Dear Salisbury Community School families,

Another good few weeks at Salisbury Community School! We are officially back in the swing of things, and students and staff have all gotten into a rhythm. It's been really nice!

I'm going to keep this message short, because there's a good amount in this newsletter, but I do want to ask folks for a couple of big favors around attendance and picking up students.

1: If a student is going to be out, it is essential that you call us or email to let us know your student will be out, and why. It helps us both with our state-mandated paperwork and with our ability to support students. If you do not reach out to us, we will reach out to you, but that can often be a time-consuming process for Donna.

2: If a student is going on a trip and missing school for more than three days, you must reach out to ACSD Superintendent Wendy Baker (wbaker@acsdvt.org) for approval. This expectation is the same across the district.

3: If students' after-school plans are changing, you must call or email Donna in the front office (dsimpson@acsdvt.org or 802-352-4291). We cannot take the word of students on this, as they can often get confused (they are quite young, after all). Please contact us by 1:30 PM- it gives us time to notify everyone who needs to know.

Thanks for reading those expectations, and making them part of what we do. Hopefully they are small asks, but they are ones that make a big difference in terms of our keep students organized, safe, and heading the correct place at the end of the day!

Best,

Bjarki

• From the Principal's Desk
• Important Dates Coming Up.
• SCS Events:
• Open House
• All School Meeting
• News at SCS:
• School Savings
• SCS Partnering with Salisbury Family Center
• Panorama Screener Information
• 802 Smiles Returns!
• Time-lapse Picture Project
• ACSD News
• Lunch Menu
• School year calendar.
  

Wednesday, October 2nd: Fall Foliage Fun on the "Secret Soccer Field" 1:00-2:30.

Thanks to everyone who came to Open House last Thursday night! We moved it up a week this year to get it in before most fall sports started, and that seemed to work- we had the families of over 50 of our students come! We also served 4 gallons of ice cream! (Thank goodness for back-up popsicles too!). Parents, family and friends at Open House got to visit classrooms to see what students have been working on, meet the students' teachers, and spend some time catching up!

This Thursday, we held our first "All-School Meeting"! Students began by learning the Vermont State Song, "These Green Mountains", and singing it together. We then split into mixed aged groups, each with 5th and 4th grade leaders and a faculty member, to work together to identify and write down "what makes a school happy". To help prompt their thinking, we asked "What does a happy school LOOK like? What does a happy school SOUND like? What does a happy school FEEL like?". We got great responses. In future meetings (which will be about once a month) we will continue to think as a school community about agreements and understandings we can have that can make our school as happy (and safe and welcoming) as can be.

School House Savings is starting back up! Our weekly Banking Day will be on Tuesday mornings during arrival, in the gym. Whether students are depositing a few cents or emptying their piggy banks, this is a great opportunity for them to increase financial literacy and learn about savings.

Now is the time to sign up if your student has not participated in School House Savings in the past. See attached flyer for details. It’s simple!

Students can open their account with the pamphlet that came home in Friday Folders or with this link:

https://nbmvt.com/personal/savings-certificates/school-house-savings/

This year, we are VERY excited to announce that we are working with the Salisbury Family Center (a childcare center located in Salisbury Village) to bring afterschool care to SCS. Salisbury Family Center is owned and directed by Christian Bowdish, a Salisbury resident, and they will be operating an after-school care in our gym! Any interested families should reach out to Christian at sfc.afterschoolprogram@gmail.com or call her at 802-352-9800.

We know that social emotional learning (SEL) is crucial for our students’ success in school and in life, so across ACSD we are working on systems to support strong SEL teaching and learning in our schools. As part of that work, we are using Panorama surveys, research-backed SEL measurement tools. We will use the data we collect with this assessment to reflect on student learning and strengthen our programs and instruction to help all students succeed.

ACSD students have been taking this survey for 2 years now and we are actively using the data at the school and district level. At Salisbury Community School, it helps us to know both how students are doing as well as respond with whole class, grade, and individual supports as needed.

This survey will be given to students in grades 3-5 will take the survey again between this week and 10/9. The survey asks student to self-reflect on skills related to self-management, self-awareness, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. We ask that all students participate, because their feedback provides valuable insights to help us improve and adapt. K-2 students do not participate directly in the survey. Instead, K-2 teachers complete an SEL Teacher Perception checklist for each student.

Please notify your child’s teacher as well as Principal Bjarki Sears (bsears@acsdvt.org) if you wish to opt your child out of taking the survey. Thank you in advance for supporting this important work. If you have any questions please reach out to Bjarki as well.

The district is partnering with 802 Smiles again this year to offer dental cleanings and screenings at school. Please see the attached forms if you are interested. Only paper enrollment is available this year and forms should be returned to the school nurse. We will also be sending home paper forms next week, but we wanted to give folks the option of printing them out and handing them in earlier if they would like to do that. The enrollment deadline is October 1st. Dental care visits will happen the 2nd and 3rd weeks of October.

This year, we thought it would be fun to chronicle the changes of the season at Salisbury Community School by taking the same picture, at the same time, from the same spot, every week. At the end of the year it will hopefully be a fun thing to look at and share! Check out the first three weeks below! (Spoiler alert- not much change yet, but there will be!). Note the difference in where the shadows stretch already! The sun is that much lower after only a couple of weeks!

Due to growing instances of phishing scams and concern for potential hacks of our computer networks, we will be removing all staff email addresses from our website directory. This change comes at the direction of our Technology Dept and we join many K-12 schools, colleges, and businesses in making this change. Staff phone numbers will still be available in our staff directory. You may also request a teacher’s email by phone or by calling Salisbury Community School's front office at 802-352-4291. Thank you for your understanding as we balance family communication needs with tech privacy and safety.

