THE SCHOOL BELL
Williston Schools /October 29, 2021
A Message from the Administration
Test to Stay Begins in Williston
Greg Marino, Lead Principal, Williston Schools
Despite our collective efforts, we are still seeing positive cases in our community, and as a result, in our schools as well. Over the past two months we have been engaged in a struggle to prevent the spread of the virus at school while maximizing student learning. The unfortunate but real result of this struggle has been too many kids missing too many days of school. Today, I am pleased to announce that we have a new tool in our toolbox.
I am very pleased to announce that the Williston Schools are prepared to launch the Test to Stay program starting on Monday, November 1st, for unvaccinated and asymptomatic students who are quarantining. This program will result in dramatically fewer students having to miss school due to quarantining, while preserving a safe learning environment and slowing the potential spread of the virus.
What does this mean for your kids? For most future positive cases associated with school, instead of quarantining, children of parents who opt them into the program will report to school and be given a rapid antigen test each morning before starting their school day. If this rapid test is negative, they can stay for the school day. If the rapid test is positive, they will need to return home and will be considered Covid-positive.
This program is specifically for students who are designated as close contacts and have been contacted by the school in relation to a specific case. Please do not report for Test to Stay unless you have received a case-specific email from the school directing you to do so.
It is also important to note that this Test to Stay program is only for attendance at school. Students are still expected to quarantine for all other activities, aside from medical appointments, until seven (7) days after last exposure. While participating in Test to Stay, your child may not attend school activities that involve students from other schools, such as sport or scholastic competitions or Halloween celebrations.
This informational letter about the Test to Stay program, this FAQ from the AOE, and this video of our Town Hall all provide more information and detail about Test to Stay and will answer many of the common questions about the program.
What do I do if I want my child to be eligible for Test to Stay?
In order for your child to participate in the Test to Stay program, parents need to opt-in by completing the two sections below regarding consent and registering for the SimpleReport platform.
A student can only participate in Test to Stay if their parent/guardian has given consent. If you would like your child to participate in the response testing, including the antigen Test to Stay program, please complete the Consent webform as soon as possible.
Vermont will be using SimpleReport to report the results of antigen tests. This reporting system allows for parents/guardians to receive their student’s results instantly. Please register your student, including your contact information, using this link. Please Note: this self-registration link is not the same thing as giving consent. In order for your child to participate, you must complete the Consent webform (above).
WHAT WILL THIS LOOK LIKE FOR WILLISTON PARENTS:
Monday will be our very first day implementing these procedures for one WCS class. We expect to learn and make adjustments for the days that follow. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work out the glitches that we are not able to anticipate and gain more insight about how the procedure flows in the morning.
Williston Central will be the Test to Stay testing site for students at both ABS and WCS. This is due to available space and will allow us to consolidate our resources for more efficient implementation.
Parents of an identified group of unvaccinated students who are found to be close contacts will receive notification from the school via voice message and email letting them know that their children can participate in Test to Stay in connection with a particular positive case.
MORNING PROCEDURES FOR TESTING:
If parents are able to drive their child to school, please drop them off at the front curb near the accessible parking spaces at the front of WCS at the time designated in the email from the school. Students will walk into the main entry on their own and be met by a greeter who will direct them to our testing area, the school auditorium / Al Myers Theater. After dropping your child off, parents will have two choices:
1. Wait in your car at WCS at the Town rec fields parking area. To do this, you must drive off school property, back to Rte2 via Central School Drive, re-enter Library Lane, and make a right to the rec field parking area.
OR
2. Return home and await notification of your child’s test results.
In both cases above, you will receive immediate notification of your child’s results as soon as they are read via the SimpleReport platform. These results will be sent to the cell phone number you provided during registration.
If you are not able to drive your student to school, they may take the school bus. Students who arrive on the bus will report directly to the WCS auditorium / Al Myers Theater. ABS students will ride the bus over to WCS and be escorted from the bus to the testing room.
