Danville School
September 9, 2018
Principal's Message
With the first two partial weeks down, we're starting to find our rhythm and smooth out some of the bumps that come with so many new people in one school environment. We are making it through with one person in the office consistently, the pickup process is slower than expected, the OneCall system has missed a couple emails and phone numbers, and through it all, I'm still incredibly excited about the learning going on in all corners of our school, and the strong, positive and caring community that the Danville School is.
The 5th through 7th grade classes have returned from a successful week at Nature's Classroom, on the Maine coast at Ocean Park. This program provides a strong start to the year, focused on teambuilding, hands-on science and inquiry based learning. Also, lots and lots of fun. Many thanks to teachers Emily Shopland, Jessica Settles, Nick Decaro, Stan Zajko and Chris Rapoza as well as Barb Hawley and Laura Witham for devoting their week to this high-energy experience.
I appreciate your patience as we get systems restarted, and smooth out the wrinkles. I'm looking forward to spending more time in classrooms in the weeks ahead, getting to know your children.
Elementary counselor Danielle Scott and I are making a point to be at the front doors as much as possible this fall at the start of the school day - please feel free and invited to stop by and say hello!
David Schilling
Principal, Danville School
Dropoff and Pickup Revisited
Times will be the same as last year. Students who need to arrive early may do so after 7:00 AM, and supervision will be provided in the cafeteria for grades K-7. High School and 8th grade students may wait in the high school hallway, as long as the tone of the hallway is calm, quiet and respectful. Pre-K parents may bring your children directly to their classroom, and Kindergarten parents may escort your children to class for the first few weeks of school, until they feel comfortable navigating the building. Classes for all grades begin at 7:45 AM.
Pickup
After the first 7 days, we can see some successes, and some areas for improvement. The first thing I've noticed is that the staggered times seem to work against us - cars waiting for older students might be 10 minutes early while younger students wait for someone near the back of the line. So.. we're condensing it to the times below, and adding the following reminders:
Revised Pickup Times:
Pre-K and K: 2:30 PM
1-8: 2:40 PM
9-12: 2:45 PM
Pre-K and Kindergarten Only
If you're only picking up PK-K students before 2:40, please feel free to jump out of the line and drive to the pickup area, marked by a yellow curb. Please pull all the way to the front. This will reduce congestion all around. Other cars will be lined up a short distance back. At 2:40, we'll ask everyone to pull forward. If you're later than 2:40, or picking up older students as well, please just stay in the regular line.
Please pull all the way forward, to the end of the yellow curb in front of the door. I know in past years people have been asked to wait back a bit. Please don't - pulling all the way up allows more cars in at once.
If you find yourself with younger children in the car and are waiting for a high school sibling, please feel free to pull into the fire lane, in front of the school building. This will again create as much room as possible and reduce the wait time for those behind you.
High School Advisory Makeover
Grade 9 - Teambuilding and Trust
Grade 10 - Introduction to College Studies (an actual CCV college course)
Grade 11 - Portfolios: Documenting and Reflecting on the high school experience
Grade 12 - College and Career Readiness
Afterschool Program Survey
We'd like parent feedback on what your afterschool needs are. You can help figure out the best possible program for the money by taking this short survey. Your responses will be tremendously helpful to the planning process.
Due to state regulations, we are not able to offer afterschool programming for our preschool students. Our status as a STARS-accredited preschool would mean that any preschool afterschool programming would need to follow the same guidelines as preschool itself, with licensed teachers (and without state funding for it), time and space restrictions. This is true of all Caledonia Central Supervisory Union Schools.
Parents' Advisory Group - Wednesday, September 19th
Athletics Schedule
Monday September 10th
Varsity Girls' Soccer @ Winooski 7:00 start; 4:30 departure.
Tuesday September 11th
Varsity Boys' Soccer @ Winooski 7:00 start; 4:30 departure.
Wednesday September 12th
MS/HS Cross Country @ North Country 4:00/4:30
Friday September 14th
Varsity Boys' Soccer vs Richford @ Home 4:30 start.
Saturday September 15th
Varsity Girls' Soccer @Richford 11:00 start; 8:30 departure.
MS/HS Cross Country @VTC 10:00 start.
Sunday September 16th
3-6th grade soccer @Saint Johnsbury Jamboree. Schedule to follow.
Danville School
Website: danvilleschoolvt.org
Location: 148 Peacham Rd, Danville, VT 05828, USA
Phone: 802-684-2292
Facebook: facebook.com/danvilleschoolvt
Twitter: @danvillek12