We will not publish Friday Notes next week, due to the start of Christmas break on Wednesday at noon. On behalf of our entire school community, we wish you and yours a restful and joyous Christmas!

BJAMS Light Up the Night is made possible through the generous donations of tools, equipment, donations, and time setting up.

A heartfelt thank you goes out the BJAMS families who made this event possible:

Grant, Roberts, Glowac, Moore, Pratt, Wein, Foss, Marvin, Yates, Hopkins, Wilson, Cedeno-Boisvert, Mink, Knapp, Blow, Tomlinson, and Slesar.

This week, we experienced some COVID-19 activity at our school. As we know, what happens in our schools is reflective of what is happening in our local community. With a recent uptick in activity locally, we anticipated the possibility of a few positive cases.

At the time of this publication, we have a total of three cases to report to you this week. Two of these cases were identified as a result of our Test to Stay program. As such, we are exceedingly thankful for this program and for the participation of our school community. This program allows unvaccinated, asymptomatic students who are identified as close contacts at school to remain in school, as long as they continue to test negative. The program also allows us to quickly identify cases who do not yet have symptoms, which helps slow virus spread.

Reminder for Everyone

• Both vaccinated and unvaccinated students experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID must remain home until symptoms have abated and/or a negative PCR test is received.

Reminders for Vaccinated Students

• Students are not considered fully-vaccinated until two weeks after their second dose.
• Vaccinated students who are considered close contacts may still come to school; they must PCR test 5-7 days from their potential exposure.

Reminders for Unvaccinated Students

• Unvaccinated students who are considered close contacts may not attend school and must PCR test 7 days after their potential exposure.
• The school is offering a Test to Stay program; this is for unvaccinated, school close contacts who are asymptomatic. Consent and registration are required.
• On December 13, the Department of Children and Families authorized schools with pre-kindergarten programs in their buildings to extend the Test to Stay program to its PK students.

Reminder for Test to Stay Participants

• Students participating in Test to Stay must quarantine when not at school (including the weekend). They may not participate in sports/extra-curricular activities that involve students from other schools while participating in Test to Stay.

Wednesday, December 22 from 4:00 pm-5:00 pm

This presentation will be facilitated by Dr. Cath Burns, Licensed Psychologist and Quality Director at Vermont Care Partners. It will highlight parenting/caregiver supports and strategies that promote children and youth mental health and wellness, followed by group discussion and brainstorming! Register here.

Wow - what a response! The 8th grade has received and begun to organize all the items that will find a new home!

The Christmas Shopping Extravaganza is of the favorite pastimes of our school! For just $0.25 or $0.50, all students get a chance to shop for gift for their loved ones. You will be amazed at the selections they make and the "whys" behind those choices!

Please remember to send your students with quarters on Monday, Dec 20

On the afternoon of Dec. 15, 2021, school leaders throughout Vermont received a communication from Secretary of Education, Dan French, regarding some non-credible school-based threats that are circulating on the TikTok social media platform.

These posts have made their way into Vermont, and other states in our region are reporting similar social media activity. These posts describe the potential for school-based violence on Dec. 17, 2021. We want to stress again, at this time there is no credibility to any of these threats. The Vermont Intelligence Center and our law enforcement partners across the state will continue to monitor this situation and keep us updated if anything changes.

If you believe your child is active on social media and you feel it’s appropriate, please have a conversation with him/her to make him/her aware of this situation. As always, if you have any school safety concerns, we encourage you to contact your local law enforcement agency to make them aware of this information. We take these types of situations very seriously and collaborate closely with all of our school safety stakeholders to provide an open, safe and welcoming environment. The safety of your children and our staff is our number one priority.

As shared in last week's Friday Notes, here are the themes for next week. PLEASE NOTE: These are not dress down days - these are theme days. We added an alternate to each day, as we know it can be tricky to settle on a character or to obtain an "ugly" sweater. Students who do not wish to participate in the theme days should come to school in their uniform.

Dec 20 - Christmas Characters - think The Whos, Santa and Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, Elf, have fun!

Alternative: red and/or green day

Dec 21 - Ugly Sweater - the uglier, the better. Be creative!

Alternative: festive sweater/holiday best. No sweater or holiday best? Wear red and/or white.

Dec 22 - 'Twas the Night Before Christmas - wear pajamas - Christmas PJs, even better!

Alternative: Everyone has PJs, right?

All proceeds go to support the BJAMS music program!

Tickets will be on sale through Tuesday, Dec 21 during pickup

$1.00 each or 6/$5.00

Thank you for your support!

If you haven't done so yet, please remember to register your student(s) for Dec 20 & 21

Remember there is NO ASP on Wednesday, Dec 22 - dismissal at 12 pm sharp!

December 20 - Shopping Extravaganza - remember quarters

December 20-22 - Themed dress down days for students

December 22 - Half Day - NO ASP

December 23 - 31 - No School - Christmas Break