Bobcat Bulletin 1/17/2020

School News:

No school Monday or Tuesday for students. See everyone on Wednesday January 22, 2020.

Peaceful Parenting Workshop open to our Moretown families:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16x6v6xLIdFOycd17PSsp_SO-8bWif1yXO_8cGWmTdYw/edit

Report Cards will be coming home this Thursday January 23, look in backpacks.  It is hard to believe the school year is at the half way mark!

Dear parents,

As you may be aware, Moretown Elementary's ECO program (Educating Children Outdoors) has been serving our PreK-2nd graders for almost a decade. 

The program however is facing funding shortfalls for the 2020/2021 year and in turn, a dedicated team of parents and teachers is spearheading a fundraising effort in conjunction with hosting an outdoor festival to immerse the community with this valuable program and ensure it's funding for years to come. 

We would very much appreciate your assistance in realizing our goals on both fronts.

THE ECO FOREST FESTIVAL will be held on February 15th from 2pm to 4pm in the outdoor ECO classrooms at Moretown Elementary School.

Much of the event will highlight the ECO curriculum in the outdoor classrooms, plus include activities like sledding, food and drink prepared over campfires and much more. This is a free, outdoor event and all are welcome - so please join us! 

More details about the Forest Festival can be found on the WEBSITE and  FACEBOOK page. Corporate donations and sponsorship information for the event can be found HERE.

If you would like to make a donation for the future of the ECO Program at MES please follow THIS LINK. Please feel free to share this information with anyone you know that might be able to help the children of MES enjoy and benefit from ECO for years to come. 

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration and (fingers crossed) support!

PTO News

Community News/Opportunities

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.

Registration for Harwood Volleyball Club March Madness 2020 Season is Open

For all interested grade 5-8 boys and girls in HUUSD.

Learn the basic skills and rules of the sport.

Month of March only: twice a week practice, once a week match, and end-of-season tournament. 

Practices at Thatcher Brook Primary School and Crossett Brook Middle School.  Matches/tournament at various locations.

Early Signup Discount by 1/20/2020.

For more information and to register, go to: http://tinyurl.com/harwoodmsmm2020

           

Moretown Joins CVFiber CVFiber is an 18-town initiative attempting to bring faster Internet to residents of Central Vermont who have poor Internet connectivity.  In order to help assess Moretown's needs and plan our offerings, we need data from Moretown residents about their current Internet access.  Please take 5-10 minutes to help us by filling out the following survey.  If you have questions, feel free to contact Chuck Burt at chuck.burt@gmail.com or 802-735-2319 Thank you in advance! http://chaz.in/cvfiber