Parents of students who take the bus must be available to drive to school to pick up their child in the event of a positive test result.
You will receive immediate notification of your child’s results as soon as they are read via the SimpleReport platform. These results will be sent to the cell phone number you provided during registration.
We are very pleased to be implementing the Test to Stay program starting next week and expect it will result in a dramatic reduction in the number of students needing to miss school due to quarantine, while maintaining a safe learning environment.
Thank you for your partnership in making the rollout of this important new facet of our District’s response to this unprecedented situation a success for our students and families.
Test-To-Stay: Getting the Process Started
We are thrilled to announce that it's time to get the COVID Test to Stay program up and running. Supplies are on their way and it's time to begin putting important pieces in place. Families and caregivers who are interested in having their child(ren) participate in Test to Stay need to provide consent and register their child(ren). This is for unvaccinated students.
Please read the information in this letter to learn more about the 2-step process and more about the program overall.
If you plan to register your child(ren), please do so as soon as possible.
On Thursday night this week, there was a virtual Town Hall with Vermont medical professionals and a representative from the Agency of Education to help inform the public about the Test to Stay program. They answered questions from families that were submitted before and during the Town Hall about the program. It is very informative and hopefully will answer your questions as well. Click here to view recorded Town Hall.
Last Chance: Share Your Thoughts!
The CVSD School Board invites all community members to be a part of the budget development process. Please share ideas on the Budget Thoughtexchange, which is open through this Sunday, October 31. If you have already shared thoughts, go back and see what others have contributed and rate those thoughts.
FAP Needs Council Members
Williston Families As Partners (FAP) NEEDS COUNCIL MEMBERS! In order to continue to provide support to our schools a council is required to assemble. Please contact willistonfap@cvsdvt.orgif interested!
Williston's FAP, "PTA" organization, provides a forum for parents, administrators, faculty, staff, and community members to actively discuss activities, events, and programs in the WIlliston schools. The participation of faculty, staff, and administration differentiates our FAP from a typical PTA/PTO and helps further promote our children's health, well-being, and educational success. FAP also serves as the fundraising arm of the Williston schools.
Volunteers are needed in all areas! Please fill out this form if interested in helping!
CLD Student Center
The CLD Student Center (C = Culturally, L = Linguistically, and D = Diverse) is a new addition to the English Learner (EL) program at WCS. It is a space where students with multicultural and multilingual backgrounds can celebrate their cultural and linguistic diversity, connect with each other, and help increase awareness and appreciation within the WCS community of other cultures and languages. This might be in the form of creating art, writing poetry, researching a culture or language of interest, or creating a cookbook of recipes from their home cultures, among many other options.
The CLD Student Center also serves as a resource for upper middle school students (grades 7 - 8) who need extra content and writing support, or just a quiet place to work. Parents of our EL students who need extra support in communication and technology use (e.g. learning how to use Google apps, schedule a parent/teacher conference, access links to different documents, etc.) can take advantage of the Center through training opportunities.
SPARK Enrichment After School Session 2
We are excited to offer your child an opportunity to participate in Spark Enrichment, an after-school applied learning program for students in grades 5-8. Sessions will run for 5 weeks from 3:00 p.m - 4:30 p.m. with our 2nd session starting November 11th and ending December 16th. These small group classes will be facilitated by school faculty and staff.
Students will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities that can be found on the link below. Students are informed of the workshop they will be attending the day prior to the start of the session via their house TA or teacher and caregivers will receive an email informing them of their child’s assigned workshop. In order to take full advantage of this learning opportunity, students will need to make a commitment to attend all five Thursdays. If your child decides to not take part in this session after having registered please contact Julie Rogers so that others may fill the spot.
The after-school activity bus can provide transportation home for students in need of a ride home.
The dates of session 2 are: November 11, 18, December 2, 9, & 16. When registering, students will be able to rank their choices for better placement! Students will be placed on a first come first serve basis. Registration form and a listing of workshop descriptions. Contact Julie Rogers (jrogers@cvsdvt.org or 802-871-6022) with any questions.
