Dear SCS Families and Caregivers,

The building is bustling with positive energy and excitement around all the opportunities opening up for students to connect with one another throughout our PreK-8 school community. We have been busy setting the stage for another year full of learning, and we're having a lot of fun along the way as well! While our Middle School students participated in a community hike up Mt. Philo, our elementary students explored what it might be like to be in middle school by playing and learning in their classrooms (check out a few photos below)!

The following are some highlights of how SCS is staying focused on the district's message "We are a learning community focused on growth and belonging through identity, connection, direction, and proficiency."

IDENTITY:

Throughout the first few months of school, we focus on getting to know the individuals that make up our school community and co-create positive learning communities through team building, icebreakers, morning meetings/community connections, dynamic dates, hikes, walking field trips, and more. We establish community commitments, practice, and celebrate when we are all supporting one another in our learning environments. The 5-8 grade teams practiced this during their hike up Mt. Philo by developing a "team cheer." Check out some of the photos below!

CONNECTION:

Many of these experiences are made possible by all of our generous community members and various committees. Here are just a few that are up and running;

• Thanks to our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), our dynamic dates have started throughout the building. Adults and children are looking forward to spending time together and creating memorable experiences for one another. Our Fall Fundraiser is going to kick off next week, stay tuned for more info! To learn more about getting involved in our PTO, please contact Jen Cairns at jencairns0408@gmail.com.

• One of our incredible community volunteer opportunities is to join our SCS Food Smart Committee (or help out on projects as needed). This group is currently coordinating our schoolwide "Stone Soup" project in grades 3, 4, and Blue 5th and 6th grades. SCS Food Smart is looking for families to donate the following ingredients between 10/27- 11/1). Please add an "X" for what items you are donating and for what grade levels. Students can bring the donated vegetables to the cafeteria. Thank you for helping us bring this annual tradition back to SCS! To learn more about getting involved in SCS Food Smart, please email scsfoodsmart@gmail.com.

• Our SKAT programs have begun. So far we have a Garden Club w/Joey Adams and a Rainbow Club (LGBTQIA+ affinity group for students in grades 3-4) w/Kiah Coble. More programs will be coming! For more information on SKAT, please reach out to Sarah Sargent at ssargent@cvsdvt.org.

• SCS Lego Robotics w/Joey Adams! For more information reach out to Joey at jadams@cvsdvt.org.

• Our Unified Sports Club is coordinating bowling celebrations and practice sessions. They are also working on building the annual SCS Penguin Plunge Team...stay tuned for more information! Reach out to Jon Spagnolo at jspagnolo@cvsdvt.org and/or Annie Dunn at adunn@cvsdvt.org for more information.

• Our Student Leadership Teams (in grades 4-8) are getting together during lunch/recess blocks to help amplify students' voice and improve the school experience for all.

• SAGA (Sexuality and Gender Alliance - student group) has been busy coordinating an SCS effort to offer support and encouragement to the students and staff at Randolph Union Middle High School based on the recent incidents they have experienced. Our community has been busy writing notes to send to their community, letting them know we are here for them. If you'd like to learn more about this group, please contact Meghan Kelley at mkelley@cvsdvt.org and/or Heather Bedell at hbedell@cvsdvt.org.

DIRECTION:

Our new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coach, Lashawn Whitmore-Sells, led our PreK-8 faculty and staff through our initial overview of the CVSD Equity Audit results from MassInsight. We also reviewed our CVSD Equity Policy, to help us keep this lens as we continue to refine our practices, routines, and systems at SCS and in CVSD.

• The SCS Program Council gathered this week to develop a list of agenda topics we'd like to work on this school year. The group reflects and refines practices, routines, and systems (using an equity and inclusivity lens) as advisors to the administrative team. One of our first orders of business is to coordinate a schoolwide event to welcome the 2023 New Year this winter.

PROFICIENCY:

Our teaching teams are just wrapping up administering our CVSD Fall Baseline Assessments with all students. Many of the assessment tools focus on literacy and math skills. Next week, our teams will be analyzing the results of these assessments at the grade level, classroom level, and student level to help inform us of where kids are at and how we can meet the various needs of all learners. This is how we start to develop guided groups and we refine our curriculum and instruction. We have also been reviewing our weekly and monthly SWIS behavior data and attendance trends with our teaching teams and Professional Learning Communities (PLC's).

