Panther Press

October 25 - Early Release Day at 11:30 am (No Boys & Girls Club)

October 27 - Trunk or Treat at Pittsford Rec

October 31 - Halloween Parade at 1:15 pm

November 4 - Caverly Open House at 5:30 pm for PreK 3 and 6:00 pm for PreK 4.

November 8 - Early Release Day

November 11 - Veterans' Day (NO SCHOOL)

November 11th - Chorus Sings at Town Office for Veterans Day at 11 am (chorus arrive at 10:30)

November 14 - Family Conferences

November 20 - Thanksgiving Feast

November 20 - Family Conferences

November 27-29 - Thanksgiving Break (NO SCHOOL)

December 4th - Rock Band Concert in gym at 6pm (snow date December 5th)

December 6th - Vermont Holiday Festival for Chorus at the Killington Grand (TIME TBD)

December 19 - Early Release Day

December 20 - In-Service for Staff (NO SCHOOL)

December 23-January 1 - Winter Break

On Tuesday, October 15th, the whole school participated in a game of freeze tag! Teachers were taggers. If a student was tapped by a pool noodle, from a tagger, they froze in place until two students surrounded them and high-fived. Fun was had by all!

Lothrop will be hosting an all school Halloween Parade on Thursday, October 31st at 1:15 pm. Students will line up by class on the blacktop (behind the school) and walk down through the playground onto Pleasant St. They will turn onto Arch St. and turn around at The Manor before heading back to Lothrop. Please read the following guidelines regarding costumes, where families can stand to watch the parade and pick-up. Thank you!

• No Masks: The reason for this is that Halloween masks often cover the eyes of a child, impeding their vision and causing a potentially unsafe situation. So, please do not send any parts of a costume that cover eye areas, such as a "Halloween Mask."

• Costumes must not include weapons, blood, or gore. They must be school-appropriate and consider that we will have children in grades K-6 participating.

• Please consider your child's footwear choice as we will march over Pleasant Street and up Arch Street, a little bit of a hike if one is in high heel shoes.

• Should learners wish to dress up and need help finding a costume, please let your child's teacher, or the front office know as soon as you are able.

• Families may view the parade from Pleasant Street and Arch Street. (We will help children with costumes-eliciting our Middle-Level students who will enjoy helping our Littles).

• If you wish to pick up your child after the parade, please send a note in the morning. We will connect you with your child outside after the parade.

• Classrooms will be given guidance on snacks for the day and that information will come home in classroom newsletters.

The Otter Valley Unified Union School Board is looking for interested parties to be appointed to the Whiting representative seat on the board. The appointed school board member for the Whiting seat must be a resident of Whiting. The appointed school board member would serve through to the next election in March 2025, at which time they would be required to run and be elected to complete the remaining years of the term. Letters of Interest should be addressed to the OVUU Board and emailed to Melinda Piper at mpiper@rnesu.org. For more information, please contact Melinda Piper at mpiper@rnesu.org or (802) 247-5757 x 2722.

It is the time of year where we begin to think about field trips. If you are planning on chaperoning a field trip or volunteering at Lothrop throughout the year, you are required to complete a background check, fingerprinting, and ID scanning through Raptor, our Supervisory Union security system. Due to the amount of time it takes to complete the full process, we are asking parents/guardians to begin the process now. Appointments for fingerprinting fill up fast and we want to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to attend field trips and take part in volunteering for school events with their students. If you are interested in chaperoning or want to check and see if the background check you completed in the past is still valid, please reach out to Sara Eddy at seddy@rnesu.org or call the office at 802-483-2242.

The Brandon Public Library is offering free homework help for students K-12 every Wednesday from 3:30-5pm at the Brandon Free Public Library. No registration necessary.

The Vermont Agency of Education announced in a recent press release the next phase of the 2024 Listen and Learn Tour and invites the public to participate in community conversations to inform how the Agency delivers services and supports to Vermont’s education system.

These public engagement sessions will help the Agency develop its strategic plan and ensure that its work is supporting the educational priorities of communities across Vermont. Following a series of data reports and regional planning sessions with more than 250 education leaders, the Agency is eager to expand these conversations to include educators, parents, students, and community members across the state. The Agency encourages broad participation and welcomes input from all Vermonters, including students, families, and community partners - students are integral to these conversations and are encouraged to attend.

