The Core

Hello Parents,

With two weeks to go, we're getting ourselves ready to say goodbye to some of our teachers and staff.

Three notable staff are retiring:

Tracy Garland & Dayle Wright - both teachers have taught at Orchard for more than 25 years (each). They have taught numerous grades though Tracy will mostly be remembered for teaching kindergarten and Dayle for teaching 5th grade. Both have taught and touched the lives of hundreds of students and will be missed.

Judy Gilmartin - Judy has served as our Library Assistant (aka Library Media Tech) for over 20 years. No matter how old your child is, they have been helped by Judy in the library. She has been an incredible support for students and staff and she will also be missed.

None of these people want any hoopla but it's important to share and say happy trails!

We have more to share next week about staff who are moving on, but these three superstar vets are the ones actually retiring.

This is a good segway to share about the possible staffing shortage for this fall. Let us know if you are interested in joining the Orchard Team, we've got an awesome, rewarding position for you! Please contact Mark or Olivia with any questions.

📌 Did you see this passage in the superintendent's message?

Elementary report cards will be made available to students’ families on Friday, 6/16 through the PowerSchool Portal (same place as student registration and attendance information).

📌 Parents - we hope you can join us at the spring concert. Please remember, we have very limited parking so please, please, please do everything you can to make a transportation plan to join us. You can also see there is a quick turn-around between concerts so we'll be working the exit doors as well!

Yay, cooler weather is on the way ... and no bears this week! 🐻

Have a great weekend, take some time to read with your child.

Mark T & Olivia K

Spring Concerts, Wednesday, June 7th:

• Grades K - 1 - 8:40-9:00
• Grades 2 & 3 - 9:20-9:50
• Grades 4 & 5 - 10:20-11:00

Our goal is to have all the concerts in one day to minimize parents who will be missing work.

Though there may be a few parking spaces, we highly recommend you make arrangements for an alternative way to get to the concert that morning.

2023 Orchard Field Day!

Field Day at Orchard will be on Thursday, June 8th! Field Day is an opportunity to build our school community, play outside, and celebrate a great school year. Students will get to participate in a variety of activities and enjoy some less structured time together. Among the options for activities, there are some that include water so students that might partake in these should bring a towel and a change of clothes. We’re hoping for a sunny day so sunscreen will also be important!

3rd/4th/5th Grade events will be from 9:15-11:15.

Kindergarten/1st/2nd Grade events will be from 12:50-2:10.

If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to manage a station, let me know!

Tommy Hamlin

PE Teacher

thamlin@sbschools.net

Our Common Roots’ Land and Food educators have completed our 15th year of teaching South Burlington children. We’ve had another amazing year of Farm to School come to a close… This time, our closing lesson was at the farm! Field trips to the farm are hosted at our education garden, Growing Gardens. Please stop by this summer and visit with your family.

Our half-acre of raised beds and perennial gardens at the Farm at South Village off Allen Road East is the heart of Common Roots Farm. Its sole purpose is to offer farm experiences to kiddos and food shelf participants and to grow food for the food shelf. During our field trips, we planted Carrots, Radishes, Beets, Dill, Parsley, and more! We also learned about bees and made a delicious sun tea together. Bringing your children to our farm at Spear and Allen Road East will expand their knowledge of where food comes from and how it grows!

Thank you for this opportunity to be in the South Burlington Schools. We have provided over 150,000 individual lessons to date. Any child with us from grades K-5 receives 54 lessons with taste tests! NOURISH TO FLOURISH!

Common Roots' offerings to our community don't end with the school year…

Our farmstand is now open from 10-6 pm Tuesday-Sunday. We offer 40+ organic, local veggies and fruits…..and products such as Shelburne Farms cheese, O'Bread, Maple Wind Farms Eggs and Meats, Our chef's flatbreads, meals, homemade dressings, sauces, and more! We cultivate food on almost 300 acres where there are zero chemicals….now that’s what we call clean food.

