Gertrude Chamberlin School
Family Newsletter September 25, 2020 Volume 15 Issue 11
Picture Day is Next Week, September 28th (not the 29th as was previously published) and October 1st! Ordering is online this year!
Picture Day
Welcome, Kindergarten Friends!
We welcomed our new kindergarteners at our outdoor Welcome Ceremony on Tuesday and Friday! 5th graders made each student a sign, and Ms. Rouelle handed them each a carnation to start their journey of sharing, caring, learning together!
Click to Dowload the poster that describes our Common Roots Farm Stand information
Learning is Thirsty Work! Please send in a water bottle daily!
First Graders Used Dots and circles to show their creativity during Dot Week!
Hybrid Learning Updates
As we start the school year, we begin with building relationships, getting to know one another, making connections, and learning to work both independently and as a group. We know that once children feel safe and connected, they are able to take more academic and social risks.
It is with intention that we will be increasing both the amount and type of work that your student is responsible for on their remote learning days. 'You may have noticed that your child has started bringing home assignments to complete during Online Learning Days. Kindergarteners through second graders should spend between 30-90 minutes and third through fifth graders should spend between 60- 90 minutes on a remote learning day working on school assignments.
Some of the work will be assignments that they will need to complete in order to be prepared for upcoming school days. Other work that will also be sent home is practice and building good habits as a learner. Both of these types of assignments are important. For the first few weeks, you will notice that there are more Habits of a Learner assignments that will help build a routine for learning in your home. As we get to know your child better through assessments and time, you will start to see an increase in the work that needs to be completed in preparation for their upcoming school days. It is very important that your child completes these assignments so that they are ready to participate in the deeper learning of the lesson when they arrive at school with their classmates. We are trying to make the most of our time with our students and having them do some preparation before school will enable us to go deeper into the content when they arrive at school.
Please do be aware of the amount of screen time that your child is utilizing each day to ensure is in the developmental range of what is appropriate for their age and stage of brain development.
We are also starting assessments on Monday, September 21st, in grades 1-5. We have not been able to assess our students since the Winter, and know we need accurate information to plan for teaching. As mentioned in the home letter this summer, and earlier newsletters, we will finalize class lists on OCTOBER 2nd. Due to the challenges of the start of the year, we have many classrooms that are unbalanced. Please remind your child that their home base placement could change. Families will receive permanent home room assignments on October 2nd. We are working to introduce children to all of the grade level teachers on the team, to make a possible transition as easy as possible.
We hope you find time to take outdoor breaks and enjoy the wonderful end of summer/beginning of fall weather!
We Continue to Tweak Our Process - Arrival and Dismissal Updates and Reminders:
A shout out to families for your patience and flexibility during arrival and dismissal! We are all learning this together.
PARENTS OF WALKERS, PLEASE REMEMBER TO SOCIAL DISTANCE AS YOU GATHER ON THE SIDEWALK. We are now having a staff member cross students over to you on the sidewalk, for safety reasons.
We have some gentle reminders for arrival:
- Please remember to slow down and drive through the bus lane.
- All families with a PreK or K student (even if you have a student in grades 1-5 as well) will always go to station 3 in the small parking lot.
- For families with older students, our traffic controllers will let you know if you should go to station 1 or 2. Please roll down your window so they can direct you to the correct station.
- We really appreciate that so many of you have your card visible on your dashboard. Please remember that the card is for grade level, not your arrival/dismissal station.
Please do not arrive before 7:50, and 7:55 is the official start time for arrival. Please do not arrive before 2:30, including walkers, as we are getting busses loaded and out to stagger the process. The last dismissal group ends at 2:50. Staff have meetings to go to at this time, so we appreciate that you arrive by this time so they are not late to their next commitment. Thank you for all of your help with this new process!
Arrival for cars and walkers:
Students in PK, 1, and 5 will arrive between 7:55-8:10am.
Students in K, 2, 3, and 4 will arrive between 8:10-8:25am.