Each public engagement session will take place from 6:00 pm. to 8:00 pm at the below locations. Every session will begin with introductory information and data to support more in-depth conversations, followed by breakout sessions on topics related to student achievement and support, career and college readiness, and school budgets, among other emerging priorities. Detailed agendas will be provided on the Agency webpage closer to the events.

DATE LOCATION

October 22 Woodstock Union Middle/High School

October 23 Mount Anthony Union High School

October 23 Stowe High School

October 28 Montpelier High School

October 28 West Rutland School

October 29 Lyndon Town School

October 30 Enosburg Falls High School

November 4 Virtual Meeting (ASL interpreter available)

November 6 Virtual Meeting (ASL interpreter available

Please check the Listen and Learn webpage to see the most up to date public engagement schedules, links for virtual sessions and information on language accessibility. While not required, pre-registration is encouraged using the online registration form, Listen and Learn Registration (cognitoforms.com). Please email aoe.publicinformation@vermont.gov with questions.

In Kindergarten music, we have been working on song games! Some of our favorites include “Wake Up you Sleepyhead” and “Frog in the Meadow.” We’ve also begun playing “Spooky Halloween Freeze Dance” and a few other halloween games!

In first and second grade music, we have gotten into the spooky spirit by learning songs like “The Shy Little Monster” and “Old Mother Witch.” We’ve also been using scarves in the music room to explore minor sounding music, like “Blowing in the Wind” and “Swirly Twirly Scarves.”

Third graders have been learning all about the musical haunted house (or the musical staff!) Third graders can tell you that the musical staff has five lines and four spaces. We have begun learning the names of spaces so that we can be prepared to play recorder in a few weeks.

Fourth graders have been reviewing how to read music, particularly the notes C, D, E, F and G. They have also been using the boomwhackers! All third and fourth graders have been working on the songs “Have you seen the ghost of John?” and “Mwu Ha Ha.”

Fifth and Sixth graders have continued to impress with the rock program! All classes have learned simple chords and rock beats and are doing an amazing job. This week we will begin learning the music we will be sharing with you at the December concert. We cannot wait!

4th Grade Instrumental Lessons

This week marks the second week of 4th grade instrumental lessons. Remember to practice and have your chart signed for a prize!

5th and 6th Grade Instrumental Lessons/Band

Band rehearsal is on Friday afternoons! Please continue to practice and have your chart signed for a prize.

Chorus

Lothrop’s BIGGEST EVER chorus has been doing a fantastic job so far. We’ve begun the songs “Something Just Like This” and “Humble and Kind.” Be on the lookout for upcoming singing opportunities in our community!

The Fourth grade students walked to the Pittsford Rec. on a beautiful Fall morning to take part in our monthly Four Winds' science lesson. Ms. Lorrie Byrom had a fun lesson planned that centered on insect life cycles, The kids looked around different "environments" within the Rec. to see what kinds of insects that they could find. The students collected, observed, and determined what stage of the life cycle their insect was in. The kids had a wonderful time being "scientists" who study insects.

Here’s a fun challenge for you. Can you draw a picture every day in the month of October? Use the pictures on the calendar to get you started. It’s okay if you miss a few days. Remember, have some fun with this! For an extra challenge you can add a background or other details in your pictures.

Lothrop sixth graders were invited to participate in cheering on the MS teams at OV on Wednesday. Sixth graders mingled and attended Field Hockey and Soccer games.

These two Lothrop students played all season on the 6-8 Middle School team. They both played well and won their last home game. Go Otters!

Pittsford Christmas for Kids is a community program that provides gifts for children in families that may need some help financing the holidays. These can be families that may have no celebration without help, may need some help or could just use a little extra for their children.

After referrals are received we send a letter to the families to see if they would like help. If they respond, tags are created with the child's wants and needs and community members choose tags to sponsor. The list and the children's names are confidential.

Email: sfarrington@rnesu.org

Website: https://lothrop.rnesu.org/

Location: US Route 7, Pittsford, VT, 05763
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LothropSchool/