Wildcat Pride

All 8th graders will be bused to Vermont State University to participate with a high school fair. Local high schools will come together to present information about the programming that they offer to their students. Breakfast will be offered via a small cold service buffet.

Date: Wednesday October 16, 2024

Location: Vermont State University, Moore Community Room

Time: 8:30-11:30

On September 11th, we celebrated students who have demonstrated safety, respect, and responsibility during our Community Meeting. The next round of Star Students will be celebrated on September 25th.

Why do Vermont schools teach health education?

Vermont Statute 16 V.S.A. §131 mandates that Vermont public schools teach comprehensive health education. The Educational Quality Standards given to us by the State Board of Education state that, "Each school shall provide comprehensive elementary and secondary health and physical education learning experiences, including the effects of tobacco, alcohol and drugs on the human system for all students in accordance with sections 16 V.S.A. §131 and §906(b)(3)."

What is included in comprehensive health education?

According to statute 16 V.S.A. §131, Vermont schools must teach the following as part of our comprehensive health education:

• body structures and functions (development, sexuality, and reproductions)
• environmental health
• safety (first aid and disaster and accident prevention, CPR, and defibrillator use)
• infections and communicable diseases (including those that are sexually transmitted) and the prevention of such
• family and mental health
• personal health habits
• consumer health
• human growth and development
• drug prevention
• nutrition
• how to recognize and prevent sexual abuse and violence

What does Concord School use to meet the requirement for teaching the prevention of sexual abuse and violence?

In preschool-2nd grade, Ms. Fressie is currently using the Healthy Relationships Project Program called CARE FOR KIDS. The program covers communication skills and body parts. Students are taught empathy and an understanding of healthy boundaries.

In 3rd-6th grade, Ms. Fressie will use WE CARE. This program builds on the preschool-2nd grade version. In 3rd grade, students focus on communication and understanding feelings. In 4th grade the emphasis is on understanding personal boundaries. The 5th grade lessons focus on recognizing boundaries in others and the 6th grade lessons teach an understanding of sexual harassment.

The 7th and 8th grade version of this program is called SAFE-T. There are 6 lessons per grade level. Throughout the lessons, students are taught that they can set sexual and emotional boundaries for themselves and should also respect the personal and sexual boundaries of others.

What does Concord School Use to Cover Substance Use Prevention?

Kingdom East schools will use the Too Good for Drugs Program to teach our students to remain drug, alcohol, and tobacco free. This program will be taught to k-8 students at Concord School. Please see the program's website for more information or reach out to Andrea Fressie at afressie@kingdomeast.org.

Social skill development is at the core of Too Good for Drugs, a universal prevention program designed to mitigate the risk factors and enhance protective factors related to alcohol, tobacco, opioid, and other drug (ATOD) misuse. The program introduces and develops social and emotional skills for making healthy choice

launchtoogoodprograms.org

What does Concord School Use to Cover Suicide Prevention?

As you may know, suicide is one of the top three causes of death for young people ages ten through twenty-four. Because we at Kingdom East School District take the safety and well-being of our students very seriously, we are planning on providing our 5th-8th grade students with some basic information about youth suicide and, more importantly, teaching them what to do if they are worried about themselves or a friend.

We set strict standards for the suicide-prevention programs that we have investigated:

• ·They needed to show their effectiveness through research.
• They needed to send accurate messages about suicide that are grade-level

appropriate.

• They needed to emphasize the importance of help-seeking behavior.

Lifelines Prevention, the program we have selected, exceeds these criteria. Because research has demonstrated that programs presented only once have little lasting impact, the Lifelines Prevention curriculum is designed to be delivered in four forty- to forty-five-minute modules that reinforce messages about help-seeking. The interactive curriculum teaches basic information about potential warning signs for suicide, but its emphasis is on what to do if a student is worried about either themselves or a friend.

And Lifelines Prevention doesn't stop in the classroom. It includes resources for our administrators to help us assess our ability to ensure student safety in a variety of situations. The program also includes training for our resource and support staff, the members of our crisis intervention team, and our faculty.

We understand that the lessons in this program may be triggering for those who have lost a loved one to suicide. If you think this may be case for your child, please reach out in advance.

If you have questions about these programs, please contact Andrea Fressie during the school day.

