Shelburne Community School
Weekly Newsletter
September 13, 2021
Principal's Message
SCS Families,
We have just wrapped up a wonderful 4-day week together and we are about to embark on another. CVSD will have no school this Thursday, to observe Yom Kippur. But, with each day that passes, you can literally feel the entire school community settling deeper and more comfortably into the rhythms of the school year. Systems and routines are starting to be established and make sense for students, staff, and families alike. I would bet that this is occurring not only in school but in our own homes, as the sometimes frantic and less predictable summer months give way to a slightly more regimented fall. Allow me to put a plug in for why this annual transition is so important.
I talk often about the concept of routine in these newsletters as we move in and out of the cyclical stages of the school year. I probably do not do enough to explain the "why" behind my preoccupation with the concept. It is my strongly held belief that thoughtful routine in school life and home life is what breeds predictability for students. When our students can predict what "comes next", they feel safe. Children who feel safe are available to learn, grow, and develop. On the other hand, when students do not know what comes next, when they do not feel secure and safe, we push them to that very instinctual place of fight or flight. While it is a natural way for our children's brains to work, it is not a "place" where learning happens. The same variability that can make adult life exciting often makes children feel uneasy and anxious.
So, as we reflect on the start of any school year, I think the concepts of routine, predictability, and safety are where we should start. If a student is settling in nicely at school, it is likely that the family and the school are ticking most of these boxes with regularity. When a student is having difficulty getting traction at school, I feel like the school and the family need to partner to create more consistency wherever it can be found. Predictability within how the student moves through their school day, how they arrive to and depart from school, morning and evening routines, and even meals are all great examples of levers we can use to make adjustments. High variability and change is hard for adults, it can be downright devastating for our children. That is why we put such a focus on developing trusting relationships and predictable routines at the start of each and every school year. As a parent of two SCS students, it is a helpful lens to carry when reflecting upon my own children's successes and struggles. If I am honest, moments of struggle almost always coincide with times where our own patterns and routines are less established.
One vital routine in schools is the manner in which we keep students well fed each day. The fact that no student is ever asked to learn while hungry is a core value and commitment of any public school. That is why there has been so much debate and effort to get this process right in the face of the pandemic. Nutrition is a non-negotiable part of creating predictable outcomes for our students. But, our usual patterns and schedules have been challenged greatly by COVID and the structural changes to our kitchen.
We are happy to report that the transition for students back to the cafeteria went as well as we could have imagined last week. We started on Thursday with our students in grades 1-4. We stretched our systems on Friday to welcome students in grades 5-8 as well. Our wonderful food service team began settling into their new space and new equipment. It will take some time to perfect systems like ordering, meal service, and waste management, but it will get better every single day. After some practice run-throughs for the younger students, and a series of team meetings with the older 5-8 students, they were respectful and understanding of the assigned tables and distancing within the cafeteria. While it limits some of the social aspects that make a student love lunchtime, I think they could feel the positive safety impacts. The lunches were far less congested and more orderly than ever before.
At the same time, we got over 50 parents and caregivers signed up to volunteer to provide more outdoor dining options during the warmer fall months. We will create a preliminary schedule this week, and get volunteers to central office to complete paperwork. It is our hope that we can get the new system up and running in short order. Those volunteers should hear more from us tomorrow. We want to thank all of you who have had your voices heard on this issue. While we do work within certain systems constraints, we always want to do whatever we can to try to make students and their families feel safe in all aspects of the school day. While I know we could not meet every expectation, I hope we are showing the willingness to adapt to meet the diverse expectations of our stakeholders. We truly value parent feedback and we will do all we can, within those ever-present constraints, to learn from it and adapt to it.
There are two other very practical elements I'd like to address in closing Both have their own space in the news section below, but I want to draw your attention to them.
The first is PowerSchool. PowerSchool is our new student information system that houses all of the emergency contact and vital information about your student. Making sure that all families are registered in PowerSchool and that all essential documentation is complete is an absolute MUST if we are to maintain school safety. As of this weekend, only 39% of SCS families had registered their PowerSchool accounts and submitted their essential forms. We must do better as a community. Please take the time to get this done during the upcoming week. This is a process. You need to first create an account. Then you will be able to complete and submit your annual documentation. If you need support, we are here to help.
