Gertrude Chamberlin School
Family Newsletter September 18, 2020 Volume 15 Issue 10
Hybrid Learning Updates
As we start the school year, we begin with building relationships, getting to know one another, making connections, and learning to work both independently and as a group. We know that once children feel safe and connected, they are able to take more academic and social risks.
It is with intention that we will be increasing both the amount and type of work that your student is responsible for on their remote learning days. 'You may have noticed that your child has started bringing home assignments to complete during Online Learning Days. Kindergarteners through second graders should spend between 30-90 minutes and third through fifth graders should spend between 60- 90 minutes on a remote learning day working on school assignments.
Some of the work will be assignments that they will need to complete in order to be prepared for upcoming school days. Other work that will also be sent home is practice and building good habits as a learner. Both of these types of assignments are important. For the first few weeks, you will notice that there are more Habits of a Learner assignments that will help build a routine for learning in your home. As we get to know your child better through assessments and time, you will start to see an increase in the work that needs to be completed in preparation for their upcoming school days. It is very important that your child completes these assignments so that they are ready to participate in the deeper learning of the lesson when they arrive at school with their classmates. We are trying to make the most of our time with our students and having them do some preparation before school will enable us to go deeper into the content when they arrive at school.
Please do be aware of the amount of screen time that your child is utilizing each day to ensure is in the developmental range of what is appropriate for their age and stage of brain development.
We are also starting assessments on Monday, September 21st, in grades 1-5. We have not been able to assess our students since the Winter, and know we need accurate information to plan for teaching. As mentioned in the home letter this summer, and earlier newsletters, we will finalize class lists on OCTOBER 2nd. Due to the challenges of the start of the year, we have many classrooms that are unbalanced. Please remind your child that their home base placement could change. Families will receive permanent home room assignments on October 2nd. We are working to introduce children to all of the grade level teachers on the team, to make a possible transition as easy as possible.
We hope you find time to take outdoor breaks and enjoy the wonderful end of summer/beginning of fall weather!
Dot Days at Gertrude Chamberlin School...September 22nd and September 25th!
We will have Dot Days next week, on Tuesday, September 22nd and Friday September 25th! This week, students in kindergarten, first and third grade heard Peter Reynold's book, The Dot in their library classes. The Dot reflects one little girl's realization that believing in yourself and helping others can happen every day. This message and theme of "believing in yourself, everyone matters and reaching out to others" is what we are all about at Chamberlin School. As a school, we will celebrate International Dot Day on Tuesday and Friday next week, the 22nd and 25th, by wearing “dots” on our clothing. If you have any clothing with dots on it, please wear them!
Follow this link to The Dot song our students have sung in the past during Dot Week. To listen to the story online, follow this link:
How will you leave your mark......?
Arrival and Dismissal Updates and Reminders:
A shout out to families for your patience and flexibility during arrival and dismissal! We are all learning this together.
We have some gentle reminders for arrival:
- Please remember to slow down and drive through the bus lane.
- All families with a PreK or K student (even if you have a student in grades 1-5 as well) will always go to station 3 in the small parking lot.
- For families with older students, our traffic controllers will let you know if you should go to station 1 or 2. Please roll down your window so they can direct you to the correct station.
- We really appreciate that so many of you have your card visible on your dashboard. Please remember that the card is for grade level, not your arrival/dismissal station.
Please do not arrive before 7:50, and 7:55 is the official start time for arrival. Please do not arrive before 2:30, including walkers, as we are getting busses loaded and out to stagger the process. The last dismissal group ends at 2:50. Staff have meetings to go to at this time, so we appreciate that you arrive by this time so they are not late to their next commitment. Thank you for all of your help with this new process!
Arrival for cars and walkers:
Students in PK, 1, and 5 will arrive between 7:55-8:10am.
Students in K, 2, 3, and 4 will arrive between 8:10-8:25am.
Dismissal for cars and walkers:
2:30pm-2:40: Car and Walkers dismissal out the by grade level
PK, K, and older siblings of those grade levels out the kindergarten door (stop #3)
1st grade and older siblings of first graders out the main door (stop #2)
2:40-2:50: Car and Walkers dismissal out the front main entrance by grade level
2nd and 3rd grade and older siblings of those grades out the kindergarten door (stop #3)
4th and 5th graders out the main door (stop #2)
Weekly Wolf Pack Time at GCS:
We learned about the process and parts
of a restorative circle!
Social Emotional Learning
We are putting a strong focus on social emotional learning and school culture at Chamberlin School. All of our grades will be using the Second Step program to explicitly teach social skills. Second Step promotes school success, school connectedness and a safe and respectful school climate. This focus on social skills will strengthen your child’s ability to learn, have empathy, manage emotions and solve problems. For the months of September and October, the focus will be on Skills for Learning. This month, our school-wide theme is our school as a welcoming place where every student feels like he or she belongs. In our morning announcements, we’ll be reminding students to welcome others and act and speak in safe, respectful, and responsible ways. In addition, we’ll be teaching students about expectations and routines in a variety of school settings. Support your child at home in welcoming others and acting and speaking in safe, respectful, and responsible ways. To learn more about this program, visit www.secondstep.org.
We are also continuing with Restorative Practices this year, including our Wolf Pack Time. This year, instead of multiage groups for this morning circle time, students will stay in their classrooms. Wolf Pack Time will happen once a week for each pack. This week, we introduced the common themes of a circle - having a centerpiece, talking stick (that doesn't move from child to child this year) and practiced the process. We are looking forward to this special weekly community time, especially since we can't move to other classrooms and have assemblies in the gymnasium!