In addition to our phone/email communication, ACSD has a text messaging system. Families must opt-in to receive texts. ACSD will only use text messaging for short, time-sensitive messages (like early dismissal and snow days). We will test this service on Thursday Sept 19th after the school day. To receive texts, you must opt-in:

• Text “yes” to 67587. You will get a reply confirming your registration. If you ever want to stop receiving texts, just text STOP.

• Make sure we have your wireless number in our student database. This is the number you share on school forms. (If you currently receive school/ACSD calls on your cell phone, we probably have your number.) Please contact your front office if we do not have this number.

• From the Principal's Desk
• Important Dates Coming Up.
• News at SCS:
• SCS Partnering with Salisbury Family Center
• Save the date for Open House! September 5th!
• "Thank Yous"
• Join FOSCS!
• A note from Librarian Megan Sutton
• Lunch Menu
• School year calendar.
  

Dear Salisbury Community School families,

The first week is in the books! It's always so fun to see the "firsts" of the year: the first students arriving, the first bus, the first time students see each other after a summer, the first game of kickball, the first morning meeting, and -especially joyous- the first time new members of our community: students, parents. and staff, come into the school for a day of school. I'm quite pleased to say that the week went very smoothly, and we settled into good routines for learning very, very quickly.

It's kind of the wrong time of year to write about it in the newsletter (I'm sure I'll return to it in late November), but as the first week went along with the smoothness that I mentioned above, I experienced many clear moments of thankfulness for so many things relating to Salisbury Community School. Most often I was feeling thankful for the people involved in our community. I felt thankful for the teachers and staff that are so deeply committed to the students and the place that is SCS- the effort they put forth, and the professional knowledge and skill they possess, create an environment that is welcoming, organized, and focused from the beginning and allows students to settle right in. I felt thankful for the students, who arrived at school ready to learn, play and engage, and the parents and other supports who always help our students navigate their lives and put their best foot forward. I felt thankful for the folks behind the scenes at our school district, ACSD, for doing so much planning over the summer that people never see. I also found myself being thankful, as always, to the people of town of Salisbury, which supported the construction of this wonderful school building on a ecologically diverse, well drained, and beautiful spot of land, and that still supports the school to this day. It is our honor to be an important part of the town, and we look forward to hosting community events like Town Meeting again this school year.

Please look below for some more specific "thank you's", including some pictures of work FOSCS and local businesses did over the summer! One week in the books, and a whole year of learning to go, surrounded by so much to be thankful for. Let's do it!

Best,

Bjarki

Labor Day: Monday, September 2nd- No School.

Open House and Ice-Cream Social: Thursday, September 5th 5:30-6:45

First FOSCS Meeting of the Year: Thursday, September 12th 6:30 in SCS Library

Our annual "Open House" will be held on Thursday, September 5th from 5:30-6:45. Come in, see your children's classrooms, visit with their teachers, and have some ice cream while you are here! We are doing it a little earlier this year so that it is before most fall youth sports start. We look forward to seeing you there!

In our "Back-to-School Newsletter" we listed all staff, but left Amy Pyfrom, our wonderful Special Educator, out of the list! Amy is still here, thank goodness, and she took her absence from the list in good humor. Sorry Amy!

This year, we are VERY excited to announce that we are working with the Salisbury Family Center (a childcare center located in Salisbury Village) to bring afterschool care to SCS. Salisbury Family Center is owned and directed by Christian Bowdish, a Salisbury resident, and they will be operating an after-school care in our gym! Any interested families should reach out to Christian at sfc.afterschoolprogram@gmail.com or call her at 802-352-9800.

In the spring, Friends of Salisbury Community School member Kristen Clark took on the project of arranging some work done over the summer, and she coordinated with some skilled and giving members of our local school and business community to make some improvements, and do some needed maintenance, on the playground and landscaping of SCS. We really appreciate the kindness of the following folks:

Sam Sheehan and Sheehan Construction: Sam led the way in improving the sandboxes and adding benches that protect toys when not in use. They are really sweet!

JP Carrara Concrete: Carrara's donated sand and cement for the sandboxes and benches.

Tom Bodette Landscaping: A yard of topsoil

Christine, Eugene, Paisley and Parker Sheldrick: The Sheldrick crew put in a lot of time working on the place: cutting up trees, straightening benches and the tetherball poles, and doing general landscaping. They are regular contributors to the upkeep of Salisbury Community School and we appreciate their efforts very much.

Steven, Lena, and Lawson Leatherwood: Also regular volunteers, the Leatherwoods led the way on landscaping and brush cutting during our Saturday "work day", including filling in the ruts on the soccer field!

Lindi Quesnel: Powerwashing the community entrance. It needed it!

Kristen, James, and the Clark gang: Filling up the sandboxes and making everything spiffy! Organizing, donating to, and assembling a new storage box for playground toys! And, as ever, contributing in so many ways. Thank you Kristen, for spearheading all of the work!

As you saw above, of the most important contributors to our community is the work of our parent-teacher organization Friends of Salisbury Community School (FOSCS). A solid PTO is really powerful for a school, especially an elementary school, and it really impacts students’ lives and well-being more than most people realize. Enough cannot be said about the impact FOSCS has on kids’ experiences at school, and the more people get involved, the more we can accomplish. To get involved in FOSCS, please reach out to Principal Sears at bsears@acsdvt.org, or to James Clark, FOSCS co-chair, at jamesearlclark@gmail.com. They'd both be happy to help you get involved!

Hello Salisbury Community School Families! It is lovely to have students in the Library and the enthusiasm for choice books and reading is strong! Some SCS students have returned books that were borrowed for the summer, and some are still checked out. Please help your children locate and return those books so they can choose new ones. As always, please contact me (msutton@acsdvt.org) if you have any questions, and feel free to stop by in the morning if you're at school and would like to check out some books. I am at SCS Mondays, Thursdays, and every other Wednesday. Hope to see you in the Library!

