Shelburne Community School
Weekly Newsletter
February 1, 2021
Principal's Message
SCS Families,
Understandably, most of the community outreach we have received this weekend has focused on how we will handle the inclement weather which is forecast for Tuesday. It is hard to believe that we have reached the first week of February without really even having a close call when it comes to calling a snow day. But, here we are.
It is important for families to remember that calling a snow day is not a school-based decision. When a decision is made to call off school for the day, it is made at the district level for all PK-12 students in CVSD. In December, the district provided families the following information concerning their process for making these decisions:
We will be using a combination of traditional snow days and remote learning days when faced with inclement weather. The timing of the weather event and the forecast will guide our decisions.
If the severity of the weather event is not known until the wee hours of the morning, we will have a traditional snow day. This will be a snow day for all of our students - in person, in hybrid, and VLA.
If the severity of the weather event is known to us by noon of the previous day, we will prepare for a remote learning day. This will ensure that students have the materials and devices with them when they leave for the day.
We will communicate with you about any weather event in all of the traditional ways: by phone and email notification, the district’s website, CVSD social media channels, and local media outlets.
So, if an impending storm is such a slam dunk that the call can be made a day in advance, students will experience a remote learning day. This would give teachers some time to prepare both themselves and their students for this reality. But, if the decision is made on a more typical timeline (the night before or the day of), then students will experience a typical snow day. We will be following the forecast closely and will be ready to adjust as needed, today.
Regardless of what the weather brings, it's going to be a great week at SCS. We hope our K-4 families enjoyed seeing report cards come home this past Friday. We have all sorts of K-4 tidbits to share with you below.
February is here and with that comes the opportunity to celebrate Black History Month. We have included some updates on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work currently being done in our school community. This includes news of some recent/ongoing training for the SCS faculty and staff and upcoming plans for some of our DEI community groups.
You will also find your last opportunity to provide feedback about school photography at SCS linked below. We have really enjoyed looking over the feedback folks have provided and feel confident we have a really solid sense of how to move forward and make adjustments to what we have recently offered.
Have a wonderful week!
Updates from Ms. Celmer
A Message from our 4th Grade Leadership Team to the Community;
Dear Family’s
The Fourth Grade Leadership Team Has Voted On Helping The Shelburne Food Shelf, We Would Love If You Would Participate By Donating Food. Have Your Child Bring It To Class.
For Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade We Would Like:
Baking Flour
Sugar
Vegetable Oil
Pasta Sauce
Mac and Cheese
For 3rd Grade, 4th Grade We Would Like:
Individual Packs Of Animal Crackers
Boxes Of Raisins
Fruit Cups
Individual Packs Of Fig Newtons
Apple Sauce In Single Serve Packs
Thank You So Much For Participating We Really Appreciate It!
-Fourth Grade Leadership Team
Messages from our Music & Art Department
Do you play an instrument? Would you be interested in being a guest musician in Kindergarten or first grade music class? Miss Hilary’s Kindergarteners and 1st graders have been learning about instrument and instrument families and would LOVE to welcome you virtually to our music classroom! If you’re interested, please email Miss Hilary at hsales@cvsdvt.org to set up a meet. I hope to hear from many of you!!!!
Miss Hilary and Miss Morrison are seeking CLEAN and RINSED recyclables of all shapes, materials and sizes for an upcoming unit on “recycled” instruments. We will be using the book Ada's Violin as well as the documentary The Landfillharmonic. Please have students drop recyclables off at either classroom. Many thanks!!!!
Important PreK-4 Reminders
PreK Lottery is OPEN for the 2021-22 school year. (See details below). Complete registration before February 25th, if you have a child who will be at least 3 years old before September 1st, 2021. The wonderful Patty Spagnolo (our Registrar) (pspagnolo@cvsdvt.org) is happy to help out with this process.