Attendance During Hybrid Learning
Every classroom at Chamberlin begins the day with a morning routine. Morning Meeting and check-in routines on in-person learning days help students build a classroom community. This is also a time when the schedule and important skills are introduced that will be built upon throughout the day. For a student to be a successful learner, they need to be in class by 8:25 am daily. Students arriving after 8:25 are marked tardy. The South Burlington School District partners with other Chittenden County Schools regarding our attendance/truancy policy. If a student is absent or tardy 5, 10, 15 or 20 days, we will send a letter home notifying parents of the missed school. If this happens, we ask that you please set up a time to meet regarding your child’s attendance. If a student is absent for 20 days, we are required to report to our School Resource Officer (SRO), who then takes steps to file a report with the State Attorney’s office. Bri Williamson and Sarah Superneau, from the South Burlington Police Department, are our current SRO. If your child is ill with any of the following symptoms; fever >100.4, cough, shortness of breath, chills, fatigue, muscle pain or body aches, headache, sore throat, has a loss of taste or smell, congestion or runny nose, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea please keep them home and contact the school at 652-7400. Also, please be sure you share this information on the health screening app. The school nurse will contact you to determine when they can return to school. If your child has an appointment or needs to miss school for some other reason, please be sure to call the office at 652-7400. If we don’t receive a phone call and your child is not in school, we will spend time making phone calls, to parents and emergency contacts, to ensure that your child is safe. If we can’t get in touch with you or your contacts, we will ask our SRO’s to visit your home to do a child safety check. We appreciate your help in getting your child to school on time and calling when they are unable to come to school or are sick.
On home learning days, we are also required to take attendance every day. Starting next week, all students will be invited to a Morning Meeting on Wednesday through Zoom. 5th grade will be meeting online through Google Meet instead of Zoom on Wednesdays. This will allow classes from both Gray and Blue packs to come together as one class. Teachers will be taking attendance during this Zoom. If your child does not attend the Zoom Morning Meeting, teachers will be following up to see if your child is in attendance. We understand that some of your work and childcare schedules will not allow your child to attend these short meetings. Please contact your child's teacher to establish another way to communicate about attendance on Wednesdays. On the other two home days, your child will be "in attendance" for work completion that will be returned either online or by paper when they return for their in person day. Please see the attached document for more information about attendance when your child is working at home. By working together, we can all support our children to be the best learners that they can be!
PTO Updates
We had a wonderful first Zoom meeting this week! "The PTO's mission to enrich educational experiences of all students, to provide support and assistance to Gertrude Chamberlin staff and families and to enhance the sense of community at the school through socialization events remains strong. The PTO meetings are working to re-imagine fundraising events like movie night, the gift catalog, and the Fun Run. Stay tuned for creative approaches to our annual PTO-sponsored activities! Did you know that as a Chamberlin parent, you are automatically a member of our PTO? Come join us as we support our children at Chamberlin!
Did you know that you can support programs at Chamberlin School whenever you shop? Check your food items and office supply products to see if they have Box Tops on them! It is now an electronic program and you can download the Box Tops app on your phone and scan your receipt to get credit for Chamberlin. Our PTO uses funds from Box Tops and other fundraising events to support field trips, our gardens, our playground, school supplies and many other needs at our school. For more information, visit www.boxtops4education.com .
Do you shop Amazon? If you use the link tinyurl.com/ChamberlinAmazon, our PTO will get a check for a percentage of your purchases. Shop online and support our school at the same time!
We are looking forward to a wonderful year together to support our children. If you have questions, you can contact the PTO presidents, Jennifer Doig - jdoig@sbschools.net or Cathy Wisloski cathybeam@hotmail.com.
How Can I Get Library Books During Hybrid Learning?
Music and Art classes this week:
Playing instruments and
imagining what Covid looks like!
With Gratitude...
Thank you to Lacey's Carpet for the carpet donation for our library cart!
Thank you to Vibrant Church for providing snacks for our staff!
Annual Student Updates and Registration...New and Improved!
South Burlington School District is excited to begin Annual Student Updates and Registration for the 2020-2021 school year.
These online forms can be found within your PowerSchool Parent Portal and takes the place of the thick packet of papers that have previously been mailed home to families from the schools each summer.
Please take the time to complete these forms that:
- Register your student for the 2020-2021 School Year
- Verify and update emergency contact information
- Communicate important health information
- Sign student laptop/device agreements
To begin, please click this link to login to the PowerSchool Parent Portal: https://sbsdvt.powerschool.com. Once logged in, click “Forms” from the left navigation bar and choose “Update A. Getting Started: Returning Students.” The forms should take 5-15 minutes to complete, per student.
Trouble Logging in?
Please click “Forgot Username or Password?”
- Reminder: Please check your Junk box if a reset email is not received.
If you do not have a PowerSchool Portal Account or require more support, please email sbdatateam@sbschools.net.
Individual schools can be contacted at:
PreKindergarten/Act 166: PreK_Reg@sbschools.net
Gertrude E. Chamberlin School: Chamb_Reg@sbschools.net
Orchard School: Orch_Reg@sbschools.net
Rick Marcotte Central School: RMCS_Reg@sbschools.net
Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School: FHTMS_Reg@sbschools.net
South Burlington High School: SBHS_Reg@sbschools.net
Thank you for your time. Completion of these forms will help ensure that we have the most current and accurate information for your students, allowing us to improve communications and better serve our families.
Here's the link to the breakfast and lunch menus.
Seating Tips for Remote Learning From Our Physical Therapist, TJ Maclay
Picture Day
Chamberlin School
Email: hrouelle@sbschools.net
Website: https://vt01819219.schoolwires.net/Domain/10
Location: Chamberlin School, White Street, South Burlington, VT, USA
Phone: 802 652 7403
Twitter: @hrouelle