At the beginning of the year, we always send a packet of forms home. Some teachers sent them home the first day, some sent them home in "Friday Folders". Please fill them out and return them to school, as they contain important information we need for enrollment. If we don't receive paperwork back, we will reach out- not to harrass, but to emphasize the importance of having these in. We are working toward a goal of 100% of forms being returned.

If you need help filling out anything, stop by our front desk, and Donna and/or Bjarki will be happy to assist you.

• From the Principal's Desk
• Important Dates to Start the Year
• News at SCS:
• Staff News
• Introducing Emily Lyons.
• SCS Partnering with Salisbury Family Center
• Save the date for Open House! September 5th!
• The Year Ahead:
• Grade configuration news.
• Join Friends of Salisbury Community School!
• Logistics
• First day info
• Arrival/dismissal
• Attendance
• Bus routes
• Lunch information- including August/September Menu
• School year calendar.
  

August 16, 2024

Dear Salisbury Community School families,

It seems like just yesterday busses rolled away from Salisbury Community School, and I hope you have all had good summers with good summertime things. Maybe the things summer brings are swimming, or a Lake Monsters Game, tubing on Lake Dunmore, or getting loud at the demolition derby at Field Days. Maybe a summertime thing is a kid riding down the back roads of Salisbury on a bike (or a scooter, as I see sometimes!) to go hang out with a friend who lives down the road. Whatever the summertime things were that your children did, our whole faculty and staff at Salisbury Community School is excited to hear all about them, and kick off another great year. We look forward to catching up with you all, and meeting some new members of our community as well.

Summer brings fun things, but hard things too. The challenges of heat and rain have made it tough across Vermont, and it has been truly heartwarming to see the way communities across Vermont rally in tough times. Salisbury has not been immune to tough times, and I'd like to thank everyone that has stepped up to help folks who could use a little of it. Salisbury is truly a special place, with special people. As ever, I feel extremely fortunate to be the principal of Salisbury Community School.

School will feel reliably similar for our families and students as the year starts- we return almost all of the same staff, we did some important work on the school building this summer but nothing huge, and we are keeping our same general systems and daily schedule . Behind the scenes though, we continue to work to try to make what we do stronger. Many teachers and staff members took courses this summer, including three digging into very intensive courses on how to provide the best in literacy instruction, which always remains a special focus for us. Other courses explored music education and curriculum design. The school district itself has had a new Superintendent, Dr. Wendy Baker, take over the reins, and she has been leading us with a specific focus on engendering a sense of belonging for all students throughout all of the schools in Addison Central School District. This positive and inclusive approach is really noticeable in the work we are doing as a group of administrators over the summer, and I'm excited for the future when it comes to all of our school communities. We also worked as a district to set-up for the rollout of a new version of our core Math curriculum, Bridges 3. Salisbury teachers already have experience with the new elements of it, as we did a school-wide "pilot" of the program last year, so we're ready to pick right up and go.

One interesting little "start of the year' thing we have added: We are going to have an hour next Friday, the 23rd, for students and families to visit their classrooms and see their teachers if they want. It will be very informal (we'll have our usual open house on September 5th), but we figured offering a little time on the Friday before school wouldn't hurt.

While we didn't have major projects, one important bit of upkeep was the repair of the semi-circular windows above the front door, as well as the scraping and painting of the front entrance. Also of note was the work Pete Maloy, our awesome custodian, did to strip the floors and rewax all of them, a process that had not been done in full in some time. They cleaned up well!

Well, I don't want to make this too long. Welcome back, or welcome for the first time, and let's do another great year! As ever, if you have questions reach out to me or to Donna, and I look forward to connecting soon!

Best,

Bjarki

Kindergarten Pre-Week Visit: Thursday, August 22nd 2:30-3:00. Kindergarten Room, SCS

"Classroom Drop-in": Friday, August 23rd 11:00-12:00. Salisbury Community School

First Day of School! Monday, August 26th.

Labor Day: Monday, September 2nd- No School.

Open House and Ice-Cream Social: Thursday, September 5th 5:30-6:45

Once again, Salisbury Community School has very few changes in our staff. Staying in their same positions as primary classroom teachers are: Casey Fitzgerald teaching Kindergarten, Ann Rubright First Grade, Jennifer Larocque combined Second and Third Grades, Amy Clapp, teaching Fourth Grade, and Emmaleigh Sabol, 5th. Also teaching their same classes are Eileen Gombosi teaching Art, Sarah Metcalf, Music and Band, and Sierra Thornton teaching Physical Education. Lili Foster continues as our Academic Interventionist and Tammie Johnson remains our Counselor. Megan Sutton is our school Librarian and Media Specialist, Haysal Jones helps us stay healthy as our school nurse, Peter Maloy looks after us as our custodian, and Kathleen Newton keeps us fed as our wonderful cook! Sandy Hayes and Suzie Quesnel work to support students, especially in the younger grades. Donna Simpson continues as the school Administrative Assistant and Health Designee, a role that is , as always, one hundred different jobs rolled into one.

We will certainly miss those who left: Eliana Canas-Parra (Spanish) Vicky Wideman (CSAC Counselor), Madeline Wilson (SLP), Nancy Velez (Library Assistant) and Jessica Hurley (paraeducator). All five were wonderful and important members of our community, and I and all of Salisbury Community School thank them and wish them the absolute best in new endeavors.

At the moment we only have one new hire to announce: Emily Lyons, who is joining us as our CSAC Counseling Clinician, taking over the role that Vicky had held. Emily comes highly regarded by those who have worked with her, and we are excited to welcome her to the Salisbury community!

You might notice that this letter does not mention the hiring of a Spanish teacher or a Speech Language Pathologist. Those roles have been very hard to hire for, so we are still working on what our plans in those areas will look like to start the year.

