The School Bell

A Message from the Leadership Team - Updates from our school nurses - Swift Fundraisers - CVSD Budget Development Meeting Information - Food Service employment opportunities & new menu - Williston Community Theatre - ABS Art News - and more...

Keep scrolling for Info/Links:

- Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

- DAMLibrary and Williston Rec - Upcoming Events/Programs

- Calendars, Handbook, Volunteer Information

- Food Service / Busing / School Safety links

- CVSD District & School Board Links

- Important Family Resources

by Greg Marino, Lead Principal

I sincerely hope that your family was able to enjoy the break from the school routine last week and some downtime together filled with some rest, rejuvenation, and joy. Whether or not you celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, just having a little time away from the regular routine to pause and reflect can be so helpful, especially in stressful times like the ones we are living in now. I am very grateful for having that chance last week and being able to return to work this week with a sense of renewal and meeting the challenges of this important work with maybe just a little more capacity and clarity.

I’ll take this opportunity to share a few quick shout-outs for the accomplishments of some amazing Williston colleagues. It’s difficult to keep track of the many honors and accolades received by Williston and CVSD faculty and staff, but here are just two I wanted to call out in this week’s “Bell”.

Congratulations to Williston Schools Digital Learning Leader “DLL”, Jessica Wilson, who received the Frank Watson award at this year’s VTFest Education Conference. The Frank Watson award is presented to a person whose many years of devoted service, vision, and leadership have significantly advanced educational technology at the local, regional, and state level. We are proud of Jessica and this latest well-deserved honor and are very grateful for her contributions in the Williston Schools. Way to go Jessica! Please see thisCVSD blogpost for more details.

I am thrilled to honor and recognize ABS Principal, Angela Filion (far right in photo), and Math coordinator, Caitlin Bianchi (far left in photo), who were two of the seven CVSD educators who recently completed the Snelling Center for Government's Vermont School Leadership Project (VSLP) in November. CVSD has a long history of encouraging leaders to participate in this rigorous, 17-month professional development experience and the district and our schools have benefited as a result of engagement in this program. It is no easy task to complete a program like this while navigating the demands of a more-than-full time job. I am grateful that CVSD is a system that recognizes the importance of continuous professional learning for all of its educators and leaders. The time and resources invested in this personal and professional growth is an investment in student success and learning.

Quick Safety Drill Update:

A few days ago, parents and caregivers received this note from me about our next step in practicing our procedures for keeping our community safe in different emergency situations. We held a successful Lockdown practice at WCS this week with a similar drill to occur ABS in the coming days. Please feel free to call or email me with any questions or concerns about these drills. As always, I am most grateful for our continued partnership in your child(ren)’s growth and learning.

12/03 - Swift House Bottle Drive

12/08 - Families as Partners December Meeting, WCS Community Room 8:30 - 10:30

12/14 - Winter Concerts! Concert Band & Wind Ensemble @5:30pm / Chorus @7:00pm

12/15 - Mosaic to the State House, WCS Concerts / Snow Date

12/23 - 1/02 - NO SCHOOL - EARLY WINTER BREAK

The Health Offices at ABS and WCS were notified that families would like more information regarding how head lice is managed in schools and we want to update families on our procedures.

Our schools’ head lice management is based on the most recent evidence based practices. The guidelines come from Center for Disease Control CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), National School Nurse Association (NASN) and Vermont Department of Health(VDH).

NASN released a position statement that the management of head lice infestations in school settings should not disrupt the educational process, including but not limited to the elimination of classroom screening, forced absences from school for nits and/or live lice and broad notification that a case of head lice has been found (National Association of School Nurses. (2020). Head lice management in schools (Position Statement).)

Both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the CDC agree and advocate for the following practices to be discontinued:

• whole classroom screening,

• exclusion for nits or live lice,

• notification to others except for parents/guardians of students with head lice infestations

Based on the above guidelines, we have the following procedures in place when a case of head lice is identified:

• Any student with live lice (or nits within one quarter inch of the scalp) may remain in school until the end of the school day. Immediate treatment at home is advised.

• Student may return to class, but restricted from activities involving close head-to-head contact or sharing personal items with other children. Immediate removal of the child is unnecessary—if the child has lice, they probably have been infested for weeks and prompt removal of the child could lead to embarrassment and ridicule. The child can be sent home at the end of the day and should be allowed to ride the bus.

• School nurse will notify the parent/guardian directly and offer education, support and resources on lice treatment. The school nurse can offer assistance in head lice check after the treatment is completed if a parent requests one.