K Registration is OPEN Feb 1st for the 2021-22 school year. It will be super helpful if we could receive the registration paperwork by February 12th to help us plan for the 2021-2022 school year. To enter Kindergarten at CVSD, students need to be at least 5 years old by September 1st, 2021. Again, the wonderful Patty Spagnolo (our Registrar) (pspagnolo@cvsdvt.org) is happy to help out with this process. We will be sending more information about what to expect in Kindergarten 2021 later this Spring.
FYI - Fun stuff about our PreK-4 community...
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBiS) - Here is a helpful resource for families to learn more about PBiS and how you can support this work at home as well. Here is our SCS PBiS Family Brochure.
Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) - Our PTO purchased gift cards from local restaurants to give to our Contact Tracing/Health & Safety Team to show our appreciation for all of their time, energy, and hard work to keep us all safe and learning.
Community Supports - Our students are creating Valentine’s for Wake Robbins residents and coordinating a Donation Drive for the Shelburne Food Shelf.
Environmental Awareness - Here are some helpful resources to remember what gets recycled, composted, and put in the trash. https://cswd.net/waste-reduction-resources/. Recycle Rhonda also has some great kid-friendly YouTube videos to share with students.
Professional Development (PD) - During our Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings this past week, we gathered as a larger PreK-4 PLC with our SCS Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Coach, Robyn Suarez (who is also one of our ELL teachers). We explored the new CVSD DEI website full of resources on Black History Month (typically taught in February). Our ongoing PD includes reading articles, listening to podcasts, watching videos, facilitating conversations with colleagues, and/or action-planning exit tickets.
Ms. Celmer's (ongoing and upcoming) PD - Between January-March I will be attending the following sessions (click each link if you're intrigued to learn more); Bounce Back Better from The Flourishing Center, Responding to Events of Racism in School-Based Relationships: Topics in Educational Equity, LitCon, & White Racial Identity
PreK-4 Highlights - A sneak behind the PreK-4 classroom curtains (beyond See-Saw)...
Kindergarten (Team K) - One of our Kindergarten teachers in the Virtual Learning Academy (VLA), Amy Hazen, is exploring the Dreambox Math software to provide additional opportunities for students to engage with mathematical concepts that complement her first instruction. Mrs. Radley’s students explored the school looking for a missing gingerbread man - it was such a fun surprise to see them visit my office! Ms. Shannon’s students are quite the mathematicians. They are working on place-value with teen numbers. It was awesome to hear the kids identify the numeral 18, explain that 18 is made up of one group of ten and eight ones, and then demonstrate how to show that quantity with the cubes. Students shared various strategies on how they counted the cubes - counting all, counting on, counting by 1’s, counting by 2’s, knowing they had 20 to begin with they could just take 2 cubes away, etc. Marvelous mathematical thinking from these youngsters!
1st Grade (Team Harmony) - I had a blast joining Ms. Stephanie’s first graders jamming out to Boom Clap with the Drum Fit lesson in Ms. Olson’s PE class - these kiddos have great rhythm! Mrs. West’s class was learning a new version of tag with Mr. MacDerment using scooters and soft balls to tag one another - it certainly looked like a lot of fun!
2nd Grade (Team Believe) - In Ms. Colleen & Ms. Carol’s second-grade classroom, kids were mixing and mingling to gather data from their peers to then document their data in a graph. It was sweet to see and hear students working together, asking questions, listening to responses, and sharing their results. Ms. Sally has a class full of talented authors and poets! She has been connecting students with poet, Ted Scheu, who is quite an inspiration for this group of students - the kids were enthusiastic and passionate about the poems they read to me. Mrs. Hansen's class was working on measurement, and the Principal of the Day and I got to see a gigantic paper foot in this classroom!
3rd Grade (Team Sangha) - Joey’s class has been exploring a new software called Parlay, which helps increase student engagement and voice by encouraging a variety of ways to participate in academic discourse and discussions with peers. This tool also provides the teacher with real-time feedback and data to help improve the facilitation of academic discourse.
4th Grade (Team Wonder) - Our 4th graders have begun working on a unit about Identity. I’m looking forward to learning more about this work and learning alongside our students and teachers.