Mad River Valley Little League

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

Registration for Mad River Valley Little League is now open! Don't miss out on your chance to register and take advantage of early registration rates. See details below: 2020 Mad River Little League - Baseball Mad River Valley Little League – Baseball Program Little League Baseball is open to boys/girls age 4-12. Age is determined by how old the child is on August 31st. There are 4 divisions that make up Mad River Valley Little League Baseball Program: T-Ball- For ages 4-6. Introductory league teaching basic skills and concepts. Typically, one to two days a week with one game scheduled against other Mad River teams. Farm League- For ages 7-8. Starts teaching finer skills of fielding and hitting mechanics with basic team skills. Two to three days per week commitment with games against other Mad River teams. Coach pitch. American League-  For ages 9-10. Players learn about pitching, more advanced hitting and fielding skills, basic base running and more advanced team and position skills. National League- For ages 11-12. Players are now learning advanced skills in all areas including pitching and base running. Please note that if your child wishes to "play up" into the next league, you may apply for a waiver from MRVLL. Contact us to request to play up.  All players that intend to 'play up' to the next level must attend the skills assessment on Wednesday, April 8th. Also, please note that we have a scholarship program. Full and partial scholarships are available. Please contact any board member for more information. Board members are listed on the bottom of the info sheet, available on our web site. Volunteer Requirement We ask every family to volunteer to help our league. We rely on volunteer help and cannot keep the league running without volunteer help. You will be asked to choose volunteer options of coaching, 4 volunteer hours per player (which include our yearly field work day in April to get the fields ready for the season, snack shack, etc.) or pay the volunteer buy-out fee of $100. You will receive more information regarding your volunteer choices at a later date.  Coaches will be required to have a background check done. All of our baseball leagues are coed. However, if your daughter would rather play softball and is aged 8-12, please select Mad River Softball. Registration Instructions All players will need to create an account prior to completing their first registration within the system. In subsequent years, you may log in with your account information to register. To create an account, please click "Create Account" in the top right to get started. Tee Ball - Little League - TBall Division Price: $50.00 - ends on 4/1/2020 at 11:59 PM. Late Price: $75.00 - starts on 3/12/2020 at 12:00 AM. Register Now Farm - Little League - Minors Coach Pitch Division Price: $50.00 - ends on 4/1/2020 at 11:59 PM. Late Price: $75.00 - starts on 3/12/2020 at 12:00 AM. Register Now American - Little League Minors Division Price: $75.00 - ends on 4/1/2020 at 11:59 PM. Late Price: $100.00 - starts on 3/12/2020 at 12:00 AM. Register Now National - Little League Baseball Division Price: $75.00 - ends on 4/1/2020 at 11:59 PM. Late Price: $100.00 - starts on 3/12/2020 at 12:00 AM. Register Now 2020 Mad River Little League - Softball Mad River Valley Little League – Softball Program Little League Softball is open to girls age 8-12. Age is determined by how old the child is based on the year they were born regardless of the month. There are currently 2 divisions that make up Mad River Valley Little League Softball Program: Minors Softball - Ages 8-10.  An introduction to the basic fundamentals and rules of softball.  It is a blend of coach and player pitched games.  Games are played against district teams.  Parents can expect 2 to 3 days per week. Majors Softball - Ages 11-12.  A more advanced level of play but still a developmental program.  Girls will learn advanced strategy while still progressing in technical fundamentals.  Mainly player pitched with coach support where needed.  Parents can expect 2 to 3 days per week. Also, please note that we have a scholarship program. Full and partial scholarships are available. Please contact any board member for more information. Board members are listed on the bottom of the info sheet, available on our web site. Volunteer Requirements We ask every family to volunteer to help our league. We rely on volunteer help and cannot keep the league running without volunteer help. You will be asked to choose volunteer options of coaching, 4 volunteer hours per player (which include our yearly field work day in April to get the fields ready for the season, snack shack, etc.) or pay the volunteer buy-out fee of $100. You will receive more information regarding your volunteer choices at a later date.  Coaches will be required to have a background check done. Registration Instructions All players will need to create an account prior to completing their registration within the system. In subsequent years, you may log in with your account information to register. To create an account, please click "Create Account" in the top right to get started. Minor - Player Pitch - Little League Softball - Girls Division Price: $75.00 - ends on 4/1/2020 at 11:59 PM. Late Price: $100.00 - starts on 3/12/2020 at 12:00 AM. Register Now Major - Little League Softball - Girls Division Price: $75.00 - ends on 4/1/2020 at 11:59 PM. Late Price: $100.00 - starts on 3/12/2020 at 12:00 AM. Register Now

If you have any questions or need more info, please email us at mikenagle23@comcast.net

Looking forward to a great season!

Mad River Valley Little League

School Board Updates

https://huusd.org/huusd-board

HUUSD Board Meeting Recap 1/15

Dear members of our six town community,

At our last meeting on January 15, 2020, of the Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) Board: 

• Michelle Baker, Director of Finance & Operations, gave a presentation and answered board member questions on the FY21 Budget. Her report, and all FY21 budget documents, can be found at https://huusd.org/business-office under “FY21 Budget Development.”
• Board members broke into small groups to discuss how they view equity in regards to HUUSD schools, using the HUUSD vision statement and guiding questions to frame their conversations.

Please note that our full administrative team has now started to work on transition plans and we will be sharing out more details following our January 22nd meeting.

The Board took action on the three (3) items below:

1. Approved the following items as part of the consent agenda: Approve: Minutes of 1/8/2020; Accept: Vouchers 1151 and 1165 equaling $358,456.18

2. Approved draft RFP for bond communications consultant. 

3. Approved Budget #5 with a total expenditure of $39,457,342 for fiscal year 2021 which would include combining all 7th and 8th graders at Crossett Brook Middle School and moving Moretown Elementary’s 5th and 6th graders to Crossett Brook Middle School (or IDC).

Our next meeting is Wednesday, January 22nd at 6:00 pm in the Harwood Union School library. Please visit https://huusd.org/huusd-board to confirm time and place of meetings. 

You’ll also find all board and committee agendas, packets and minutes, and the link to board meeting videos. The direct link to watch this and other recent meetings is: https://mrvtv.com/category/school-board-meetings/. An archive of older meetings can be found here: https://archive.org/search.php?query=Harwood+Unified+Union+School+Board&sort=-date 

Thank you for your continued support and engagement.

Respectfully,

The HUUSD Board