There is no shortage of snow in our little community! Students have had a banner week of celebrations: the sledding hill was open and fast, wacky hair day was a treat on Friday, the first grade team celebrated the winter solstice, many classes got out on xc skis and we welcomed the new month and year with our January All School Morning Meeting on Wednesday!

This month, we have a PBIS challenge around following directions! We are specifically focusing on this positive behavior during specials, lunch and recess. Classes will earn a sticker on a 100s chart in each of these areas and when all 100s charts are filled (hopefully by the beginning of February), we will celebrate with a schoolwide dance party! Stay tuned for our progress on this goal!

A HUGE thank you to our PTO and to our entire school community for your support of our ski program. For the third consecutive year, our 3rd and 4th graders will have the opportunity to alpine ski at Sugarbush four times and Nordic ski at Trapp’s twice. Our 1st and 2nd graders will be Nordic skiing at Trapp’s as well. This is all made possible by your generous donations through the calendar raffle. A portion of the money raised allows us to support alpine and nordic skiing for all students free of charge. Thanks for supporting the calendar raffle and the ski program :)

Have a wonderful weekend, and as always, feel free to reach out with any questions.

Warmly,

Sarah & Chris

We are excited for our first Sugarbush ski & ride day on Monday, January 13 with 3rd and 4th grade students! A few important details:

Dropping off ski gear: If your child is bringing their own ski gear, PLEASE LABEL ALL ITEMS WITH THEIR FIRST AND LAST NAME. You can drop of equipment:

• Sunday after 4 pm; leave it in either airlock entryway

• Monday after 7 am; back drop off loop by the red shed

• If you are a parent volunteer, you can just bring your child’s gear to the mountain.

Dismissal changes? If you are going directly to the mountain with your child OR staying afterwards to ski with your child, PLEASE LET US KNOW VIA PICK UP PATROL! If you cannot access the website, email Karla kthomas@huusd.org directly. Thanks in advance for helping us keep track of all our students!

Gear: On Monday, please send your child to school with:

• Snowpants

• Jacket

• Warm gloves (possibly an extra pair, too)

• Dry, tight fitting socks

• Snacks that can easily fit in a pocket

If your child is renting equipment, they will get their gear at the mountain. Rentals include a helmet, goggles, skis/snowboard, and boots.

Sugarbush Ski Dates:

Monday, Jan 13, 2025

Monday, Jan 27, 2025

Monday, Feb 3, 2025

Monday, Feb 10, 2025

Time: Depart Brookside at 8:45 am; return to school at 1:00 pm

If you have any addition questions please reach out to your child’s teacher, or Kelsey at kguziak@huusd.org or Chris cneville@huusd.org

• Monday 1/13: Third and Fourth grade Sugarbush ski day

• Monday 1/20: Staff development, no school

• Monday 1/27: Third and Fourth grade Sugarbush ski day

As you may be aware, Vermont recently passed legislation known as Act 139. Act 139 recognizes that the most effective literacy practices in the early grades are explicit and systematic instruction on code-based and comprehension-based reading skills and needs-based support. The legislation aims to increase literacy achievement for all students by focusing on early identification for students struggling with reading, student supports, strengthening educator preparation programs, and ensuring parents and guardians are informed of their child's progress.

The Act requires that schools notify parents or guardians when a student’s performance on a reading screener is “significantly below grade level benchmarks". Schools are also required to notify parents or guardians about “the school’s response” to the screening results. This has been a part of our practice at BPS for years. The difference is that the communication will come in a formal letter from Mr. Neville and your child's teacher. You will receive the letter before the end of January as we are currently finishing our mid-year assessments. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at Brookside Primary School (BPS) and Crossett Brook Middle School (CBMS) are excited to bring this popular fundraiser back to our community! With the support of local businesses, we offer the annual Calendar Raffle.

Packets will be sent home with students upon return to school in January.

You can purchase your Online Tickets Sales NOW where you can find exclusive deals and bundles at https://www.cbmspto.com/online-store. A ticket is just $10 and gives over 90 chances to win cash or amazing local prizes. There's over $9,200 in cash & prizes!

We will draw a winner every day for the month of February. We will notify the winner directly and announce it on Front Porch Forum. Calendar packets, including paper tickets will be sent home with each child shortly after the winter break. Questions can be directed to CBMSPTO@huusd.org or Robert.Dabrowski@vermont.gov.

Thank you for your support!

Students may bring their own helmets (and snowboards) to use during PE next week. BPS has plenty of helmets and snowboards for students to use, but if your child prefers to use their own, they may bring them to school. Helmets should be brought inside to keep them warm. Snowboards should be placed by the shed by the visitor parking lot so that they stay cold. Please plan to pick up your child’s snowboard at the end of the day.

Do you know how to fix a ski-doo snow machine? We are looking for some help to get a machine repaired! Reach out to Tom Thurston tthurston@huusd.org if you are interested.

Mr. Neville in his Wednesday costume for the first All School Morning Meeting of 2025!

Is your child missing any gear? We encourage you to come and swing by the lost and found table to claim any missing items.

If you have not already, please review the document below for important information regarding the 24-25 ski program for first through fourth grade students.

Please note that the opportunities/events listed below are not specifically endorsed or screened by school staff. As always, families should use their own standards and review processes to determine appropriate activities.

TRIP Dance Company, a competitive youth dance group based with Stowe Dance Academy, is thrilled to perform their 2024/2025 Annual Showcase for their family, friends, community, and beyond. Join us for this wonderful performance on January 5th at 4:00 PM & 6:30 PM – at Spruce Peak Arts.

TRIP Dance Company is a group of 36 hard-working, determined, and passionate dancers. They strive for greatness and truly love performing for their local community, competing around New England, and dancing amongst their peers!

This evening promises to entertain our community with styles ranging from Jazz, Musical Theatre, Contemporary, Lyrical, and Ballet – COME SEE THEM SHINE!

Ticket Link: https://www.sprucepeakarts.org/events/trip-dance-companys-annual-showcase/

Waterbury Recreation is excited to announce the details of our Summer Day Camp 2025. Most importantly, registration begins on February 4.

Every year, we aim to improve our camp. We listen to feedback from families and staff, and have taken the time to update our program with many of these requests, while continuing to emphasize building a safe, fun, and enriching child care option for our community.

In 2025, we will continue to offer themed camps: themes are a terrific way to cater activities to campers’ interests. We will make sure that pool time happens nearly every day, weather and field trip schedules permitting. We will continue to offer swim lessons to all campers in 2025, but will be moving them later in the day to make drop-off less stressful and (hopefully!) have warmer swimming conditions.

This year’s camp prices will increase to allow us to run a high-quality camp, yet we will be keeping our camp as affordable as possible. The full session camp (8 weeks) will cost $1,325 for residents and $1,825 for non-residents. And we will continue to offer scholarships for families via an application process.

You can learn more about camp and the updates for 2025 on our website: https://waterburyvt.myrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=30094

Please see the document below regarding summer basketball programming for students in grades 2 - 9.

• Friday 1/10: Wacky Hair Day

• Monday 1/13: Third and Fourth grade Sugarbush ski day

• Monday 1/20: Staff development, no school

• Monday 1/27: Third and Fourth grade Sugarbush ski day

Website: https://tbps.wwsu.org/

Instagram: BrooksidePrimarySchool

Facebook: HUUSD

Phone: 802-244-7195

Location: 47 Stowe Street, Waterbury, VT