SCS News
Updates from the SCS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coach
Hello, everyone! My name is Robyn Suarez. In addition to being an ELL (English Language Learner) Teacher at SCS, this year I am the building DEI Coach. I’m honored to be given this responsibility and do not take it lightly. With Yasamin Gordon and Vicki Mascareño Nelson as our district’s DEI leaders, the DEI Coaches have been hard at work in each of our schools. Here are some highlights of our recent work:
The first Community DEI team meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb 2nd from 5:30-6:30 PM via Google Hangouts. If you would like to partner with us in our effort to create a more culturally responsive & inclusive educational experience for all, please feel free to join!
This month, several SCS DEI Committees have started meeting. Our Student DEI Committee is being headed by Vasanthi Meyette and Meg O’Donnell. Our Internal Staff/Faculty DEI Committee met for the first time mid-January, and prioritized action items that we’d like to work on this year -- for example, creating a Black Lives Matter statement for our school. Lastly, our Parent/Community DEI Committee will be meeting regularly starting this week.
On Wednesday, 1/27, all SCS staff and faculty were given a DEI Professional Development opportunity. We looked through a wealth of resources about Black History, compiled by the DEI Coaching Team. We then came together in small and large groups to have targeted, facilitated discussions about the resources and the ways that they can be used in the classroom. Next Wednesday, 2/3, we’ll have another professional development experience with resources pertaining to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Look out for more DEI updates in the weeks to come!
SCS School Photos - Parent Feedback 2021
Two years ago we began a partnership with AMV Photography to provide school photos for our school community. We are looking for your feedback on how that partnership has met your needs. Please use this extremely short survey as a vehicle to share your family's level of satisfaction with school photos over the past two school years. Thank you, to those of you who have already submitted a response.
2021 Scripps Spelling Bee at Shelburne Community School
Scripps SCS Advisors:
Jon Spagnolo, SCS Behavioral Specialist
Nancy Haynes, SCS Planning Room Co-Director
The following students qualified for the Bee through a written test. The results are in no particular order.
Practice sessions continue to be held, virtually, on Wednesdays for Students Grades 3-8 who qualified for the SCS Bee through the written test. The google meet link is provided via email to all qualifiers so they can attend these voluntary virtual Wednesday practice sessions from 2:00-2:30pm:
February 3
February 10
SCS School Virtual Spelling Bee, Wednesday, February 17. Beginning at 8:30 AM until a school champion emerges (stopping for breaks and lunch if needed).
Jon and Nancy established a Bee date that they hope does not conflict with any other important events. We want as many people to participate as possible,
Keep practicing! Consider these resources.
2021 School Spelling Bee Study List
Study Tips from Scripps
FINAL LOCAL SPELLING BEE
Vermont Statewide Spelling Bee
Location: St. Michael's College - McCarthy Recital Hall (to be confirmed)
Date & Time: 03-24-2021 TBD
Due to Covid-19, there is a high chance that the 2021 Vermont spelling bee will be conducted virtually. We will keep participants apprised of any decisions that we make as soon as possible.
8th Grade Parents and Students of the Class of 2025
AN INVITATION FROM CHAMPLAIN VALLEY UNION HIGH SCHOOL
Join us virtually for 8th Grade Student & Parent Night at Champlain Valley Union High School, Thursday, February 11, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Hosted by Principal Adam Bunting
and the CVU Student Council. This evening will provide you and your child an introduction to the academic and elective programs they will experience in the 9th grade.
We’ll be live at: https://youtu.be/-4lw-svyyA0
CVSD News
Champlain Valley School District School-Based Early Education Programs
Preschool Lottery is coming soon!
The CVSD School-based Early Education Programs are now accepting applications for a random preschool lottery drawing for the 2020-21 school year. Our part-time, partial days, preschool classrooms are 5 STARs, licensed early education programs that provide play-based, developmentally appropriate environments for all children in an inclusive setting. Our curriculum is based on the Vermont Early Learning Standards (VELS) and Teaching Strategies Gold. We believe that a diverse classroom offers opportunities for adults and children to practice acceptance and compassion and also provides a broad range of learning experiences.
