Hartford School District Newsletter

December 5, 2025

Dear Hartford School District Learning Community,

Winter is officially here! While the calendar stubbornly indicates that 12/21 marks the first day of Winter, I think anyone who has not properly dressed for this weather and has come into direct contact with this frigid air would take issue with that date!

Relatedly, and as a reminder, please make sure that your students are coming to school with everything they need to stay warm, and if you need access to any resources, such as coats, hats, gloves, mittens, or boots, we have plenty and can find more!

These weeks between holiday breaks can be an absolute whirlwind; I hope that you all are taking the time to be present in the moment and enjoy your time with friends, family, and loved ones.

I have always found Winter to be a season that visually and palpably endorses the spirit of this season, when families and friends come together as intricate networks of glistening snowflakes that accumulate into something still beautiful, and collective.

Enjoy it all, and I hope that this newsletter spreads a little more joy into the season; a little maple syrup to spread upon the snow!

Warmly,

Caty Sutton

Superintendent

Hartford School District

suttonc@hartfordschools.net

There continues to be a lot of discussion at the statewide level about education transformation in VT. Below, I have linked a few articles and a video that explains the basic components of what the legislature passed as Act 73 (formerly H 454) when the session adjourned last June.

As previously shared, the "Redistricting Taskforce" has concluded their work and has recommended voluntary mergers and a collaborative, regional approach to shared services in relation to Special Education, mental health support, etc.; in their view after having done extensive research into these aspects of what is bundled into the cost of education as it stands, sharing services could result in extensive cost savings across the state.

For those of you who have been following this news, you may have now seen that there have been a multitude of responses to the taskforce's recommendations, and it remains to be seen how the legislature will address their report and what the implications are in relation to school and district consolidation in the coming years.

Stay tuned, and please be in touch if you have any questions or would like to discuss these complex and nuanced topics!

"In Hartford School District, VT, Briana Fino blends her passion for producing products featuring local Vermont flavors with her profession as a General Manager leading a school district nutrition team that consistently offers the students they serve menu items with the best local products."

The HSD is proud to continue its partnership with the All Learners Network (ALN) as we work toward a more coherent, inclusive math experience for all students. This partnership is fully funded through federal grants that support professional learning to improve student outcomes, and helps build educator capacity, strengthen instructional practices, and support equitable math learning across the district.

Last year (2024–2025), elementary educators engaged in a Math Menu workshop to support the creation of differentiated instruction time within the core math block. They also gained access to All Learners Online (ALO) for asynchronous learning and high-quality classroom resources, while school leaders and instructional coaches benefited from embedded coaching to ensure long-term sustainability. At the middle and high school levels, educators participated in professional learning using ALN’s High Leverage Concepts, which are research-based developmental progressions that strengthen teachers’ understanding of key concepts and skills. Secondary teams also explored ways to use Math Menu to support differentiation, with continued coaching and access to the ALO platform.

This year (2025–2026), HSD will deepen this work with a vertically aligned approach to math professional learning, by expanding this professional learning to more classroom educators. During our district inservice days in January and March, elementary educators will participate in a Math for All Learners workshop focused on increasing access and inclusion during the main lesson and lesson closure. They will also take a deep dive into number sense routines and continue refining Math Menu practices, supported by ongoing embedded coaching. Secondary educators will engage in two new workshops, one focused on specialized math instruction for middle and high school, and another on how students develop conceptual understanding of algebra, with instructional coaching to support implementation. All educators will continue to receive access to high-quality resources, and asynchronous learning, which supports lesson planning and intervention design.

Key benefits of this work include building strong math teaching across all grades, helping all students take part and stay engaged in math, supporting long-lasting teaching practices through coaching, and giving teachers helpful tools and resources to save time and strengthen lessons.

As previously mentioned, our focus is to continue to fully realize the "Vision of a Graduate" work that we began in earnest throughout the last school year.

This year, we are continuing to refine our "Vision of a Graduate" draft by inspecting different aspects of our work and how it connects to what we envision for our students through the VoG.

In the last newsletter, you read about how we are instructing our students in "Reading," and in this edition, we share with you the work we do with our students on "Mathematical Thinking."

Enjoy!

At Dothan Brook, math is more than finding the right answer, it’s about discovering how you get there. In classrooms across the school, students are actively engaged in problem-solving, asking thoughtful questions, explaining their reasoning, creating mathematical representations, making connections, and collaborating with one another to explore solutions. Below are just a few snapshots of the amazing math learning happening at Dothan Brook.

