Moretown School Update, December 1, 2017

Preschool Community Meeting Announced

Preschool is an important component of our education system.  The towns within HUUSD have been supporting young children’s learning through a variety of rich school experiences for many years.  Now, as a unified system, we are working together to ensure a high-quality early education experience is available to all students in our district.  In June of 2017, the administration of the elementary schools shared with the HUUSD board a plan    (https://tinyurl.com/ycokynh6)  for our preschools that works toward this goal of equitable access to high quality early education, while keeping an eye on sustainability, broader needs of childcare, and the unique programs that already exist in our communities.

       

Over the last several years, we have heard repeatedly from parents that they desire school-based preschool slots.  In some of our communities, there are far fewer available spaces than there are eligible children and almost all of our school-based preschool programs began the year with a waitlist.  To address this need and equitable access, we are planning the following changes for the 2017-2018 school year.

• Continue supporting Thatcher Brook preschool classes with an instructional assistant, allowing for greater enrollment in those existing programs (that change was implemented in October of this year).
• Through a variety of changes, bring all preschool programs offered by the schools to be in the range of 14-16 hours/week, creating equity across towns.
• Add a preschool class at Moretown, making more spaces available across our communities.
• Further explore collaboration with afterschool programming to minimize transitions and support families with childcare needs.

These changes not only support our current students/families, but are designed to continue to make our communities attractive to new families.

          

While we believe that equity of access to preschool must be guaranteed to all families in our district, we are looking for community feedback on our proposed plans and input to help us understand how we can most effectively collaborate with aftercare providers to meet broader childcare needs. To this end, a community forum is planned for Tuesday December 5th, 6 pm in the  Harwood High School library.  To reserve childcare for this event, please contact kkorb@wwsu.org.  Please join us to learn more about what is planned, share your sense of needs, and help us best serve our community.

            

Lastly, input is being gathered through a survey, accessible here.  https://goo.gl/forms/K6AlBvXsrSs3HXw62  The community forum and the survey are opportunities to better understand the proposed changes and impact across our towns, to provide feedback and to help us refine our implementation and future plans. Both the forum and the survey are open to all in the community, regardless of if you have preschool-aged children.

Moretown Food Service Change
We are going Electronic!

Dear Moretown Parents, Guardians, and Staff,

The Harwood Union Food Service Department is excited to announce we have purchased Mosaic® POS, a computerized Point of Sale (POS) system, to increase the level of service and provide users with the management of their lunch accounts from home.  We are currently preparing to implement this new system with an expected launch date of 12/5/2017.

All students will have their power school ID numbers connected to their food service account. Pre K thru 4th-grade students will use their names to go through the line. Fifth and sixth-grade students will put their ID numbers (the school will provide this on site) into a keypad after they receive their food.  Breakfast service will also be processed using this system. This ID number will stay with the student until he/she graduates.  

If your child has qualified for free or reduced meal prices, this information will be noted in the system, and the meal will be processed just as it is for all other students, without any special indication to the students.  If you have not yet filled out a new Free & Reduced Meal Application for this school year, please do so as soon as possible.

Also, we are excited to offer MySchoolBucks®! This secure online payment service provides a quick and easy way to add money to your student’s meal account using a credit/debit card or electronic check. This service allows you to deposit money directly into your child’s school meal account and view balance/purchase information for the past ninety days.  By having money in each child’s account prior to entering the cafeteria, the lunch lines will move along much faster, which gives your child more time to eat and be with friends.  You can also view recent purchases, check balances, and set-up low balance alerts for FREE!

The MySchoolBucks Online Payment Service will be available starting 12/6/2017.

MySchoolBucks provides:

• Convenience - Available 24/7 on the web or through our mobile app for your smartphone
• Efficiency - Make payments for your students at Moretown and Harwood Union in one transaction.  Eliminate the need for your students to take money to school.
• Control - Set low balance alerts, view account activity, recurring/automatic payments & more!
• Flexibility - Make payments using credit/debit cards and electronic checks.
• Security – MySchoolBucks adheres to the highest security standards, including PCI and CISP.

Enrollment is easy!

1. Go to www.MySchoolBucks.com and register for a free account.
2. Add your students using their school name and student ID.
3. Make a payment to your students’ accounts with your credit/debit card or electronic check.

A processing fee will apply.  You will have the opportunity to review any fees and cancel if you choose before you are charged.  

We are very excited to offer this new service and are confident that MySchoolBucks will benefit you, your child, and Moretown Elementary School.  

If you have any questions, contact MySchoolBucks directly:

• parentsupport@myschoolbucks.com
• 1-855-832-5226
• Visit MySchoolBucks.com and click on Help/FAQ’s

Thank you, Paul Morris Harwood Union Food Service

WONDER......

