CCS Newsletter
November 13, 2020
ADMINISTRATION UPDATE
Another week has passed and there is so much to celebrate. It is our honor to have Connie Metz, CVSD administrator-retired, in the school, this week helping out. Her kindness and smiles are contagious as is her willingness to help out.
Dear CCS Families and Community Members,
I have had the distinct honor to sub for Stephanie while she is at the Snelling Institute finishing her program. For those of you who do not know me, I have been a long-time educator at CVU. My three children have gone through the CVSD school system and I now have a grandson who is a fourth-grader here in Charlotte. Although I have been a visitor in the Charlotte school, I have never worked inside the school., and for sure never worked here during Covid.
The Charlotte school is filled with educators who care deeply for children and show it from the time the children step off the bus or get out of their cars to the moment they finish the day and the children get on the bus or back into their cars. All the adults know the students by name and they even know the cars that drop them off and pick them up.
I visited many classrooms and saw engagement creativity and active learning. The kids are excited about learning. Teachers welcomed me whether in their classroom or in the halls. I was a familiar face to some of the teachers and staff who remembered me from CVU. The walls are filled with pictures and words of kindness and love. So many projects to see and learn from.
Cindy, whom you all know, produces magic for everyone. Whether she is calling parents to check on students or helping teachers with projects or greeting people who buzz in, she does it with ease and finesse.
Naomi has an institutional history. She makes sure that the system works (i.e. who is here, who needs coverage, the subs are here, are the buses running on time) and so much more that I cannot list. She too does it seamlessly, respectfully, and lovingly.
Everyone at the school has a job and it gets done easily and without fanfare. I could be a bystander and the system works well.
I asked my grandson when I could come to say hello. I suggested lunchtime. His response ”not a good time, Grandma, we are not wearing our masks.” That response spoke to all the students in the school. They know the rules about masks and they wear them.
I had a chance to speak to many students. Their attitude toward school was positive and they were excited to be back.
The school is spotless. The floors shine. There are hand dispensers everywhere and signs to remind us all how and when to wash our hands.
I applaud your administration, your teachers and your staff. Charlotte is an amazing school and I genuinely feel honored to have helped out for the past two days.
In appreciation,
Connie
We are extremely grateful for the support we have from our CCS families - from exercising caution with the common cold and flu symptoms, reaching out if support is needed during absences, and continuing to collaborate with us as we dig deeper into the school year. It truly takes a village, and we’re thankful to be educators in the Charlotte community.
Take Care,
Stephanie, Jen and Cassandra
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
Wednesday, November 18th
Remote Day for All
Monday, November 23rd through Friday, November 27th
NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Break
SEEKING SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS
CCS is looking for a few energetic and reliable people to join our guest teacher list for the 2020-2021 school year. If you love working with children, this is a great opportunity to become involved in your community school. If you are interested in subbing at CCS, please contact Vicki Roberts at Champlain Valley School District, 383-1234 or vroberts@cvsdvt.org, for employment paperwork and fingerprinting information.
STUDENTS AND MASK WEARING
REMINDERS FROM THE FRONT OFFICE
A few quick reminders as we move deeper into the school year!
Students go outside every day, sometimes multiple times per day! As weather changes, please be sure your child has appropriate outdoor clothing and shoes (and sometimes a change of shoes if very rainy).
CVSD Busing - Due to COVID guidance, capacity on buses are limited and are by reservation. Due to this limited seating and for contact tracing purposes, buses can only pick up and drop off at a student's home or approved/affiliated daycares.
K-4 students returning to 4 in-person days throughout this month means small increases in our traffic flow. Please be mindful of this, knowing that wait times may vary and traffic patterns may be congested. Keeping safety in mind is of utmost importance, particularly as we are loading and unloading students!
Early Pick up: If you need to pick up your child early for an appointment, please plan on picking them up no later than 2:15pm. With our new dismissal process our busses are in front of school by 2:30 and we do not want you to get caught up in that traffic.
Dismissal Pick Up: We have 4 separate locations for parent pick up. Please use these locations as you are writing pick up notes.
