SCS Weekly Newsletter 9/28/24

Dear Salisbury Community School families and community members,

This month has absolutely flown by- it's kind of amazing! Students have really settled into routines, teachers have learned all about their students and classes, and we're starting to move into an active time of year! Field trips are popping up, and our annual "Fall Foliage Fun" afternoon is right around the corner on Wednesday! We are also very excited to be kicking off our Children's Literacy Foundation- sponsored "Year of the Book" with a visit from author and CLIf founder Duncan McDougal on Monday- students and staff alike thoroughly enjoy when he visits!

The "Year of the Book" matches well with our continued focus on children's literacy. SCS Librarian/ Title 1 coordinator Megan Sutton and I are working to build a year-long plan that includes many author visits (both during the day for kids and after school for families), book give-aways, and other events. We look forward to bringing those to you all year long!

On a local-news related note, you may have seen that Ripton Elementary School has been going through some conversations lately about their school structure. They have decided to keep things the same for the year, but they do need a little principal support for the moment. I will be at Ripton at times over the next couple of weeks helping out as they find a new principal (this is why I have been greeting everyone a little less consistently at drop-off, if anyone has noticed). This is not planned to be as long, or as thorough, as my time helping out in Cornwall last year. I am coordinating with Salisbury's staff everyday to keep everything covered at SCS, and they are being very supportive and understanding. I am honored to be able to help Ripton- I also look forward to being fully in the Salisbury building again. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me personally- I'm always happy to talk.

Thanks! Enjoy the newsletter- it's a little long!

Best,

Bjarki

• From the Principal's Desk
• Important Dates Coming Up.
• SCS Events:
• 5 and K at Champlain Orchards!
• News at SCS:
• Spanish is back at SCS!
• School Savings
• SCS Partnering with Salisbury Family Center
• 802 Smiles Returns!
• Time-lapse Picture Project
• ACSD News
• Lunch Menu
• School year calendar.
  

Monday, September 30th. Children's Literacy Foundation Kick-Off visit with Duncan McDougal

Wednesday, October 2nd: Fall Foliage Fun on the "Secret Soccer Field" 1:00-2:30.

Wednesday, October 9th: Early Release Day- school ends at 1:00

Thursday, October 10th: Teacher Professional Development Day: No School

October 11th: "Fall Break" Day- No school

This week, Ms. Fitzgerald and Ms. Sabol took our 5th and K to Champlain Orchards in Shoreham! Thank you to our parent volunteers for driving, and to Champlain Orchards for hosting!

We are very excited to welcome Meeka-Kai Sands as our Spanish Teacher. She is an experienced Spanish teacher who is already drawing rave reviews after her one week here. Salisbury is lucky to have you joining the community Meeka- Welcome!

Here's a short introduction from Meeka:

I am a Montpelier native with a long time love of the Spanish language and working with children. I have a MA in Spanish from the Middlebury Language School and experience working in the White River Valley Supervisory Union before joining ACSD three years ago. My family has roots in Spain, which is a favorite place to travel to. I also enjoy skiing, playing the harp, and most recently, spending time with my six-month-old daughter, Scout. I am excited to be joining the Salisbury community!

The district is partnering with 802 Smiles again this year to offer dental cleanings and screenings at school. Please see the attached forms if you are interested. Only paper enrollment is available this year and forms should be returned to the school nurse. We will also be sending home paper forms on Monday, but we wanted to give folks the option of printing them out and handing them in earlier if they would like to do that. The enrollment deadline is October 1st. Dental care visits will happen the 2nd and 3rd weeks of October.

School House Savings is starting back up! Our weekly Banking Day will be on Tuesday mornings during arrival, in the gym. Whether students are depositing a few cents or emptying their piggy banks, this is a great opportunity for them to increase financial literacy and learn about savings.

Now is the time to sign up if your student has not participated in School House Savings in the past. See attached flyer for details. It’s simple!

Students can open their account with the pamphlet that came home in Friday Folders or with this link:

https://nbmvt.com/personal/savings-certificates/school-house-savings/

This year, we are VERY excited to announce that we are working with the Salisbury Family Center (a childcare center located in Salisbury Village) to bring afterschool care to SCS. Salisbury Family Center is owned and directed by Christian Bowdish, a Salisbury resident, and they will be operating an after-school care in our gym! Any interested families should reach out to Christian at sfc.afterschoolprogram@gmail.com or call her at 802-352-9800.

Due to growing instances of phishing scams and concern for potential hacks of our computer networks, we will be removing all staff email addresses from our website directory. This change comes at the direction of our Technology Dept and we join many K-12 schools, colleges, and businesses in making this change. Staff phone numbers will still be available in our staff directory. You may also request a teacher’s email by phone or by calling Salisbury Community School's front office at 802-352-4291. Thank you for your understanding as we balance family communication needs with tech privacy and safety.

Last Friday afternoon, we tested our district text messaging system. To receive texts, you must opt-in. If you think you signed up to receive text messages but did not receive one last Friday around 4pm, please contact your school to make sure your wireless phone number is in our student database. If you want to receive text messages you can sign up by Texting “yes” to 67587. You will get a reply confirming your registration. (If you ever want to stop receiving texts, just text STOP.) The district and school will only use text messages for important, time sensitive communication.

This event was shared by a staff member, and it looks like a great way to get winter gear!

This year, we thought it would be fun to chronicle the changes of the season at Salisbury Community School by taking the same picture, at the same time, from the same spot, every week. At the end of the year it will hopefully be a fun thing to look at and share! Check out the first five weeks below!