From the Principal's Desk:
Dear Salisbury Community School families,
The first week is in the books! It's always so fun to see the "firsts" of the year: the first students arriving, the first bus, the first time students see each other after a summer, the first game of kickball, the first morning meeting, and -especially joyous- the first time new members of our community: students, parents. and staff, come into the school for a day of school. I'm quite pleased to say that the week went very smoothly, and we settled into good routines for learning very, very quickly.
It's kind of the wrong time of year to write about it in the newsletter (I'm sure I'll return to it in late November), but as the first week went along with the smoothness that I mentioned above, I experienced many clear moments of thankfulness for so many things relating to Salisbury Community School. Most often I was feeling thankful for the people involved in our community. I felt thankful for the teachers and staff that are so deeply committed to the students and the place that is SCS- the effort they put forth, and the professional knowledge and skill they possess, create an environment that is welcoming, organized, and focused from the beginning and allows students to settle right in. I felt thankful for the students, who arrived at school ready to learn, play and engage, and the parents and other supports who always help our students navigate their lives and put their best foot forward. I felt thankful for the folks behind the scenes at our school district, ACSD, for doing so much planning over the summer that people never see. I also found myself being thankful, as always, to the people of town of Salisbury, which supported the construction of this wonderful school building on a ecologically diverse, well drained, and beautiful spot of land, and that still supports the school to this day. It is our honor to be an important part of the town, and we look forward to hosting community events like Town Meeting again this school year.
Please look below for some more specific "thank you's", including some pictures of work FOSCS and local businesses did over the summer! One week in the books, and a whole year of learning to go, surrounded by so much to be thankful for. Let's do it!
Best,
Bjarki
Open House/Ice Cream Social Thursday, September 5th.
Our annual "Open House" will be held on Thursday, September 5th from 5:30-6:45. Come in, see your children's classrooms, visit with their teachers, and have some ice cream while you are here! We are doing it a little earlier this year so that it is before most fall youth sports start. We look forward to seeing you there!
Salisbury Family Center after school care at SCS opening soon!
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.
"Thank You" to Sheehan Construction, JP Carrara Concrete, Bodette Landscaping, and FOSCS!
In the spring, Friends of Salisbury Community School member Kristen Clark took on the project of arranging some work done over the summer, and she coordinated with some skilled and giving members of our local school and business community to make some improvements, and do some needed maintenance, on the playground and landscaping of SCS. We really appreciate the kindness of the following folks:
Sam Sheehan and Sheehan Construction: Sam led the way in improving the sandboxes and adding benches that protect toys when not in use. They are really sweet!
JP Carrara Concrete: Carrara's donated sand and cement for the sandboxes and benches.
Tom Bodette Landscaping: A yard of topsoil
Christine, Eugene, Paisley and Parker Sheldrick: The Sheldrick crew put in a lot of time working on the place: cutting up trees, straightening benches and the tetherball poles, and doing general landscaping. They are regular contributors to the upkeep of Salisbury Community School and we appreciate their efforts very much.
Steven, Lena, and Lawson Leatherwood: Also regular volunteers, the Leatherwoods led the way on landscaping and brush cutting during our Saturday "work day", including filling in the ruts on the soccer field!
Lindi Quesnel: Powerwashing the community entrance. It needed it!
Kristen, James, and the Clark gang: Filling up the sandboxes and making everything spiffy! Organizing, donating to, and assembling a new storage box for playground toys! And, as ever, contributing in so many ways. Thank you Kristen, for spearheading all of the work!
First FOSCS meeting Thursday, September 12th at 6:30!
As you saw above, of the most important contributors to our community is the work of our parent-teacher organization Friends of Salisbury Community School (FOSCS). A solid PTO is really powerful for a school, especially an elementary school, and it really impacts students’ lives and well-being more than most people realize. Enough cannot be said about the impact FOSCS has on kids’ experiences at school, and the more people get involved, the more we can accomplish. To get involved in FOSCS, please reach out to Principal Sears at bsears@acsdvt.org, or to James Clark, FOSCS co-chair, at jamesearlclark@gmail.com. They'd both be happy to help you get involved!
A message from SCS librarian Megan Sutton.
Hello Salisbury Community School Families! It is lovely to have students in the Library and the enthusiasm for choice books and reading is strong! Some SCS students have returned books that were borrowed for the summer, and some are still checked out. Please help your children locate and return those books so they can choose new ones. As always, please contact me (msutton@acsdvt.org) if you have any questions, and feel free to stop by in the morning if you're at school and would like to check out some books. I am at SCS Mondays, Thursdays, and every other Wednesday. Hope to see you in the Library!
