Hello Shoreham Families!

There was so much to celebrate this week at SES.

5th graders participated in PYP Exhibition! Exhibition was a chance for the 5th grade students to show and share all of their inquiry into a topic connected to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. It is also reflective of their whole elementary school learning journey.

Students researched topics like Animal Cruelty, Invasive Species, Gender Equality and more! I am SO proud of them and all their hard work. They truly shined while presenting on Thursday. A BIG shout out goes to Ms. Jenny, Ms, Abby and parent mentors (Lori, Gail, and Ruth) for supporting the 5th graders on this project. The rest of the school also got to see the Exhibition projects! It gave K-4th graders a sneak peek of what is coming up for them when they are the big 5th graders.

On Wednesday we had two visitors that came to Shoreham to talk with kids and staff about how to make SES a better place to be. The first, Rebecca Haslam, talked with a small group of students about their experiences. Then, a representative came from NEASC to tour our school and interview kids and staff about what makes Shoreham great and what they hope for the future. Our students showed their best selves, and were honest and reflective in both instances.

So many amazing things happen each day at our school- we are so lucky!

Best,

Jenny

We practice safety drills designed to ensure that students and staff are familiar with how to be safe in an emergency. Some months, we practice what to do if we need to evacuate the building. Other months we practice options-based drills or what to do when unsafe people or hazards enter our school.

We are required to practice two options-based drills- Options-based drills introduce students to various strategies in response to a threat, such as how to respond to cues and listen to and follow safety directions from a trusted adult such as a teacher. Please know that all options based drills are trauma informed and age appropriate. This means the drills are performed in a way that is sensitive to the emotional well-being of our students.

We will be holding an options based drill on Monday, May 13th To help everyone remain safe, no visitors will be allowed to enter the building while the drill is taking place.

We know that this may be an emotional topic for parents and caregivers and want to assure you of a few things:

• The adults in our building work together to plan and ensure students feel safe and we remind them that the drill is practice.

• We talk with students in a developmentally appropriate way before and after each drill and our practice is developmentally aligned.

• We are available to support families. Please see the resources below to help you talk with your child about these experiences.

1. Talking with Your Children about Safety Drills (Johns Hopkins)

2. Talking with Children about Violence: Tips for Parents and Educators (NASP)

If you have questions, please reach out to me directly at 802-349-5934 or jurban@acsdvt.org

We want to share an update on the principal hiring process for our three schools.

Initial Candidate Review ~ May 6: As your principals shared in last week’s newsletters, after the application deadline closed on May 3, incoming Superintendent Baker met with Bridport, Cornwall and Shoreham staff to understand the characteristics and skills that each school community hoped to find in a leader. She and Superintendent Williams and Assistant Superintendent Carter did an initial screening of all of the applicants on May 6. They forwarded a strong pool of viable candidates with a positive leadership record to the Screening Committee.

Screening Committee ~ May 9 & 10: As the Screening Committee, our role is to hold initial conversations with the candidates and forward on any candidates who we believe would be a good fit for our ACSD elementary schools. We are composed of two representatives from each school, two central office staff, and two board members. We are currently in the middle of two days of conversations with candidates. We’re excited by the quality of the candidates we’ve met with and look forward to the next step of forwarding those candidates to your local community so you can meet them.

Meet & Greets ~ May 15-17: This is where you come in! On May 15-17, your school will be scheduling 90-minute visits for each candidate. Their visit will be designed by each school and will include an opportunity to visit and talk with students, staff, and families. We will know how many candidates will be visiting schools early next week. It could be as many as 6 or 7 candidates which means there may be 6-7 different opportunities for you to meet with candidates over the course of 3 days. We know this is tricky to schedule, but we invite you to attend as many as possible. We are also brainstorming a way for the candidate to offer an introduction that every community member can view. Please look for an update from your school early next week about the final Meet & Greet times at your school.

Community Feedback: After the Meet & Greets, school and community members will have the opportunity to share feedback via a form that will be sent to everyone. Based on all collected feedback, the Superintendent's Office will negotiate with candidates to ensure good matches between leaders and buildings.

We hope to make successful offers in late May and be able to share our next principals with our school communities in late May/early June.

We really welcome family connection and questions during this process. Please send any questions to Courtney Krahn, Director of Teaching and Learning ckrahn@acsdvt.org, or Emily Blistein, Director of Communications and Engagement eblistein@gmail.com or by calling 802-382-1274

Thank you,

ACSD Principal Screening Committee
Amber Bragg, Bridport
Kate Moehringer, Bridport
Claire Benjamin, Cornwall
Valerie Calzini, Cornwall
Martha Santa Maria, Shoreham
Megan Grandits-Griffin, Shoreham
Courtney Krahn, ACSD Director of Teaching & Learning
Emily Blistein, ACSD Director of Communications & Engagement
Ellie Romp, ACSD Board
Trisha Allen, ACSD Board

5th Graders are Fundraising for KEEC!

Our basket raffle has started! Check out the baskets in the front lobby and purchase tickets from Irene during school hours.

We will do the drawing on May 24th!

Shoreham Staff Wishlist

Our staff is looking to finish out the year with joy. We would LOVE if you would consider helping us fulfill that vision by either purchasing from our wishlist or sharing it with others.

Thank you in advance!

May 13-17th- 5th Graders at KEEC!

Wednesday, May 22nd @ 6:30PM- Shoreham PTF Meeting

Friday 5/31 at 2PM- Band Concert @ Shoreham School

Wednesday June 5th- 5th Grade Move Up to the MiddleSchool

Wednesday June 12th- 5th GRADE GRADUATION

Friday June 14- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! - more info to follow

-End of Year BBQ

-Recess Rodeo

Upcoming Band Dates:

Monday May 20th- Combined Band rehearsal at MUHS (12:30-1:45)

Monday May 20th- Combined Band concert at MUHS 6:30 PM (6:00 call)

Happy Friday Families!

We had our first week of games and the Minors team enjoyed hosting on our field.

Tball Team2 played in Fair Haven and loved running the bases.

Mighty mites Game was cancelled due to weather and will be made up on 6/3/24.

Next week's schedule: 6pm

Tuesday: Minors Away at Pittsford

Wednesday: Mighty mites home game

Thursday:

Tball team1 home game

Minors Away at Poultney

Saturday: 9-12 Big Truck day at Shoreham school.

Thanks

Molly

Shoreham Recreation Department

If you are interested in being part of this group, and helping Shoreham kids have incredible opportunities, let me know. We are looking to reimagine what this can look like for the remainder of the year and set up a system of success for the future.

Our First Meeting will be Wednesday May 22nd at 6:30.