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A message from Director of Special Services, Loren Goracy - Important Dates - CVSD Family & Caregiver Survey - Chorus and Band Details - ParentIn Update - SPARK Session 1 details - and more...

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by Lauren Goracy, Director of Special Services

How is Williston Schools implementing Act 173?

Hello! My name is Lauren Goracy and I am in my second year at Williston Schools as the Director of Special Services! I wanted to take this opportunity to provide some information about Act 173 and the professional development the school has been engaged with in order to prepare for these state-wide changes. Each month, I will share more snippets of information to help inform you on these changes that will occur in our school systems. First, what is Act 173?

In May 2018, Vermont passed Act 173. The purpose of the act is “to enhance the effectiveness, availability, and equity of services provided to all students who require additional support in Vermont’s schools.” This act changes the funding for special education from a reimbursement model to a census-based model, based on recommendations from the University of Vermont’s Study of Vermont State Funding for Special Education.

Act 173 also aligns The five opportunities for improving services for students who need additional support Described Strict management report of 2017:

1. Ensure Elementary Tier 1 core instruction meets the needs of most students;

2. Provide additional instructional time outside core subjects aligned to the core instruction, to students who struggle, rather than providing interventions instead of core instruction;

3. Ensure students who struggle receive all instruction from highly skilled teachers;

4. Create or strengthen a system-wide approach to supporting positive student behaviors based on expert support; and

5. Provide students having more intensive support needs with specialized instruction from skilled and trained experts.

In order to provide what is listed above, Act 173 focuses on the following four levers:

1. A Coordinated Curriculum

2. Educational Support Teams (EST) - As part of our Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS)

3. Local Comprehensive Assessments

4. Needs Based Professional Development

Champlain Valley School District and Williston schools are in the process of learning more about these four levers, reviewing our current practices related to them, and revamping these practices to meet the needs of all learners. Many of these practices have already been implemented in our schools and we are working to gain a greater understanding of the new changes and how that impacts the work that we do. Next month, I will provide you with a more in-depth explanation about these four levers and how Williston schools has been engaged in this work.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions.

Thank you,

Lauren Goracy

lgoracy@cvsdvt.org

09/25 - NO SCHOOL, Yom Kippur

09/28 - ABS K-2 Open House, 6:00 - 7:00pm

10/06 - NO SCHOOL, Student Conference Day

10/09 - NO SCHOOL, Indigenous Peoples Day

10/11 - 4 Winds Training, 8:15am - 10:30 am @WCS Community Room

10/12 - Families as Partners Monthly Meeting, 8:30 - 10:30 @WCS Community Room

10/13 - Synergy to Mt. Philo

10/27 - Beginner Band Instrument Assembly, 9:45-10:45am

11/03 - 7th & 8th Grade Dance, 6:30 - 8:30

CVSD values your feedback and we want to know what you think!

We are currently surveying our families and caregivers to gain insight into your perception of our school and district's effectiveness. To ensure that we continue to provide high-quality, rigorous learning experiences that meet the needs of our learners and prepare them for college, career, and the future, we would love to learn your opinion on the progress towards those ends.

To administer these surveys, we have partnered with Panorama Education to conduct our Fall 2023 Family Survey. Panorama safeguards your privacy, keeping your responses confidential and anonymous. The survey will be a valuable source of information for us as we work to make our schools and our district exemplary.

You may complete the survey online between September 22 and October 13 using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. If you have children in more than one of our schools, we'd appreciate you sharing your thoughts about each separately. Please note: we are not certain that the survey saves if you have to step away while completing it. Please try to fill it out in one sitting.

We thank you in advance for your thoughtful responses. If you have any questions about the survey administration, please don’t hesitate to contact us using Let's Talk and selecting the General Questions topic.

Thank you,

Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

Champlain Valley School District

Annual Update Forms MUST be completed in order for your student to participate in Field Trips and other school events. Forms may be completed on-line or using the PowerSchool Mobile App.

Use these directions to use the PowerSchool Mobile App

ParentIN CVSD is working with our district to better understand the perspectives and needs of caregivers. Your honest answers are appreciated and are completely anonymous and will not be used to identify individual respondents in any way. Results help us evaluate current programs and plan new ways to support youth and families in our area. If you have questions about this survey, reach out to Amy Sayre at asayre@cvsdvt.org.

At the end of the survey is a link to be entered in a raffle for a chance to win one of three $50 gift cards to a grocery store of your choice! The contact information you provide for the raffle is kept separate from the survey response and cannot be tied to your survey answers.