5-8 Families: JumpRope Portal Opening

Our standards-based gradebook opened to families Friday morning. Families should have received an email from JumpRope (the name of the platform) with information about how to access students' proficiency-based reports from the year so far. The JumpRope portal is a great way to see how your students are doing with their course learning targets (goals). This is not a place to track homework completion or daily assignments but is intended to communicate the larger learning goals that each course will be focusing on throughout the year. Here's more information about how to read a proficiency-based report. While the portal allows families to see reporting about learning so far, 5th-8th grade student learning is more summatively reported out in Trimesters; trimester one ends on Friday 11/18, and reports will be mailed to families on Friday 12/2, due to the holiday week in the middle of those two dates. Please reach out to Tim O'Leary, SCS Curriculum Leader and Instructional Coach, if you have any questions about or trouble accessing the portal (toleary@cvsdvt.org). If you have any questions about the assessments and scores, please reach out directly to the teacher. K-4 families will receive different reports about learning at the end of the semester in late January.

Our teachers will be contacting families to set up Family Conferences before our November break to share what we've learned (so far) about your child as an individual, and how they contribute to their learning community.

Take care,

Alison, Brett, & Emily

The town of Shelburne's Equity & Diversity Committee, in partnership with Shelburne Parks & Recreation, is hosting the First Annual Heritage Potluck. The flyer is linked here, and here are the quick details:

Why: To celebrate the diversity in our town and honor the different cuisines that nourish our community.

When: Sunday, October 23, from 3-7 pm

Where: Shelburne Town Gym

What: Bring a dish to share that highlights your family's traditional cuisine

Link for sign up: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S3HPCB5

2 hour curriculum-based programs (can join two weeks past start date),

• Nurturing Skills for Families in Recovery, Tuesdays at noon starting October 25th with Zoe
• Nurturing Skills for Families, Mondays at 10am starting November 7th with Cindy
• Nurturing Families Prenatal through 3 months, Wednesdays at 10am starting November 9th with Cindy
• Strengthening Families Program for Birth - Age 3, Wednesdays at 5pm starting November 16th with Zoe
• Nurturing Skills for Families, Thursdays at 5pm starting November 17th with Zoe
• Nurturing Skills for Families in Recovery, Thursdays at 2pm starting December 1st with Gabby
• Nurturing Fathers, Mondays at 11am starting December 12th with Zoe
• Strengthening Families with Teens, Wednesdays at 5:30pm starting December 14th with Gabby
• Nurturing Skills for Families in Recovery, Fridays at 1:30pm starting December 16th with Gabby
• Nurturing Skills for Families, Fridays at 2pm starting December 16th with Zoe

90 minute support groups…

• Parents of Children 0-5, Mondays 4pm with Zoe
• Open to All, Tuesday at 10am with Cindy
• Parents with Children in Foster Care, Tuesdays at 7pm with Cindy
• Open to All, Wednesdays at 7am with Zoe
• Parents in Recovery, Wednesdays at 5pm with Cindy
• Open to All, Wednesdays at 5:30pm with Gabby
• Parents of LGBTQ+ Children, Thursdays at noon with Cindy
• Single Moms, Thursdays at 5:30pm with Cindy
• Parents of Teens, Thursdays at 7:30pm with Michelle

Submit a referral via our on line referral form as the family need arises. We are using the rolling referrals to fill current programs and determine what programs we need to choose next.

Our two curriculum-based support programs, Strengthening Families and The Nurturing Parenting Programs, are trauma informed, free of charge, and offered via Zoom. In addition to group work, participants have 1:1 personalized weekly check-ins available to connect the curriculum work with their individual family dynamics.

Click here to seeing more information regarding our upcoming parenting programs. Please reach out to me with any questions!

Please join us on Sunday, November 6 from 2-4pm for an Acoustic Open Mic at the Pierson Library. All Ages Welcome! Bring your instrument, a song to sing, a poem to read, and your family and friends. Sign-up starts at 1:30pm. Refreshments and snacks will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there and hearing you perform.