This summer, while things were quiet, our custodian Peter Maloy did a great job with the summer cleaning. The building has been thoroughly cleaned and the grounds have been refreshed and inspected for safety. Thanks to FOSCS for their help in sprucing the place up too, and FOSCS member Kristin Clark for organizing.

We have one new staff member to announce at the moment: Emily Lyons. Emily will be joining us as our CSAC School-Based Clinician, and we are so excited she is joining our crew! A native Vermonter and Middlebury College graduate, Emily has worked with children and adolescents for the past 20+ years, first as a camp counselor and director for Camp Dartmouth-Hitchcock, and then as a Youth Employment Specialist for HireAbility Vermont. Subsequently, during her Master's Degree internships for Vermont State University she worked as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and as MUMS School-Based Clinician. Emily had the pleasure of volunteering for the Green Mountain Girl Scout Camp at Branbury State Park this summer and is excited to be working with the Salisbury community!

This year, we are VERY excited to announce that we are working with the Salisbury Family Center (a childcare center located in Salisbury Village) to bring afterschool care to SCS. Salisbury Family Center is owned and directed by Christian Bowdish, a Salisbury resident, and they will be operating an after-school care in our gym! Any interested families should reach out to Christian at sfc.afterschoolprogram@gmail.com or call her at 802-352-9800.

Our annual "Open House" will be held on Thursday, September 5th from 5:30-6:45. Come in, see your children's classrooms, visit with their teachers, and have some ice cream while you are here! We are doing it a little earlier this year so that it is before most fall youth sports start. We look forward to seeing you there!

This section of the "Welcome Back" Communique is a lot shorter this year! As a reminder, for 24-25 we are returning to a grade configuration where 2nd and 3rd grades are combined, and all the rest are individual grades. This year our incoming Kindergarten class has 12 students and the outgoing class (the rising 6th graders) had 7 students, so Salisbury Community School is growing a little! We are also excited to welcome some new students in older grades- because we know Salisbury Community School is made better by every new member!

One of the most important contributors to our community is the work of our parent-teacher organization Friends of Salisbury Community School (FOSCS). A solid PTO is really powerful for a school, especially an elementary school, and it really impacts students’ lives and well-being more than most people realize. Enough cannot be said about the impact FOSCS has on kids’ experiences at school, and the more people get involved, the more we can accomplish. To get involved in FOSCS, please reach out to Principal Sears at bsears@acsdvt.org, or to James Clark, FOSCS co-chair, at jamesearlclark@gmail.com. They'd both be happy to help you get involved!

As an International Baccalaureate World School, we are continuing to develop our curriculum to be child-centered, engaging, integrated and action focused. Students across the grades all participate in the International Baccalaureate’s Primary Years Programme, and we look forward to teaching you more about the program throughout the year. Please always feel free to ask teachers about their curriculum, and attending open houses can be a great way to learn more about IB. This year we will be continuing our intentional focus on creating positive learning environments using the research-based approach called “Responsive Classroom”. Developing literacy skills, and growing strong reading habits, are going to continue to be things we focus on, as they open the doors to further learning and enjoyment. We believe deeply that a connection of home and school around reading can be incredibly powerful, and we encourage everyone to read together with their children, and to create spaces for children to read alone.

School will begin on Monday, August 26th. The doors to the school will open at 7:30 for a prompt start of our school day at 7:45. It is very important that students be on time each day, as teachers will be meeting with students and orienting them to the day’s work as soon as they arrive. For this reason, we also ask that parents who would like to talk with teachers do so before or after school, but not at time of arrival. We want teachers to be able to greet and welcome each student into their classroom and give them their undivided attention. This will result in a great start to your children’s day!

Students will be dismissed at 2:45 pm. Students departing by car are dismissed at the upper parking lot. If a student is picked up early, they must be signed out at the front desk. Please be sure to include the reason the child needed to leave early. The end of the day is a very important time of reflection and organization. It is expected that students stay for a full day unless there are extenuating circumstances.

All academic research shows that It is important that students attend school regularly, and attendance is something we will want to communicate about clearly this year. If your child will not be in school, please call Donna at the front desk at 802-352-4291 to report the absence. If your student is going to miss several days in a row for a planned absence, please reach about that beforehand. If a student misses school regularly (more than 5 times over a four week period) we will reach out to provide support around attendance.

ACSD Bus routes will be published in the paper and on our website within the next week by the Central Office. You can also request a hard copy by calling Donna Simpson at 352-4291.

Our Breakfast and Lunch Program offers healthy kid-friendly food to all students, for free. Students will all have the opportunity to place their orders every morning.

Dear Salisbury Families:

Well, another year gone, and in a few days it'll feel like the dog days of summer already! It was a really fun last week at Salisbury Community School, and special moments great and small abounded. Whether it was our Annual All-School trip to Waterhouses, 5th grade promotion, the 3-4 classroom auction, the last time with Kindergarten buddies, final conversations with beloved counselors and staff in the waning minutes of the year, or any number of year-ending moments, it seemed like the students left happy and fulfilled. As the staff finishes up their year, I hope they will do the same.

Thank you to the parents at SCS who work so hard every day to give their children what they have and what they need. You are amazingly supportive and responsive, and are great partners in your children's education. We at Salisbury Community School appreciate you!

Thank you as well to the faculty and staff at Salisbury Community School and ACSD, who work so hard, often in unseen ways, to give students the best educational and socializing experience that you can. Your passion and devotion for the job is seen, and appreciated.

And thank you, especially, to our students, who come in and work so hard every day. School can be hard, and it can feel long and tiring, especially on a hot day or when things in life get a little mixed up. It is beautiful to see students show up for school ready to go and then settle in- they just naturally relax and engage. I hope all of our students have really good summers!

Please read below for any last minute news and thoughts- especially about grade configuration. Please note the two opportunities for grade configuration feedback this week, and if I don't see you at those, have a great summer and we'll see you near the end of August!

