Cougar Chronicle

Join us for a Calais Community Potluck the week before Thanksgiving! We are going to gather as a community for food and friendship, so please come and join us if you can. Sign up below to bring something to share.

The Week Before Thanksgiving Potluck

Calais Elementary has a long history of partnering with the East Montpelier Fire Department to help ensure Calais families have a bountiful Thanksgiving and holiday season. We will be collecting non-perishable food items now through November Break to donate to the Fire Department for their Thanksgiving baskets. There are bins in the lobby for donations. Please encourage your children to help pick out items and bring them into school!

For the holiday season, we will also be collecting new and gently loved toys for families needing assistance creating some holiday magic. There is a box in the lobby for toy donations and we hope to fill it to the top!

If you are a Calais Elementary family in need for this holiday season, please reach out to our counselor, Ruth Frisenda at 802-454-7777 ext 105 or rfrisenda@u32.org.

If you would like to help families in need in any capacity this holiday season, please reach out to Danielle in the office at 802-454-7777 or dmackay@u32.org. We can give you specific needs for families in the community. We also accept cash or gift cards to grocery stores, Walmart or Amazon. Let's help make to make this a special holiday season!!

We are also looking for donations for the following new or gently loved winter gear for some of our students at Calais:

• Hats
• Gloves
• Snow Pants
• Coats
• Boots
• Scarves

We will try to have specific sizes soon, if needed, but until then, please feel free to drop off any donations to Danielle at the office.

If you are a Calais family in need of any of these items, please reach out to our counselor, Ruth Frisenda at 802-454-7777 ext 105 or rfrisenda@u32.org or Danielle in the office at 802-454-7777 or dmackay@u32.org.

11/15 - Bingo Night

11/16 - Youth Basketball Clinic

11/16 - Hands Only CPR Event

11/18 - Coffee with the Superintendent

11/18 - Open Gym Basketball

11/19 - Family of Color Affinity Group Meeting

11/21 - The Week Before Thanksgiving Potluck

11/23 - Open Gym Basketball

11/25 - Open Gym Basketball

11/25-11/29 - Vacation - No school for students

11/30 - Open Gym Basketball

With the Holidays fast approaching, there is no better gift than a Calais Cougars gift! Check out the online Calais Cougar store and find the perfect gift for the Cougar in your life. Shirts, sweatshirts, hats, sweatpants, bags, even sandals are just some of the items you can get as a gift. This store is sponsored by the Friends of Calais and part of the proceeds benefit their incredible programs. Check the link below and order today!

https://teamlocker.squadlocker.com/#/lockers/calais-cougars

Dear Calais Families,

We will be starting the Backpack program soon here at Calais Elementary School for families. The program is designed to provide families with children who attend Calais, the necessary food and clothing that they may need throughout the school year. Food and Gift bags will be dispensed in a discreet and caring manner. This program runs the full school year on a weekly basis with exception to student breaks and summer. This includes winter clothing, Thanksgiving and Christmas presents, in addition. There is no cost associated with this program. If you wish for your child to participate in the program, please sign below and return this letter to the school in your child's folder or drop it off at the Main Office by next Friday. Thank you and please let us know if you have any questions or any needs for your child at any time.

Feel free to email me at rfrisenda@u32.org or call 802-454-7777 ext 105 at any time.

Sincerely,

Ruth Frisenda

School Counselor

Calais Elementary School

If you are interested in helping to plan events for our school and our students, please feel out this Parent Planning Interest Form. We want to continue to do big things for our students, including events big and small, but we need help! If you are interested in helping to plan these events, please feel out the form.

Please review the 2024-2025 Family Handbook. This handbook spells out procedures, guidelines, expectations, and list of resources. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Weiss.

One of our goals this year is to engage with our community, not just parents and families, but the larger Calais community. This school is part of the community and we want the community to come and be part of CES.

You may want to volunteer in the classroom, help us coordinate activities or chaperone trips, tap into a talent to teach our students, or generally be available to help where needed. We will welcome you all to Calais!

Work continues on the details for the Calais Volunteer Program as there are a few moving pieces that need to be completed, but we want you to let us know of your interest. Please put your name on our list by filling out the Volunteer Program Form.

Here is the link to the digital form to register for basketball this year. If you would like a paper copy, please email Danielle at dmackay@u32.org.

Register today at http://www2.heart.org/goto/FriendsOfCalais

The Family of Color Affinity Group was created to provide space for families to connect with our community, participate in ongoing learning , and advocate for our students. Over the past two years we have met with the Restorative Practices facilitators, the U-32 Admin Team, representatives from the Student Curriculum Council, and the Humanity and Justice Coalition. Additionally we have provided feedback on the Strategic Plan and several District Policies. We also meet with community organizations like the Education Justice Coalition, to learn about additional resources and events that are of interest to us and our students.

This year, in order to increase outreach beyond U-32 and into the Elementary Schools, we have asked all District Administrators to share this information in their newsletter on a monthly basis. In this way, we hope to engage more BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) families to come and join us. In this case, a BIPOC family could have parents and students who identify as people of color, or just students who identify as people of color.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 19 at Berlin ES from 5:30-7:00.

The tentative agenda includes sharing notes and reflections from our mtg with the Curriculum Council, sharing a draft of the response to hate incidents protocol that is being developed, and allowing space for reflection around the election and what that means for our children and families moving forward.

Please use this Google Form to indicate if you are able to attend the mtg or not.

U-32 Varsity Girls and Boys Basketball teams will be holding a youth basketball clinic on Nov. 16 at U-32 from 9-11 a.m. Cost is $25 and a camp t-shirt is included.

It's open to anyone 1st to 8th grade (boy or girl) and does not need to be a district resident either. Please find a link to the sign up form here.

Dear Colleagues and Neighbors - The Town of Calais has received hundreds and hundreds at-home covid tests; plenty to share!

Please email to let us know if you would like some, and when you would like to come pick them up from the Calais Town Office (sorry, no deliveries).

Barbara Butler - assistanttownclerk@calaisvermont.gov
Teegan Dykeman-Brown - townclerk@calaisvermont.gov

Type in your zip code or county to find different resources in your area!

https://www.navigateresources.net/211vermont/

Prevent Child Abuse - Vermont

5 Tips to Ease Back-to-School Anxiety

Family Support Programs

Hi Calais Cougars! I am back, yeah. Today we are interviewing Owen.

His favorite color is blue (same).

His least favorite color is pink (same).

His favorite animal is a giraffe.

His least favorite animal is a squid.

His favorite food is, drum roll....chicken!!!

His least favorite food is salad (yum).

His favorite sport is basketball.

His least favorite sport is hockey.

Thanksgiving is coming up soon. Bye for now!

- Ms. Scoop