BCS Buzz
The Newsletter for the BCS Community
Brownington Central School
Buzz, the Bear
Safe, Respectful, Responsible
October 26, 2020
Dear BCS Community,
In the younger grades the approach is to focus on how people get along - this dovetails beautifully with the Bear Necessities and with our Second Step social-emotional learning program. In the upper grades, EL focuses self-discovery and social justice issues. At all grade levels, students are asked to read high quality texts and use evidence from the text to support their positions. This is a rigorous, standards-based approach.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Larry Fliegelman
Principal
Trimesters
COVID-19 Updates
School Closure Planning
While we do not expect to have to close school at this time, we know that the possibility is there that cases of COVID-19 in the community could require to close the school. So, we have been preparing for a couple different types of school closures so that things are much smoother than the Emergency Shutdown last spring.
The first type of closure is the Short Term Closure. This would likely happen reactively and with little notice. We could make this decision due to cases of the virus or for bad weather (since we started late, snow days will extend the school year close to July). For short term closures, each teacher has prepared a packet for each child to get through 1-3 days. These packets contain activities for all the major subjects to be used for any short term closures. As this is the only packet they will receive, students do not need to do anything with the packets right now other than to put them in a safe place for future use. The packets were sent home as follows:
- K-2 on October 16
- 3rd will send home by October 28
- 4th on October 19
- 5-8 on October 22
The other type of closure is longer term. In case of a longer closure that will likely come with some notice, teachers have all set up Google Classrooms and have trained the kids how to use them. Every family has returned the device use contract so that we can send home iPads for K-2 and laptops for 3-8. The plan is that during a longer closure, each teacher pivots to remote instruction that includes multiple class meetings and assignments each day.
With these plans, we will not lose much instructional time if we are forced to close at any time this year.
Food/Treats from Home to Share
Please check with your child’s teacher if you have questions.
Contact Tracing Video
Vermont Department of Health's new video, "How Contact Tracing Slows the Spread of COVID-19," is a brief video (1 minute, 42 seconds) to help educate people about how contact tracing works, why it’s an important tool to slow the spread of COVID-19, and to encourage people to answer the call if they are called by a contact tracer.
Information for Families | Return to School Following Illness
Reminders
Masks:
Please remember to send your child to school with a cloth mask. We will have extras on hand to provide students who may forget, damage, or lose them. Children over the age of two will be required to wear them in school and on the bus, per state guidelines.
Travel:
We must abide by the Governor’s travel restrictions. If you and your family plan to travel out of Vermont, you may be required to quarantine before your child can be permitted into the building. You can find the information you need at https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19/restart/cross-state-travel. This is updated each Friday, and we must go by the most current information.
Sick Children:
If your child is not feeling well, please keep them home. It is critical for the safety of everyone that we do our best to limit the possibility of exposure. We all have a role in making sure our staff and students are safe. We will be following guidelines from the Health Department when a child presents any symptoms at school
Brownington Central School
The K-8 public school in Brownington, Vermont. Part of Lake Region Union Elementary Middle School District.
Brownington Bridge to the Future v.2.0
Communication | Perseverance | Problem Solving | Citizenship
Email: bcsadmin@ocsuvt.org
Website: https://brownington.weebly.com/
Location: 102 Chase Road, Brownington, VT, USA
Phone: 802-754-8467
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/browningtoncentralschool
Twitter: @BrowningtonCS