CCS Newsletter
April 14, 2017
HUMAN BODY UNIT WITH MR. UWE MESTER
VERMONT COUNCIL ON READING AWARD
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
LET'S CELEBRATE
- This past Saturday students from CCS and HCS joined together for the Empower Youth Leadership Conference at Charlotte Central School. Students participated in activities that focused on improving self, health, and wealth. They learned success strategies for communicating, collaborating, problem-solving in tough situations, how to grow your finances, and how to create a vision for their future. The upstairs atrium was transformed into a beautiful cafe where all enjoyed a delicious lunch. The event was co-sponsored by the Children's Legacy Partnership Foundation and CCS. We'd like to give a big thank you to the event volunteers: Courtney McDermott, Kayla Bothwell, Stella Martenis, Maddie Poirier, Linda Poirier, Colleen Brady, and Kathy Batty.
- Mr. Uwe Mester visited our fourth grade class to discuss bones and muscles and how they work together. He introduced a game and some activities that really got students to build on what they are learning in their Human Body Unit.
- Last Friday, Monica Lubic and Michelle Filardi were presented with the John T. Poeton Award for literacy teaching during the Vermont Council on Reading spring conference. John T. Poeton was there and personally congratulated them. He also requested to visit their classrooms as he was so inspired by their teaching!. Congratulations, Ms Lubic and Ms Filardi!
Celebrating Global Citizens Lab with the help of classroom teachers, Ms. Nelson and Mrs. Huestis, CCS 3rd & 4th graders have been learning about global citizenship. Our core idea is “our words and actions in both our offline and online communities impact our world.” This collaborative effort provides an opportunity to blend curricula, cross-share resources and teaching styles, and support self-directed learning. Students have the opportunity to learn and to contribute to both their offline and online communities. Ask your 3rd or 4th grader what our core idea means to them! Here is a link to a video - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3d6lpp2GtpFbEpPT1E3b2tjOVU/view?usp=sharing
HILDENE LINCOLN ESSAY CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT
This past February, 11 of our 8th graders on Team Omega submitted entries to the Hildene Lincoln Essay Contest, an annual competition open to all 8th graders in Vermont. All 7th and 8th Omega students composed essays that focused on topics relating to natural resources and the environment. Contest participants, however, needed to respond to the following prompt:
Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time, requiring a myriad
of responses. Describe one action the United States could implement to substantially curb greenhouse gas emissions, the key driver of rising global temperatures. Identify the likely positive and negative impacts such an action would have on one or more demographics. Given these impacts, is this something the United States should do?
The following 8th grade students participated: Seth Boffa, Moira Buxton, Sebastian D’Amico, Sean Gillian, Ella Haire, Skyler Heininger, Ethan Lisle, Lulu Louchheim, Elyse Martin-Smith, Courtney McDermott, and Carolina Sicotte.
These students worked under a compacted timeline and rigorous guidelines around format, length, and bibliography to satisfy the requirements of this contest. They deserve high praise for their willingness to share their compositions with an audience beyond our classroom and school community. All produced very strong essays.
We received word on Tuesday, April 4, that Elyse Martin-Smith took first place in the contest. Lulu Louchheim and Courtney McDermott both received honorable mentions. Congratulations!
Q & A WITH THE PRINCIPALS
STUDENT ABSENT / TARDY LINE - 425-6688
LOST AND FOUND
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
Monday, April 17th
Field Trip - Alpha 6 to Flynn Theater, 8:30am
Field Trip - Navigators to Flynn Theater, 8:30am
Tuesday, April 18th
Early Release Day, 1:55pm
Wednesday, April 19th
Q & A with the Principals, CCS Library, 7:30am TO 8:30am. Come any time during this window.
Friday, April 19th
Exploratories! 8:30am - 10:30
Monday April 24th thru Friday April 28th
Spring Break - No School
Monday, May 1st
Field Trip - Voyagers to Flynn Theater, 8:30am
Tuesday, May 2nd
Early Release Day, 1:55pm
Friday, May 5th
Spring Fling Dance, MPR, 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Tuesday, May 9th
Early Release Day, 1:55pm
Thu, May 11th - May 13th
The Music Man, CCS Drama Production (watch for details)
Tuesday, May 16th
Early Release Day, 1:55pm
Thu, May 18th
Science Night, sponsored by the PTO
Tuesday, May 23rd
Early Release Day, 1:55pm
NOTE: This is the last early release Tuesday of the 16-17 year.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY
Charlotte Central School students have been offered an interesting opportunity that needs an adult volunteer champion! In collaboration with the Charlotte Senior Center and Charlotte Community, we have been exploring the idea of painting an artistic crosswalk between the Senior Center and the post office. While we have approval by the select board and a small budget to access, we need adult support in designing, prepping and implementing the project. If you are willing and able to help us, please contact Cindy LaWare at 425-2771 or claware@cssu.org for more information.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Volunteers are needed to help shovel bulk compost at the CCS Compost Sale. Saturday, May 6th in the CCS west parking lot (by the Quonset), 8:30 a.m.to noon. Please email Abby Foulk, afoulk@gmavt.net, if you can lend a hand. Hour long shifts would be great.