• Parents should continue daily lice checks and nit removal for the next two to three weeks and retreat as necessary according to the product label.

• It is recommended that you consult with your pediatrician or pharmacist for the most current and safest product.

November 18th, 2022

Dear Families,

We are starting to see Influenza-like-Illness (IFI) activity in our schools. We check the temperatures of all students who come to the health office and this time of year, we are a bit stricter on our return-to-school recommendations. While the number of confirmed influenza cases in our buildings is still relatively low, we wanted to share this important information to help keep your child and our community healthy. In an effort to reduce the spread of illness, we ask that you keep your sick child home until they are healthy (fever-free x 24 hours without medicine and their respiratory symptoms significantly improved), reinforce the importance of covering coughs and sneezes with an elbow or tissue, and encourage your child to wash hands often and well.

Please let the Health Office know if your child is sick with flu-like illness or if they have been diagnosed with Flu. If you have any questions, we encourage you to call your child's pediatrician or refer to the resources we've shared below.

Be well,

Maria, Carol and Sylvia

How do I know...Is it a cold or the flu?

Treating the Flu | Vermont Department of Health

Influenza: What You Need to Know This Year

CDC Influenza Updates

WCS Health Office:

Maria Kapetanovic, RN, BSN, MSN/Ed

Carol Albertelli, RN, BSN

WCSnurse@cvsdvt.org / ph: 871-6170

ABS Health Office:

Sylvia Love, BSN, RN

slove@cvsdvt.org / ph: 871-6248

The CVSD Early Education Program is now accepting applications for a random preschool

lottery drawing for the 2023-24 school year. This lottery is for an opportunity to enroll in one of

our school-based classrooms which run 10 hours per week. Our school-based 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).

Our programs follow the CVSD school calendar. Children who will be age 3 or older by

September 1, 2023, who have not enrolled in kindergarten, and live in the communities of

Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, St. George, and Williston are eligible to enter the lottery.

Families who are selected for the lottery and choose to enroll their child in a CVSD program

access their Act 166 publicly funded pre kindergarten funds for the school-based program.

All applications must be received by February 3, 2023, and are located on the CVSD Early

Education website under 2023-2024 Preschool Lottery . Paper applications are available upon

request.

For additional information, questions about our program, or any concerns about your child’s

development, please visit our website or contact Director of Early Education, Erin Gagne at

egagne@cvsdvt.org. Our Early Education team is also available for developmental screenings in

the areas of communication, social-emotional development, motor skills, adaptive development,

and cognition.

Butter chicken, traditionally known as murgh makhani, is an Indian dish originating in New Delhi. It is a type of curry made from chicken with a spiced tomato and butter sauce. Its sauce is known for its rich texture. It is similar to chicken tikka masala, which uses a tomato paste.

This dish was requested by a student at WCS encouraging us to make more ethnic dishes and we are always up for trying something new. Hope everyone enjoys it. Please feel free to send us menu suggestions from your students.

We are looking for a few people to help out in the kitchen preparing and serving meals for our CVSD students and adults. No experience needed, we will train. Flexible hours. Fast paced and fun. Please contact Scott Wagner (swagner@cvsdvt.org) if interested. We would really appreciate your help making sure our customers get the best food and service we can possibly provide.

In our Allen Brook Art Studio kindergarten, first and second grade artists have been exploring art elements of line, shape and color as well as spatial concepts including background and foreground. The kindergarten paintings below were inspired by Where the Wild Things Are, written by Maurice Sendak

In addition, kindergarten students made autumn tree images with chalk and paint.

Grades one and two have experimented with these concepts and skills through collage and paint mediums and were introduced to color relationships by means of the color wheel and through personal discovery as they overlapped their materials.

They also observed horizon lines in various environments as seen in their autumn collages.

ABS school gear forms are due Monday. We are unable to take any late orders as we need to have time for the order to be processed and completed before December break.

Please reach out with any questions.

So far this semester, Ms. Stewart’s and Ms. Ward’s classes have had their first of two art rotations. Their projects have included self portraits with inspiration taken from contemporary painters Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, textural clay vessels using the slab method, and an introduction to color values and tones. In these small paintings, the children discovered effects of using complementary colors side by side and then blended to create the brown cones. Differing “points of view” can also be seen in these images.

Every child is and artist - Pablo Picasso

The 5th-8th WCS Needlework Club meets weekly on Fridays, where students knit, crochet, chat and have fun together in a relaxing and supportive environment.

