ACSD Newsletter October 2022

Thanks to Cyndi Palmer, ACSD parent + teacher for these incredible MUMS Fun Run photos!

I hope you have been enjoying this incredible weather as we eke out a few more warm fall days. It has been absolutely wonderful to see our schools in full swing and our community engaged in providing opportunities for students.

This year, when our focus is so squarely on building back community and connection, we have prioritized finding ways to make it easier for you to engage with our schools. I hope that you have been able to visit our schools in person or engage through the various communications that we’ve shared. We’ve also updated and streamlined our volunteer process to try and take some of the mystery out of what’s needed to volunteer in ACSD schools.

The ACSD Board recently finalized goals for our Strategic Plan for Equity, which we are building out over the course of this academic year. We look forward to engaging in this work as we commit to plans to dig deeper and map out our direction that all of us in our community carry. In the coming weeks, look for an invitation to a community forum where YOU can help to shape the future vision for our students in ACSD.

We are so excited to share the great work happening in our schools, to celebrate our students and staff in ways that provide a window into what makes our learning community so special.

Thank you for joining with us in this work,

Peter Burrows, Superintendent

Our MUHS Bass Fishing team won the High School Bass Championship! A new varsity sport, our bass fishermen are coached by Jason Betourney and John Fitzgerald who have served as incredible mentors to our students. Our team competed with 19 schools, with a combined 33 boats in the water. VT Fish and Wildlife staff were also there talking about bass biology and shared "For any anglers out there looking to inspire and lift up the next generation, Vermont's high school bass league is your place to wade in and get involved."

Congratulations to our MUHS Cross Country team! They won the Metro Division IA Champions of the Northern Vermont Athletic Conference! They head to Thetford on Saturday for the State Championships.

During our recent inservice, teachers and staff from across the district came together to explore two topics to strengthen our classrooms and communities. Our K-8 staff worked with Responsive Classrooms; a framework to help inspire and design new ways to engage students in academics, create positive communities, and build teaching strategies to respond to individual students while ensuring a calm environment for learning. Our 9-12 staff explored Restorative Practices with a particular focus on how to do things with someone rather than to or for them.

We are delighted to welcome Matt Corrente as our next Director of Finance and Operations. Drawing from his background in hospitality operations and small business administration, Matt will lead the District's budget development process and non-curricular obligations. (You may have already heard from him regarding a bussing change!) With a kindergartener at Mary Hogan, Matt is one of two ACSD rookies in his family this year. He looks forward to continuing to serve his Addison Central community by helping our schools realize and maintain their full potential.

Do you want to work with students and bring your talents to support our learning community? We have several open positions for the 2022-2023 school year. View all job listings here.

Not looking for a permanent position? One of the BEST ways to support our teachers and students is to substitute teach! We also have several coaching positions available. Find them with the job listings here.

We know many parents and community members want to volunteer with our schools. We've been working to streamline our process to make it easier for you while ensuring our practices keep students safe. We have waived the $12 criminal record check fee for everyone and, if you need to be fingerprinted, you can seek reimbursement for that cost from your school.

There are three levels of visitor/volunteer which will determine what level of background check you need:

• VISITORS (no background check),
• SUPERVISED VOLUNTEERS (Criminal Record Check), and
• UNSUPERVISED VOLUNTEERS (Criminal Record Check plus Fingerprinting).

To read the full volunteer process, click here. Most parents will be supervised volunteers but we encourage you to check in with your principal to discuss opportunities. If you will volunteer at any point during the year, we encourage you to fill out the application linked here and in the button below as soon as possible.

We use our newsletter and social media to stay connected and give you a peek into our classrooms. For more regular connection and lots of photos, follow us: Insta: @acsdvtschools FB: @acsdvt TW: @acsdvtschools

We keep an "ACSD Events" calendar, which you can find here and download to your personal calendar. It holds all school breaks, early release days, and other dates that are helpful to our broader ACSD community. Here are a couple of important dates for October:

• Friday November 4th: No School - Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Weds November 9th: Half day
• Week of Nov 21-25: No School, Thanksgiving Break

Remember to send a note in advance or call if your child will be late, absent, needs to leave early, or has a change in their after-school plans. Here are the numbers to every front office:

• Bridport Central School 802-758-2331 | 3442 VT Route 22A Bridport, VT 05734
• Cornwall Elementary School 802-462-2463 | 112 School Road Cornwall, VT 05753
• Mary Hogan School 802-388-4421 | 201 Mary Hogan Drive Middlebury, VT 05753
• Middlebury Union High School 802-382-1500 | 73 Charles Avenue Middlebury, VT 05753
• Middlebury Union Middle School 802-382-1600 | 48 Deerfield Lane Middlebury, VT 05753
• Ripton Elementary School 802-388-2208 | PO Box 155, 753 Lincoln Road Ripton, VT 05766
• Salisbury Community School 802-352-4291 | 286 Kelly Cross Road Salisbury, VT 05769
• Shoreham Elementary School 802-897-7181 | 130 School Road Shoreham, VT 05770
• Weybridge Elementary School 802-545-2113 | 210 Quaker Village Road Weybridge, VT 05753

You can find board meetings, agendas, and the zoom link to watch every board meeting on this webpage. The School Board's quarterly updates are sent to all ACSD community members by email, and can be found on the website here.