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SCS Community Newsletter
Week of October 9, 2023
Principal's Message
Dear SCS Families and Caregivers,
As we head into the long weekend, there are lots of exciting things coming up on the calendar. Fall sports are entering are their last few weeks, the Newberry Cup takes place at SCS next weekend, and conferences are underway. You should have received sign-up information from your child's teacher, and we encourage all families to participate in these important conversations.
This transition to fall has brought with it many of the familiar events that make back-to-school a favorite time for lots of families. This year, there are also several important additions to our traditional routines.
- We are learning our district's new management system (Clever), which is being used to roster kids in the various online platforms in use at each grade. Kids have been excited to see the change to their "homepages" when they log into their Chromebooks or iPads.
- CVSD has invested in additional literacy screening assessments to help inform instruction and intervention across classrooms.
- New students are joining our school! All classes are working to build positive learning communities as the year gets underway. We are particularly excited to have several new multilingual learners at SCS, and we're planning to welcome more new families in the weeks to come.
Like with any new initiatives or practices, we're eager to see the positives that these changes will bring about for our school. We also want to thank our faculty and staff for adapting to them with the same patience, flexibility, and good humor that we aim to build in our students. We hope everyone enjoys the long weekend. We look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday, October 10!
Take care,
Alison, Brett, & Emily
Mark Your Calendars
October Important Dates:
- 10/9 - Indigenous Peoples Day - No School
- 10/10 - Dynamic Experiences Winners Announced
- 10/10 - PTO Meeting (6:00 pm, Green Team Commons)
- 10/10-10/20 - Local Motion bike trailer on campus
- 10/11 - 5th-8th grade field trip: Mt. Philo (9:30 -12:00)
- 10/11 - DEI Community Meeting (5-6 pm, Library)
- 10/13 - WPTZ Weather at Your School at SCS (5:00-8:00 am)
- 10/19-20 - K-4 Stone Soup
- 10/23-24 - 5-8 Stone Soup
- 11/2 - Picture Day Make Up
- 11/2 - Sibling Photo Day (3:00 pm)
Reminders & Announcements
Weather at Your School Coming to SCS Friday 10/13!
We are pleased to inform you that NBC5 Meteorologist, Marissa Vigevani, will be broadcasting her live weather updates from Shelburne Community School on Wednesdsay, 10/13, between 5:00 - 8:00 am, at approximately 15-minute intervals. There will be opportunities for some students who are interested to interact with Ms. Vigevani and “make an appearance” in the live broadcast. There may also be a group of students featured inside the school for a very short snippet after the live broadcasting is done at 8:00.
If you have already indicated in PowerSchool that you do not want your child’s image shared, this is already on file and no response is needed. However, if you do not want your child to appear in any of the broadcasts associated with this special event and have made no designation in PowerSchool, please contact the SCS main office at 985-3331. Thank you!
Drop-off & Pick-up
- Please do NOT use staff parking spaces when dropping off your children in the morning. This is very disruptive to our teachers and staff getting their day started on time.
- Kids should NOT cut through parking lots when walking or biking.
- Drive with extra awareness and caution.
Thanks for your help in making our arrival and dismissal times run safe and smoothly!
VTCAP Assessment
CVSD now has access to the results from the VTCAP Assessment administered in the Spring of 2023. We are in the process of downloading the Individual Student Reports and collating those to send home to families. We hope that you will receive them within the next two weeks.
Morning Movement
Starting Tuesday, 10/10
We're excited to share that we've hired Christine Haines, a parent of 3 SCS students, to coordinate our Morning Movement Program. We are looking for more volunteers. If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to Christine at chaines@cvsd.org. If you have not completed our volunteer process with central office yet, you could get a head start on that by checking in with Jess Houriet (jhouriet@cvsdvt.org) at central office.
We will be starting Morning Movement for all students K-8 next Tuesday, 10/10 at 7:30am. Students attending this program need to independently be able to demonstrate our schoolwide expectations of how to be safe, respectful, and responsible. We can only provide this opportunity when we have consistent adult supervision for the kids.
We are looking forward to having this popular program up-and-running once again!
Local Motion bike trailer: 10/10-10/20
Bike Safety with 2nd-8th graders during PE class
A couple main points to highlight:
- Students can bring their own bikes. We ask that electric bikes are left at home. Please only bring non-electric bikes.
- Helmets will be required.
- If students are planning on bringing their own bikes from home, please park and lock them on the School Street bike rack - the one farthest down School Street if you are coming from Harbor Road. If your bike rider takes the bus or gets a ride, you're welcome to drop the bike off at the rack and lock it before their class, or the night before.
Questions/concerns should be directed to Paul Membrino - 5-8 PE: pmembrino@cvsdvt.org
School Photo Update
Order forms coming soon!
With the long weekend upon us, we expect to have order forms in your child's backpacks no later than Wednesday, October 11th.
- There will be five to six different poses of your child printed on your envelope for you to choose from. Prints or packages can be purchased of multiple poses, there’s no need to pick just one!
- Order envelopes are the most economical way to purchase portraits, and these orders will be delivered back to the school for distribution to families.
- AMV also offers an online ordering option. You can log into the gallery using your child's ID number, which can be found on their order form. Please note, when ordering online you are ordering as an individual and no longer receiving the benefits of discounted volume ordering through the school. Prices online are therefore higher than the prices on the envelope. We discount our online prices by 25% for the first two weeks to help offset this price difference. After this time the online prices will automatically increase. Online orders are mailed directly to your home and additional products are available.
