Bobcat Bulletin 5/21/21

 

School News:

5th and 6th graders met with author Katherine Arden this week.  They asked great questions and did a fantastic job!

This week's bulletin highlights our school nurses, invites you to share your input for a new name for TBPS and also CBMS plans, and contains COVID-19 udpates.

Introducing Mish Boreanaz our new 5/6 classroom teacher!

My name is Mish Boreanaz (kids usually call me Ms. B) and here's a bit of information about me. I grew up here in Vermont and attended Waterbury Elementary and Harwood Middle and High Schools. I went to college in Maine to study Environmental Science and Marine Biology where I discovered that I love teaching! After graduating, I went to Montana on an adventure with my dog and some friends and went back to school to become a teacher. A few years later, I returned to Vermont to start my career!

I began teaching in a 5th grade class at Crossett Brook Middle School and then 6th grade at Main Street Middle School before taking several years off to be at home with my sons. When my youngest was two, I returned to the classroom, this time in 7th and 8th grade back at CBMS, which I did for two years before my first year at Woodbury Elementary. I have been teaching 5th and 6th grade at Woodbury for the last 7 years, but am ready to come back closer to home.

I live in Waterbury with my husband Allan, who is a wildlife biologist and forester. We have two young boys: Acer who is 13 and in 7th grade at CBMS and Silvan who is 10 and in 4th grade at TBPS. We also have a new puppy named Cheddar. We are a busy and active family and enjoy being outside. We love to bike, swim, and work in the garden in the summer and ski in the winter (downhill and XC). When I’m not outside, I also really love to cook, read, and knit!

I can't wait to start my new adventure at Moretown Elementary and be a part of the 5th and 6th grade team. I look forward to building a welcoming, positive, and fun classroom community that focuses on growth mindset and facing challenging tasks, collaborative work, integrating technology, SCIENCE!, lots of reading, and opportunities for independent choice learning in all subject areas. I am also very excited to continue my work with outdoor learning and be a part of the ECO program!

Introducing Lindsey Vandal our new 1/2 Teacher:

Hi! I’m Lindsey Vandal and I am so excited to be teaching first and second grade at Moretown Elementary School next year. I grew up in Shelburne and I live in Waitsfield with my husband and two young children, a dog and a cat. Some of my hobbies are mountain biking, skiing, cooking, knitting and hanging out at the river. I have a passion for early childhood and outdoor education and I currently teach “Nature School,” a weekly nature-based preschool program (similar to ECO) at Waitsfield Elementary School. I have a Master’s of Education from the University of Washington and a BA from Middlebury College. I am so grateful to be a new part of the Moretown community, and I look forward to getting to know you all!

Introducing Mark Gedmin our new Interventionist:

Hi! My name is Mark Gedmin and I am thrilled to be joining the Moretown School Community! I was born and raised in Chicago, but have been living in Vermont for the last decade, and have been teaching (mostly third grade) at the Morristown Elementary School for the last seven years. I currently live in Waterbury with my wife Christie, who is an amazing 1st grade Spanish Immersion Teacher in Richmond, and our (almost!) one year old daughter Marceline who was born on Father's Day, June 21 last year. We love to play outside as much as we can, whether it's on skis, bikes or paddling around our favorite reservoir. I look forward to meeting you all soon!

Familiar Faces in New Spaces:

• Diana Puffer is headed to Waterbury to the soon-to-be-renamed Thatcher Brook Primary School to be a math interventionist.  Given her passion for teaching math, she is excited for her new endeavor.
• Brenda Harshorn will be retiring from classroom teaching, but not from Moretown School.  She will shift up the hall to the main office, as the new Admin Assistant.  She is excited to stay on and continue to be an important part of our school.
• Pam Dow will teach kindergarten next year.  She is finishing the year strong with 1/2 and looking forward to welcoming in our kindergarteners in the fall!
• Kathy Haskell has spent the year teaching 4th grade remotely.  She will be moving on to a new position next year outside of the school district.  

We will miss the folks moving on!

Planning for an all school hike:

We are planning an all-school hike right in our back woods June 4.  Stay tuned for more information.

Library Happenings

The last day for book checkout for students is May 28th and All students' books will be due June 4th 

I Heart Art

Notes from the Health Office:

Tick checks, bug spray before school, hats:  We've had a couple reports of ticks.  While all teachers have students check for ticks before they return indoors after ECO and other outside activities this time of year, please be sure to also check your kids.  Additionally applying big spray before school and making sure students have hats can also be helpful.  

