Superintendent's Message

Dear Parents/Guardians and Staff,

As this time of the school year inevitably comes around I always feel a bit blue. Our students and staff give life to all that we do and with graduation about a week away, I am realizing that it will be much quieter around here very soon! And then I remember that it is simply bittersweet because we have so many wonderful celebrations coming up to acknowledge our students’ accomplishments. I will look forward to seeing so many of you in the upcoming week to relish celebrations together!

Speaking of summer, I’d like to share information about Summer Resources. As school comes to a close, we have gathered summer resources in one location on our website, including Summer EBT, Summer Meals Program (info coming soon!), School’s Out, and fall sports registration. Find those here.

At last night’s board meeting, South Burlington legislators spoke about the bills they are working on and the impacts they will have on education and education funding. You can watch that here. (Starts at 54:00)

The yield bill they discussed last night was vetoed by the governor today. If it had passed, our tax rate would have been $1.4598, which would have been a 8.18% increase (down from 8.8% at the time of the approved budget vote).

Thank you to Senators Ginny Lyons and Tom Chittenden and Representatives Emilie Krasnow, Brian Minier, Martin LaLonde, Kate Nugent and Noah Hyman for coming and partnering with us as we navigate the road ahead. I am grateful to partner with our State Senators and appreciate their support of our schools.

Thank you to all those who participated in the Family-School Relationship Survey that we just conducted. Families responded to questions in three categories: Barriers to Engagement, School Climate and School Fit. There were 282 responses of 2,600 families. Below are some of the highlights, next steps, and connections to ongoing Continuous Improvement Planning in the District and at each school.

Barriers to Engagement: 76% positive

Strengths: Parents’/guardians’ negative memories from their school experience not impacting their involvement in their child's school

Opportunities for growth: Parents’/guardians’ busy schedules impacting engagement

Actions steps: Offer engagement opportunities at a variety of times to increase engagement (Continuous Improvement Goal 2: Safe and Healthy Schools)

School Climate: 65% positive

Strengths: Teachers respect students

Opportunities for growth: Increasing motivation in lessons at school

Actions steps: Increase engagement in academics through improving instruction and instructional delivery; implementing new math and literacy programs and developing Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (Continuous Improvement Goal 3: Academic Proficiency)

School Fit: 60% positive

Strengths: Students feel a sense of belonging at their schools

Opportunities for growth: Activities that match students’ interests

Actions steps: Work with administrators to ensure there are more opportunities to engage all students (Continuous Improvement Goal 1: Social, Emotional Learning)

Principal McDonald previously announced Mr. Currier’s new role in her newsletter, but at the school board meeting last night, his hiring was approved so I am happy to announce it here! Currier is currently a 4th-grade teacher at Rick Marcotte and has been an emerging leader in PreK-12 in our district. He's a leader on the RMCS Crisis Team, an EST coordinator, a coach, and the SBHS Summer School Director. His first day will be July 1st. Congratulations Matt!

Don’t miss the South Burlington School District City Hall Art Show from June 1st to July 31st!

To maintain the most up-to-date information about our students, the South Burlington School District asks families to verify the enrollment of all returning students annually. Along with contact details, medical needs, and approval for the use of technology, the Returning Student Registration form also provides our Transportation Department with the data they need to create bus routes and schedules.

Please complete the form as soon as possible.

To begin registering your student, please click here: Returning Student Registration.

You will find translatable instructions and access to other helpful resources on the Returning Student Registration website.

To translate the website, click Translate in the upper right corner and choose your preferred language.

For help translating the Returning Student Registration form or for help accessing a device to complete your student’s registration, please contact the school directly: Contact Us.

Need help logging into your Parent Portal Account? Please click this link for help.

The district is hiring! Please follow the links to read the full descriptions for these roles.

Bus Drivers (and Bus Aides)

Training available obtain Commercial Driver's Licenses to eligible candidates, full and part time positions available as well as van drivers and bus monitors

Lunchroom:

Middle School

Elementary

Traffic Monitors

Substitute Teachers

Full job descriptions are available on School Spring. If you have questions on hiring processes or on employment, please contact Elissa Galvez, Employment Specialist, egalvez@sbschools.net (802) 652-7247.

Next week will be my last newsletter for the school year. I will send out a newsletter as we get closer to the start of school in August. As always, I will be in touch if anything urgent comes up in the interim. Please reach out to me at any time. I’m always happy to hear from students, staff, and families over the summer months!

Thank you for reading!

Violet

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