Important Updates About Curriculum Nights and Parent-Teacher Conferences
We are making some changes to the format for curriculum nights and parent / teacher conferences this year. Please note these changes below.
Curriculum Nights:
The school will not be hosting live curriculum nights this year.
In place of this, teams will prepare a slide presentation (or packet) for parents. These will contain the information that is typically presented at in-person curriculum nights and will be sent home to families anytime between now and the end of October.
Teams will provide opportunities for parents / caregivers to ask any questions they may have, either in a virtual office hours format, or at parent-teacher conferences.
Parent Conferences:
Virtual Parent-Teacher conferences will be offered by all teachers / teams between Oct 8 and the Thanksgiving break and will be in touch with information about how to sign up.
Families may request an in-person conference if there are circumstances that will make a virtual conference difficult.
NEW LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR QUARANTINING STUDENTS
We are pleased to announce that starting the week of 10/4, the Williston Schools will offer optional daily learning opportunities for students who are quarantining without their class and teacher. On each school day there will be two types of learning opportunities that can be accessed by students: “Meets” with teachers and learning menus. The activities completed during the “Meets” and through the learning menus will not directly connect to the lessons happening at school, but they will allow students to access productive and engaging grade appropriate learning opportunities.
This slide deck contains more information about these opportunities including the “Meet” schedule and links to math, science, and literacy activities:
Are you getting all the correct school communications?
CVSD Updates
In this CVSD Update you will find information about:
- DEI work in the district
- The COVID Test-to-Stay program
- Updates to the Contact Tracing Guidance and how that impacts schools
- How community members can share their thoughts and voices in the budget development process
- Two upcoming Community Forums - both next week!
- (Budget and Test-to-Stay)
- and more!
WCS Diversity Equity and Inclusion Student Group
Working Towards Justice in our Community
We must take action to create an equitable community. By doing this we are changing perspectives and recognizing biases. To make a safe and inclusive, educated community, we need to raise awareness of the differences among us. We need to raise our student voices to address structural racism and achieve social justice.
Welcome to the WCS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Student Group. Students in 5-8 grade and teacher facilitators meet each Tuesday at lunchtime to discuss past, present and future goals for the group. We have been brainstorming a new name for the group, and hoping to launch the new rebranded name for the DEI group. In addition, we are exploring art as activism, excited about the potential of a group art installation in our school. More to come! All 5th - 8th Graders are invited! Open enrollment, so come any time!
The Craft Show is Back - Volunteers Needed!
Please help us staff volunteer 1 or 2-hour shifts at the FAP Fall Craft Show on November 6th. Volunteers are needed for set-up on Friday evening November 5th and during the event on Saturday November 6th. Find more information and available shifts on the sign-up link: signup.com/go/vDRgjyp or contact Karen and Paula at wsdcraftshow@cvsdvt.org. Thank you for helping with this important school fundraiser!
ISO Items for WCS Recess
Face Mask Reminder
Also, cloth masks should be washed almost daily and rotated.
Remember to use only CDC recommended type masks.
See this link for recommendations and guidance.
Welcome to the CVSD IT Help Desk Portal
Box Tops App makes it easy
All you need is your phone to help earn money for our schools! Download the Box Tops app, shop as you normally would, then use the app to scan your store receipt within 14 days of purchase. The app will identify Box Tops products on your receipt and automatically credit your school’s earnings online. Twice a year, your school will receive a check and can use that cash to buy whatever it needs!
Have an hour to give?
Help needed to cut and count Boxtops for Education. Please contact Sally Dattilio sdattilio@cvsdvt.org
Please turn in your clipped box tops from Boxtops for Education products so they can be submitted by the October 31st deadline.
custodial openings
Full time with benefits. Part time option also.
Please contact Lyall Smith at lysmith@cvsdvt.org or 316-1275.