Sunscreen before school:  Students spend time outdoors everyday.  Please be sure to apply sunscreen before school.  Thanks!!

Parents and Families of students with disabilities: Please find this correspondence from Stephanie Hudak about this year's Parent Involvement Survey. Link is here.

ECO this week

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.

Harwood Girls Basketball Camps:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DhyoJRhSflbTwpYE2D1ZHIBoC63BFae9S2hbAgL7ZSU/edit?usp=sharing

OHASK CAMP 2021FUN!     Start your summer with a week full of fun games and activities!
Location: Waitsfield Elementary Dates: Monday 6/14 - Friday 6/18 (first week of summer vacation) Ages : 5-12 
Camp Hours: 8 am - 2:30 pm : $45/day, $225/week After care: 2:30-5:00 pm: $15/day, $75/week
Our goal is to have as much fun in as possible in one week! 
Some of our fun Activities: - camp fire building -water balloons - slime -obstacle courses - tie-dye t-shirts - river exploration -dance parties - daytime camp-out - water squirting games -outdoor survival - ice cream sundae bar -science experiments - scavenger hunt All covid guidelines and safety precautions will be followed closely! Activities will be planned to meet the interests of the individual group.
Email Andreea at OHASKprogram@gmail.com to  sign up! In your message please include if you need after care.

School Board Updates

5-12-21 Board Meeting Recap

TITLE: HUUSD Board survey and 5/12 meeting recap

BODY:

The HUUSD School Board met remotely on Wednesday, May 12.

Discussion was mainly on the plan to consolidate the district’s 7th and 8th graders at Crossett Brook Middle School in the fall of 2022. Board members shared thoughts on timing, infrastructure needs at Crossett Brook and what to include in the bond proposal intended for November of 2021. For an update on the most current information on these topics, see this report which formed the basis for the discussion: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14WiCN6f0WBfILBvONs4KVdqKxj8WWuDVndi37Jx7a6U/edit?usp=sharing

The Board has been collecting community feedback through a brief survey about the facilities decisions at CBMS. Each decision has implications for costs as well as the educational environment for CBMS students and teachers. All members of our community are invited to take this survey to help the Board understand more about how to optimize a possible merger. The survey, which takes about 5 minutes and will be open until Thursday May 20th, can be found here: https://forms.gle/RgFbNYUi4A7wKmaf6. 

(This survey does not ask the question of whether we should merge or not, but seeks input on what the facilities should look like if we do. Filling out the survey will not give the Board a false sense that you (or others) support the merger. Instead it helps us answer the question, if the Board is going to go ahead with bringing all 7th and 8th graders together at CBMS, how can we balance out costs and opportunities to reflect community priorities?)

The Board will be voting whether to continue with the fall 2022 7/8th grade merger at its next regular meeting, on May 26th. If it chooses to proceed, it will then be making decisions about what facilities changes, if any, to make at CBMS. There will be extended public comment before the start of the meeting. Alternatively, an email can be sent to the whole board at any time before May 26th by using the cen-huusdboard@huusd.org address.

In a separate matter, the district’s administrative team read a statement regarding the Board’s recent decision to pursue an investigation into the matter of termination of an at-will employee. After brief discussion, the Board voted to re-consider the matter at its next meeting.  (The admin team’s statement is available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TGJFyAcAgTqGuuC0_32_bn6bqMZ7fJ3XGtn8PdH7pUo/edit?usp=sharing)

As always, the Board welcomes feedback from our community. One of the easiest ways to share your thoughts is to send an email to cen-huusdboard@huusd.org, which will go to every Board member. There is also time at every Board meeting for public comment. Alternately, reach out to one of your neighbors who is on the school board and share your thoughts in a personal email or phone call (see a list of Board members and contact information at https://docs.google.com/document/d/12bzeVf75bYYP01HvJA0FhigQU1vVqycVJfoXg-PIhEs/edit).

The Annual District Meeting will be Wednesday, May 19th. It had been postponed from Town Meeting Day due to Covid restrictions. This will be convened in the gazebo at Harwood at 6PM and will probably last about 30 or 45 minutes. All attendees must wear masks, regardless of their vaccination status.

The Board will have its next regular meeting, remotely, on Wednesday May 26th at 6PM. Find links to agendas and meetings at huusd.org. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/386460007#success