Ms. Guild’s fifth graders put their fraction skills to the test as they worked to create the perfect ratio of ingredients for a delicious trail mix. Their challenge was to design a blend of three or more ingredients that totaled exactly two cups. With an assortment of tasty options, pretzels, dried fruit, chocolate chips, seeds, and more, students experimented, measured, and mixed their way to a custom snack that was both fun to make and even more fun to taste!

Ms. Proctor’s first graders had a wonderful time learning how to play dominoes. Students asked great questions, explained the rules to their classmates, and enjoyed playing together in small groups. The room was filled with laughter, fun, and plenty of excitement as they explored this classic game!

Ms. Gilbert’s fourth graders took on a creative math challenge: turning data into meaningful mathematical questions. Using information about the number of cattle at different ranches in California, students worked together to develop their own questions based on the data. Some of their thoughtful inquiries included: “How many cattle are there in total?”, “What is the difference between the cattle at Acala Ranch and Solano Ranch?”, and “Which ranch has the most cattle?”

Students were highly engaged and eager to share the questions they created, and even more excited to solve them!

In third grade, when they put on their math cape, third graders can show their mathematician super powers!

Third graders also do math in one of our fabulous outdoor classrooms!

"You Otter Know": December 5, 2025

At OQS, we prioritize a student discourse in math and strive to build a culture of grappling. Students have opportunities for individual reflection, small group sharing, and whole group discussion about the mathematical tools and thinking strategies they are using. Students talk about their math reasoning with one another, ask each other questions to push their thinking, and then come back together to share their learning.

The Howler: November 23, 2025

Math is a subject that often fits neatly into learning progressions. You first need to learn to count to 5, before you can count to 10. You need to understand what 10 is, in order to really understand what 100 is. You need to know how all that works to really be able to add and subtract. You need to know concepts of multiplication and division before understanding fractions and proportional reasoning. On any given day if you tour the classrooms, you will notice this progression at work.

Students in PreK begin by mastering counting within 10, on a ten frame. This visual organizer gets used very heavily in grades PreK-3. Helping students conceptualize what 10 actual means.

In Kindergarten, students now start building combinations of numbers and comparing them to ten. (I have 5 white cubes? How many more to ten? —Or— I have 3 red cubes and 2 white cubes, how many do I have?)

As students get into first and second grade, the models evolve and shift but keep building on the core concepts of being able to visualize numbers and manipulate them in your head. A bead rack becomes a great tool as it goes up through twenty. Dice and math games also become more frequent.

In math, we often talk about going from Concrete (things you can touch) to Representational (things you can draw) to Abstract (more mental models and intuitive understanding.)

The bulk of the work in 3/4 is to master the concepts of multiplication and division, but there is still some learning left to do in adding and subtracting bigger numbers. These students have moved their addition and subtraction thinking into the representational and abstract world. You will see them using Numberlines and the concept of base ten to work out problems until they master their understanding and find the most efficient method (usually the standard algorithm.)

Weekly Review: December 4, 2025

Mr. Weintraub’s math games teach such topics as the mathematics of fractions, percents, decimals, area of polygons, coordinate plane, prime numbers, negative and positive numbers - and it’s fun and healthy, brain-building competition.

Becca Osborne has been collaborating with White River Junction nonprofit "CraftStudies" and Vermont nonprofit "Community Engagement Lab" on a professional development opportunity for teachers at her school and around the Upper Valley. Teachers will meet 5 times throughout the school year, and focus on "Arts-infused Project Based Learning". Participating educators work with a variety of grades and subject areas. In this class they get the chance to be creative makers themselves through hands-on workshops at CraftStudies, and then develop their own project to bring back to their students.

On November 19th 2025 the Hartford Memorial Middle School Performing Arts Department, directed by Kristen Chapman and Mike Conerty, held their annual Variety Show. The students involved performed dance solos, sang or played their instrument. The jazz band conducted by Mike Conerty is a 6-8 group that meets on Tuesday mornings before school opens. The Glee Club conducted by Kristen Chapman and meets before school on Wednesdays closed the show. It was a great night for our performing arts program at HMMS. The kids were exceptional!

On November 21 & 22, twenty-one students from Hartford Performing Arts attended the annual District VI Festival. This is a group comprised of select musicians from the lower Southeast of Vermont grades 6 - 12. Our students from HMMS represented 5 select jazz musicians and 16 select singers. It was a fantastic weekend of music and collaboration with area musicians and schools.

It’s time to sign up for Winter Sports! HMMS offers boys and girls basketball as well as practice opportunities with the winter high school track team for students in grades 7 and 8. All 6th grade winter sports are offered by the Hartford Parks and Recreation Department. Registration is located on Infinite Campus for grades 7 and 8.

