ACSD Newsletter ~ Spring 2024

Comedian and MUHS '12 grad, Tina Friml, shared her journey from MUHS to the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon as part of MUHS's dynamic Neurodiversity and Inclusion Week!

In this issue: Share an appreciation for our teachers and staff! Plus: Dr. Wendy Baker joins ACSD one month early, our anticipated last day of school, Education Week highlights ACSD's eclipse activities, learn about ACSD's NEASC & IB joint accreditation, celebrating student engagement across the district, an update on ACSD's Listening Circles Equity Work, and more!

We extend teacher appreciation week to all staff and share appreciations all month long! Your appreciations also help to nominate our Teacher & Staff of the Year awards*!

Our teachers and staff do so much to support our students and community. You can help us recognize them! Click here or the button below to share your appreciation. You can also use the form to nominate them for the Teacher or Staff of the Year awards. Last year over 220 appreciations were written by parents, students, and colleagues! We share as many of these appreciations as possible with our teachers and staff so they hear your appreciations.

* The 2024 Teacher and Staff of the Years awards will be presented at our August 2024 staff Welcome Back week.

Students across ACSD are taking action, investigating ways to improve, participate, and build new bonds to strengthen their community:

In the 3 minute video (below), Education Week captured the excitement of our Eclipse 2024 preparation! They highlighted the fact that the eclipse as a unique opportunity for a collaborative, cross-district teaching model and that the collaboration we used can be modeled at any school or district in the future for natural or historic events! They interviewed Amy Clapp, our Salisbury teacher who led our district-wide Eclipse excitement. In the video she highlights the many teachers and staff who brought the surrounding events to life! Watch the 3 minute video below:

Dr. Wendy Baker was originally scheduled to become the next ACSD Superintendent on July 1, 2024. However, due to a successful collaboration with Interim Superintendent, Dr. Timothy Williams, the ACSD Board voted to expedite her transition to June 1, 2024.

Dr. Baker has spent recent months engaging with the ACSD community. She has held individual and group meetings with our local school communities and community partners. We are grateful to everyone who has already connected with her over the last few months and look forward to welcoming her officially on June 1st!

This fall, ACSD worked with Dr. Rebecca Eunmi Haslam to address issues of racial equity in our schools through a confidential study called The Listening Circles Project with middle and high school students and staff members. Now we are extending her work to our elementary school students and staff.

The goal of the Listening Circles Project is to hear directly from students and staff about things we can do to eliminate racial harm and ensure everyone feels safe and valued at school. Please look for an update later this week to give consent for your elementary child to participate. Parents of elementary students who participate will also have an opportunity to meet with Dr. Haslam.

As part of her work with secondary students and staff, Dr. Haslam is finalizing a report and recommendations for the ACSD administration. The elementary portion of this work will also result in a report and recommendations. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us as ACSD works to make all students and staff feel safe and valued.

This spring, ACSD will begin a two year process toward joint accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and International Baccalaureate (IB). This new process will streamline our reporting process while offering ACSD the benefits of each organization’s attention and external review. Both organizations offer objective feedback, local and international collaboration, and rigorous standards for best practices in a learning community. IB further articulates these best practices and offers the framework and structures to get us there. Internally, these processes help us reflect on our district goals (including the strategic plan) and engage deeply in a cycle of continuous improvement. Externally, they offer a clear measure of quality to our community, our post secondary employers and colleges. If successful, we will be the first school district in the country to receive NEASC and IB’s joint accreditation.

What role will families and students play? Over the next two years (beginning as early as next week!) you may be asked to meet with a visiting team member and/or contribute to our reflection process and goal setting. If you want to learn more about NEASC and IB authorization, you can visit this resource on our curriculum page.

• All 7 elementary schools and MUHS = Friday, June 14.
• MUMS = Monday, June 17 (due to their additional day off for the water break).

Please note, these dates are our best estimate at this point. If there are any changes to the dates above, we will share with the impacted school communities as soon as we know.

Tomorrow, May 1!

There are so many ways to support our schools!

VOLUNTEER: If you think you might want to volunteer at your child's school, please fill out the Volunteer Application to begin the process to ensure you've had your background check before you hope to volunteer:

SUBSTITUTE: Substitutes are instrumental in supporting our students and schools when staff are absent. If you are looking for a job, have flexibility with your schedule, or are home from college for a break, we always need subs in our buildings. Now is a great time to apply!

Substitutes-On Call

OPEN JOBS: We also have several positions at our school and the district. A fully staffed school, helps our students thrive. Find the jobs here. We hope you'll consider applying or sharing ACSD's open positions.

Your principal will send school newsletters by email most weeks to help you stay informed about school specific news. ACSD will send a seasonal newsletter by email to remind you of district information. If you miss the emails, you can find the district newsletters here and the school newsletters are under the "Our School" tab of your school's website or with direct links here:

• Bridport

• Cornwall

• Mary Hogan

• Ripton

• Salisbury

• Shoreham

• Weybridge

• MUMS

• MUHS

• The ACSD Board thanks the ACSD community for its support of the FY25 budget on Town Meeting Day!
• Look for a Board Spring Update in your email soon!
• Find Board updates, details about the Strategic Plan, Board committee updates, and details to attend or watch board meetings: www.acsdvt.org/school-board

We use our newsletter and social media to stay connected and give you a peek into our classrooms. For more regular connection and lots of photos, follow us: Insta: @acsdvtschools FB: @acsdvt