TAKE THE SURVEY!

Check Out Our Upcoming Programs!!

On October 5th we'll host a convenient, virtual event that is a collaboration between ParentIN and UMatter. Kathleen Kilbourne of the Center for Health and Learning will help us identify risk and protective factors connected to supporting youth mental health and with share ways to strengthen wellbeing and reduce suicide risk. Save 7:00-8:00pm for Kathleen's presentation and 8:00-8:30pm if you want to stay for questions.

You told us you wanted to be better informed on social media’s impact on youth.On November 16th, we are bringing back an amazing speaker, Erin Walsh of the Spark and Stitch Institute, for a virtual presentation from 7-8:30pm on Teens, Social Media & Mental Health and how we can help the young people in our lives navigate the digital world. This will not be recorded so mark your calendar now! Erin Walsh and the Spark and Stitch Institute that she runs with her father Dr. David Walsh is an amazing wealth of information and support. We will link to them a lot in our ParentIN communications - we encourage you to check them out online.

Student Individual Reports for the VTCAP assessments administered in the Spring of 2023 were scheduled to be released on September 19, 2023. We received notification from the Vermont Agency of Education that the release has been delayed. We will continue to keep you updated as we learn more from the AOE. We plan to send the Individual Student Reports home along with an Interpretation Guide for families as soon as we are able.

Please remember: If there is any change to your student's typical end of day plan, please be sure to contact the front office and teacher BEFORE 1:00PM (or 12:00 pm on Wednesdays). Changes in your student(s) schedule will not be accepted after this time unless it is an emergency.

Send all emails regarding attendance and end of day changes to:

1. The classroom teacher

2. Front Office: absfrontoffice@cvsdvt.org

3. The Team Assistant for your grade:

• Kindergarten - cplouffe@cvsdvt.org

• First/Second Grade - lsaladino@cvsdvt.org

We are excited to offer your child an opportunity to participate in Spark Enrichment, an after-school applied learning program for students in grades 5-8. Sessions will run for 5 weeks from 2:50 p.m - 4:20 p.m. with our 1st session starting September 28th and ends October 26th. These small group classes will be facilitated by school faculty and staff. Students will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities that can be found on the link below. Accommodations for any food allergies will be made. Caregivers will receive an email (using the email given on the form) informing them of the assigned workshop on Monday or Tuesday of the week that workshops begin. In order to take full advantage of this learning opportunity, students will need to make a commitment to attend all five Thursdays. If your child decides to not take part in this session after having registered please contact Julie Rogers so that others may fill the spot. The after-school activity bus will provide transportation home for students in need of a ride home.

The dates of the session are: September 26, October 5, 12, 19, and 26. When registering, students will be able to rank their choices for better placement! Students will be placed on a first come first serve basis as well as ensuring that students do not repeat workshops unless there are open spots. Please use this registration form and a listing of workshop descriptions. Contact Julie Rogers (jrogers@cvsdvt.org) with any questions.

Dress Code

Williston Schools are committed to creating a comfortable and positive learning environment for all students. The WCS dress code is designed to promote a body-positive environment where all students feel safe and welcome by upholding standards that foster a secure and equitable community. Our dress code seeks to ensure that all students are treated equitably regardless of race, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, cultural observance, household income, disability or body type/size. WCS expects its members to come to school dressed appropriately for being in a public space, community and work environment. Students are expected to wear clothing that:

- Fully covers belly or midriff, rear and chest, and should not be transparent (see-through).

- Undergarments (not including straps) should also not be exposed.

- Does not display messages that depict, or symbolize sexual references, drugs/alcohol/tobacco, weapons or harassing references (targeting based on race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, sexual orientation, or disability).

- Does not completely cover the face. Exceptions for religious coverings, masks for health reasons, and hats/hoodies (as long as they are not impacting safety, health or learning).

NOTE: Certain areas in the school might require particular dress for safety reasons especially in Design and Tech space and the gymnasium; teachers of these spaces will share expectations with students.

Potential dress code violations will be handled… ● In a manner that does not pull a student out of an instructional class ● Through a private, respectful conversation ● With a trusted adult that has a relationship with the student ● Without requiring the student wear a “loaner” item ● If there is a violation, the student will be asked to cover up or change using their own clothing

Final dress code decisions will be made by the Principal

Cell Phone, Airpods and other Electronics

Electronic games, cell phones, Airpods, etc. are not to be carried or used during the school day. They are allowed on the bus to and from school. Students may keep them in their backpack at their own risk or put them in a locked location provided by their team.