Please use this link to access the HMMS Athletics page.

HMMS Newsletter: November 9, 2025

For more than a decade, the Harford High Math Team has traveled together to attend MIT’s annual Splash Weekend. Thousands of high school students descend on campus to spend the weekend diving into more than 150 wonderfully diverse classes taught by MIT students. This year’s menu included everything from programming in Desmos and analyzing gravitational waves to exploring chess in higher dimensions and constructing your own fully functional language.

Students spend Saturday and Sunday immersed in 1- to 3-hour classes. They consistently come away inspired and energized from the atmosphere of engaging with high level ideas and conversations.

This trip also gives us a chance to reconnect with Math Team alumni now studying in the Boston area. This year, we were fortunate to be visited by Ben Healy (HHS Class of 2018), who is completing a master’s degree at MIT and shared fascinating insights about his engineering work and research on offshore wind farms off Cape Cod.

A big thank-you to everyone who supported our bake sales, and a huge shout-out to Mascoma Bank for sponsoring our team and helping us make this adventure possible!

Hartford High School uses math in the creation of products. The 3-D printers, the laser printer, and routers are all tools that combine a student's understanding of math and math principles in their creative use. At the end of the lesson(s), students have used math functionally which enhances their understanding.

At yesterday's School Administrator Leadership Team meeting, HHS Educators Kara Garrow. Becky Whitney, and Hannah Romeo, Link Crew Coordinators, presented their work with the students who are serving as Link Crew Leaders this year.

The impact of this wonderful program is already having incredible cultural impact at HHS, with grade 11 and 12 students who serve as Link Crew Leaders gaining critical leadership skills, and the grade 9 students who they mentor gaining connection, friendship, and belonging as they begin their time at HHS.

Hartford High Lites: November 21, 2025

Math is a part of every program at the HACTC. Our approach to math is to find the math that is naturally a part of a career field and integrate that into the program.

Recently, our Natural Resources students have been working on estimating the price of jobs. As a part of this, students first visit a job site to evaluate the scope of the work. They take measurements of the site. After that, they determine the square footage and also calculate the labor costs for the project. In the classroom, students have been doing daily math bellringers that help them with the skills of square footage and volume.

One job that Natural Resources did this fall was at the Ottaquechee School. The Natural Resources students provided Principal Amelia Donahey with a quote for the job before they began the work.

Another recent example of incorporating math into our programs has been in our Welding program. Students have been doing a lot of work with measurement and with geometry. These skills are a crucial part of every project students do. Students were recently asked about the daily math problems they begin class with and they said, “I don’t mind the math at all. It is always useful and it’s connected to real world things.”

This week and last week we've had lots of recent alums in the building. Today, Hannah and Anne, Natural Resources Class of 2025, talked to our current NR juniors. Hannah is studying forestry at Paul Smith's and Anne is studying biology.

Ally, Auto Body class of 2025, came back to talk to juniors last week. She reports that she loves her work and is making $50,000 a year working at Collision Works. She started at Collision Works for her Coop last year.

Highlights from the HACTC: December 5, 2025

Every math teacher (and perhaps parent) has heard the age-old question about math: “When am I going to use this in real life?”

At The Wilder School, we start by answering the “Why” behind all of our behavioral and Executive Function work with our students. How will everything we do, from helping with the cleaning of door handles, working on phonetics or writing a five paragraph essay, or taking a trip to VINS…prepare students for success in school, the workplace and social settings in the near and distant future?

So, the “Why” behind what and how we teach math in our ASD / ADHD program lies in its title: “Functional Math,” which is what will be needed in order to complete daily Life Skills throughout their lives.

Setting alarms; telling time; budgeting; grocery shopping…then measuring, mixing and cooking meals at the correct temperature from the purchased items.

For students preparing for secondary school, math is explored as an independent subject but, like most everything at TWS, is woven into other subjects and hands-on experiences both at school and during weekly field trips.

From fundamental addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to foundational courses that provide pre-algebra -geometry preparation, each student’s curriculum is tailored to meet them where they are.

The interdisciplinary approach to learning was apparent this afternoon when students were studying biology, specifically cell division, and the mind-boggling, exponential growth from one cell into millions.

Through the stages of Mitosis (Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase and Telophase), one cell becomes two, two become four, until rapidly the growth of life is so explosive even the most sophisticated technology lags behind this natural process! Their intellectual curiosity was clearly piqued, and a lively discussion ensued as students asked whether this growth occurred at the same speed in the heart’s cells, the brain’s, and elsewhere.