- K - Dismissed by the cafeteria/kitchen door.
- 1 - 4 - Exit through the front entrance.
- 5 - 6 - Exit through the cafeteria door.
- 7 - 8 - Exit through the Flagpole door.
PICTURE PACKAGE ORDERS - DEADLINE IS MIDNIGHT, NOVEMBER 13TH
PICTURE PACKAGE ORDERING - Due to parent requests, Beltrami has re-opened the ordering link with their e-commerce host. This link will remain open until midnight on Friday, November 13th (day after re-take/make-up day.) The link is:
password: ccs320
TEMPERATURE CHECKS
As we edge toward winter, our thermometers are becoming less and less accurate in the mornings. Beginning Monday, November 16th, we will move temperature taking inside at each entrance. We will continue to use all three parking lots and have a slight shift in the dropoff routine on the cafeteria side. Please know that if your child registers a high temperature, we will enact quarantine procedures quickly and call you as quickly as possible to return to school and pick up your child.
Grades K, 5-6 (and siblings) - drop off at cafeteria door. Temperatures will be taken inside the cafeteria entrance. K students will be escorted to Kindergarten by adults and all others will walk to their assigned classrooms. We will work to stagger entrances to limit congestion.
Grades 1-4 (and siblings) - drop off at the front entrance. Temperatures will be taken in the main lobby entrance and students will proceed to their classrooms.
Grades 7-8 (and siblings) - drop off at the flagpole entrance. Temperatures will be taken in the flagpole lobby and students will proceed to their classrooms.
PARKING, ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL - PLEASE HELP US WITH SAFETY!
Buses do not leave the front of the building until close to 3:00. Cars arriving early are blocking the ability of the buses to depart the parking lot safely. Please plan to arrive at CCS at 3:00 or after to keep our roadways clear of congestion. We need everyone’s assistance to keep our students, families and community members safe.
Parking spaces on the west side of the building are reserved for our school bus drivers. As the winter weather approaches, our lot also holds buses from Shelburne Community School. We are trying to create habits to avoid any cars impacting the arrival and departure of these buses.
GRADES 5-6 TRANSITION TO 4-DAY A WEEK IN-PERSON
We are moving forward with the reentry of 5/6 next week and will continue to monitor and analyze key metrics. All week our administration has been working with our COVID coordinator and local physicians to ensure we are ready. We have the CVSD guideposts that we are monitoring thoroughly daily:
- There is no or very low COVID activity in our communities.
- Our ability to staff our classrooms remains stable and sufficient.
- Our routines are efficient, effective, and any trouble-spots are easily worked out.
- We are able to maintain compliance with VT DOH and AOE guidance.
- We are confident in the DOH’s ability to respond to any positive cases in our school community.
Dr. Leah Costello also reached out with the following message:
“Our pediatric community across VT meets three times per week with the pediatric infectious disease physicians from UVM and with Breena Holmes, MD from the health department. We continue to discuss that we all support continued opening of schools. We even talked about this yesterday on our phone call knowing that the rates were rising rapidly. As you know cases are coming into schools due to higher community rates but due to strict adherence to health and safety guidelines, we are not seeing spread within school. This is very promising data. This is promising for both adults in the building and children. The risk will never be zero but we know that schools are not driving this increase in spread of COVID.”
“As an educator you and I know that schools are much much much more than just education. We know about the social and emotional risks of closing schools... It is a delicate balance.”
“I promise that I will keep CVSD up to date if I am hearing any new information from the pediatric community. Please be assured that the pediatric experts in this state are talking about this all the time and looking at the numbers and data. We would never put teachers, staff or kids at undue risk.“
MIDDLE SCHOOL ATHLETES
Fall sports participants: Please return your laundered uniforms to school by November 13th. There will be bins by the main office or you may give them to your coach.
Stay tuned for additional details about the possibility of winter basketball. The state has issued its guidance for high school and the CVSD middle level administrators are meeting to plan a season that supports students physical and mental well-being while giving kids a chance to play on a team.