A lot of families (especially families of 3rd graders and those new to WCS) are inquiring about the Health Office process of notifying parents when their child is seen by the nurse. We want to inform families that the WCS process is different from the one in Allen Brook due to the size of the school, age of students, and amount of students the nurses see daily.

WCS has more than 600 students and WCS nurses see from 50 to 70 students a day. Unfortunately, nurses do not have the capacity for calling families for every student visit. In addition, we believe WCS students are at the age when most of the students can communicate well and tell their parents when something happened (unlike students in ABS).

The nurses at WCS use a nursing triage system with a procedure in place for when to call/ email families.

We do a phone call for all life threatening emergencies, major injuries and for matters that either require immediate attention and/or require a student to be picked up.

We do an email notification as an FYI notice for all above-shoulder injuries that passed neurological assessment with no signs of concussion. If we suspect a student might have a concussion - we always call.

At the discretion of the nurse - families might also get notified via email of the matters that require monitoring over a few days (e.g. ear aches with normal exam...). We always notify families when we administer antihistamine that is 24 hrs acting (Claritin, Zyrtec). We also notify families of 3-4 graders when we administer any oral OTC medications (except for cough drops).

We hope this clarifies our procedures and we are happy to talk via the phone at 871-6170 or email at WCSnurse@cvsdvt.org

Be well,

Nurse Maria and Nurse Carol

Families as Partners (FAP) teams up with the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library to sponsor a fun inter-generational book group that brings together WCS middle school students, seniors from our community and parent volunteers. Each book group will read and discuss 5 books over the course of the school year. Meetings take place during school hours.

The program will kick-off in October with a “Get Acquainted” meeting. The book groups will then meet during school hours once a month to discuss books in a relaxed and fun setting. 5th & 6th graders meet from 11:40 am - 12:15pm. 7th & 8th graders meet from 12:15 pm - 12:50pm. The program runs from October to March. (Note 5/6 and 7/8 groups will read different titles)

If your 5-8th grade student is interested in being considered for this program, please register by Friday, September 29th. We are also seeking parent volunteers! Use this online link to register your child or to sign up as a volunteer.

If you have any questions, please contact Karen at ws_intergen@cvsdvt.org.

(Here is the online link: https://forms.gle/nk7CZ4gpumxx85Ru5)

Is your son or daughter interested in STEAM - science, technology, engineering, art, and math? If so, they might really enjoy being part of the WCS Lego Robotics team that competes against more than 20 other Vermont middle schools to see who can best code robots and create innovative solutions to challenges. This year’s theme is Masterpiece, exploring how technology helps create and communicate art across the globe. Here is a sneak peek at the challenge table: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QArg43rCMBA. The team meets every Monday / Tuesday from 3:00 - 4:20, and there is a late bus for any students needing transportation. We expect every member of the team to commit to attending every “practice” to the best of their ability. This year, we will compete in two competitions, a Vermont qualifier at SCS on Saturday, Dec. 2, and the Vermont State Championships at Norwich University on Sat. Jan 26.

We have a pretty large group of students returning from last year’s two teams, and Lego limits team sizes to 10 students, but there are at least five positions for new students. We will hold a lottery of everyone interested to select new team members, and those not selected are placed on a waitlist in case anyone can’t keep their commitment. If your son or daughter is interested, please complete this form https://forms.gle/fVyYJzx8Y16AKa8e8 before 3 PM Wednesday, September 20, and we will do our best to include as many as possible from those interested. Everyone will be notified by Friday, Sept 22, of their status, and our first team meeting will be Monday, September 25, at 3 p.m. in Mr. Miler’s Creation Studio. If you have any questions, please reach out to Coach Allan Miller at akmiller@cvsdvt.org

When:

• Tuesdays after school, 2:50-4:00.

• Rehearsals for session 1 begin on Tuesday, September 26th.

• The first two rehearsals are “open enrollment.” (9/26 and 10/3) Students may come to sit in and check it out with no obligation.

• Starting Tuesday, October 10th, students must make a final decision to be a chorus member or not. Chorus members must attend all rehearsals. Absences due to medical, religious, or family reasons are excused.

• Non-members are not permitted to attend rehearsals.

Where:

• WCS Music/Chorus room

• Students should bring a snack to eat between school dismissal and the start of chorus rehearsal. No food is permitted inside the rehearsal room. Only water is allowed.