The second is a much happier and brighter annual process, and that is school photos! We are thrilled to have AMV Photography back with us this year. We have a new contract with AMV after two successful years of enjoying the authentic and unique outdoor photos that Ann Marie and her team produce. This year, as part of negotiations, the school chose to stop taking a small fund-raising royalty that was common to previous photo contracts. In return, AMV has made considerable cuts to package costs/rates for our families. We hope that the savings are helpful in making school photos accessible to as many families as possible. We are so thankful to work with a local company that has the interest and the latitude to make adjustments like this for our community. This whole process would not be possible without the tireless work of Garrath Higgins! If the information below does not answer your questions, please reach out to Garrath directly.
We are looking forward to greeting your students on Monday morning and enjoying another great week together.
We hope you have a wonderful week!
Keeping Students Home When Ill (A Message from Our Health Office)
SCS Families,
We are so happy to have students back in our school 5 days a week! We have several strategies to keep our schools safe and healthy but need your help to keep illness out of our classrooms.
Please do not send your child to school if they are sick with any symptoms (ie: cough, runny nose, headache, nausea, diarrhea, stomach ache, sore throat, fever, fatigue, etc.). If your child has any signs of illness, you will need to check in with your child's doctor and have them tested with a PCR test before returning to school. They should not return until you have the results of their test and you have shared those with the Health Office. If you have questions, please reach out to Kelly (kmarcus@cvsdvt.org) or Jocelyn (jbouyea@cvsdvt.org) at 383-1108.***
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 Friday, September 18th. 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.
Student photo days are next week! 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 was shared with all 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
Important Update About Free and Reduced Meals
With school breakfast and lunch free for all students this year you may be wondering why you should bother to apply to the Free and Reduced Meal Program. Learn why at this link.
CVSD's COVID Recovery Plan
CVSD schools have re-opened for the 2021-2022 school year following the guidelines provided by the Vermont Agency of Education. Vermont school districts are working to meet the needs of all students, especially after a pandemic year. We were required to create a Recovery Plan for the Vermont Agency of Education for approval. CVSD is calling this our Strategic Response Plan. Learn more about the plan and provide feedback at this link.
ParentIN CVSD
Hello Parents and Caregivers!!
In my role as ParentIN Coordinator, I’m excited to welcome you into the 21-22 school year! I’m writing from my desk at the Hinesburg Community School. The school is bustling with excited educators who are joyfully setting up their classrooms for your children, as is the case in schools throughout the district. While we all did enjoy summer, we truly look forward to welcoming our students back this year to in-person learning 5 days a week!
I spent my summer connecting with family and friends that I haven’t seen in over a year. My family of 5 hiked, camped, biked, swam, and did some boating. It was a wonderful time connecting and bonding with my three daughters and I recognize the privilege that I have as an educator to be home in the summer months. I’ve also enjoyed reconnecting with my district communities! I’ve taken ParentIN on a bit of a road show this summer; to summer concerts and farmers markets, as a way to be present and share this fantastic resource.
Now I look ahead and plan for ways that I can support families and those that care for children. We’re unfortunately starting the school year with COVID precautions still in place but the good news is that we have the systems down and we know they work.
ParentIN is here to support you this year, through all the ups and downs that may befall your family or our communities. We serve to assist parents and guardians to be the best parents they can be by providing bridges to family and individual counseling, parent support connections, research, and successful strategies for having conversations about substance use with the youth in their lives. The entire ParentIN team is excited to invite caregivers to come as their whole selves, imperfections and all, to engage intentionally in this judgement-free space and leave with new skills, strategies, and support networks for the winding road ahead.
Parenting can be hard but you aren’t alone. We have active community groups of parents and professionals to journey with you. Email me for support when you need it and we can also set up a phone or video call. We’ll have many exciting workshops and educational sessions this year so be sure to subscribe to our newsletter at parentincvsd.org so you don’t miss an opportunity to connect or learn. We are here for you when you need us.
Kind Regards,
Amy Sayre
Important Upcoming Dates
(A complete calendar can be found on the SCS website)
Sept 13th - PowerSchool Parent Portal Deadline
Sept 13th, 14th, & 15th - Student Photo Days
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