SCHOOL FOLLOWING THANKSGIVING BREAK:
As we approach our first extended school break for the week of Thanksgiving, we wish to share information to address any speculation, rumor, and on-line discussion in our community and around the State about the status of schools immediately following the Thanksgiving break. We want Charlotte families to know that at this time, CVSD has no plans to preemptively close or declare remote schooling for the days and weeks following the Thanksgiving break. With this in mind, families should expect that school routines will be maintained throughout this period for the benefit of all of our learners. Of course, as this pandemic has required since its inception, we will continue our work to be prepared for every contingency as we have learned how quickly things can change.
For those considering plans to travel outside of Vermont, please be aware that there are travel restrictions put in place by Governor Scott that would require you to quarantine for up to 14 days upon your return to Vermont if you have traveled to a red or orange zone. We encourage families to reference the travel guidance on the VT DOH website. This is true outside of school breaks as well - any non-essential travel into red or yellow zones in other states requires adherence to the state quarantine mandate. Any non-essential visitors must follow quarantine guidelines upon arriving in Vermont as well. Limiting any potential exposure will support us in keeping our staff and students healthy. Obviously, we all need to work together to help keep our schools open and safe for in-person learning!
INFORMATION FROM THE CCS DIRECTION CENTER
Hello Families! I know we are all working to find balance and calm amidst these uncertain times. I also know you are inundated with emails, resources, articles, and information almost constantly.
I have curated a list of resources, updated and added to each week, that I hope will support your entire family’s social and emotional well being. This can be a place you come back to each time new challenges or questions arise, and you need a resource to help.
As always, if you need additional support or information not found here, PLEASE reach out to me. My email is blloyd@cvsdvt.org
Stay well,
Besty Lloyd, CCS School Counselor
Local Vermont Resources
- First Call - 488-7777
- Vermont Department of Children and Families
- Vermont Department of Mental Health
- UVM Breathe In Breath Out - How to deal with stress due to COVID-19
- Outright Vermont - support for LGBTQ+ community
1-800-273-TALK (8255) (National Suicide Prevention Lifelife: USA)
- Crisis Text Line - text HOME to 741741 (24 hours a day, seven days a week)
- 211 has hired three COVID Support Counselors available M-F 8-8. https://covidsupportvt.wpengine.com and there are some good resources on their webpage as well.
Comprehensive Resources
- Child Mind Institute - Great articles and resources for dealing with anxiety (children and parents), also offers live Facebook chats with experts as well as remote evaluations and telemedicine.
- Common Sense Media - Provides online tools, apps, as well as “Best Of” Lists for kids (movies, music, TV, Books, Apps, Games, Websites, etc)
- Here are some direct links that may be helpful:
Educational apps that don't need wifi or data
What to watch, read, play while your children are stuck indoors
Free online events and activities for kids at home
Resources for Anxiety, relaxation, sleep, mindfulness
- Calm - an excellent online resource with soothing music, meditations (for kids and adults), sleep stories, and mindfulness resources.
- Mindful Schools - they have recorded mindfulness classes for kids to try while at home, geared towards kids who are in grades K-5.
- Articles for navigating and managing anxiety
- Insight Timer - this is a link to MANY resources in times of COVID-19 - Anxiety, panic, healthy routines, connection and compassion.
- Meditation for feeling as safe as you reasonably can - created by Rick Hansen, it is less than 5 minutes long and can be a great source of calm
- How Mindfulness Can Help During COVID-19
Resources for Play and Fun!
- Smirkus @ Home - Circus Smirkus is offering online classes for all ages! Learn to hula hoop, juggle, and much more!
- Flynn Center - the Flynn is offering online classes, for little or no cost, and for all ages!
- Pbs.org - how you and your kids can de-stress during coronavirus - activities to try together, and videos from some of their favorite PBS kids characters!
- Time magazine - article with ideas for play and keeping kids busy while at home
Self Care
- Ideas - things you can do to take care of yourself
- Self care in the time of coronavirus
- Holidays during the pandemic- tips for reducing stress, helping kids cope, and making new traditions.