Compost is generously donated by Champlain Valley Compost. Sales will benefit the CCS Sustainability Committee, school gardens and CCS Compost Shed.
LIBRARY NEWS
PHYSICAL EDUCATION UPDATE - FAMILY FUN FRIDAY & CCS VOLLEYBALL
SMALL ENSEMBLES CONCERT
SMALL ENSEMBLES CONCERT
VTAJE FESTIVAL
MUSIC NEWS
Congratulations to all of the performers who participated in the 2017 Small Ensembles Concert held on Wednesday, April 5. You worked hard and it showed. Thank you for a fabulous concert. We are proud of you!!
On Tuesday, April 11, the CCS Stage Band will be participating in the VTAJE Festival at Middlebury Union High School. The band will perform before a distinguished panel of adjudicators and receive feedback to help inform the group for busy upcoming concert season. Recordings of the performance will be available online. Special thanks to the parent drivers for making this opportunity available for the students of CCS.
On Wednesday, April 12, the VSO will present “drumschtick” to our younger students. This is a light hearted show that introduces the k-5 students to the percussion section of an orchestra. This performance is brought to us by a generous grant from the Metz foundation.
Please keep your eyes on the newsletter for all upcoming events this spring including, a trip to the senior center, the CSSU Jazz Festival at CVU, the stage band on Church St. as part of the Discover Jazz Festival, Spring concerts at CCS, and a performance of the National Anthem at the Lake Monsters Game.
Thank you for your continued support!
CCS PTO / ADMINISTRATION COLLABORATION UPDATE
We have had three Q and A with the Principals so far and have one more scheduled in May. One took place after school, one in the evening and one in the morning. The one in the evening had the best turn out with 15 guests in attendance because we offered a focused discussion on Proficiency Based Learning (PBL). We had Adam Bunting, Principal of CVU and Mary Muroski our PBL Coach in attendance as well. We began with a facilitated conversation about recent statistical trends featured in the book, Most Likely to Succeed, by Tony Wagner, that will impact the future of education. We followed that by supporting all attendees in building a common vocabulary related to PBL. We continued the evening with an open discussion around PBL that was driven by attendee questions. We closed with an open Q and A, on any topic, with the admin.
A link to the minutes of this PBL Panel Discussion can be found here.
NEWS FROM THE PTO
PTO Update (from our April 6th meeting)
Grants paid out:
- $100 Box Tops Reward classroom grant (Architects)
- $1,616 Montshire Science Residency (Middle School)
Grants Pending:
- $300 PE Family Fun Nights
- $700 Art
- $700 PE, $1000 Library
- $500 Sense of Place (Conference Room)
- $2600 Four Winds 2017-2018
Fundraising efforts
- $564 - Hannaford HelpS
- $270 - Box Tops (payout in May)
- $250 - Town Meeting Day Bake sale
- $200 - Annual Fund
Next Dates to Remember:
- Staff Appreciation Lunch - April 14 (sponsored by K and 1st grade families)
- Principal Q&As - April 19 at 7:30am and May 24 at 2:30pm
- Box Tops can still be turned in to teachers through last day of school, team challenge is over
- CCS Celebrate Science Night-- May 18
- Welcome to Kindergarten Celebration - May 26 (after Kindergarten Visitation)
- Spring BBQ (Fun Run/Basket Raffle) - -Jun 8
- Staff Appreciation Breakfast - first morning after last day of school for students
- Lake Monsters Game - June 21st (fundraising packets go out May 10th)
SCHOOL CHOICE IN OUR NEW DISTRICT
Dear CSSU/CVSD Families,
With the merger of our governing boards comes Intra-district School Choice options for our families. Please see the proposed policy and draft guidelines and procedures - linked below - for requesting placement for your student in a school other than his/her town of residence assignment. The board has reviewed this policy and is anticipating adoption at its April 4 board meeting. They have authorized the distribution of this information prior to adoption because of the narrow timeline in this our first year. For this same reason, applications will be accepted for this one year until April 30, 2017.
If you have interest in enrolling your student in a school other than the assigned school of residence, please complete the linked application form or contact Sandy Raymond at 383.1224 to receive a copy.
Note: URL addresses must be copied and pasted into a browser.
Policy
Procedures
Application
2016-2017 YEARBOOK ORDER FORM
CCS AFTERNOON PLAYGROUP
For Infants and Toddlers Up to Age 5 and Their Caregivers
Wednesdays from 12:30 to 1:30
Join us for sing-alongs, stories, play and exploration with Julia Wayne & Nancy Wood (early education staff for Chittenden South Supervisory Union). For more information, call Julia Wayne at 802-338-7021.
CCS APRIL LUNCH MENU
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
CHARLOTTE PUBLIC LIBRARY
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