And finally, at The Wilder School, after a busy day and such rigorous discussions of complex, weighty topics, there’s always time to celebrate a job well done with ice cream and cupcakes, in particular when it is a long-time, beloved TWS teacher’s birthday!

Please see the latest Equity Updates in this newsletter!

Three Hartford High School students attended the Mountain Views Supervisory Union Youth Leadership Conference. This conference, that was conceived, planned, and run by students, asked participants to engage in dialogue about democracy, the environment, and LGBTQ+ advocacy. Students also heard from U.S. Representative Becca Balint and VT State Senator Joe Major who offered inspiring messages about finding truth, speaking up, and staying engaged.

A link is here for your convenience!

Hartford Athletics

Jeff Moreno, CAA

Athletic Director

morenoj@hartfordschools.net

The boys XC team finished in 4th place in the team standings at the D-II state meet last month. This is the best team finish in the history of the boys program (boys XC started in 1971 at Hartford High School). Last year a Hartford runner finished 4th as an individual, which was the best individual finish in program history…and this year the TEAM finished in 4th. Incredible! Even more impressive is the team is quite young with most top runners returning next year. Could Hartford boys be in the running for a podium finish as a team next year? Several HHS runners were in the top 3 at the Zach’s Place Turkey Trot in Woodstock last week…the future looks very bright. Well done Coach Talbot, Coach Dumont, and the entire running crew!!

Harper Traendly transferred to Hartford from Rivendell a few years ago after competing with our spring track team as part of a small cohort of Raptors on the Hurricane squad. She joined soccer the following fall and made an instant impact. This fall she was on pace to shatter the individual single season scoring record after a blistering hot start to the season before she was sidelined with injuries for the better part of the 2nd half of the season. Harper still made all-league and all-state honors and remained part of the team all season cheering on and coaching her teammates from the sideline. Grateful to have had Harper become a full-time Hurricane a few years ago!

Winter sports started on the 1st of December and there were record numbers at tryouts this week! Most teams were setting rosters and finalizing early season positions as the longest season of the athletic year gets underway. Kudos to all of the Hurricanes who took on the challenge to try out for a team. Coaches have all reported excellent effort and attitude to start the season. There were 160+ student-athletes who were in action this week! That represents 31% of the student body! Games and meets begin at the end of next week. Please visit the HHS athletic webpage to find current schedules, rosters, and more. Good luck to all of the Hurricane teams this winter!

Did you know the oldest continuous sport at Hartford High School is baseball? Founded in 1892, baseball has been a staple for young people from Hartford for well over a century. Football (1925), Softball (1947), Boys Track & Field (1947), and Field Hockey (1951) have also been around for generations. Girls & Boys Skiing (1937) and Boys Ice Hockey (1930) started many years ago, faded away, and were brought back later on. Basketball has been around a very long time but an exact year has not been nailed down. Tennis was also an original sport way back when…but has come and gone several times throughout the years. In the following photographs you might notice the 1898 football team had a J on their uniforms…as the high school in town back then was referred to as White River Junction and not always as Hartford.

Heather Scudder just wrapped her 38th season at the helm of HHS field hockey. Starting in 1987 and only taking a few years off when she served as a varsity field hockey official. As a younger athlete she was a pre-olympic level swimmer before competing in multiple sports in college (Slippery Rock) including soccer! She came to Hartford in 1987 and took over the field hockey program. In her 3rd year she guided the program to its 1st ever state title and in the years since she has added 12 more state titles. She currently sits at 394 career wins as a head coach. She is a highly respected fixture in the Vermont field hockey world. Coach Scudder teaches PE and in her spare time she enjoys being with her dogs and traveling all over the world.

If you would like to contact the school board, please access their page on our website.

To watch recordings of past meetings, including our last special meeting on July 30, please access this link.

We also created a new email address that will allow you to send one email that will go to all five board members (thank you again, to Eric Christie!):

To reach all members of the school board collectively, email schoolboard@hartfordschools.net

The Hartford School District is looking for a second shift custodian.

Full time benefits eligible position available at Hartford High School starting at $20.hr.

We welcome applicants who want to contribute to our educational community by ensuring a clean, safe environment for our students and staff.

For more information please contact Jonathan Garthwaite, Director of Facilities, at 802-359-4610 or garthwaitej@hartfordschools.net.

Here is the link to apply: www.gobeacon.com/careers

http://www.gobeacon.com/careers

A big thank you to Eric Christie, HSD Director of Technology, for figuring out how individuals can subscribe to the HSD Newsletter!

To subscribe to be on our list of newsletter recipients, please access this link (the link is also on the front page of our website)!