SCS Weekly Newsletter 12/17/23

Dear Salisbury Families:

Another good week in the books at Salisbury Community School, and a really fun one coming up! The last week before Winter Break features two great school activities: the Holiday Dollar Store and All-School Skating at Middlebury's Memorial Sports Center! Kids have a blast choosing items for others, and then putting on the skates to hit the ice! There are a few details I figured would be good to cover.

Holiday Dollar Store: Students go to our "Holiday Dollar Store", which has hundreds and hundreds of fun things donated by community members, and they choose up to 5 things to take home and give to a family member during the winter holiday season. FOSCS volunteers come run the store and wrap the presents, which the children will bring home in shopping bags kindly donated to us by Hannaford Supermarket. Thanks to everyone in our community for taking part in making this great day happen!

Note: I know that part of the tradition is having students pay $1 per item, which is great and is a little bit of a fundraiser for student activities. However, we want all students to take part, so please just let your child's teacher or Donna know if this cost is difficult; we will give your child dollars for the store.

Skating: This event is really fun, and this year we are excited because we are going to have an additional 14 sets of stacked milk crates for learning skaters to use! Students will be able to rent skates (free of cost- the school covers it), but each skater will need to bring a helmet. Some kids have hockey helmets, but lots of (probably most of...) students use bike helmets and skiing helmets. I honestly think it's a good idea to send in the helmet on Wednesday, so that you definitely don't forget on Thursday. If you don't have your child's name on it already, we will put some hockey tape on them label them. We'll store them overnight if you send them early.

If you are able to lend a helmet or two, please say so when you answer the questions that are in the Google Form that is linked a little later in the newsletter. We'll label them, keep track of them, and get them back to you. Also note that you can pick up your child in Middlebury after skating if you want- just make note of that when you are filling in the info in the Google Form.

What a fun time of year! Have a great week,

Bjarki

Important dates coming up:

Tuesday, December 19: In-School Band concert at 11:10 (All school attends)

Wednesday, December 20: Holiday Dollar Store

Thursday, December 21: All School Skating- Depart at 12:20

Friday December 22: Winter Break Begins

We are excited to announce that the whole school will be going skating the afternoon before break! On Thursday, December 21st, we will all take the bus to Middlebury's Memorial Sports Center, where we will skate from 1 to 2 o'clock. Helmets are required, we can rent skates, and we could use a few volunteers!

To do this well, we need some information for your child to attend. Please take a few minutes to fill out the Google Form linked below. Please fill out 1 form per child in your household that will be attending.

We know it hasn't been that cold lately, but please always send students in with the "High 5" of winter clothing, especially as days can still be plenty cold even without snow:

1. Boots
2. Hat
3. Gloves
4. Jacket
5. Snowpants

This last week we said goodbye to the last of our student teachers: Francis Shiner. Francis had a great semester, and connected incredibly well with our 1st grade students (and the whole school). Thank you so much for being part of Salisbury Community School, Francis, and good look in your next steps!

The Holiday Dollar Store is this Wednesday! Each student may buy 5 items for members of their family, and FOSCS volunteers will wrap them and send them home with your student in shopping bags. Although the students do pay $1 per item, we want everyone to be able to take part, so please reach out to Bjarki or Donna if the cost is difficult- we'll make sure everyone can.

We're still taking donations! Details below...

A few shots of a lovely sunny day looking for animal tracks in our woods and fields. Vermont at its best.

This winter we will be holding parent-teacher conferences between January 16th and February 9th. These are times for families to meet with teachers to discuss their child's January progress report. Teachers are putting the finishing touches on a revised progress report that will show student progress towards grade level standards and the IB Approaches to Learning. Report cards will be sent home on January 12th. Teachers will be reaching out in early January to set up conference dates and times for all families. Thank you.

If you are looking for help with gifts for your children for the holidays there is a HOPE Holiday Shop in Middlebury where parents can shop for free for new gift items for their children. Parents can stop by the HOPE office on 282 Boardman Street in Middlebury to fill out a short form and set up an appointment for that same day to shop. The Holiday Shop will be open until December 22nd, 2023. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at tammiejohnson@acsdvt.org or call HOPE at 388-3608.

Thank you,

Tammie Johnson

School Counselor