Panther Press

March 3 - 7 - Read Across America Week

March 7 - Early Release Day

March 13 - Parent-Teacher Conferences 3:00-7:00 pm (More information below)

March 19th (snow date March 20th) - Music in Our Schools Month Concert for 5-6 Band and Chorus (During School Day, no evening commitment)

March 20 - Parent-Teacher Conferences 3:00-7:00 pm (More information below)

March 21 - Inservice Day (NO SCHOOL for students)

April 10 - GDBA Author Visit at OVUHS- 4th-6th grades, 12-2 pm

April 10th - 3/4 Celebration of Learning (5pm) and Concert in the gym (6pm) (snow date April 15th)

May 8 - K-2 Celebration of Learning (5pm) and Outdoor Concert (6pm) (rain date May 13th)

May 14 - District Student Art show at OVUHS

May 15th - Spring Concert for Chorus, 5th and 6th Grade Band, 4th Grade Band and Piano Students in gym (6pm)

In celebration of reading and the fact that we have filled our Paw Bank, we celebrated with a fun game show during Friday's morning meeting! Have you ever seen the show, The Masked Singer? We made our own version of the show called, The Masked Reader! Can you guess which teacher is reading? The students had a blast!

We will be celebrating the art of reading from March 3rd to March 7th. Each day we will have a spontaneous time of reading for 20 minutes. Students will never know when it will happen so we encourage them to keep a book with them at all times. We will also celebrate by participating in fun dress up activities for each day of the week. See the poster below for each dress-up activity!

Family conference sign up will look different this spring. We are testing a new program to streamline our process. On February 21, 2025, you should have received an email from SchoolSoft or PowerSchool with a link and instructions on how to sign up in our new software. If you did not receive the email, please check your SPAM folder and then reach out to Sara Eddy at seddy@rnesu.org with any questions or concerns. Please bear with us as we all navigate this new system together. Sara would appreciate any feedback both positive or negative that you are able to provide once you have used the system. This will guide our decision as to whether or not we continue with this program in the future.

Interested in becoming more involved in the school system? Consider becoming a school board member. Start your write-in campaign today!

The Otter Valley Unified Union School District has the following openings for the Office of School Board of Director for the coming election in March 2025:

• Brandon

• Leicester - 1 year remaining of a 3-year term

• Pittsford

• Pittsford - 2 years remaining of a 3-year term

• Sudbury

• Whiting - 2 years remaining of a 3-year term

• At-Large*

• At-Large* - 2 years remaining of a 3-year term

*At-Large candidates can be from any of the OVUUSD towns: Brandon; Goshen; Leicester; Pittsford Sudbury; and Whiting.

All board seats are three year terms unless otherwise noted.

Lothrop School families and friends, we are excited to be bringing back Girls on the Run to our community this spring with Sarah Gecha and Kayla Desabrais as coaches! Girls on the Run is an afterschool program that uses research based lessons to empower young girls and help them build confidence. Navigating through tough times takes perseverance. This season's curriculum inspires all participants to say “I can!” to every obstacle that comes their way. Participants will build confidence to overcome difficult situations, inspire others to keep going when it’s hard, and embrace their confidence to make a difference in their community.

Online registration will open on Wednesday, February 26th at 8am. Our season starts the week of March 17th and culminates June 7th in a noncompetitive, celebratory 5K event. Our team will meet twice a week for 90 minutes each session for 10 weeks. Girls on the Run is open to girls in grades 3-6. If your child is interested in participating this spring, please complete GOTRVT's Participant Interest Form ahead of registration opening in February. Filling out the interest form means you will get an email reminder the day before and morning of about registration opening. To learn more about these programs, check out gotrvt.org/programs. Have further questions? Contact GOTRVT at anne@girlsontherunvermont.org or 802-871-5664.

Car riders are dismissed to the lower lot on Pleasant Street at 2:35 PM each day. Parents should be waiting in the car pick-up line until they reach the designated pick-up area. If you have students at Lothrop and Otter Valley, please have your children meet and wait together. We ask that you join the end of the car pick-up line to ensure that both of your children are ready to be picked up. If you arrive early, we ask that you pull into the lower lot and park. Please don’t park on Pleasant Street or Cross Street blocking in residents and/or the fire station.

As we continue to address the recent PowerSchool cybersecurity incident, we want to ensure that questions and concerns are handled efficiently. For the most current information:

1. Visit the RNESU Website:
   Our website will have the most up-to-date information and resources related to the incident as they become available. https://www.rnesu.org/page/powerschool-cybersecurity-incident

2. Contact Via Email:
   For more specific questions or concerns, families and staff can reach out via email to psinfo@rnesu.org.

Thank you for your help and support as we navigate this situation.

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.

Email: sfarrington@rnesu.org

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

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