Bridport Community Newletter

Hello, Bridport Community!

It sure feels like winter out there today, and its hard to believe that Spring is actually here! There are so many things to look forward to in the next 2 1/2 months for our school community. Here are a few to start getting excited for...

-Artist in Residency with Kate Gridley and the Audubon Society

-One School, One Book with A Boy Called Bat (more info to come next week)

-5th grade traditions such as Exhibition and KEEC

Another yearly routine is VTCAP testing for our 3rd-5th graders. This is a yearly, state wide assessment that gives our students a chance to show off what they know and gives our school much-needed data to inform our practices and instruction. We are testing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for the next three weeks and would LOVE donations of gum and snacks for classrooms. If you are able and interested, please contact your child's teacher.

Thank you for your continued support of our school and the little people who learn here,

Jenny

Currently the plan for next school year is that both Shoreham and Bridport will have three multi-grade classrooms of K/1, 2/3, and 4/5 students. This configuration is new for both buildings and has sparked discussions among our staff about how we can create grade configurations that ensure all of our students succeed. We brought this conversation to Superintendent Baker. She met with classroom teachers from both buildings and gave us permission to spend the next few weeks in a collaborative process with families and school staff to explore how to best structure our classrooms.

We do not have a preconceived plan about what might happen next. However, we see this as an opportunity to hear directly from parents and staff and to explore any possibility that could make our learning environments even more vibrant and bring more success for our students.

Over the next few weeks, we will offer a morning and evening time at each school for family members to join us to share your ideas, hopes, and wonders. We will also offer an option for both school communities to come together. You can find those dates and times below and we’ll reiterate them in our newsletters.

In addition to these scheduled times, we invite your ideas about another location (a parent’s home, a community gathering place, etc) where you would like to host a discussion. We will also create a form for you to reply and you are always welcome to schedule an individual meeting with me.

Upcoming Opportunities to Connect:

April 4th- Bridport Community Meeting- BCS Library- 6-7:30PM

April 8th- Bridport Community Meeting- BCS Library- 7:30AM- 8:30AM

April 16th- Combined Bridport & Shoreham Community Meeting- MUMS- 6:30PM

This spring Bridport Central School will be working with local Middlebury artist Kate Gridley as our artist in residency. Our students will be learning the art of drawing from nature. Throughout our residency students will be going on 2 field trips to a nature trail to observe, interact, learn, and create art. The Otter Creek Audubon Society will also be supporting our residency field trips as they will have learning stations for students and their members will be sharing their knowledge. During the residency Kate will be coming to school to work directly with students 5 separate times to work on learning how to sketch, learn to draw from life, and create a piece of work based on nature. Our students will each create their own work of art as well as a culminating class mural on the last day. At the conclusion of the residency students will have their own sketchbook, art kit, and newly found skills to take home to continue practicing and exploring.

Monday 3/31- No School

Tuesday 4/2-Thursday 4/17- VTCAP Testing

Thursday 4/3- National Paraprofessional Appreciation Day

Thursday 4/3- BCS Community Meeting 6:00-7:30 PM

Tuesday 4/8- BCS Community Meeting 7:30AM to 8:30 AM

Wednesday 4/9- Early Release

Wednesday 4/16- Combined Bridport/Shoreham Community Meeting @ MUMS 6-7:30PM

Friday 4/18- Last Day before Break

Monday 4/21- Friday 4/26- April Vacation

Tuesday 4/29- First Day of Artist in Residency!

Wednesday 4/30- Relocation Drill (more info to come!)

Thursday 5/1- FOBCS Meeting 6:00-7:30PM

Friday 5/2- 5th grade Exhibition

When students Irene and Charles end up as partners for a poem-writing project, they slowly and bravely begin to explore how the issue of race affects their lives. Irene’s white perspective and Charles’s black perspective are inherent even when they begin by writing about a subject seemingly devoid of racial context—shoes. Their next topic, hair, opens a dialogue that includes the emotional effects of race-based conflicts at school.

Students at BCS will be exploring a few poems each week and exploring these complex themes.

802 Smiles Dental Hygiene Program is returning this Spring to offer free dental screenings and preventative care to all ACSD students.

Please complete the forms below if you would like your child to participate in this event. Any student that was enrolled in the fall will automatically be on the list to receive services and does not need to fill out the forms again, but if you do not want your student to receive services in April, you should reach out to the school nurse to take them off the list.

Enrollment deadline is April 1st.

ACSD 802 Smiles Letter

802 Smiles Consent Form

802 Smiles Enrollment Form

1. Preschool Screening for 3 & 4 year olds

If you have a child who will be 3 or 4 before September 1st, 2025, they are invited to attend our free developmental screening days. You can attend any of the following screening dates:

• Friday, April 4, 2025 at Bridport Central School, 3442 VT 22A. Contact Linda Barrett with questions 802-758-2331. Or;

• April 4, 11, or 18, 2025 at Mary Hogan Elementary School, 201 Mary Hogan Drive, Middlebury. Contact Deb Martin with questions 802-382-1761.

What to expect: Come and play with the ACSD Early Education team! They will engage in activities to help observe your child’s physical, social-emotional, speech/language, and cognitive development. Observations will be shared with the family/caregiver.

1. ACSD Preschool Interest Survey

If you are interested in having your child attend one of our ACSD preschool programs, please read the informational letter and fill out our preschool interest survey.

Substitute teachers are crucial for our students, staff, staff, and schools! We are increasing our daily substitute teaching rate to $160/day for unlicensed subs and $200/day for licensed subs. This flat rate replaces our sliding rate of pay for subs depending on the number of days worked. To apply, email HR@acsdvt.org with subject: "Substitute Position". Or visit this listing.

Did you know Bridport School has an instagram!? Follow us- @bridportschoolvermont for pictures and videos :)