Superintendent's Corner
March 3, 2023
Budget Information Meetings
Budget Information Meetings have been happening across the Supervisory Union. Hartland held a hybrid meeting on Tuesday. The link to the presentation is below. Mount Ascutney held an in-person meeting on Wednesday. The presentation will be on WOA https://woa-tv.org/site/ soon. Weathersfield will hold a hybrid meeting on Saturday at 10:00 at the Weatherfield School.
Voting for all communities will take place on March 7th.
Voting will take place on Tuesday, March 7th at the following locations:
Weathersfield - Martin Memorial Hall 10:00am to 7:00pm
Hartalnd - Damon Hall 7:00am to 7:00pm
Windsor - Windsor Municipal Building 9:00am to 7:00pm
West Windsor - Story Memorial Hall 9:00am to 7:00pm
Hoax Calls
Yesterday there were multiple hoax calls made to both schools and police departments in our nearby communities that made active shooter threats to schools. This has been happening across the country over the past several months. We want you to know that we are aware of this and collaborating with our local police departments to be prepared for this potential issue. Our staff are updated on the situation and we will follow our protocols as needed. During this time we will, as always work to approach this situation with the seriousness that is required and respond with our best Trauma Informed approaches. If you have any questions, please contact your school’s principal/ Lead Learner.
Around the SU
NHS Faculty Member for March!
The Windsor faculty member of the month for March, sponsored by the National Honor Society, is Hannah Claire! Señora is the high school Spanish teacher at Windsor. She has been working here for a few years and has made quite an impact on her students as both a junior high soccer coach and as a teacher. During winter break, Señora visited Costa Rica with the higher level Spanish classes. She provides a “caring” and respectful classroom experience, “always helps students when they are having trouble with an assignment and is very understanding”, and truly shows that she wants the best for her students. She supports students both in and out of the classroom, and multiple students have said how much Señora deserves to be recognized. Congratulations Señora Claire and thank you so much!
Windsor High School Student Trip to Costa Rica
Eleven Windsor High School students and two staff members traveled to Costa Rica over the winter break. They had a wonderful experience and learned a ton!
Students Leading Their Learning!
Staff members at WSESU continue to find ways to elevate student voice and choice!
WSESU Students Address Foundational Reading Skills by Reading Daily!
Middle School Winter Carnival (featuring a Potato Olympics)
Exciting Windsor Basketball News
The Windsor Girls Basketball Team is headed to the finals on Saturday, March 4th! The game starts at 7:30 in the Barre Auditorium! Congratulations to the team! We could not be more proud.
News From Finance and Operations
Finance & Operations Update
In 2019, our SU decided to bring Food Services in-house. Since then, our food services staff have worked hard to bring a dining program at each school with a space that is comforting, fresh, and encouraging to provide a quality and tasty breakfast and lunch each day. They focus on well balanced and cooked-from-scratch foods so we are able to educate and encourage each child to make a healthy and nutritious choice in each dining hall. Additionally, they take great pride in serving locally sourced produce, maple, and meats to support the local economy. Thank you to our SU Food Services staff for bringing variety and nutritional options to our students, faculty, and staff.
Craig Locarno | Rodney Claro | Wendy Allen | Karen Davis
Kris Dow | Susanne French | Heather Gokey | Morgan Husband
Carrie Jacobs | Emily Paquette | Kayla Prouty | Mary Rasco
Edith Root | Ronnie Sherwin
Larry Dougher
Director of Finance & Operations
FROM THE OFFICE OF CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND ASSESSMENT
Two exciting things are coming out of the Curriculum office: a potential new language arts program and a new Vermont state assessment. In an effort to provide a comprehensive and consistent approach to how we teach language arts, a committee of teachers selected Amplify CKLA from two programs recommended for the trial, or pilot, period. Amplify CKLA met the team's criteria of providing a comprehensive program that includes a strong emphasis on reading foundational skills as well as supports students in building their knowledge base in history, science, literature and the arts.
Eighteen teachers in grades K-8 across our buildings are piloting at least one unit from the CKLA program right now. If you have any questions or observations about the program because your child is in one of those classrooms, please reach out to our Instructional Coach, Patti Gray, at pgray@wsesu.net, to share.
Yes, Smarter Balanced Assessment, or SBAC, has been discontinued for Vermont Schools. The new assessment that will replace it is called Cognia. It will be very similar to the SBAC in that it is administered to grades 3-9, in the areas of math and language arts and grades 5, 8, and 11 for science. As with any first year with a new assessment, there is a big learning curve both at the state and local levels. More information about the assessment will be coming from your building principals in coming weeks.
For more information about Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment at Windsor Southeast, please contact Angie Ladeau, at aladeau@wsesu.net.
The FY 24 calendar has been approved. You can find it on our website.
Windsor Southeast Supervisory Union
Email: christine.bourne@wsesu.net
Website: https://www.wsesu.net/
Location: 105 Main Street, Windsor, VT, USA
Phone: 802-674-2144
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WindsorSoutheastSupervisoryUnion
Twitter: @WSESU