- If you need financial assistance, please contact your school counselor (K-3: Courtney Close, 3-5: Kiah Coble, 6-8: Rachel Petraska)
Make-up day will be offered on the afternoon of November 2nd for any student who missed the first session or who would like their portraits retaken at no extra charge.
AMV Photography will also be offering sibling portraits at no additional charge. This will be held after school on November 2nd in the breezeway.
Please contact Jen Marx at jmarx@cvsdvt.org or 383-1102, if your child plans to participate in the make-up day or if you have any questions.
SCS Library News
Covid-19 Guidance
In response to some questions that the health office has received from parents lately we have put together this guidance. For the latest recommendations also see the CDC and VDH websites.
We are not allowed to test students at school anymore per the Vermont Department of Health (VDH).
Tests are available at the pharmacy or in limited amounts at the Pierson Library and Town Offices.
If you have a positive test stay home and isolate for 5 days. Day 0 is the first day of symptoms or a positive test, whichever was first.
Close contacts are not required to stay home.
Please notify the health office of a positive test since the VDH likes to collect this data.
Upon return to school you are not required to wear a mask or test negative prior to return.
For any additional questions please contact the SCS Health Office.
Sandra Diehl, RN
802-383-1109
Jocelyn Bouyea, RN
802-383-1108
Stone Soup with Food Smart
10/19 & 10/20 (K-4) and 10/23 & 10/24 (5-8)
- SCS students will be making soup as part of our partnership with Food Smart
- Vegetable donations (home grown or store bought) are appreciated and can be dropped off in the cafeteria
- Volunteers needed - please contact your child's homeroom teacher to sign up
- Stone Soup will be served on Friday, 10/27
Food available during school breaks
If you would like to receive supplemental food for your Shelburne school-age children during any of the four school vacations this year, please complete this form. This form will close on Friday, November 10
Supplemental food includes milk, eggs, fruit, yogurt, cereal, cheese and various shelf-stable items. Fresh produce is included as well when available. Your phone number and email address will be used for text reminders &/or updates.
NEW!!! Food will be available at the Shelburne Food Shelf, the THURSDAY BEFORE school vacations:
- November 16
- December 21
- February 22
- April 18
Pick up food on Thursdays between 3:00-6:00 pm at the Shelburne Food Shelf (located on the 1st floor of the town office building at 5420 Shelburne Rd).
Food is purchased for each child signed up, so if your plans change and you will not require food for a school break, please let us know.
You will receive a confirmation email or text to remind you of the dates you signed up for. If any of your contact information changes after submitting your form, please let us know.
Contact: schoolfoodSFS@gmail.com
802-622-3313 ext 3 and leave a message
Fall Fundraiser
Save the date for the PTO's annual Fall Fundraiser! This online retail shop will be open 10/20-11/6, and will include gifts, gift wrap, jewelry, local foods, home decor, SCS spirit wear and more! You can get your holiday shopping done while supporting SCS because every purchase sends money straight to our teachers to fund classroom needs and wants! Stay tuned for more details here and in your students' folders.
Next PTO Meeting
Tuesday, 10/10 at 6 PM. There is free pizza and babysitting for school-age kids!
SCS Useful Links
CVSD News
CVSD Fall Family and Caregiver Survey
CVSD values your feedback and we want to know what you think!
We are currently surveying our families and caregivers to gain insight into your perception of our school and district's effectiveness. To ensure that we continue to provide high-quality, rigorous learning experiences that meet the needs of our learners and prepare them for college, career, and the future, we would love to learn your opinion on the progress towards those ends.
To administer these surveys, we have partnered with Panorama Education to conduct our Fall 2023 Family Survey. Panorama safeguards your privacy, keeping your responses confidential and anonymous. The survey will be a valuable source of information for us as we work to make our schools and our district exemplary.
You may complete the survey online between September 22 and October 13 using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. If you have children in more than one of our schools, we'd appreciate you sharing your thoughts about each separately. Please note: we are not certain that the survey saves if you have to step away while completing it. Please try to fill it out in one sitting.
We thank you in advance for your thoughtful responses. If you have any questions about the survey administration, please don’t hesitate to contact us using Let's Talk and selecting the General Questions topic.
Thank you,
Rene Sanchez, Superintendent
Champlain Valley School District
Community Announcements
Falls Road Working Group Survey
Since last February, a group of Shelburne residents have been meeting to discuss common
concerns about getting around Falls Road, specifically the section of road between Route 7 and
Church Street. These concerns primarily involve the experiences of people walking and biking,
but drivers can also feel uncomfortable because of concerns about people walking and biking,
and challenges exiting and finding parking.
The working group would now like to obtain feedback from the community by way of a
community survey. This survey will invite you to share your perspectives about the proposed
vision and strategies for Falls Road between Route 7 and Church Street, and will be open until
Wednesday, October 25.
The survey includes a short informational video and will take about 15 minutes to complete.
Please share with others in your social network so that the group can hear from as many folks
as possible. We value your time and engagement on this important place in Shelburne, and look
forward to hearing your thoughts!
If you have any questions, please send them to Susan Grasso at susan@localmotion.org.
Please use this link to complete the survey:
CVSD Info
Find information about monthly School Board Meetings, community forums such as the DEI Town Hall, and more on the district website. See the year at a glance on the 2023-2024 K-8 School Year Calendar. See The CVSD Story for the latest blog posts about what's happening across the district.
Let's Talk
Still Need More Information?
Website: https://www.cvsdvt.org/shelburne
Shelburne Community School Administration
Brett Cluff, 5-8 Principal
Emily Cogan, Director of Special Education