HOLIDAY FOOD AND GIFT SUPPORT
We know this year has been especially difficult for many families, and more than ever we want our CCS community to know that we are here to support you as we enter the holiday season. We have partnered with local organizations and individuals to help support our families in need. Though things will look different this year, please reach out if you need help with food for holiday celebrations or gifts for children. Our goal is to help with one need and one wish for each child. As always, your requests will remain confidential.
Please direct any questions and requests to Betsy Lloyd, CCS School Counselor, as soon as possible so that we can do everything possible to meet the needs of all families. Betsy can be reached by email at blloyd@cvsdvt.org or by phone at (802)425-6613.
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE: MIDDLE LEVEL FRIDAY BULLETIN LINKS
CHARLOTTE COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT SURVEY
Survey link: https://tools.gocros.org/charlotte
(Open through December 11th)
This assessment came to the attention of some very forward thinking folks at the library as it had been formulated in the wake of Hurricane Irene when so many Vermont towns and families sustained substantial damage from the incredible, unexpected flooding around our state. It became apparent during the aftermath of the devastation that some towns rebounded easier and quicker than others and it was determined that it was the result of them being more and/or better prepared for the crisis……in other words, more resilient!
To further study that, the Community Resilience Organization came into being and the assessment created. To date, 10 towns in Vermont have taken the assessment and used the results to bring about change and improvements in those towns for their citizens. In Charlotte, several months ago, the CRO was contacted and the wheels to do this in Charlotte began turning.
The COVID team/Charlotte Community Partners, consisting of folks coming from various organizations/walks of life in our town decided to take up this mission as a way to learn whether or not our town was indeed ready, in various areas, to handle a crisis in the future. The assessment was read and studied, then simplified, reworked, and tweaked every way possible to try to make it relatively painless to complete, easy to understand, but still providing us with some clarity of where the town is meeting the needs of our citizens and where more work is needed….perhaps in terms of services, perhaps in terms of communication!
The assessment looks at areas that are critical to each and every one of us…..the availability of food and housing, how we are dealing with our environment, our roads and bridges and whether or not they are adequate, maintained, and/or safe, our natural resources and whether or not we are protecting them, the availability of health services, use of our land, availability of emergency services and shelters, internet/broadband service, community connections, and more. In every instance you will be asked to rate how you feel Charlotte ranks with the option to say, you don’t know. All questions are important as are all answers, including “you don’t know”….which is critical as it may mean our town isn’t prepared in that area or it could also mean that what the town has done or has available hasn’t been effectively communicated to folks. In other words, if you have a lot of questions with the answer “I don’t know”, don’t feel that your assessment isn’t valuable….because it very definitely is…..a lot of issues today stem strictly from the lack or ineffectiveness of communication.
But if this assessment is to have value to our town, we need to hear from ALL Charlotte residents …..and that means each one of YOU! To that end, the assessment will be available on line and links will be in the Charlotte News and The Citizen and on the Library and Town websites and in the CCS newsletter. If you don’t have access to a computer, you can access one at the Library and complete the assessment there.
INTERVALE CENTER AND SHIFTMEALS
THANKSGIVING WEEK MEALS
Dear CVSD Families,
Important info about Thanksgiving Week Meals from your CVSD Nutrition Services team.
Meals are FREE for all children 18 and under. There will be one meal distribution Thanksgiving Week on Monday 11/23 from CCS, HCS, SCS, and WCS. CVU students can pick up meals from any of the K-8 schools. We will be sending out three days of meals which you can order starting at 11:00 AM Friday 11/13 through 8:00 AM on Monday 11/23. Here is the link to the CVSD Food Services Page where you can order meals from your local K-8 school. The pick-up window is expanded to 10:00 - 11:00 AM on Monday 11/23 only. Delivery is available thanks to many volunteers from Williston and Hinesburg School staff and the Rotary Club of Shelburne, Charlotte, and Hinesburg.
We hope you have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.
Thanks!
Your CVSD Nutrition Services team