September 4, 2024

Dear Concord School Families,

Our school cares about the well-being of all students and has programs designed to support students’ improvement of their social/emotional development. To help stay in touch with our students’ development and potential social/emotional concerns, we will be conducting school-wide screenings of students using the SSIS SEL Brief + Mental Health Scales. This measure of students’ social and emotional functioning is aligned with state Social Emotional Learning standards and provides results used to guide instruction for all students and support for students experiencing emotional behavior concerns. This brief rating scale assessment is not a comprehensive diagnostic measure for classification of difficulties or disorders but rather highlights a student’s social and emotional strengths and areas of need.

The social emotional learning (SEL) skills and emotional behavior concerns (EBC) measured by the SSIS SEL Brief + Mental Health Scales are described below. The screeners include items tied to each of the competencies and concerns and provide information about a student’s current functioning levels. The social/emotional functioning can change over time; periodic re-screening is thus used to continue to monitor students’ progress.

The SSIS SEL Brief + Mental Health Scales can be administered to students (self-assessment), teachers (answering items about each student) and parents (answering items about their student(s). In our school, we will be administering to parents and teachers (of students in grades K-2) and to students, parents, and teachers (of students in grades 3-8). Parents will receive an email and will include a direct link to access your assessment. If you have more than one child at our school, you will receive a separate email for each of your children. Each assessment will take only 5-8 minutes to complete.

Your 3rd through 8th grade child will take a self-assessment between September 23rd and October 4th. More information will follow regarding how results will be shared with you. If you have questions or concerns or would like for your child to opt out of participating in the self assessment, please contact Andrea Fressie or Angelique Brown. If you notify the school in the fall that your child will not be participating in the self assessment, your school team will honor this request for the spring as well.

Sincerely,

Andrea Fressie

& Angelique Brown

For more details and the research behind the SSIS SEL Brief + Mental Health Scales, visit ssiscolab.com. THANK YOU!

During the week of 9/11, Concord School had a moment of silence for those who passed in the tragic events in 2001. The humanities teachers and Mrs. Regan also taught 3rd-8th grade students about these events in class.

Good morning KESD families,

Attached is the weekly edition of the KESD Athletics Community Connection.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Courtney

KESD Athletic Community Connection: Edition 2

KESD Athletics Community Connection: Edition 3

KESD Athletics Community Connection

Sutton Village School will host a dance for 6th-8th graders this Friday. Permission slips will not be made available to students until lunch time on Friday. This allows us to ensure that students are in attendance on the date of the dance and are eligible to attend.

In order for students to attend, they must exhibit responsible, respectful, and safe behaviors in their own school communities. Therefore, anyone who has had a major impact referral, three minor referrals, or has been investigated and substantiated for harassment, hazing, bullying, or Title IX sexual harassment in the two weeks before a dance, will not be able to attend. Students who are not at school on the date of a dance are also ineligible to attend. The 2 week period for the Sutton dance is 9/16-9/27.

The principals have worked together to set a calendar for KESD middle school dances for the year, so there is no overlap. Each school has the ability to sign up and host two of these dances to make money for their 8th grade class trip. Concord's first dance will be on 10/11/24. The 8th graders will need to coordinate concession sales, book chaperones, and work at this event. The class officers will be asking their classmates to help organize this. If you have an 8th grader, please consider chaperoning or donating concessions.

Concord School is in need of staff members. Please see the job postings below. Candidates hired as IIAs would most likely be placed in 3rd-8th grade. Butler's Bus Service is also in need of drivers. Please reach out if you have interest in any of these positions.

Kingdom East School District

IIA- Concord

2024-2025

SchoolSpring ID:

The Kingdom East School District, Student Services, is seeking Intensive Instructional Assistants (IIA), assigned to the Concord School, who is energetic and loves working, playing and interacting with students whose ages range from age 5 up to age 14. The IIA candidate will have experience and/or the desire to provide care and support to children for growth and learning academic, social, emotional and behavioral skills. Ideal candidates will have experience serving children with special learning needs and/or who need support acquiring independent educational skills. This candidate requires strong teaming skills, flexibility and a willingness to assist in developing a classroom environment that makes strong connections and relationships with children. The candidate will work closely with classroom teachers and/or special education case managers and are under the direction of the school administrator and the Director of Student Services. The individual in this position supports specialized instruction and other supports for students as assigned. Candidates must successfully complete the ParaPro assessment, associate degree or higher. Background check, including fingerprinting required upon employment.