• There is a 4:20 activity bus available to take students home. Supervision is provided between 4:00 and 4:20.

Other Information:

• The chorus performances for session 1 will be on Tuesday, February 6th, 2024.

• The chorus sings a variety of music from different time periods, cultures, and styles. The students will be singing in different languages, meters, and tonalities. The songs range in level of difficulty.

• No audition- just a love for singing!

• No cost.

Sign-up forms will be coming home in your child’s take-home folder. (Or use this online form instead!)

Click HERE to receive important 4th-grade chorus information and updates!

Please contact Danielle Trasciatti-Holmberg (Mrs. T-H) with any questions or concerns. dtrasciatti@cvsdvt.org

If you have any with some life still left in them that you would be willing to donate, they can be dropped off at WCS Attn: Julia Nesbit

Click to continue reading the Spring/Summer Newsletter

Please join us on Sunday, September 24, 2023 at Cedar Knoll Country Club in Hinesburg for the 3rd Annual CVU Redhawks Girls Basketball Golf Tournament.

The day will include greens fees, cart rental, food (a light breakfast, lunch, appetizers and cash bar,) raffle prizes and the winning team will receive the Dick Hess Championship Trophy at the end of the day. $100 per person or $400 per foursome who register by September 10th. To sign up for your spot or register a foursome, contact Christine Jacobs at monkton127@gmail.com

Hello from the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library Youth Department! Find out more about programs at http://www.damlvt.org or by calling 878-4918.

*YOUTH PROGRAMMING*

Children in 5th grade and up may use the library unattended, while those in grade 4 or under must be supervised by a person over 16 years of age.

We are happy to welcome children into the library after school again and will be offering programs on early-release Wednesdays, including crafts, LEGOs and more. For information on the Unattended Children Policy, see above or visit www.damlvt.org. Parents and guardians are encouraged to stop by or call 878-4918 to chat with a youth librarian about expectations and the library's after-school experience.

Littles Dungeons & Dragons*
Saturday, September 23, 1-2 p.m. A mini session of Dungeons & Dragons for children ages 6-8. No prior experience required. Please register each individual child that plans to participate!

Quiet Kids’ Read-In
Monday, September 25, 3-4 pm. Get cozy with a good book and a warm drink.

Storytime
Tuesdays, 10:30-11 a.m. Join Sarah for stories, songs, and rhymes.

September Science Activity: Newton’s First Law of Motion
Tuesday, September 26, 5-5:45 p.m. Experience Newton’s First Law of Motion by making your own pom-pom popper!

After School Craft
Wednesday, September 27, 3-4 p.m. Weave your own bookmark out of yarn and string!

Preschool Music & Preschool Playtime
Thursdays, 10:30-11 a.m. Sing and dance with Linda Bassick! Followed by preschool playtime from 11-11:30 a.m.

LEGO Time
Thursday, September 28, 3-4 p.m. Make something exciting with the Library’s LEGO collection!

Teens D&D
Friday, September 29, 5-6 p.m. Ages 12+. Join our Dungeons & Dragons campaign!

Saturday Music
Saturday, September 30, 10:30-11 a.m. Sing and dance with Linda Bassick the last Saturday of the month!

• First Call - 488-7777: phone support, crisis intervention, assessment and referrals
• In Crisis: 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) (National Hopeline Network: USA)
• National Suicide Prevention Life line- 1-800-273-TALK (8255), call or chat online
• Crisis Text Line - text HOME to 741741 (24 hours a day, seven days a week)
• Outright Vermont - support for LGBTQ+ community
• UVM Breathe In Breath Out - How to deal with stress due to COVID-19
• Vermont 211 -Vermont database of resources and services
• Vermont Support Line (833) 888-2557) - peer support warmline open 247 - 365 for call or text
• COVID Counselors @ VT-211
• Teen Crisis Text Line - Crisis Text Line provides free emotional support and information to teens in any type of crisis, including feeling suicidal. You can text with a trained specialist 24 hours a day. Text “HOME” to 741741.
• Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide - Website where you can find information to help yourself or a friend who may be having thoughts of suicide.
• Trevor Lifeline - 1-866- 488-7386 - provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people. It offers free, 24/7, confidential counseling. TrevorText—text START to 678-678; TrevorChat—instant messaging at TheTrevorProject.org/help. It also runs TrevorSpace, an affirming social networking site for LGBTQ youth at TrevorSpace.