Best,

Bjarki

Tuesday, June18th: In-person discussion of 2024-2025 Class Configurations. SCS Library.

Wednesday June 19th @ 7:00: Community Zoom "Class configuration" virtual meeting.

As I have said now in a few spots, the smaller schools in ACSD are looking at their class configurations, and we at Salisbury Community School are in the process of soliciting public feedback about our configuration for next year. We held the first of three public sessions last week- but there are two more coming up:

1: There will be an in-person session this Tuesday (the 18th) at 6:00 in the library,

2: There will be a virtual session this Wednesday (the 19th) at 7:00.

• Here's the link to the virtual meeting if you are interested in attending! (It is different than last week's link).
• Here is a link to the guiding slideshow being used in those meetings, with the four proposed options.
• Here is also a link to the Community Feedback Survey- please fill one out if you can!

Thank you so much for looking at this with us!

Well, we had to do some re-configuring (thanks to everyone who gave lifeguard suggestions), and we were able to move the "Waterhouses" trip to Thursday. Wow was it worth it! What an absolutely lovely day, with lots of swimming, playing, and fishing. Thanks to Steven Hill for joining us as our lifeguard, thank you to Cathy Farman at ACP for allowing him to be available, and thank you to Waterhouses for being so welcoming! We value our Salisbury relationships so much, and it means a lot to us to end our year with you.

On Friday at 1:00 we held our 5th grade promotion! We don't have great photos (partially because the principal was running the thing, and not able to take pictures), but we had a good time, beginning with the "Running of the Halls" and ending with cake and chit-chat. In between we shared some year-ending thoughts, said "goodbye" to departing staff and families that will no longer have a child with us, and watched a really fun slideshow capturing the students' history that was assembled by the 5th grade (with much direction and help from Ms. Sabol). Good luck in your future schools rising 6th graders!

During our May Read-a-thon students read for a total of 1,172 minutes! Our high readers (and receivers of a gift certificate to a bookstore) were:

K: Daniel Dragon

1: Finnegan Clark

2: Madelyn Quesnel

3: Paisley Sheldrick

4: Harper Armstrong.

Great job gang! Keep up that reading this summer! Nothing helps a student be ready to re-enter school in the fall than to continue reading during summer vacation.

The Summer Food Service Program will be starting on June 17th.

Mary Hogan: Breakfast and lunch will be available at the front entrance from 11:00 - 12:30 Monday through Friday

MUMS Breakfast and lunch will be available at the front entrance from 11:00 - 12:00 Monday through Friday

Bridport: Breakfast and lunch will be available from 11:00 - 12:00 Monday through Friday

All sites are non congregate and breakfast will be provided for the next day.

Dear Salisbury Families:

After a year of many lessons, adventures, games, and memories, the last week of the year is upon us! The last week is always an exciting one for all of our students, and we thoroughly enjoy it! This year, we will cap off our week (and year) with a trip to Waterhouses on Lake Dunmore, where students will enjoy swimming, playing lawn games with friends, fishing, and hanging out! (And we have a certified lifeguard who will be on duty!). After we have fun at Waterhouses, we will come back to school and all enjoy the 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony, which will take place this Friday (the 14th) at 1:00 in our gym!

As the year ends, we have some important decisions to make around grade configuration and I’d like to involve all families in that decision. We’ll be holding opportunities over the next two weeks (see details below). To help prepare you for that discussion, I’d like to share the thinking we have already done:

For next year, our classes are projected to have the following enrollment:

K: 10-12 students (projected)

1: 9 students

2: 12 students

3: 8 students

4: 15 students

5: 6 students

ACSD Superintendent Dr. Wendy Baker, ACSD Director of Teaching and Learning Courtney Krahn and I met last week to discuss a class structure I had proposed, which looked like this:

K: 10-12 students (projected)

1: 9 students

2-3: 20 students

4: 15 students

5: 6 students

The logic behind the groupings was that we have been doing a 2-3 combination for several years now, and have built systems around it. Also, the smallest grade, the 5th grade, have been merged for many years. However, as we talked, the concern emerged that 6 students in one class is very small, and that it could really limit students' educational experience. We were also guided by ACSD board policy and class size guidelines, which can be seen here. Coming out of the class configuration discussions, we determined that I, along with input from others, should re-visit the class configuration. It's not that the first suggestion can't be a possibility, it's that we should explore more possibilities.

I have come up with four potential class structures, and I would like to share them with you to get public feedback! With that in mind, I am planning to offer two "virtual" and one in-person meetings in the evening over the next two weeks to share the potential class structures and get your thoughts (I will be doing this with faculty and staff in school as well). The goal will be to arrive at a decision quickly after that, so teachers and families can go into summer knowing what is in store for next year.

We will begin with a "Zoom" meeting this Thursday, June 13th, at 7:00. (Technically it will be Google Meet, but everyone calls it zoom, kind of like Kleenex). We will follow it up with an in-person meeting at 6:00 on Tuesday the 18th, and another "zoom" on Wednesday the 19th at 7:00. I have included a zoom meeting link later in this newsletter.

I imagine there will be a lot of interest in these meetings- please come! Your thoughts and perspectives genuinely matter in this process!

Thanks for considering coming, and enjoy this last week of school!

Best,

Bjarki

Thursday, June 13th @ 7:00: Community Zoom "Class configuration" virtual meeting.

Thursday, June 13th: Superintendent Baker visits SCS to meet with Faculty, Staff, and Students to look ahead to next year.

Friday, June 14th: Last student day! Morning at Waterhouses on Lake Dunmore.

Friday, June 14th: 5th Grade Promotion: 1:00 PM, Salisbury Community School

Tuesday, June18th: In-person discussion of 2024-2025 Class Configurations. SCS Library.

