Hello Parents & Guardians,

Thank you for patience as we continue to fine tune the Core's format, hopefully this week it goes smoother. Remember that next Friday is our first Early Release Day. For our new families, our students are dismissed once a month at 12:30 so staff from all over the district have a chance to work on professional development and fine tune their work. Students will eat at lunch at school. Please contact us with any questions.

One thing you should be aware of is the district and city work of MPV (Master Planning and Visioning). From this work, the school board has approved a plan for a Middle & High School plan, Though your children are in elementary school, this will have a very big impact upon them in the near future. To get more information, go to our district website at: website https://www.sbschools.net/Page/1599

I want to share with you share a concern. We have frequently spoken out about how all of us need to reduce children's exposure to violence and horror on television and other media formats. I am frequently hearing more from our students, notably from our younger students, about a scary doll (I believe a new movie on Chuckie) and a scary clown (a reference to the clown, Pennywise, from the movie It). Please know that these images are not appropriate or suitable for children. It is a shame that two things that were designed to give children joy, dolls and clowns, are now used for horror. Nevertheless, we strongly advise parents to keep their children from being exposed to these kind of images. Thank you for letting me share this concern.

I forgot to thank our PTO and Schools Out for providing child care at our Curriculum Night. Don't forget to join us Monday night for our first PTO meeting of the year! Have a terrific weekend; take some time to read with your child.

Mark Trifilio

Principal

FINAL REMINDER: PTO 1st Monthly Meeting 9/16 at 6:30 pm: The PTO 1st Monthly Meeting is on Monday, September 16th at 6:30pm in the cafeteria. All are welcome! The PTO will discuss the many fun activities planned for the year, and we will be recruiting volunteers. Mr. Trifilio will also conduct his annual volunteer training. All parents wishing to volunteer in the school must undergo training – check this off your list early this year by attending the PTO meeting!

3rd Annual Fun Run! This event will take place on October 11. The Fun Run is the only fundraiser of the year and funds earned go to support the many fun PTO-sponsored events that occur. If you work for a company interested in sponsoring this event, please reach out to Angi Murray at orchardfunrun@gmail.com.

Hannaford Helps: We’re excited to be participating in the 2019 Hannaford Helps Schools program! Now through Dec 1st, help earn money for Orchard School by shopping at Hannaford on Shelburne Rd for participating products. For every 4 qualifying products you buy, Orchard earns $3! Choose from over 1,500 participating products, ranging from breakfast and lunch items to household supplies. Look for shelf tags in-store. If Orchard School raises the most money at the Shelburne Road store we will receive an extra $1,000!

Box Tops: Save your box tops to help earn money for Orchard! The money earned from Box Tops goes to support many PTO-sponsored events. Drop your Box Tops in the Orchard lobby.

Have you joined Konstella yet? The Orchard School PTO uses a parent portal and mobile app called Konstella. Please find the secure sign up here: https://www.konstella.com.

Do you have PTO questions? Please find us online:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/orchardschoolpto
  
• Website: www.orchardschoolpto.org
  
• Email: orchardschoolvt@gmail.com
  
• Konstella: https://www.konstella.com
  

Garden Treats made Sweet by Heat

Across South Burlington, our community (on both small and large scales) has been investing time and care into our soils and food-plants. Whether you bought tomatoes from a farm stand, or spent the summer tending to your community garden, you gave to the flourishing local food system of our area. Some of us have devoted our summers to caring for our land, and right now we are experiencing the huge reciprocal gifts from that care: tomatoes, spinach, green beans, eggplants, peppers, scallions, oregano, peppermint, MY-OH-MY!

Our lesson this month is grounded in the reciprocal relationship we have with our food-plants. We will be talking through all the ways we give to plants to allow them to flourish, and then we will recognize the gifts in the foods we’re eating in our taste test (which the students will harvest themselves out of the school garden), like keeping us from getting sick, or keeping our skin soft and healthy.

All of the school gardens look so beautiful this year! Thank you to those of you who put in the care that you did so we could have a lesson like this one, that relies totally on the delicious fruits veggies already at the schools. We are lucky to have people in our community willing to take on such a timely task.

By Kayli O’Donnell