Do your kids love farm to school? Well, there's more where that came from…

Our Summer Camps begin in late June and last all summer long. If your child loves farm-to-school, they are sure to love our Summer Camp. Located at the Wheeler Homestead Nature Park, and our farm, Summer Campers enjoy full days of delicious farm fresh food (which they participate in growing, harvesting, and preparing), outdoor play, nature-based art, puppet making, performances, and more.

Scholarships are available. Please email summercamps@commonroots.org to inquire.

Follow this link to register: https://forms.gle/pttxzDF6FWswZDQ2A

Good Luck to our Girls on the Run. They are running their 5K on Saturday morning along with all the other local teams at the Champlain Valley Fair Grounds!

5th grade fun day- the fifth graders are heading to smugglers notch on Tuesday June 13th for a fun filled day of all that Smuggs has to offer. Cost is $45/student. Payments can be made on Konstella or by following the link below

This Konstella link brings you to more info about the day and a quick and easy way to pay

Would you like to join us for the day? If so, volunteer to chaperone the trip. You just need to purchase a ticket on the link above for yourself. Sign up here.

Please reach out to Melissa Grealis with any questions you may have mwoj44@hotmail.com

2023-2024 Memory Book Coordinator needed! Our Memory Book coordinator is “graduating” this year; in order to keep the memories alive, we need a volunteer for next year. This task can be done on your own time, with a couple hours a month of time to collect, sort, and place pictures into the book template. Please email Kristin at orchardschoolvt@gmail.com if this is something you’d like to help with.

Next PTO meeting: While the PTO never really takes a break, there are no more meetings this school year. If you would like to be notified of the summer planning meeting, where dates and events for the upcoming year are determined, please add yourself to the Orchard School Parent Teacher Organization committee on Konstella. All are welcome!

Medication Pick-Up!

If your student has medication at school, it needs to be picked up before or on the last day of school. Elementary-age students are not allowed to carry medication, so an adult must pick up the medication from the school nurse. Any medication not picked up will be disposed of soon after the last day of school.

In addition, we will not delegate any medication to summer program teachers/staff; therefore, parents/caregivers of children who are attending summer programs will need to bring and give instructions about the medication and its use to the program’s personnel. Please make arrangements directly with them for any medications or monitoring of medical issues.

We appreciate the busy nature of this time of year. Please plan to stop by before the last day of school, unless your child may need the medication while school is still in session (such as an Epi-Pen, inhaler, seizure medicine, etc.), then please pick up that medicine on the last day of school. Any medication not picked up by June 19th, will be disposed of by the nurse(s); medication will not be stored in the health room over the summer months.

Thank you for your attention to the above. Please call or email with any questions or to let us know if you will NOT be retrieving the medication(s).

Be kind, stay well~

Kara Cassani & Sarah Pineda

Orchard School Nurses

Orchard-Nurses@sbschools.net

"Free" Summer Camp Opportunity with the South Burlington Dolphins

The 2023 Summer Clinic “Speed School” hosted by the South Burlington Dolphins is a month-long, no-cost, event which is designed to help youth athletes, from Kindergarten to 12th grade, become fitter, faster, and stronger. Our goal is to provide each individual with the skills they need to build a strong foundation in their chosen sport. Register here or attend Registration Night (and meet the coaches!), May 25th from 4pm-6pm at the Pride Complex, 1234 Williston Rd, South Burlington.

SAVE THE DATE : On Thursday, May 25th the 5th grade parent are invited to an information night at FHTMS at 6:30 PM. This is an evening for parents only and not for students at this time. The students will be having other opportunities to transition and visit the middle school prior to June.

Next week, FHTMS will be sending out a parent email to 5th grade families with more info about that evening as well as the transition process.

5th Grade teachers will also be sharing information with you about upcoming visits from FHTMS staff and students, and a visit to FHTMS during the school day!