Wednesday June 19th @ 7:00: Community Zoom "Class configuration" virtual meeting.

On Friday, we will be going to Waterhouses on Lake Dunmore! We will all take a bus, and leave school around 9:15, returning around 12:30. While at Waterhouses, children will swim, play yard games, hang out with each other, fish (if they bring equipment) and listen to some music played on guitar by their principal! Last year was a lot of fun, and we are excited to do it again!

On Friday, please send your student with swimsuits, a towel, and goggles if they want them! Also, if your student enjoys fishing, you can send fishing equipment in with them as well! Students will not need money. We will have sunscreen on hand!

If it looks like Friday will be a rainout, we might switch the Waterhouses day to Thursday, but it's not looking too bad right now!

We still have missing pledge sheets from our students for read-a-thon! Please send them (and payments) into school early this week! On Friday, during 5th grade promotion, we will announce who read the most in each class, and give out prizes for those in each class who read the most!).

On Friday at 1:00 we will hold 5th Grade Promotion! The whole school, families and friends of our 5th Graders, and any interested community members are invited to join us for the "Running of the Halls", followed by a ceremony in the gym where we will celebrate the amazing years our 5th graders have spent at Salisbury Community School! After the ceremony, family and friends of the 5th graders (or should we say 6th Graders?) are invited to enjoy some celebratory cake together!

Last week we were treated to our final band concert of the year- it was so much fun! The student growth over the year has been remarkable. A big "Thank you" to our student musicians and to Music teacher Sarah Metcalf- we look forward to hearing our new band members and chorus members next year!

Teachers and staff got a special treat this week when Rowan R. made chocolate covered strawberries for us all, and then he followed it up with smoothies for the students! The treats were delicious and much appreciated! Rowan clearly enjoyed his time in the Salisbury Community School kitchen. Thanks Rowan!

Sponsored by – Friends of Middlebury Football (FOMF) and Middlebury Union High

School (MUHS) Athletics

Date & Time: Tuesday - Friday, June 18 - 21, 8:30 AM - Noon

Ages: Grades 4 - 8 (for the 2024-25 school year)

Location: Doc Collins Field - MUHS

Cost: $20.00 ($40.00 max for immediate family) *Scholarships available upon request: contact John Nuceder - 802-989-8642 or jnuceder@acsdvt.org

Register: https://forms.gle/KwZ8S17Qdp4vCSai9

MUHS Assistant Varsity football coach, John Nuceder, other High School and Flag Football coaches, and former Tigers will instructor clinic participants. The emphasis is for young athletes to have fun, be active, and learn skills for each position, offense and defense. Each clinic session will be station based learning organized by age. No equipment is needed. Please wear comfortable footwear for a lot of movement, as well as weather appropriate clothing. No previous experience necessary.

The Summer Food Service Program will be starting on June 17th.

Mary Hogan: Breakfast and lunch will be available at the front entrance from 11:00 - 12:30 Monday through Friday

MUMS Breakfast and lunch will be available at the front entrance from 11:00 - 12:00 Monday through Friday

Bridport: Breakfast and lunch will be available from 11:00 - 12:00 Monday through Friday

All sites are non congregate and breakfast will be provided for the next day.

Every three years, residents of Addison County are encouraged to join the conversation about how to strengthen community health. Currently, multiple local organizations are working together to promote a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).

This year’s CHNA survey results will inform a three-year plan that:

• Identifies and prioritizes health needs
• Builds upon existing strengths
• Works on solutions with community partners

How to join the conversation:

• Please click to take the 10-minute online community survey: now available in 6 languages!
• Share this email with your friends and neighbors, aged 16 and older
• To thank you for your time, you can enter a drawing for a chance to win one of four $50 gift cards.

CLICK TO TAKE THE SURVEY: https://bit.ly/2024CHNA

For more information about the Community Health Needs Assessment, visit https://www.portermedical.org/about/community-health-needs-assessment/

If you have any questions, please contact Amanda Froeschle at amanda.froeschle@uvmhealth.org

Dear Salisbury Families:

It's hard to believe, but it's true: in a school, once April break is over you turn around and its June, and the last few weeks of school are upon us. We've got a good last few weeks coming up at Salisbury Community School! The biggest day, of course, will be the last day (June 14th), where we will be starting the day at Waterhouses on Lake Dunmore, and then coming back to school for 5th Grade Promotion (the 5th grade version of graduation).

But there is more than that! This Tuesday our band students will give a concert to the whole school, and on Wednesday of this week our 5th graders visit MUMS for "Move-Up Day". This Wednesday evening we will hold our follow-up to Family Literacy Night, our "Title 1 Information and Planning Meeting", which will be in our Library at 6:00. It's an important event, and holding it helps ensure our Title 1 funding continues from year to year, so any parents who feel able and willing to come help us plan would be doing their community a nice service.

And mostly, we will be taking the time to enjoy our last days of the year together, and looking back on all we have done and accomplished even as we look with natural curiosity toward the future. It's been a great year, in a great community, with a great group of people- let's finish it off in style!

Best,

Bjarki

Tuesday, June 4th: Salisbury Band Concert, 11:00 AM.

Wednesday, June 5th: 5th Grade "MUMS Move up" visit to MUMS.

Wednesday, June 5th: Title 1 Information and Planning Meeting. 6:00 SCS Library

Wednesday, June 5th: Final FOSCS meeting of the year. 6:30 FOSCS Library

Friday, June 7th: Student End-of-year Progress Reports sent home with students.

Thursday, June 14th: Superintendent Baker visits SCS to meet with Faculty, Staff, and Students to look ahead to next year.

Friday, June 14th: Last student day! Morning at Waterhouses on Lake Dunmore.

