French noted that not enough time had passed to have a good idea whether contact practices/scrimmages have an effect on COVID-19 spread. The restart committee will continue to review and analyze this weekly to ensure safety in a return to games.
Meanwhile, indoor track has been reimagined and was recently featured in the news during their first competition of the season. The team is split into 4 smaller teams that compete against each other and will culminate in the "School Championships" at the beginning of March. In collaboration with VASTA, the "meets" have 6 different events for teams to compete head-to-head. As an added element of fun, teams have the opportunity to include some of their teachers to earn extra points toward the overall School Champions that will be crowned at the beginning of March. Way to get creative and keep students active while staying safe!
School Happenings
SBHS Have You Checked out the Howling Herald?
Did you know SBHS has a student digital newspaper? You can check out the latest edition here to catch a student perspective on local, national, and international issues as well as book reviews, sports, and much more!
FHTMS Students Tackle Climate Change
Recently, students on the Why Not? Team finished a research and argument unit in ELA that focused on climate change. The essential question to be grappled with was: “How can I convince others to make changes that will impact our world?” Teacher Liz Siddle reported that, “After building background knowledge regarding climate change, students narrowed in on solutions that they found promising. They independently researched their solutions for two weeks and ended the unit by crafting strong, convincing arguments. Topics covered a broad range: living a zero waste lifestyle, promising renewable energy solutions, using kelp to help combat acidification, saving ecosystems, green cities, and sustainable farming. In the end, they created magazine articles that are now on display.” Well done!
Gertrude Chamberlin School 1st Graders Learn “How-To’s”
First graders in Jennifer Boudreau’s class have been learning how to sequence steps and write “How-To's” of their own. Students tested their how-to’s by writing out then following the steps needed to make sundaes, pizza, and lemonade at home as part of a remote learning lesson. Yum!
Rick Marcotte Central School Students Win a Day of Reading!
A day spent in PJ’s and sleeping bags with a good book? Sounds perfect for these chilly days and that’s precisely the reward students in Mr. Knepp's 4th grade class received this week. Students earned the read-a-thon by bringing in their reading logs tracking their at home work. According to Knepp, “Students had a ton of fun doing different reading activities such as comic book reading, partner reading, read aloud, instructional reading (where students read about and completed origami or science projects) and of course choice chapter book reading.”
And the read-a-thon will continue next Tuesday in Lizzy Appleby’s class since they have filled their reading jar with pompoms! Read-a-thon pompoms are added to a jar for minutes read at home. Way to go readers!
Orchard School 3rd Graders Study Forces in Motion
Alex Goff’s 3rd grade class recently completed a unit on Forces in Motion. Students began by exploring pushes and pulls with magnets. Then learned about friction and resistance through a variety of investigations. Students took what they learned from these investigations and made cars out of popsicle sticks, mints, cardboard, straws, tape, and hot glue. They tested their cars and made small changes to them. Goff said, “We raced them this past Monday and Minty, a blue rocket shaped car traveled the farthest!” Fun!
Thank you all for another great week of learning together!
Sincerely,
David
Family Resources:
Family Resources from our Howard Clinician
Caregiving is hard enough without a global health pandemic! Now more than ever, it is CRITICAL that we encourage our caregivers to practice diligent self-care. Our health depends on it, and the health of our children depends on it. It is difficult for caregivers to put themselves first – and we know they are equally as deserving and in need of it. Please consider using these helpful resources.
The Importance of Care for Caregivers (National Association of School Psychologists)
Parenting During Coronavirus: You are Enough (PBS Kids)
Parent/Caregiver Guide to Helping Families Cope (National Child Traumatic Stress Network)
COVID Support VT (from 211)
Apps for Self-Care and Wellness
Your School Services Clinician,
Sharon Davis
Family Support with Technology/Chromebooks
Here's the link to 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