Our programs closely follow the CVSD school calendar. Students who will be age 3 or older by September 1, 2021, but not yet 5 years old, are eligible to enter the lottery for our programs.
All applications must be received by February 5, 2021. You can download an application here: Early Education Lottery Application. More information is available on our CVSD Early Education Website also. Students will be selected via a lottery and families notified in early March.
Food Service
We are so happy to share that the USDA has announced it is allowing schools to continue to provide free breakfast and lunch meals to all children 18 years old and younger. CVSD will be offering in-school meals, pickup, and delivery. To read about our program, see our menu, and place your order, go to our district website at https://www.cvsdvt.org/ and scroll down to "Foodservice." Our amazing food service team is excited to continue to serve the children of our community meals that are safe, nutritious, and delicious!
Your child will have the opportunity to order breakfast and lunch each morning when they arrive at school.
Community Resources
Nurturing Parenting Programs and Circles of Parents On-Line Offerings February 2021
Annually, The Family Support Team at PCAVT coordinates several Nurturing Parenting Programs (NPP) and Circle of Parents support groups (COP) throughout the region. At this time, they continue to offer these groups virtually! These are groups for parents who are looking for extra support and/or want to learn additional skills around parenting. Currently scheduled…
Ongoing Circle Of Parents
- Open Circle of Parents with Cindy Atkins on Thursdays from 10-11:30am
- Circle of Parents in Recovery with Cindy Atkins on Wednesdays from 5-6pm
- Circle of Parents for Moms of Color with Heather Niquette on Wednesdays from 10-11am
Coming Soon
- Circle of Parents in Recovery— with Amber Menard on Thursdays from 3-4:30pm starting February 4th (supported by Springfield Turning Point Center)
- Circle of Parents for Fathers— with Amber Menard, starting the third week of February (supported by the Clara Martin Center)
- Circle of Parents for Grandparents— with Amber Menard, starting February 16th from 4:00pm-5:00pm
New Nurturing Parenting Programs (typically run for 12 sessions)
- Nurturing Skills for Families on Thursdays from 6-7pm with Heather Niquette starting January 28th
- Nurturing Skills for Families in Recovery on Mondays from 1-2:30pm starting February 8th with Amber Menard (supported by Springfield Turning Point Center)
- Nurturing Skills for Families in Recovery on Tuesdays from 6-7pm with Cindy Wells starting February 16th
- Nurturing Skills for Families on Tuesdays from 7:30-8:30pm with Heather Niquette starting February 23rd
- Nurturing Skills for Families on Wednesdays from 2-3pm with Cindy Wells starting February 24th
Its All About Being A Teen
An Open and Genuine Youth Discussion Series for Middle School Youth Grades 6-8th meeting on Wednesdays from 5:30-6:30pm from February 3rd - April 7th with Heather Niquette and the Essex Teen Center. For more information on individual weeks’ topics Click here for more information on the weekly topics.
Please email Heather Niquette or connect by phone at 802-498-0607 for more information and to complete an intake/registration form. Space is limited in each program and will be given on a first come, first served basis.
Important Upcoming Dates
(A complete calendar can be found on the SCS website)
Feb 2nd - SCS Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Community Virtual Meeting (5:30-6:30pm)
Feb 3rd - SCS Scripps Spelling Bee Virtual Practice Session (2:00-2:30pm)
Feb 9th - SCS PTO Virtual Meeting (6:00pm)
Feb 10th - SCS Scripps Spelling Bee Virtual Practice Session (2:00-2:30pm)
Feb 11th - 8th Grade Virtual Student & Parent Night (6:30-7:30pm)
Feb 17th - SCS Scripps Virtual Spelling Bee (8:30am)
Feb 22nd-26th - No School, Winter Break
Shelburne Community School
Scott Sivo - Lead Principal (5-8)
Email: ssivo@cvsdvt.org
Website: https://www.cvsdvt.org/shelburne
Location: Shelburne, VT, USA
Phone: 802-985-3331
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShelburneCommunitySchool/
Twitter: @SCSLearns