It’s amazing, however, how quickly our yarn supply diminishes!! It’s hard to keep up with the demand….

If you have yarn at home you would like to donate, or if you would like to purchase new yarn for the club, we would be so grateful! You can contact either Susan Simpson (ssimpson@cvsdvt.org) or Kim Odachowski (kodachowski@cvsdvt.org), send yarn in with your student, or drop off at the front office. Many thanks in advance!

CVSD invites all community members to learn about and join in on the budget development process by attending upcoming School Board meetings. All members of the CVSD community are always welcome to attend Board meetings. See the topics and schedule in the image above and on the Budget page of the district's website. https://www.cvsdvt.org/budget

Links to join the virtual meetings will be available on that page and on the website calendar. We will also post the presentations on the Budget page afterward for those that cannot attend.

• Connect to your child's school and enrich the experiences it offers all 1000+ PreK-8th grade students by joining the volunteers of the Williston Schools Families As Partners Organization!
• Be a part of this collaborative partnership whose focus is to enhance and support students, teachers and the community by providing materials, programs, field trips, guest artists, guest educators and innovative learning opportunities.
• Help elevate the potential for motivating, happy, healthy, and productive lifelong learners.
• For more information contact: willistonfap@cvsdvt.org

Allen Brook School day begins at 7:50 am

Williston Central School day begins at 8:00 am

- To ensure all students are accounted for, everyone arriving after these times will be marked tardy and must stop at the office for a late pass.

Be sure to read the arrival and dismissal procedures for your student(s) school [linked below] if you plan to drop off or pick up your child. We appreciate all you can do to follow these guidelines to ensure a safe and smooth transition in and out of school!

Thank you for your continued cooperation during arrival and dismissal.

Attention ABS Families: Help us keep everyone safe by going to the designated areas for pickup and keep the sidewalks near the main entrance clear. This helps ensure adults can account for each and every pick-up that happens.

Wednesday: Early Dismissal!

ABS @1:35 - WCS @1:45

ABS Arrival & Dismissal - WCS Arrival & Dismissal

Just a reminder that we are not allowing students to ride on buses other than their regular route(s). This ensures all students are safe and accounted for. Seating charts will be used on all buses.

The Charlotte Central School (CCS) Holiday Market is back and we hope you can join us on Saturday, December 10th! The holiday market will be open from 9am to 3pm. We will have two gyms filled with artisans, as well as several on site food options. There will be a kids zone with free art projects for kids to create while you shop. We are excited to welcome back former CCS art teacher, Mrs. B, who will be leading spin art projects for kids.

New this year is our silent auction! The auction will open up online Saturday, December 3 at 8am. The auction features a week-long stay at Claybrook, Sugarbush, VT and artwork by Jessica Scriver. We have many other items from local businesses including, Elli Parr, Saratoga Olive Oils, Red Barn Kitchen, Mysa, The Gilded Elephant, and many more. To access the silent auction, please go to ourschool.auction/CCSholidaymarket

Silent auction and raffle proceeds will go directly to the CCS PTO to support a variety of student enrichment programs including STEM, Theater, Athletics, as well as our community Emergency Care Fund. We look forward to seeing you on December 10.

Resources to keep accessible:

• First Call - 488-7777: phone support, crisis intervention, assessment and referrals
• In Crisis: 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) (National Hopeline Network: USA)
• National Suicide Prevention Life line- 1-800-273-TALK (8255), call or chat online
• Crisis Text Line - text HOME to 741741 (24 hours a day, seven days a week)
• Outright Vermont - support for LGBTQ+ community
• UVM Breathe In Breath Out - How to deal with stress due to COVID-19
• Vermont 211 -Vermont database of resources and services
• Vermont Support Line (833) 888-2557) - peer support warmline open 247 - 365 for call or text
• COVID Counselors @ VT-211
• Teen Crisis Text Line - Crisis Text Line provides free emotional support and information to teens in any type of crisis, including feeling suicidal. You can text with a trained specialist 24 hours a day. Text “HOME” to 741741.
• Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide - Website where you can find information to help yourself or a friend who may be having thoughts of suicide.
• Trevor Lifeline - 1-866- 488-7386 - provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people. It offers free, 24/7, confidential counseling. TrevorText—text START to 678-678; TrevorChat—instant messaging at TheTrevorProject.org/help. It also runs TrevorSpace, an affirming social networking site for LGBTQ youth at TrevorSpace.