Friday, June 14th: 5th Grade Promotion: 1:00 PM, Salisbury Community School

It's that time! Please send in the "Pledge Sheets" and final tracking forms for the FOSCS Read-a-thon, along with the money students have earned, and we will get it to Friends of Salisbury Community School. Next week we will announce who read the most and earned the most during the read-a-thon. And let's keep up that reading!

Title 1, a federal program that directs funds to schools with substantial poverty, is an important contributor to what we do here at SCS. Most importantly, the Title 1 funds pay the salary of our Academic Interventionist. The funds also contribute to other important literacy programming, especially Literacy Night.

As part of our Title 1 work, it is important that we inform the community about what Title 1 is, and that we include the community in decision-making about how to use the funds. We really want to hear from you! Here are two ways to contribute:

1: Come to our "Title 1 information and Planning Meeting" Wednesday, June 5th, beginning at 6:00 in the SCS library. The purpose of the meeting will be to explain Title 1 and solicit ideas on how we can use Title 1 funds even more effectively. It would be great to get parents and community members' voices at this meeting!

2: Take a few moments to fill out the survey in the "button" below. Thank you!

We had our final "Walk-to-School" Wednesday of the year last week! Thanks to all the parents and caregivers who dropped their children off, and thanks to Salisbury early morning drivers for being patient with us and looking out for us! Thank you also to PE teacher Sierra Thornton for managing the event!

It was a joy to welcome a string trio from the Vermont Symphony Orchestra as they held a performance for our students at Salisbury Community School last week! They shared a wonderful 1/2 hour program that taught students about stringed instruments in an engaging and fun manner, while exposing them to some beautiful playing. Special thanks to Music Teacher Sarah Metcalf for setting this up for the schools she teaches in!

Sponsored by – Friends of Middlebury Football (FOMF) and Middlebury Union High

School (MUHS) Athletics

Date & Time: Tuesday - Friday, June 18 - 21, 8:30 AM - Noon

Ages: Grades 4 - 8 (for the 2024-25 school year)

Location: Doc Collins Field - MUHS

Cost: $20.00 ($40.00 max for immediate family) *Scholarships available upon request: contact John Nuceder - 802-989-8642 or jnuceder@acsdvt.org

Register: https://forms.gle/KwZ8S17Qdp4vCSai9

MUHS Assistant Varsity football coach, John Nuceder, other High School and Flag Football coaches, and former Tigers will instructor clinic participants. The emphasis is for young athletes to have fun, be active, and learn skills for each position, offense and defense. Each clinic session will be station based learning organized by age. No equipment is needed. Please wear comfortable footwear for a lot of movement, as well as weather appropriate clothing. No previous experience necessary.

The Summer Food Service Program will be starting on June 17th.

Mary Hogan: Breakfast and lunch will be available at the front entrance from 11:00 - 12:30 Monday through Friday

MUMS Breakfast and lunch will be available at the front entrance from 11:00 - 12:00 Monday through Friday

Bridport: Breakfast and lunch will be available from 11:00 - 12:00 Monday through Friday

All sites are non congregate and breakfast will be provided for the next day.

Every three years, residents of Addison County are encouraged to join the conversation about how to strengthen community health. Currently, multiple local organizations are working together to promote a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).

This year’s CHNA survey results will inform a three-year plan that:

• Identifies and prioritizes health needs
• Builds upon existing strengths
• Works on solutions with community partners

How to join the conversation:

• Please click to take the 10-minute online community survey: now available in 6 languages!
• Share this email with your friends and neighbors, aged 16 and older
• To thank you for your time, you can enter a drawing for a chance to win one of four $50 gift cards.

CLICK TO TAKE THE SURVEY: https://bit.ly/2024CHNA

For more information about the Community Health Needs Assessment, visit https://www.portermedical.org/about/community-health-needs-assessment/

If you have any questions, please contact Amanda Froeschle at amanda.froeschle@uvmhealth.org

Along with the excitement of the eclipse can the excitement of learning ABOUT the eclipse, and ACSD and SCS, particularly under the vision and leadership of teacher Amy Clapp, really embraced the eclipse as a wonderful opportunity to engage with science learning. We are VERY proud to share the following media stories about eclipse learning and ACSD. Amy's 3-4 class is heavily featured throughout.

Here are links to the articles: the "buttons" below also contain the links, but they sometimes don't show up on some computers, so you can also click on these:

Link to Education Week article

Link to Vermont Public content

Dear Salisbury Families:

Before I begin with Salisbury School-related stuff, I would just like to take a moment to recognize all of the folks who serve, and who have served, in the American military from Salisbury and beyond, and to honor those who have lost their lives fighting for America. Too often we can overlook the bravery and sacrifice of our veterans, and Memorial Day does ask us to stop for a moment and appreciate the bravest among us. Thank you, veterans, for your service.

Your service and commitment allows us to say much less important things like this without even thinking about it: can you believe there are only 3 weeks left to the school year? Every year after April Vacation the rest just flies, and all the events we hold really contribute to that! It seems like each week has several major ones, and last week did not disappoint, as we had a lovely Rural Elementary "All School" concert at MUHS on Monday, and then hosted our Annual "Family Literacy Night" on Thursday- look below for pictures and details!

Please also look below for information about a follow-up to Family Literacy Night, our "Title 1 Information and Planning Meeting", which we will hold Wednesday, June 5th in our Library at 6:00. It's an important event, and holding it helps ensure out Title 1 funding continues from year to year. Parents, it would be great if you came and shared your thoughts about how we can continue to encourage reading and writing for our students, and create meaningful opportunities for them to practice literacy in fun and meaningful ways. If you can't come, please consider filling out the Title 1 planning survey later in this document.

Also please note our list of "Important Dates" coming up. There's still a lot to do!

Best,

Bjarki

Monday. May 27th: Memorial Day- no school

Tuesday, May 28th: Vermont Symphony Orchestra String Trio Performance for K-5 1:15-2:00

Tuesday, June 4th: Salisbury Band Concert, 11:00 AM.

