The Core

Hello Parents & Guardians,

Lots to look at this week:

Check out these things you should know about next week:

1. Vision and Hearing Screenings (see below)
2. Introducing a new Lunch Item - Bento Boxes! (scroll down)
3. Wednesday, October 2, 2019 is International Walk to School Day!

Schools throughout Vermont (and all over the world) are walking to school on Wednesday. Our buses will pick up as normal and take students to designated stops so all of us can walk through our neighborhoods to school - parents and family members are welcome to join us!

• Buses #12 & #15 will drop off at the Stonehedge Development (near the bike path)
• Buses #27 & #7 will drop off at Szymanski Park
• Buses #20 & #17 will drop off near Uno's Restaurant

All students will walk to school from the designated locations and meet on the Orchard Walking Track.

Have a terrific weekend; take some time to read with your child. Happy Fall Everyone!

Mark Trifilio

Principal

Vision and hearing screenings are conducted in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, 1st, 3rd and 5th grade. Next Wednesday, October 2nd, we have the opportunity to welcome the Vermont Lions KidSight program, to perform photoscreening on students in the recommended grades of pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and 1st. Please be sure your child is at school on the morning of October 2nd! We will use traditional vision screening methods for 3rd and 5th graders.

Vermont Lions KidSight program uses a photoscreening digital device called a SPOT vision screener to objectively check for vision problems. The photoscreener is like special-purpose camera; it takes a picture of a child’s eyes and by detecting special light reflexes from each eye, the device produces images that can help identify potential eye conditions.

If an eye concern is identified, we will send you the results of the photoscreener along with a recommendation for further vision testing by a specialist. If you do not hear from us, your child passed the screening.

Hearing screening will begin in October.

As always, please contact us if you have questions, concerns or would like follow-up vision or hearing checks. Thank you!

Warmly,

Kara Cassani & Darcy Mazlish
School Nurses

Orchard Gear is here! Please order online (link also available through Konstella) at: https://orchardschoolfall2019.itemorder.com/sale

Chamberlain School Harvest Festival: The PTO of Chamberlain School has invited the Orchard Community to join them at Chamberlain School (262 White St) this Saturday, September 28, from 1-3 pm. The free festival includes free drinks, popcorn, maple snow-cones, free carnival games, prizes, 3 bounce houses, face painting, Beltrami Studios' photo booth, and more. There is free parking onsite. To raise funds for enrichment programs like field trips and author visits, there will be an auction and raffle with AMAZING prizes from local businesses. Please see the attached flyers for more information.

International Night: Save the Date! This event is scheduled for November 7th from 6-8pm. Be on the lookout for the flyer in October. Contact Merin Maxwell at merkeg@hotmail.com for more information or to volunteer.

Join the PTO! We are in need of parent volunteers on the PTO - any involvement would be appreciated. We have a variety of openings, and have jobs ranging from tasks that can be done largely at home to treasurer. Please contact any of us for more information. We'd be happy to chat, and to give you more information.

PTO Meetings are moving to mornings! In an attempt to accommodate the busy evening schedules of families, monthly PTO meetings will now be held the second Wednesday of the month from 8-9 am in the teacher’s lounge. Wednesday, October 9th is the first of these meetings. As always, all are welcome!

3rd Annual Fun Run! This event will take place on October 11. The Fun Run is the only fundraiser of the year and funds earned go to support the many fun PTO-sponsored events that occur; families should have received fundraising packets last week. If you have questions, or if you work for a company interested in sponsoring this event, please reach out to Angi Murray at orchardfunrun@gmail.com.

Hannaford Helps: Now through Dec 1st, you can help earn money for Orchard School by shopping at Hannaford on Shelburne Rd for participating products. For every 4 qualifying products you buy, Orchard earns $3! Choose from over 1,500 participating products, ranging from breakfast and lunch items to household supplies. Look for shelf tags in-store. If Orchard School raises the most money at the Shelburne Rd store, we will receive an extra $1,000!

Box Tops: Save your box tops to help earn money for Orchard! The money earned from Box Tops goes to support many PTO-sponsored events. Drop your Box Tops in the Orchard lobby.

Do you have PTO questions? Please find us online:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/orchardschoolpto
  
• Website: www.orchardschoolpto.org
  
• Email: orchardschoolvt@gmail.com
  
• Konstella: https://www.konstella.com
  

Each year Orchard puts on a play produced by The Very Merry Theatre with loads of help from parent volunteers. This years play will be Peter Pan and we are in need of the following volunteers and need to hear from you by Friday, September 27th:

• 2nd grade chorus: 1 lead
• 2nd grade chorus help: 4-5 helpers
• 3rd grade chorus: 1 lead
• 3rd grade chorus help: 4-5 helpers

Chorus commitment: 5 Tuesdays (2nd grade) or Thursdays (3rd grade) from 2:45-3:30 at Orchard starting 12/3-1/16. Plus production week Jan 20-25th.

• Set & Crew: 1 lead
• Set & Crew Help: 5-6 helpers

Please look for details in the Konstella via an email to 2nd and 3rd grade families for chorus help. Or sign up directly in the Orchard Drama Committee as well as this link; https://tinyurl.com/y6y7nx7p to sign up for any of these roles directly. Please email OrchardDrama@gmail.com with any questions.

Thank you!

Orchard Drama Committee

Our Kitchen is trying out "Munch-a-Lunch" next week (see the photo of an example). We will still have traditional lunch choices (i.e., entree, sandwich alternative, salad bar) as well as the Bento Box. Next week's includes turkey though there is additionally a vegetarian (not Vegan) Bento Box as well.

They are $10 each.