Dismissal for cars and walkers:
2:30pm-2:40: Car and Walkers dismissal out the by grade level
PK, K, and older siblings of those grade levels out the kindergarten door (stop #3)
1st grade and older siblings of first graders out the main door (stop #2)
2:40-2:50: Car and Walkers dismissal out the front main entrance by grade level
2nd and 3rd grade and older siblings of those grades out the kindergarten door (stop #3)
4th and 5th graders out the main door (stop #2)
Social Emotional Learning
We are putting a strong focus on social emotional learning and school culture at Chamberlin School. All of our grades will be using the Second Step program to explicitly teach social skills. Second Step promotes school success, school connectedness and a safe and respectful school climate. This focus on social skills will strengthen your child’s ability to learn, have empathy, manage emotions and solve problems. For the months of September and October, the focus will be on Skills for Learning. This month, our school-wide theme is our school as a welcoming place where every student feels like he or she belongs. In our morning announcements, we’ll be reminding students to welcome others and act and speak in safe, respectful, and responsible ways. In addition, we’ll be teaching students about expectations and routines in a variety of school settings. Support your child at home in welcoming others and acting and speaking in safe, respectful, and responsible ways. To learn more about this program, visit www.secondstep.org.
We are also continuing with Restorative Practices this year, including our Wolf Pack Time. This year, instead of multiage groups for this morning circle time, students will stay in their classrooms. Wolf Pack Time will happen once a week for each pack. This week, we introduced the common themes of a circle - having a centerpiece, talking stick (that doesn't move from child to child this year) and practiced the process. We are looking forward to this special weekly community time, especially since we can't move to other classrooms and have assemblies in the gymnasium!
Attendance During Hybrid Learning
Every classroom at Chamberlin begins the day with a morning routine. Morning Meeting and check-in routines on in-person learning days help students build a classroom community. This is also a time when the schedule and important skills are introduced that will be built upon throughout the day. For a student to be a successful learner, they need to be in class by 8:25 am daily. Students arriving after 8:25 are marked tardy. The South Burlington School District partners with other Chittenden County Schools regarding our attendance/truancy policy. If a student is absent or tardy 5, 10, 15 or 20 days, we will send a letter home notifying parents of the missed school. If this happens, we ask that you please set up a time to meet regarding your child’s attendance. If a student is absent for 20 days, we are required to report to our School Resource Officer (SRO), who then takes steps to file a report with the State Attorney’s office. Bri Williamson and Sarah Superneau, from the South Burlington Police Department, are our current SRO. If your child is ill with any of the following symptoms; fever >100.4, cough, shortness of breath, chills, fatigue, muscle pain or body aches, headache, sore throat, has a loss of taste or smell, congestion or runny nose, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea please keep them home and contact the school at 652-7400. Also, please be sure you share this information on the health screening app. The school nurse will contact you to determine when they can return to school. If your child has an appointment or needs to miss school for some other reason, please be sure to call the office at 652-7400. If we don’t receive a phone call and your child is not in school, we will spend time making phone calls, to parents and emergency contacts, to ensure that your child is safe. If we can’t get in touch with you or your contacts, we will ask our SRO’s to visit your home to do a child safety check. We appreciate your help in getting your child to school on time and calling when they are unable to come to school or are sick.
On home learning days, we are also required to take attendance every day. Starting next week, all students will be invited to a Morning Meeting on Wednesday through Zoom. 5th grade will be meeting online through Google Meet instead of Zoom on Wednesdays. This will allow classes from both Gray and Blue packs to come together as one class. Teachers will be taking attendance during this Zoom. If your child does not attend the Zoom Morning Meeting, teachers will be following up to see if your child is in attendance. We understand that some of your work and childcare schedules will not allow your child to attend these short meetings. Please contact your child's teacher to establish another way to communicate about attendance on Wednesdays. On the other two home days, your child will be "in attendance" for work completion that will be returned either online or by paper when they return for their in person day. Please see the attached document for more information about attendance when your child is working at home. By working together, we can all support our children to be the best learners that they can be!
Weekly News From Nurse Farrell
What to do if your child is not feeling well?
If your child experiences any of the following symptoms: Fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose, lack of smell/taste, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, please have your student stay home and contact the school and your student's health care provider, to determine next steps. I, or a substitute nurse, will call you to follow up and help to determine with the guidance from your child’s health care provider when your child can return to school.
Here is the information from the Vermont Department of Health:
What families can expect when a student is sick.
The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital created some videos about COVID-19
Check them out: Videos: Spread Facts, Not COVID-19:
How do I explain COVID-19 to my child?
Wearing a mask the right way.
Challenges with masks.
Taking care of and cleaning masks.
September 23 Update from Superintendent Young
September 23, 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians, Staff, and Community Members,
As I’m sure you are all aware by now, the Governor announced at his September 22 press conference, (with the Secretary of Education Dan French making the official statement) that all Vermont schools would transition from the Step II hybrid model of instruction to Step III, modified in-person instruction effective September 26. I want you to know that we are in the midst of thorough conversations with our administrators regarding what a transition to Step III would look like for our District.