Hello Families,

We have a guest speaker joining us next Monday, December 4th. Sam Drazin is a former teacher and creator of the disability awareness curriculum, Changing Perspectives. Sam was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome, a condition that affects the development of bones and other tissues of the face. This is the same condition Auggie has in the book and movie, Wonder. Through his workshop style presentation, Sam will share his early experiences with facial differences, making connections with his own life and that of Auggie. 

Students will be organized by grade. The assembly for grades 3-6 grades will be an hour, 1:00-2:00. Grades K-2 will have a shorter, 40 minute assembly at 12:15-12:55. We invite families to join us for either presentation.

Prior to his visit, students in grades K-2 will learn about Auggie through the book We're All Wonders. Students in grades 3-6 have some experience with Wonder through book groups, read alouds and the movie. 

Links to more information

Presentation flyer

Changing Perspectives 

Wonder (Palacio)

We're All Wonders (Palacio)

Interested in learning more about Treacher Collins? I encourage you to check out a recent episode of the ABC news magazine, 20/20. It can be found online here: link. 

Please feel free to contact either me, or Duane Pierson (dpierson@wwsu.org), with any questions or concerns. 

Warm regards, Jason Stevenson, Fayston & Moretown School Counselor 

LAST CHANCE FOR MORETOWN SHIRTS

Moretown School Apparel

Back by popular demand, we are offering Moretown Bobcats shirts for purchase. In addition to previous styles, including the long-sleeve hooded tees, we are offering a new background color, black with red graphics. More information about our shirts can be found here - Moretown School Webstore.

Orders must be received no later than Monday, December 4th. Shirts will be distributed to families the after December 15th. All proceeds from our shirt sales support our annual end-of-year sixth-grade trip. For more information, please contact me at jstevenson@wwsu.org. Thank you in advance for your support! 

CALENDAR UPDATE

Dec 2017

Don’t forget to send in Winter Sports Registration Information!  

Dec 5	HUUSD Pre-school meeting for all communities.  Harwood Library 6pm
Dec 6	HUUSD board meeting Harwood Library 6pm
Dec 13	HUUSD board meeting Harwood Library 6pm
Dec 20	HUUSD board meeting Harwood Library 6pm
Dec 22 - Jan 1	Holiday Break

Community Announcements

Please note that the opportunities/events listed below are not specifically endorsed or screened by school staff; as always, families should use their own standards and review processes to determine appropriate activities.
 

Harwood Union Rotary Interact club is holding the Gifts of Kindness clothing and toy drive for our 14th year. This drive seeks to collect new and very gently used toys and clothing for families in Washington County experiencing homelessness. We plan to collect items between the dates of November 28th 1st and December 8th. Interact works with the Good Samaritan House, the only homeless shelter in Central Vermont, and CIRCLE in Barre, who provide shelter for families experiencing domestic violence. Our goal is to brighten the holiday season for people in need. We hope you will be able to help out! Please feel free to contact Ellen Berrings, 882-1167 oreberrings@wwsu.org for more information. There is a donation box in the school lobby.

Harwood Union Peace Alliance group is conducting a coat and warm clothing drive through the first week of December.  There is a donation box in the school lobby.

Parents' Night Out  As part of the Mad River Valley's Country Christmas, the Harwood Girls Varsity Basketball Team will provide childcare from 4:00-9:00, onDecember 9th, at the Waitsfield School gymnasium.  The cost is $40 with all proceeds going to the Harwood Girl's Basketball program. Families should pack a dinner for their children.  Kid oriented activities provided until 6:00 followed by appropriate movie choices until 9:00. Popcorn and seltzer/water will be provided.  You must pre-register by December 5th. For more information and to register, contact Tom Young at tyoung@wwsu.org.

Bill Koch League registration now open Please register by November 30th. This X-Country program is open to kindergarten through 8th graders.   Contact Chris Badger at csbadger@gmail.com for registration forms and more information.

Author Brian Wray will read from his new picture book, Unraveling Rose, onDecember 2, 2pm, at the Joslin Memorial Library.  Free and open to all! Activities and snack for the children.Free Workshop for Expectant Parents Good Beginnings of Central Vermont, will offer a special Saturday session on December 2nd. This four-hour FREE workshop is facilitated by Ana Campanile, Good Beginnings Program Director and trained postpartum doula.  She'll cover all the essentials for rocking your postpartum transition -- from self care to swaddling, from baby basics to attachment and bonding.  Everything you need to get prepared for the transition to parenthood! Registration is free and easy to do online via  www.goodbeginningscentralvt.org, or by calling 595-7953.
Spanish Music Hour  Dec 1, Dec 8, Dec 15 and Dec 22, at 10:00am , at the Warren Library. We will sing, we will dance, and have a project for the kids!  If you have any questions contact Constancia at:  Constanciag@gmail.com or 802-917-1776