The Lamoille Ledger

September 27th - Early Release (Elementary Only)

September 28th - Rocktoberfest (Downtown Morrisville) 10AM - 5PM

October 7th - SSD Board Meeting - 5:30PM (SES)

October 11th - No School (Yom Kippur)

October 14th - No School (Indigenous Peoples Day)

October 21st - EMUU Board Meeting - 5:30PM (MES)

LSSU Strategic Plan

LSSU Family Handbook (2024-25)

Annual Report

Healthy Lamoille Youth Resources

Prior Newsletters

District Website

District 2024-25 Calendar

Lamoille County - Find Help Page

Dear Lamoille South Families,

We hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful day. With our fall sports in full swing, it is nice to see some sunshine for the big weekend games. This week has been a rollercoaster with a lot of highs and a few tough moments. The most challenging was responding to a hoax phone call that put one of our elementary schools in lockdown. Across the country, schools are navigating the new disruptions caused by anonymous calls with threats of safety. It makes me sad and extremely frustrated when our children are impacted by individuals hoping to cause instability by targeting our most vulnerable. This morning, I had a chance to attend the SES community meeting and was filled with gratitude for the educators and community's response which was to meet these attacks with an even greater sense of joy and community. We couldn't ask for a more efficient and timely response from our law enforcement with officers from Stowe, Morristown, and the Sheriff's Department all working together.

Last Friday, I attended the Peoples Academy community meeting where a ninth grade student stood up and welcomed the entire school with a song on his violin. The courage to stand up on stage and take a risk was met with a warm response from peers. These are the moments that remind us that we live in a special place with incredibly safe schools. We will never let that be taken away from our kids.

Thank you all for your support and enjoy the weekend. I hope to see some of you at Rocktoberfest!

Ryan Heraty

Superintendent

Lamoille South Supervisory Union

ryan.heraty@lamoillesouth.org

802-888-4541

We are grateful for the Benjamin Clapp Athletic Fund which is raising funds to renovate the basketball court at Peoples Academy and engage in many years of supporting athletes in Lamoille County and across Vermont. Ben made an impact on so many in Lamoille South and his memory will carry on for generations. I typically never share fundraising opportunities and this is a special exception. Checks can be written to Benjamin Jeremy Clapp Athletic Fund c/o Kathy Demars, mailed to 177 Demars Road, Morrisville, VT 05661. Venmo - @benjaminjeremyclappAfund

Below you will find our new one-page goal documents. These are intended to summarize the key focus areas of each school this year and are built off of our five-year strategic plan and the LSSU Portrait of a Graduate. I invite you to peruse these and share any thoughts or questions that arise. You will notice a significant focus this year on literacy after two years of intensive work around math. Schools are also zeroing in on mental health and reviewing the systems that meet the social and emotional needs our students.

The work to make our schools phone and personal device-free has been transformative. Both schools boards have now officially adopted policy that aligns with these new practices. I've had a number of teachers and parents reach out to share the difference this has made in their classrooms and with students. Here are a few of those quotes:

HS Librarian: "Kids are actively engaged in talking to one another during free time and many high school students who haven't borrowed a book in some time have come to borrow books in the library so they have something to read during free time when they'd otherwise be doomscrolling on the phones."

Parent: "I have to share with you the positive feedback ****** had for the no phones at the high school. He came home from school on day one and announced how awesome it was that no one was on their phone (mind you we often battle at home about following our phone rules/expectations, so this was a surprise for us!) specifically at lunch. He said it was the best lunch he's had in at least a year. Everyone was talking, laughing and paying attention to each other. So bravo on making this happen! I'm so excited for these teens to learn what it's like to pay 100% attention to each other and appreciate each other."

Middle School Teacher: "It has been a total game changer. We are all enjoying our jobs more than ever and the consistency makes a huge difference."

In light of the recent lockdown, I wanted to share a few frequently asked questions we receive regarding school safety. We do not share all of our procedures in detail but thought this might be helpful for families looking to learn more. If you have a question that is not addressed, please send them to our Director of MTSS at stephanie.hudak@lamoillesouth.org and they will be added to this document if appropriate.

There is a special event coming up that is held annually at the Current in Stowe. Please see more HERE.