Kingdom East School District is located in the heart of a vibrant community in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. We operate seven preK-8th grade schools ranging from 60 to 500 students. Our high school students have “choice” and may opt to attend one of the traditional independent schools -- Lyndon Institute or St. Johnsbury Academy -- or another high school of their choosing.

We are located about 3 hours from Boston, Montreal and Portland, ME. Our region is known for breathtaking views and access to great skiing, hiking, mountain biking, fishing, canoeing and other outdoor opportunities. We are close to the White Mountains and the Green Mountains. Both Littleton, NH and St. Johnsbury, VT have numerous fine and performing arts venues. Our communities attract wholesome families, faculty and staff. Our schools maintain impassioned faculty, personalized beliefs about success, and a caring, safe school culture.

Only completed, on-line applications at schoolspring.com will be accepted. On-line application must include: profile, letter, resume, transcripts, references, tests, certifications and questions, if asked. Hard copies of Vermont Certification with appropriate endorsements, three written letters of reference and transcripts will be required for verification at the interview level. Visit our website www.kingdomeast.org for information about our schools. Minority applicants are encouraged to apply. EOE M/F

The Kingdom East School District provides several opportunities for students to access healthy and nutritional food before, during, and after school. Dependent on federal grant funding, pre K-8th grade students receive fresh fruit and veggie snacks during the week, and students up to age 18 who stay after school receive a free after school expanded snack. Breakfasts and lunches are free this year for all students. The Abbey Food Service Group currently provides delicious, nutritious, and high quality meals to students and staff.

Adult breakfast and lunch prices are listed below. Please still fill out the Free and Reduced lunch application as it is used to determine eligibility to participate in a variety of child nutrition programs. Menus are sent home and are available online www.abbeygroup.net at the beginning of each month to help you plan in advance. Menus are subject to change.

Adult Breakfast $3.00

Adult Lunch $5.25

Menus will also be shared in our newsletters. You will find the menus for September and October below.

Please consider joining the Concord Booster Club. New membership is always welcome!

During the September meeting, the group discussed Trunk-or-Treat. Set-up will begin at 4:00. Cash prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third place.

October 7th

November 5th

December 2nd

January 6th

February 3rd

March 10th

April 7th

May 5th

June 2nd

The 8th grade class and the Concord Booster Club are partnering up to host a BOO BAG sale. All proceeds with go towards the 8th grade class trip. BOO BAGS will be handed out at school on Thursday, October 31st. What are BOO BAGS? They are a Halloween bag filled with items like a pencil, a treat, an eraser, etc. The class will be offering a no candy BOO BAG for those with food sensitivities. Please make sure to mark that spot on the order section. Order forms will be sent home with students or can be printed from this newsletter. Cash or Checks can be made out to Concord Booster Club and note 8th grade in the memo section, please. We appreciate your support.

Below you will find resources shared by some of our partners in education.

-9/23/24-10/23/24 Boo Bag Sales

-9/25/24 EL for Middle School Students

-9/25/24 Star Student Community Meeting

-9/27/24 Sutton Village School 6th-8th Grade Dance

-10/4/24 Early Release Day

-10/7/24 Booster Club Meeting @ 6:00pm

-10/9/24 EL for Middle School Students

-10/11/24 Concord Middle School Dance

-10/14/24 No School (Indigenous Peoples Day)

-10/18/24 Fall Festival (families are invited - more information to come)

-10/23/24 EL for Middle School Students & Last Day for Boo Bag Purchases

-10/25/24 Early Release Day & Trunk-or-Treat

-10/31/24 Boo Bag Deliveries

Communication is our goal! In this age of instant communication, sometimes the best way to reach out is still using a telephone. Please call 695-2550 if you want to reach us during school hours via phone. You can also email Principal, Angelique Brown at angeliquebrown@kingdomeast.org, Assistant Principal, Kandi Greaves at kgreaves@kingdomeast.org, or Administrative Assistant, Karen West at kwest@kingdomeast.org.

Concord School is committed to developing young people with active and creative minds, a sense of understanding and compassion for others, and the courage to act on their beliefs. In partnership with parents and the community, we will provide an environment which supports the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development of students, while fostering an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of good citizenship.

Website: kingdomeast.org
Location: 173 School Street, Concord, VT, USA
Phone: 802-695-2550
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=concord%20school