Today was the first day of Seed Time at Orchard School! Seed Time is a new practice we are using to help students build connections across grade levels with students and adults. During Seed Time, students are mixed into multi-age groupings of either Kindergarten - Grade 2 students or Grade 3 - Grade 5 students to participate in connecting activities that reinforce our SEL curriculum, Second Step. Seed Time will be held every other Friday at the end of the day - a great way to play, connect, and end the week!

The concept for Seed Time came from a strong desire to return the sense of community and belonging that we have all been missing during the COVID19 pandemic. This past June, Orchard School sent a group of teachers and student support team members to the BEST conference in Killington, where they focused on creating this model that will restore connection and deepen our understanding of each other while giving students the opportunity to practice social and emotional learning skills that we are teaching. The addition of Seed Time is helping to build a bank of proactive practices that support whole-student learning and growth here at Orchard School.

Here is a little about today’s Seed Time:

1. Welcoming Activity - Students gathered in a circle to share their names.

2. Mindfulness - A quiet moment to get ourselves ready to work together!

3. Activity - Working collaboratively to build a toothpick and model magic tower! Lots of teamwork, older students helping younger students, and problem-solving together.

4. Closing activity - Students gathered in a circle to rate the “fun”-level of the activity.

We hope that students come home excited about Seed Time! If you have any questions about Seed Time or our SEL curriculum, please reach out to our SEL Coach, Abby Hill (aarmell@sbschools.net).

ILLNESS

We are seeing lots of respiratory illness in our health room! If your child is sick, please keep them at home. If your child's nose is congested/dripping constantly or they have a concerning cough, please keep them at home to rest. Fever? Before returning to school, the fever must be gone (under 100.4) for at least 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medicine).

COVID BOOSTER UPDATE:

Per the Vermont Department of Health (VDH), Omicron-specific COVID-19 boosters are now available in Vermont. The updated booster is for people 12 and older who have completed their primary COVID-19 vaccine series and received their last booster or additional dose at least two months ago.

CDC also recommends:

COVID-19 primary series vaccines for everyone ages 6 months and older.

COVID-19 boosters for everyone ages 5 years and older, if eligible.

People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised follow specific recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters.

Find out more information from the VDH HERE.

Find local walk-in clinics HERE (or talk with your health care provider).

Be well,

Kara Cassani &

Sarah Pineda, School Nurses

Fun Run: The Fun Run is coming on October 7th! See your child's take-home sheet for more details, and go to Konstella to volunteer or donate today!

Fundraising: The Fun Run is meant to be our one big fundraiser for the year, but there are other ways you can support our school. Orchard School is a beneficiary of Amazon Smile; click here to learn how to set Orchard as your charity of choice: https://smile.amazon.com/charity/smile/about

Box Tops is another easy way to support the school! Download the Box Tops for Education app here: https://btfe.smart.link/c2jjdifkw?referral_code=VI7J42XS

Use referral code VI7J42XS when you sign up and you’ll get 20 Bonus Box Tops.

Konstella: Join today to connect with your child's friends, to sign up for classroom events, and more! https://www.konstella.com/cd/YHHCGJ

What is Konstella? It's an app and website with a school directory by classroom (students are added by their caregiver, so it is not necessarily a full class list). It is also used throughout the year as a place for people to sign up to volunteer for classroom events, and it can accept payments for field trips and other donations

Create a Lunch Account

Orchard students can receive a free breakfast and free lunch at school each day.

• Extra meal items and a la carte items, including milk, are not part of the USDA Free & Reduced meal programs. If your student brings lunch from home and wishes to purchase milk, the cost is $.50.
• Extra meal items and a la carte items may not be charged; a student must have funds in their account or pay cash at the register.
• All students will be assigned a pin # to be used for making a purchase from their lunch account. Don't worry! if your child can't quite remember their pin # yet, we can credit the account by name.

MySchoolBucks is an online payment service that provides a quick and easy way to add money to your student’s meal account using a credit/debit card or electronic check. You can also view recent purchases, check balances, and set up low-balance alerts for FREE!

Enrollment is easy!

1. Go to MySchoolBucks.com or download the mobile app and register for a free account.

2. Add your student(s) using their school name and student ID.

3. You will find the student ID, listed as Student Number, in the PowerSchool Parent Portal.
   

4. Make a payment to your student's accounts with your credit/debit card or electronic check.

Already have an account?

• Click on this link for a video on how to reset a password via mobile phone or via email.
• Click on this link to add another student to your account.

Try football for free with the South Burlington Dolphins, the cornerstone of S.B. youth football since 1967! A fun experience for players of all genders and experience levels to learn the fundamentals of football and grow with the sport. The Dolphins offers flag football (grades 1-4) and tackle (grades 5-8).

Meet our new head coach and try a practice Monday, Sept. 19 & 26 and Tuesday, Sept. 20 & 27 at 5pm at Jaycee Park in South Burlington.

For more information, contact Coach Bryan Belisle at oleballcoach1@gmail.com.

Why play for the Dolphins?

· Inclusive, encouraging coaching that supports the latest in player safety & proper skills development.

· The only S.B. youth football team to be a member of the Northern Vermont Football League.

· Practices held locally at Jaycee Park:

o Flag (grades 1-4) practice Mon., Tues. & Thurs. from 5p-6:30p. Games on Thurs. or Sat.

o Tackle (grades 5-8) practice Mon.-Fri. from 4p-6p. Games on Sat.

· Head Coach Bryan Belisle combines over 20 years of football coaching experience at the youth through semi pro levels. Holds USA Football and Advanced Contact certifications.

· All Dolphins coaching staff are USA Football certified, have experience playing and/or coaching at the collegiate level and want to pass on their love of the game to a new generation!