Wednesday, June 5th: 5th Grade "MUMS Move up" Visit to MUMS.

Thursday, June 14th: Superintendent Baker visits SCS to meet with Faculty, Staff, and Students.

Friday, June 14th: Last student day! Morning at Waterhouses on Lake Dunmore.

Friday, June 14th: 5th Grade Promotion: 1:00 PM, Salisbury Community School

We had so much fun at Family Literacy Night! We started out with pizza, salad, and treats courtesy of Steven and Kathleen Marinelli at ACSD Food Service, and then guests settled into a variety of different words games, word art, puppet making, and of course, a featured talk by local author Matthew Dickerson. Matthew discussed a variety of really interested experiences and topics relating to nature and his place in it, and how those things influenced his love of the outdoors and his growth as a writer. It was truly enjoyable, and we appreciated learning from him!

Students and siblings also took home free books. Thank you to everyone who came, and we will keep working to make the event bigger and better every year!

This Family Literacy Night was part of our Title 1 activities, which provide additional resources for our students using federal dollars. Please see below how you can contribute to our planning around Title 1 events and fund usage.

The rural schools of ACSD got together last Monday to share in a combined Band and Chorus hosted at Middlebury Union High School. It was awesome to see our 5th and 4th graders play their instruments, and hear the band and chorus students from all over the district. It's amazing how much they improve between every concert! Kudos and "Thank you" to Music Teacher Sarah Metcalf.

Next year we look forward to our rising 4th graders (current 3rd grade) beginning to play instruments and sing in chorus! It'll be a fun group!

Our instrumentalists will be playing for our school one more time on June 4th.

Family Literacy Night marked the end of our "Read-a-Thon", and it's been great to see how many students have been reading and keeping track of their time! Please send in the "Pledge Sheets" and final tracking forms, along with the money students have earned, and we will get it to Friends of Salisbury Community School. Next week we will announce who read the most and earned the most during the read-a-thon. And let's keep up that reading!

Title 1, a federal program that directs funds to schools with substantial poverty, is an important contributor to what we do here at SCS. Most importantly, the Title 1 funds pay the salary of our Academic Interventionist. The funds also contribute to other important literacy programming, especially Literacy Night.

As part of our Title 1 work, it is important that we inform the community about what Title 1 is, and that we include the community in decision-making about how to use the funds. We really want to hear from you! Here are two ways to contribute:

1: Come to our "Title 1 information and Planning Meeting" Wednesday, June 4th, beginning at 6:00 in the SCS library. The purpose of the meeting will be to explain Title 1 and solicit ideas on how we can use Title 1 funds even more effectively. It would be great to get parents and community members' voices at this meeting!

2: Take a few moments to fill out the survey in the "button" below. Thank you!

Our last "Walk-to-School Wednesday" is this week! During our event busses and drivers drop students off at the intersection of Kelly Cross Road and Holman Road at the normal drop-off time of 7:30-7:40. SCS staff wait for students and then we all walk the remainder of the way to school as a large group. Participating in these events supports our school in receiving the bike trailer for Bike Week!

Happy walking!

- Ms. T (Sierra Thornton, SCS PE Teacher)

Dear Parents,

Thank you for participating in ACSD’s work with Dr. Rebecca Haslam to deepen ACSD’s understanding of the impact of racial and bias-based harm in our schools. As you know, her work is designed to inform ACSD’s policy and procedures, increase more inclusive classroom practices, leverage decision-making in meaningful ways, and increase the restorative and reparative experiences for students, staff, and faculty in the ACSD community.

To this end, we warmly extend an invitation for you to join Dr. Haslam on Thursday, May 30th, at 6:30 pm, location to be determined. This meeting is designed for Dr. Haslam to hear from the parents of elementary students who gave consent for their children to participate in our elementary Listening Circles. It is our hope that you will be able to meet with Dr. Haslam and share your perspective and that of your child’s experience in our schools.

Please RSVP here.

In Kindness,

Nicole

Nicole Carter, Ed.D., MA., LICSW

Assistant Superintendent of Equity and Student Services

Addison Central School District

The Summer Food Service Program will be starting on June 17th.

Mary Hogan: Breakfast and lunch will be available at the front entrance from 11:00 - 12:30 Monday through Friday

MUMS Breakfast and lunch will be available at the front entrance from 11:00 - 12:00 Monday through Friday

Bridport: Breakfast and lunch will be available from 11:00 - 12:00 Monday through Friday

All sites are non congregate and breakfast will be provided for the next day.

Every three years, residents of Addison County are encouraged to join the conversation about how to strengthen community health. Currently, multiple local organizations are working together to promote a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).

This year’s CHNA survey results will inform a three-year plan that:

• Identifies and prioritizes health needs
• Builds upon existing strengths
• Works on solutions with community partners

How to join the conversation:

• Please click to take the 10-minute online community survey: now available in 6 languages!
• Share this email with your friends and neighbors, aged 16 and older
• To thank you for your time, you can enter a drawing for a chance to win one of four $50 gift cards.

CLICK TO TAKE THE SURVEY: https://bit.ly/2024CHNA

For more information about the Community Health Needs Assessment, visit https://www.portermedical.org/about/community-health-needs-assessment/

If you have any questions, please contact Amanda Froeschle at amanda.froeschle@uvmhealth.org

Along with the excitement of the eclipse can the excitement of learning ABOUT the eclipse, and ACSD and SCS, particularly under the vision and leadership of teacher Amy Clapp, really embraced the eclipse as a wonderful opportunity to engage with science learning. We are VERY proud to share the following media stories about eclipse learning and ACSD. Amy's 3-4 class is heavily featured throughout.

Here are links to the articles: the "buttons" below also contain the links, but they sometimes don't show up on some computers, so you can also click on these:

Link to Education Week article

Link to Vermont Public content