CVSD is an equal opportunity employer. Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), women, and LGBTQ+ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
Admin. Assistant
This is a year round, permanent full time classified staff position.
To find out more, visit www.schoolspring.com.
Substitute Teachers Needed
Williston readers soar!
In September, 2,389 books were checked out from the WCS library...that's over 113 books each day school was open!
WCS students also checked out 646 books on our digital ebook & audiobook app, Sora, in September. That was the 2nd highest school checkout total in Vermont!! If you haven't tried Sora yet, have a look! It's our incredible library of ebooks and digital audiobooks for students.
It's the perfect online reading partner to the wonderful collection of books & audiobooks in our school library.
Access Sora here https://soraapp.com/library/vssdcvt (school Google login)
or through the WCS Library website https://www.wcslibrary.org/
If you have any questions, contact librarian Ellen Arapakos at earapakos@cvsdvt.org
Happy reading!
Your WCS and ABS Libraries:
ABS - Reminder for Safe Drop Off & Pick Up
Pre K-2
It has been reported to administration from some parents that they are concerned about our arrival and dismissal procedures. As a reminder it is very important to stay in your vehicles during arrival and dismissal. It appears that many parents stop, get out of their car, talk to teachers or other parents, and stand around to visit. Some vehicles are being left unattended so parents can walk their child into school. This creates a line of cars backing up as other parents wait for a spot to pull up to. We have also seen some families not using the designated lane for your child's house as a means to get through the line faster. Please adhere to the procedures we have created and do your best to pick up and drop your child off in a timely and efficient manner. Thank you!
For K teachers only:
When dropping your child off in the K lane please be sure to pull up to the curbside to drop your child off as opposed to parking your vehicle as if you are in a parking spot. This helps with the overall flow and avoids having vehicles having to back up which causes congestion and traffic jams. Thank you!
We appreciate all you can do to follow these guidelines to ensure a safe and smooth transition in and out of school!
Please refer to this map for the correct location to drop off/pick up your student:
Return to School Following Illness COVID-19 Information for Families
Mask Reminder: Please remember to send a few masks to school daily with students. We thank you for your support.
Family Resources
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)
- 1-800-273-TALK (8255) (National Suicide Prevention Lifelife: USA)
- 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
Four Winds
FAP Information
We are looking for volunteers in all areas, our council, house representatives, and event volunteers! Please fill out this form if interested in helping!
https://forms.gle/AvVx1EHUGWWAikWn9
School Nutrition Program
Parenting Resource
If you have a child who is experiencing anxiety, depression or other social and emotional challenges, Amy will be on hand to offer her support and guidance and be armed with useful resources in the community if you need/want them. For more information, click here.
You can pop in for a quick question or to chat through a situation. Amy would love to try to help! Here is the link to join: http://meet.google.com/nfm-tovh-bjz
Upcoming Events
Monday, Nov. 1 - Picture Retake Day
Saturday, Nov. 6 - Craft Fair at WCS, 9am - 4 pm
Thursday, Nov. 11 - Spark Session 2 starts, 3-4:30 pm
Nov. 22-26 - No School (Thanksgiving break)
CVSD School Board
CVSD's COVID Recovery Plan
CVSD schools re-opened for the 2021-2022 school year following the guidelines provided by the Vermont Agency of Education. Our school districts are working to meet the needs of all students, especially after a pandemic year. We were required to create a Recovery Plan for the Vermont Agency of Education for approval. CVSD is calling this our Strategic Response Plan. Learn more about the plan and provide feedback at this link.
DAML Programs
Click here to access the DAML web site listing of events.
Click here for Youth Programming and upcoming events
Recreation & Parks Offerings
More Links, More information
Williston Schools
Email: wsschoolbell@cvsdvt.org
Website: https://www.cvsdvt.org
Location: 195 Central School Drive, Williston
Phone: (802) 878-2762
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Williston-School-District-1483758238612170/timeline/
Twitter: @wsdvt