ACSD Newsletter ~ Winter 2025

MUHS students in Tara Martin's 20th Century History class interview residents at EastView about their experiences living through the events they are studying in class!

In this issue: Resources and recordings to help you understand the FY26 ACSD Budget before Town Meeting day, Tuesday March 4th; learn about our NEASC Learning Principle teams' work; view our NEW jobs; NEW substitute rate; enrollment opportunity for our preschool and kindergarteners; celebrate our students and staff, district updates, and more!

Dear ACSD Community,

While our ACSD community prepares to vote on our FY26 Budget on March 4, 2025, there is much in flux in our state and federal government that relates to education and the future of our schools. I invite you to visit our Superintendent Page where I use the “Updates to the Community section to share timely updates.

• ACSD Budget Vote: The ACSD community offers tremendous support for our schools throughout the year. The annual budget vote is the community’s opportunity to offer the financial support that makes our work possible. We invite you to visit our Budget page, which offers materials, resources, and even clips from school board recordings to help you become informed and able to vote on the budget on March 4, 2025.

• Governor Scott's Education Proposal: In January, Governor Scott announced his plan for how to structure Vermont’s Education System and he has sent a proposed syllabus for legislative committees to consider. I have been closely following the legislative testimony and have even been asked to testify on some of the issues related to the scale and performance of our schools. The actions of the legislature in response to the Governor’s plan will impact the future direction of our schools. I encourage you to reach out to your legislators to share your experiences and to visit the House and Senate education committee pages.

• Federal changes: Our district continues to follow the federal updates closely and constantly assess how any federal changes will impact ACSD.

While these changes unfold, we continue to find moments of celebration, connection, and joy in our schools. When I pause to think about my visits to classrooms and the stories our principals share, I am impressed by how many moments involve connection and collaboration: Our students weave their interests into learning projects; they make real-world connections in our community through classroom assignments and service projects; and they share and perform their learning by inviting other classrooms and their community to presentations and concerts. You can see some of these moments in action in the photos below. This learning wouldn't be possible without our staff and faculty members who show up in large and small moments to support and inspire our students each day and pursue professional development to further their abilities. I am grateful for everything this community offers to our students.

Wishing you a restful winter break,

Wendy Baker, Ed.D.
Superintendent

Student half-days are professional learning opportunities for our staff. During the February early release professional development session, ACSD principals led their schools through a discussion protocol to define what "High Quality Learning" looks like in their buildings. Our next step is to work as a District toward a single Shared Understanding of High Quality Learning that will help us prioritize teaching and learning practices in ACSD.

If you're curious to know more about ACSD staff and teacher professional development, you can always find the agendas for our learning days on our website here under Curriculum.

We have one enrollment opportunity and two updates for families of current kindergarten and preschool age students in Addison Central School District (Bridport, Cornwall, Middlebury, Ripton, Salisbury, Shoreham & Weybridge). Please read and share with your neighbors:

1. Will your child be in kindergarten or 1st grade in September 2025? Would you be interested in having them enroll in a K/1 classroom at Ripton Elementary School? The ACSD Board recently revised policy D6, Class Size, to allow the superintendent to invite families in our other ACSD towns to attend an under-enrolled ACSD K-5 class. Ripton currently has openings within its 2025-2026 K/1 classroom. If you want more information about this potential option, you can express your interest in one of three ways by March 3, 2025:

* Contact Darcie Arensmeyer at darensmeyer@acsdvt.org 802-388-1274, or

* Contact the principal at your local elementary school or

* Contact our Universal PreK Coordinator, Ashley Bessette, at abessette@acsdvt.org

2. Will your child start Kindergarten in September 2025? If your child will be 5 by September 1 and plans to attend any ACSD school for the 2025-2026 school year, contact your school to make sure they are on our incoming student list! Bridport: 802-758-2331; Cornwall (802) 462-2463; Mary Hogan/Middlebury (802) 388-4421; Ripton (802) 388-2208; Salisbury (802) 352-4291; Shoreham (802) 388-2208; Weybridge (802) 545-2113

3. Do you have a child ready for preschool? Every preschool age child (3-5yo) in ACSD is eligible for 10 FREE hours of preschool at a pre-qualified preschool program and NOW* is the time to begin thinking ahead to the 2025-26 school year. Visit https://mbaker61.wixsite.com/uprek/partners for a list of preschools and more information. Contact: Ashley Bessette, Universal Prek Coordinator, at abessette@acsdvt.org for support or to ask questions. *Most preschool programs will begin enrolling in February/March for the 2025-26 school year.

Dedicated ACSD faculty, students, and community members have been collaborating since December on 5 teams to examine the extent to which our district is making progress toward the following "Learning Principles," as defined by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges:

• LP Team 1: Learning Purposes
• LP Team 3: Evidence of Learning
• LP Team 6: Research, Reflection, Action
• LP Team 7: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging
• LP Team 9: Learning Space and Time

The teams work to analyze evidence that has been submitted by individual teachers, grade level teams, academic departments and/or schools. In April, LP Teams will present their findings to the ACSD community, highlighting where we are in relation to each standards and making recommendations for where ACSD should prioritize attention over our next accreditation cycle. Learn more about the NEASC and IB reauthorization here.

We have anticipated openings for the 2025-2026 school year and some positions that are open now! Click the link below to view all jobs!

ACSD offers competitive wages and employee benefits that include:

Health, Dental, Life AD&D, Long Term Disability Coverage

• Family health insurance plan, contribution to a Health Savings Account (HSA) or a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA)

• Access to a flexible spending account

• Single dental insurance plan with the option to purchase dependent coverage

• Long term disability plan with a 90-day elimination period, benefit pays 66 2/3% of salary

• Life insurance valued at $30,000

• Paid leave (CTO, paid holidays, and sick leave vary by position type)

Additional benefits:

• Retirement annuity match of up to 4-5% of salary for staff positions

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

We are increasing our daily substitute teaching rate to $160/day for unlicensed subs and $200/day for licensed subs. This change begins on Wednesday, March 5, 2025 when students return from winter break. This flat rate replaces our sliding rate of pay for subs depending on the number of days worked.

Substitute teachers are crucial for our students, staff, and schools! Please apply and share with those who would be a good fit. To apply, you can email your interest to HR@acsdvt.org with "Substitute Position" in the subject line. You can also visit this listing on school spring.

February 24-March 4: Winter break

March 4: Town Meeting Day

March 31: No School Techer Inservice

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

• Look for a Board Winter 2024-25 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