Moretown School Update May 18, 2918

Old School Days At Moretown.
Our 1 and 2 grade classrooms experienced school life as it was like
back in the late 1800's this past week.  Notice the smiles and laughter...
well - perhaps some things about the good ole days were not
so good....  thanks for a great week!  

Next Tuesday,  May 22, is our annual school concert for our kindergarten - 6th grade students. The performance begins at 6 p.m. and lasts for about an hour. We understand the Harwood Union Middle school is the same evening, their concert begins at 7:00pm.  

While the performance is just a small portion of what our music program incorporates, it provides students with the very important opportunity to perform what they have been working on in front of a friendly audience.  Thank you for making the time for you and your child to be at this concert. Neighbors, family friends, and extended family welcome as well.   

 Students performing in the band should plan to arrive by 5:45 to set up their instruments. We look to start our performance right at 6 p.m. as we respect everyone's time and want to make sure our middle school concert is well attended.   Upon arrival, students should sit with their classmates on their designated spot on the mats (students will learn this spot during rehearsal over the next few days). Students arriving before 5:45 should remain with their parents, please. Students do NOT need to dress up for this performance, although they sure do "clean up" well. :) 

HUUSD  Board May 9, 2018  Meeting Update
Dear members of our six town community,
At our last meeting on May 9, 2018, the Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) Board toured Crossett Brook Middle School (CBMS) and Harwood Union Middle School (HUMS) before meeting in the Harwood Union High School Library, voting multiple times to recess and reconvene in the various locations. We also took action on the six (6) items below:

1. We approved previous meeting minutes with edits
2. We approved multiple board warrants
3. We re-scheduled the May 16 5:30 pm executive session regarding superintendent evaluation to comprise of two executive sessions on May 16 from 9:00 pm to 9:30 pm to review feedback from the various stakeholders, and on May 23 from 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm to deliberate and develop next steps.
4. We added two new board meeting dates to support the Moretown Administrator hiring committee process and timely board approval for committee recommendations. The dates are May 30 at 5:30 pm and June 6 at 5:30 pm, and may be cancelled if not needed.
5. We voted to request legal advice from the district’s attorney on the board’s public comment policy and guidelines, including recent and future enforcement.
6. We approved changes recommended by the central office with respect to health benefit administration for teachers and staff. Changes allow the district to offer prescription drug cards and pay for first dollar on prescription drugs until the deductible is met, and eliminate the policy of prorating said benefits for partial year employment.

At this meeting, the board entered into an executive session to deliberate on teacher/staff contract issues, after which we voted to approve #6 above.

It is our hope to send updates and previews of each HUUSD Board meeting in the future. Thank you for your continued support and engagement. Our next meeting is Wednesday, May 16 from 6 - 9:30 pm and will start with a tour of the Harwood Union High School. The remainder of the meeting will be held in the Harwood Union High School library. 

You can visit wwsu.org for board agendas and minutes, and watch past meetings at https://mrvtv.com/

Respectfully,

The HUUSD Board , Christine Sullivan (Waitsfield) *Chair, Caitlin Hollister (Waterbury) *Vice Chair, Alycia Biondo (Warren), Jill Ellis (Fayston), Gabe Gilman (Moretown), Peter Langella (Moretown), Garett MacCurtain (Duxbury), Maureen McCracken (Waterbury), Theresa Membrino (Fayston), Melissa Phillips (Waterbury), Torrey Smith (Duxbury), Alexandra Thomsen  (Waterbury), Rosemarie White (Warren), Rob Williams (Waitsfield)  

Students watching our Brook Trout
grow right before their eyes..  

CALENDAR UPDATE

May 2018  

May 22	Music Concert 6pm
June 1	PTO/MRNA Pig Roast Live Music” Scared by Dolls” on the Moretown recreation fields

Upcoming Events:

Field Days, June 13, 2018

Graduation, June 14, 2018

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL  - June 15th (Half Day)

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 Flexible Pathways Harwood First Annual Community Pathways Showcase and Celebration Tuesday, June 5th from 5:00 - 6:45 pm The Harwood Union Library Have you been hearing about “Flexible Pathways”, “Work Based Learning” or “Community Pathways”? Do you wonder what this is? If you would like to learn more; come join us for a Community Pathways Showcase and Celebration.
SCREENAGERS: Growing Up in the Digital Age at Big Picture Theater on Wednesday, May 30^th, 6:30pm, sponsored by Hannah’s House.  SCREENAGERS is the first feature documentary to explore the impact of screen technology on kids and offer parents and families proven solutions that work. Physician and filmmaker, Delaney Ruston decided to make SCREENAGERS when she found herself constantly struggling with her two kids about screen time.  Hearing repeatedly how other parents were equally overwhelmed, she realized this is one of the biggest, unexplored parenting issues of our time.  
As a director, filmmaker, doctor and mother of two, who has made award-winning films that have aired on PBS and were the focus of national campaigns to raise awareness about mental health Ruston turned the camera on her own family and others—revealing stories of messy struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction.  Interwoven into these stories, are cutting edge science and insights from thought leaders as well as leading brain scientists who present evidence on the real changes in the brain when kids are on screens. SCREENAGERS goes far beyond exposing the risks of screen time; it reveals multiple approaches on how parents and educators can work with kids to help them achieve a healthy amount of screen time. With teens spending on average 6.5 hours a day on screens and that doesn’t include classroom or homework screen time this is a MUST see movie for parents.
A brief facilitated discussion period will follow and parents are encouraged to bring their Teens to this important community event sponsored by Hannah’s House thanks to Big Picture Theater and The Mad River Valley Community fund.  For more information contact Barbara@hannahshousevt.org or call 496-9715.     
Stowe and Mad River Dance Academy present Snow White and an evening of dance, June 1 & 2, at 6pm, and June 3 at 1pm, at Dibden Center for the Arts at Johnson State College. Tickets are $20-$24 and are available at: www.stowedance.com or 802-253-5151.  Many of our Waitsfield School students are in the Saturday night show.

Tinkergarten is coming to the Mad River Valley! Tinkergarten offers outdoor, play-based education classes for kids 18 months to 8 years old and a treasured adult. Both kids and adults learn and grow together in the best classroom of all—nature! Not all classrooms have four walls. Join us outdoors this summer at a local Tinkergarten class. Please look into joining our trial classes in the beginning of June to see if Tinkergarten is a good fit for you. Use the code SUMMER2018 by 5/28 to receive 15% off. Sign up today. The early registration period ends 5/28! https://tinkergarten.com/classes