We are currently working to prioritize bringing back our youngest learners first, for both pedagogical and transmission risk reasons, with the most likely scenario involving bringing back PreK-2 (combined cohorts 4 days per week, with Wednesdays remaining remote learning days) followed two weeks later by grades 3-5. No firm decisions have been made yet on a timeline and we are not currently discussing bringing middle and high school students to Step III learning at this time.
We have heard from the Governor and Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine about the importance of in-person instruction at the lower grades. We have also heard from a number of elementary school parents/guardians about issues they have been experiencing in the hybrid model from the financial strain of unexpected childcare expenses to juggling working from home while teaching their child(ren) on remote learning days. All of this information will factor into our careful and thoughtful decision-making process going forward.
Staff and Student Safety Concerns Remain
Secretary French has often noted that decisions around reopening procedures need to be made on a case by case basis. In South Burlington, we are in the unique position of having rising enrollment and full buildings as many of our neighboring districts see declines in their student population and ample additional space in their schools.
This is cause for concern given language in the Step III guidance related to the 3-6 ft physical distancing requirements which read, “To the extent possible, continue to space out seating and bedding (head-to-toe positioning), 3 to 6 feet is acceptable in younger students (PreK through Grade 5).
For communal spaces, the Step III guidance is as follows: “If possible, keep communal use spaces, such as cafeterias and gymnasiums, closed. However, these spaces may be used for their intended purposes in smaller groups, staggering use, and cleaning and disinfecting between uses.”
We will be watching for guidance on the 3-6 ft distancing language, following the Vermont dashboards and weekly summaries, regional trends, the Governor’s press conferences, and of course, feedback from our staff, parents/guardians, and community members.
High School Sports and Co-Curriculars
The Governor’s announcement on Tuesday, September 22 that we are moving to Step III on Saturday, September 26 makes it allowable for us to operate a modified fall sports program and to continue to offer other extracurricular activities including student clubs and after school visual arts programming. Therefore, SBHS interscholastic competitions will commence on Saturday, September 26 and FHTMS competitions will begin as soon as possible thereafter. More information from our High School Principal Pat Burke and Director of Student Activities Mike Jabour to come.
We will continue to track events closely, follow CDC recommendations, and keep in place procedures that protect our South Burlington community. More details to follow Friday as I continue to meet with our administrators.
Individual School Reopening Videos
Even though our traditional open houses couldn’t be held this year, our elementary principals, teachers, and staff used Flipgrid to create short welcoming videos. Families were able to get to know their school’s teachers and staff and in some cases, tour their classrooms, via these recorded snippets. If you missed them or want to get to know the team members that fill our elementary schools throughout the year, check out the following: Rick Marcotte Central School staff and teachers, Orchard School staff and teachers, and Gertrude Chamberlin School staff and teachers.
In addition, individual school reopening videos were created to give students and families an idea of what to expect when entering our schools this year. The Chamberlin School video was made by members of their PBiS team along with Molly Weaver, Rochelle McGurn and Marshall Murphy. At Orchard School, Rachel Valliere, Marguerite Adams, Bobby Hamlin, and Cheryl McCabe collaborated to create their video. The Central School video was made thanks to their PBiS team, Ashley Wilson, and Michelle Cannon. At FHTMS, technology teacher Carly Brassord made their video about entering school ,while PE instructors Anjie Soucy and Chadde Wolf made sure students knew what to expect from Physical Education this year.
Over at SBHS, Kristine Harootunian developed and launched their own reopening site with FAQs, documents, and links to webinars, as well as this reopening video showing the school arrival process (thanks to John Craig and Denise Weaver). You can also check out SBHS focused quick hit videos @sbhsvt that answer even more back to school questions such as where to get lunch and what to do if one needs to see the school nurse during the school day. Well done all!
Shout Out
On September 9, SBHS Junior Grace Johnson, South Burlington High School’s Director of Student Activities Michael Jabour, and Principal Patrick Burke were featured in this awesome video and commentary on Education Week: “The Case for Continuing Sports Remotely.” Principal Burke wrote the opinion piece that accompanies the compelling video interview between Ms. Johnson and Mr. Jabour. Ms. Johnson, a track and field and soccer athlete, discussed the adjustments she had to make to her training due to the pandemic and the importance of maintaining relationships with her coaches during school closure this past spring. Thanks to our coaches (and co-curricular advisors) who worked hard to stay connected to their students at a time when they needed it most.
