Hi, WCUUSD educators,

This month's newsletter is full of information about Curriculum Camp, summer professional learning activities, and upcoming spring assessments, among other topics and updates.

Please take a few minutes to read it. I hope that many of you will sign up for Curriculum Camp and/or professional learning activities. The sign up deadline is Friday, June 13.

As always, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Warmly,

Jen

Curriculum Council met on May 9. Our major areas of focus were planning for Curriculum Camp and preparing to administer the annual Local Comprehensive Assessment Plan (LCAP) survey.

Curriculum Camp topics are aligned with our Curriculum Council work plan, the district’s strategic plan, and Vermont’s revised Education Quality Standards. There will be opportunities to focus on elementary writing, transferable skills, middle school literacy and math interventions, special education, and elementary and middle school units of study in global citizenship and science, among other topics. Most Curriculum Camp sessions will be focused on designing professional learning plans for the district that will be implemented across all schools during the 2025-2026 school year.

Additionally, there are a few summer learning opportunities that the district is offering or promoting, including a focus on community schools, middle and high school interventions, the Responsive Classroom courses, and transparent and responsible leadership.

Please check out this document for details and an opportunity to sign up. Sign up no later than Friday, June 13 so that we can plan accordingly.

We are in the process of designing the annual LCAP survey. Look for it in the weeks to come. Each year we review the results and tweak the LCAP based on teacher feedback.

To date, 14 people have expressed interest in participating in the Responsive Classrooms courses that will take place at U-32 from August 12-14. At this time we have not yet met the minimum participation requirements for hosting. If you are interested in participating, please sign up here no later than Friday, June 13.

• Berlin: Celia Guggemos

• Calais: Jenna Howard

• Doty: Allison Fayle

• East Montpelier: Alicia Lyford, Hilary Paquet, Dave Willard

• Rumney: Veronica Fair

• U-32: Erin Galligan-Baldwin, Elizabeth Marks, Amy Molina, Brittany Perry

• WCUUSD: Ellen Dorsey, Jen Miller-Arsenault

Earlier this month the Education Quality Committee (EQC) continued their examination of our fall and winter data. They drafted a written report for the full school board. The report was included in the school board packet for the meeting on May 21. The school board tabled the discussion due to timing and will take up the topic at their next regular meeting on June 25.

The Education Quality Committee meets on the second Thursday of each month beginning at 5:00 p.m. Our next meeting is Thursday, June 12 from 5:00-6:30 p.m. at Central Office. The agenda topics include approving the committee's goal and work plan for 2025-2026 and drafting this year's Student Learning Outcome (SLO) report to the full board regarding Financial Literacy and PE and Health, the SLO's that the committee reviewed this school year.

In an effort to continue to promote awareness about Vermont's revised Education Quality Standards (EQS) which into effect on July 1, 2025, I am duplicating most of last month's column here.

One resource to support the implementation of the revised EQS is the VT IRIS Ethnic Studies Standards Framework developed by the Ethnic Studies and Social Equity Standards Advisory Working Group as part of VT's Act 1 of 2019.

For a number of years our unit design template has included supports for teachers to consider and implement practices that include tenets of culturally responsive teaching, trauma-informed practices, and universal design for learning.

In order to fully implement the new EQS, I am in the process of revising the template to ensure clear alignment with the IRIS Framework, auditing our existing units, and making a plan to fully implement the new EQS.

The specific domains of the IRIS Framework include:

• Identity Development: Students will develop their identities and make connections to their identities, knowledges, histories, and experiences of Ethnic Studies Groups.
• Resisting Racism: Students will develop systems literacy to understand and change the impact of racism and intersectional forms of oppression on Ethnic Studies Groups.
• Interconnectedness: Students will value the cultural wealth of Ethnic Studies Groups and support community actualization--meeting basic needs of all, ensuring safety, and creating the conditions of connectedness--at the local, state, and national levels.
• Social Responsibility: Students will participate in uplifting collective liberation: the freedom, well being, and joy of all peoples.

I am also going to facilitate a Curriculum Camp session focused on creating universal professional learning activities related to the new EQS. See the information in the Curriculum Council talking points above or in the Curriculum Camp section below for more details and an opportunity to join me in this important work.

It's time to sign up for Curriculum Camp and/or some professional learning opportunities!

Please take a few minutes to:

• Read this document
• Watch this video
• Complete this form

Sign up by Friday, June 13, and please reach out to me at jmillerarsenault@u32.org if you have any questions or concerns.

This is the last call for the Responsive Classroom Course. If you are interested, please sign up by completing this very brief Google form no later than Friday, June 13 so that I can support our district's next steps. See my March newsletter or email me for more information.

Please note: As of the publication of this newsletter, we have not met the minimum participation requirements for any of the courses. We are closest to meeting the minimum requirements for the elementary core course.

Please consider signing up, and please encourage your colleagues to do so as well.

We are in the midst of our spring assessment windows. It will be great to celebrate our students' performance and growth and to have current information in order to plan effective interventions for the fall.

Please take a few minutes to consult the Local Comprehensive Assessment Plan for your grade level(s) so that you are well-poised to administer the assessments in a timely manner.

This is a busy time of year. Rather than sharing a new UDL resource this month, I encourage you to carve out a few minutes, as you see fit, to check out at least one of the resources below.

UDL resources shared so far:

• CAST's updated UDL guidelines
• Katie Novak's monthly newsletter
• Lesson planning template
• Novak Education Teacher's Guide to UDL
• The Science and Research Behind the UDL Framework
• UDL Personalized Learning Profile
• Video about implementing UDL in a manageable way (2:31)
• Video likening UDL to planning a successful dinner party (3:21)
• WCUUSD unit design template

I encourage you all to subscribe to the AOE's Weekly Field Memo if you don't yet do so. In my opinion, it is a vital source of information for all Vermont educators.