The Core

Hello Parents & Guardians,

Thank you for the awesome turn-out at our Curriculum Night yesterday, it's great having you here! I'm sure not all of your questions were answered so please stay in touch with your child's teacher.

I am so excited about our new newsletter format. We've had over 630 views! I hope it is working for you, please feel free to give me your feedback.

In addition to Picture Days, next week is our first Farm to School Week. This month's topic - "Garden Treats Made Sweet by Heat". The recipe and food prep will focus on onions, garlic, and peppers. Stay tuned.

Next week is our first full week - five days! Have a great weekend; take some time to read with your child.

Mark Trifilio

Principal

Check here to see which day your child's class is scheduled for pictures. It's a bit mixed so check carefully.

Monday

• Kindergarten - Ms. Koch, Ms. Antonioli & Ms. Walcott
• Grade 3
• Grade 4
• Grade 5

Tuesday

• Pre-School - both morning and afternoon programs
• Kindergarten - Ms. Barone & Ms. Garland
• Grade 1
• Grade 2

Photos taken by AMV Studios. More information about student packages and purchasing options are attached to this email.

PTO Annual Meeting Sept. 16 at 6:30 pm: Please join us for our Annual Meeting on September 16th at 6:30 pm in the cafeteria to learn more. All are welcome! There are many fun activities planned and we will be recruiting volunteers. Mr. Trifilio will also conduct his annual volunteer training. All parents wishing to volunteer in the school must undergo training – check this off your list early this year by attending the PTO meeting!

Save the Date for this year’s Fun Run! October 11. The Fun Run is the only fundraiser of the year and funds earned go to support the many fun PTO-sponsored events that occur. If you work for a company interested in sponsoring this event, please reach out to Angi Murray at orchardfunrun@gmail.com and find more information about the Fun Run attached to the Core newsletter.

Box Tops: Save your box tops to help earn money for Orchard! The money earned from Box Tops goes to support many PTO-sponsored events. Drop your Box Tops in the Orchard lobby.

Have you joined Konstella yet? The Orchard School PTO uses a parent portal and mobile app called Konstella. Please find the secure sign up here: https://www.konstella.com.

Do you have PTO questions? Please find us online:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/orchardschoolpto
  
• Website: www.orchardschoolpto.org
  
• Email: orchardschoolvt@gmail.com
  
• Konstella: https://www.konstella.com
  

The Orchard Staff has rebooted our PBIS system, aka the Core Project. PBIS, Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, is a school-wide system that recognizes the positive contributions of students. The main goal of PBIS is to teach and develop a sense of self-discipline to make positive choices.

1. When students practice their core values we acknowledge their positive action by giving them a small apple card. We also verbalize what the staff member observed the student doing well.
2. The student puts the apple card on a Classroom 100's Chart.
3. When the Classroom Chart gets to 100, the class (1) has a small celebration, (2) places a large apple card to the School 100's Chart and (3) starts the classroom chart over again.
4. When our School Chart gets 100 apples, we have a school wide celebration ... and then start over!

This is just our "basics" but keep an eye out for more information.

Monday, September 16 - PTO Meeting, all are invited

Friday, September 20 = Early Release Day, students are dismissed at 12:30

For more calendar updates, click on the calendar at our website.

The South Burlington School Board awarded Melissa McConnell at Convocation with the Ted Manazir Award. Melissa was recognized for her work as a team player, outside of the box, strengths-based thinker. She is a strong child advocate who is smart, approachable, thorough, caring, trustworthy and highly ethical.

Melissa works tirelessly to helping families in a variety of ways and she is a strong advocate for students and families. In fact, Melissa also received the 2015 Gregory Packan Award for Outstanding Children’s Advocacy at the annual KidsSafe Collaborative Awards Ceremony. In nominating Melissa, the Assistant Director of School Services wrote, “She knows how family and community experiences can strongly influence academic success, so in addition to the time she devotes to school based supports, she is equally as invested in change beyond the school’s walls.”

It takes a great deal of compassionate, creative problem solving to serve “all” of our South Burlington students which is why we are awarding Melissa McConnell with the 2019 Ted Manazir award.