VTVLC Classes Began Monday
Classes for students enrolled in the 100 percent remote learning option through the Vermont Virtual Learning Cooperative (VTVLC) began Monday, September 14th. As of this writing, South Burlington had 167 total students participating; 70 in grades K-5, 30 in grades 6-8, and 67 in grades 9-12.The District has 9 teachers participating and there will be 1 teacher per 20 students. We also have a South Burlington focused K-8 VTVLC Coordinator, Dr. Shelley Mathias, who will be regularly connecting and communicating with South Burlington families who have chosen this option. Pat Burke is the coordinator for students in grades 9-12 who are enrolled. We are continuing to communicate with VTVLC to work through glitches that have arisen due to demand and to ensure this learning option goes as smoothly as possible for our students and families.
Transportation
We had our first run with our new bus routes last week and they were further refined September 11. The latest updates to our South Burlington routes were made September 16 and can be found on our District website. Please bear with us as we may need to adjust times, rearrange trips, and add routes. Routes are organized by school, days of attendance, AM / PM, stop time, and stop location. If you have questions around transportation or your family’s needs have changed, please contact Gary Marckres at gmarckres@sbschools.net or Kathy LaRock at klarock@sbschools.net.
Access to Meals
Meal delivery via bus began September 14. Delivery is available to all students on the days they are engaged in remote learning. Please order meals to be delivered ONLY for the days your student(s) will be learning remotely. If your student will be learning remotely all five days, you may order for all five days. Delivery order forms are posted weekly on Wednesdays on the menus tab of the Nutritional Services page of the district website. The online ordering system is only for the days your student(s) is engaged in remote learning at home. You do not need to order meals in advance on the days that your child is in school or enrolled in a School's Out or Pre-K program located in a school building.
Orders must be submitted by Friday at 1 PM for the following week and you will need to place an order for each student in your household. Home delivery will occur between 10:30 AM and 12 PM, Monday-Friday. The delivery option will also be extended to the community, but individuals will need to contact Rhonda Ketner at rketner@sbschools.net or 652-7160 to be added to the delivery list. These individuals will also need to order in advance.
The drive through pickup site operation continues at the concession stand in the Farrell Family Pavillion on Munson Field/Iverson Track from 9 AM- 10:30 AM, Monday-Friday. Please follow signs to the pickup area and wear a mask. This pickup site can be accessed by anyone under the age of 18 in our community and signup is not required. Breakfast and lunch will be picked up together.
If you live in the Champlain Islands or Georgia, meals can be accessed through your local school district or we can make arrangements to send your child home with meals on the days they attend school onsite. If you need assistance finding a meal site in your area, please contact Rhonda Ketner at rketner@sbschools.net.
South Hero is offering free breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday. It is available for pick up at the school from 9:30am-10am for all residents 0-18. The parents need to send contact Arianna Middlemiss by email at amiddlemiss@gisu.org to have their child(ren) signed up.Grand Isle school is offering a similar program and the contact for that school is Susan Moore. She can be reached at 802-372-6607.
Health Screening Tool
Our health screening tool launched for all staff Friday, September 11 and went “live” for families Monday, September 14. Parents/guardians are responsible for conducting health screenings of their child(ren) at home prior to boarding our buses and/or dropping their child(ren) off at our schools. Families and staff should have received a communication from me late last week to notify you all that we would be launching this tool and that using it would be an expectation. As a reminder, you should receive a text, an email, or both, based on your contact information in PowerSchool, at 6:30 AM, on the days in which your child is to attend school in person (Monday/Tuesday or Thursday/Friday). If you have not answered the health screening questions by 6:30 AM, you will be prompted to answer the questions again. We conduct on-site temperature checks as well. It is critical that you complete these questions prior to coming to school to help keep our schools safe!
Thanks to all of our parents/guardians, staff, and community members who made our first week back a success! Your commitment and vigilance to the three W’s: washing your hands, wearing your masks, and watching your distance will help contribute to our sustained wellbeing.
Sincerely,
David
School Safety
How Can I Get Library Books During Hybrid Learning?
Here's the link to the breakfast and lunch menus.
Seating Tips for Remote Learning From Our Physical Therapist, TJ Maclay
Chamberlin School
Email: hrouelle@sbschools.net
Website: https://vt01819219.schoolwires.net/Domain/10
Location: Chamberlin School, White Street, South Burlington, VT, USA
Phone: 802 652 7403
Twitter: @hrouelle