Last week the 7th graders celebrated National STEM Day on Wednesday, November 9th. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and is an integration of those studies. The students integrated more STEM activities into their class studies for the day. Students took their Open Up mathematics lesson exit ticket and turned them into paper airplanes, thanks to the guidance of Camden, which they took out and flew, then redesigned, then flew again. We paced out their distances for an additional math connection to find out the maximum distance. Kaitlyn had the airplane that flew the farthest the greatest number of times.

Students then hiked down to the stream next to the outdoor classroom and fashioned boats out of natural materials. Students found the greatest success to speed down the stream with fern boats. Anastasia’s boat floated the fastest and didn’t get stuck in the eddies on the side of the stream.

We then came inside and engaged with our kinetic energy studies with an experiment to determine how heating and cooling affects water particles. We colored water and put it into glass bottles with a rubber stopper and a straw on top. We marked the water’s room temperature line on the straw. We put the system into cold water and marked the new line, which was lower because the water compressed, took up less space and lost kinetic energy. We then put the system into hot water. We watched the water expand as the particles gained kinetic energy and moved faster, taking up more space in the system and the level rose up the straw. Abigail, Chris, Gracie, Robby and Julian all documented the new lines on the straws and their thinking in their STEM journals with diagrams and words to cite evidence of their new learning. Students will be applying their kinetic energy studies into engineering a thermos that keeps hot chocolate as hot as possible. We are in the research phase of the Engineering design process. Students will follow the Engineering design process and will share their designs and prototypes at the Winter Concert on 12/14/2022.

The safety and security of our students is of the utmost importance. To that end, we continuously review our policies and practices to ensure that recent research and data support the policies we employ. Safety will always be our primary concern, both physically and emotionally. We work hard in all of our classrooms to make the kids and staff feel like they are in a safe, loving environment where they are comfortable to take chances, step outside of their comfort zone and feel supported to try new things. We want them to feel that same sense of security just being in the building.

The State of VT requires all schools in VT to conduct at least one emergency drill per month throughout the school year. Their calendar dictates which type of drills need to be run, with September and October being fire drills. November requires an options based response to a violent intruder. The US Department of Education, International Association of Chiefs of Police, FEMA and the FBI all recommend having active plans that include decision making and options rather than school lockdowns, in the unlikely event of a school intruder. The CCSU schools have all adopted ALICE, a nationally recognized program. ALICE is a proactive set of responses to an active school intruder event which empowers individuals to utilize human action. ALICE stands for:

Alert – Get the word out! Use clear, concise language to convey the type and location of the event.

Lockdown – Good starting point. We will continue to lockdown students in a secure area, however, we will include barricading the area for additional security.

Inform – Communication keeps the intruder off balance and allows for good decision-making.

Counter – Apply skills to distract, confuse and gain control.

Evacuate – As soon as it is safe to do so, evacuating.

Upon returning from Thanksgiving break, from November 28-30, every classroom will have discussions about the procedure we use in ALICE for the instance of a violent intruder. The teacher led discussions will be age appropriate, and will utilize a couple different resources to help lead those discussions. The children's book "I'm Not Scared...I'm Prepared! Because I Know All About ALICE" has been purchased for all grades, and the book "Prepared not Scared" will be utilized with students in grades 5-8 as well. These resources will enhance the ALICE concepts and make them applicable to children of all ages in a non-fearful way. By using this books, children can develop a better understanding of what needs to be done if they ever encounter a "dangerous someone."

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Congratulations, this week's artists of the week are 6th grader Krystian Maxfield and 2nd grader Evan Thompson for their mixed-media works of art. Krystian's masterpiece is entitled "Through Life's Turmoil Nature Prevails" and Evan's work of art is entitled Spiderman".

Ms. Victoria's bulletin board outside the office got a recent upgrade. Ms. Victoria is now able to share her messages, updates and pictures with all the students and staff in a fun and engaging way. Students love walking by and seeing the pictures and announcements up on the big monitor.

We are excited to announce that Jorge Hudak has rejoined our staff here at Walden School. Jorge has been sorely missed and was a huge asset to the school the past few years not only helping Paul to keep the school sanitary and looking great, but with his construction skills helping to build the bridges on the nature trails, and his always positive attitude and great interactions with the students and staff. Welcome back Jorge!

November 17th: School picture re-take day

November 18th: PTA Holiday Fair: Auction, Vendors & Spaghetti Night 5pm-7pm

November 23rd-25th: Thanksgiving break (no school)

November 28th-30th: Each classroom will be discussing and practicing ALICE training emergency drill procedures

December 5th: Siskin Outdoor Learning Center coming to Walden School to continue work with the 5th and 6th grade on leadership and executive functioning skill development

December 14th: PreK-8 music & band concert @ 1:30pm, all community members are invited to attend

Is your child's closet looking pretty thin these days? The lost and found is getting pretty full! Please stop by the lost and found bin located right outside the front doors to claim any of your child's missing items.

2022-2023 Walden Family Handbook can be located at https://walden.ccsuvt.net/ under the Community Resources tab.

Email: anthony.fontana@ccsuvt.net
Website: https://walden.ccsuvt.net/
Location: 135 Cahoon Farm Road, West Danville, VT, USA
Phone: (802)563-3000