Swift Flyer~ January 21st

• Thursday, February 3rd @ 6:30- Virtual Swift Open House ~ Independent Project Presentations~ See email for Zoom link
• Mon, Feb. 21 - Fri. Feb. 25 - Winter Break
• Fri, Mar. 18- No School- Professional Learning Time
• Mon, Apr. 18 - Fri, Apr. 22 - Spring Break

Swifties took it upon themselves to decorate our classrooms before winter break. It was quite an exercise in collaboration and creativity, with guest judges and all. The house was buzzing with positive energy on those shortest days of the year.

We also held our annual Poetry Slam where students performed their poetry for their peers. It's pretty amazing how many students are willing to take this risk! We awarded prizes for the best performances as well:

• 3rd Place- Clay N and Braden G
• 2nd Place- A tie between Laney C and Christ Y
• 1st Place- Jackie W

Bravo to all of the performers! Everyone has a variety of poetry to share in their Trimester 2 PLPs.

I am Poem by Lainey C

I am from the warmth that swallowed the air whole.

The heat that makes my eyes water, the heat that I call home.

I am from the olive tree, the sun burned trampoline who’s lost it’s battle with the sun.

I am from the house made of stucco, and the feeling of longing for a rainstorm.

The ground I regret walking across with no shoes.

I am from the school I loved so much, the school where I found the friends I would play with for days and days to come.

I am from the desert mountains that stretched for miles.

The heat that I call home.

I am from the pool of deepest blue, I am from the place where I swim, with my sister and father, while my mother watches us, and throws us toys to dive for.

The place where I yelled “ Canon ball!” As I jump in, my friends by my side.

I am from the place I miss, the heat that I called home.

I am from the horse back riding lessons, the hours in the sun, with my best friend riding along beside me.

I am from the neighborhood, where I knew almost every person who lived in the house next to mine. The place where cats prance around each corner.

I am from the heat that I called home.

I am from the home where if you gazed across the lane, you could spot a lake, where geese and ducks swam.

The place I loved so much, the heat that I called home.

Week of January 24th - We will have a packet of CVU scheduling information for all of your students. CVU school counselors will also share a link to a video regarding the registration process and other information for students. Please view this video at a time that works for you and your students during the week.

Tuesday, February 1st from 2:00 - 2:45pm - CVU school counselors will be holding a virtual Q&A session for 8th graders. More information will be coming soon about this event.

Thursday, February 3rd - CVU 8th Grade Student and Parent Night. CVU will be sending more information to parents and guardians.

Friday, February 18th - All course registration surveys are due to CVU by this date.

Click here for the complete letter to 8th-grade families.

What is i-Ready?
i-Ready is an online program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform instruction.

The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s needs. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning.

What can I do to help?
To help prepare your child for the i-Ready Diagnostic, encourage them to:
• Get a good night’s sleep and eat a full breakfast the day of the assessment.
• Try their best on each question and try not to rush.
• Try not to worry about questions to which they do not know the answers—remind them that it is expected that
they will only get about half of the questions correct.
• Be respectful of other students who take longer to finish.
• Use paper and pencil to show work for math questions.

What happens next?
The i-Ready Diagnostic will provide results that help me identify your child’s strengths and determine next steps for instruction. I look forward to sharing these results with you throughout the year and providing a learning experience that will engage your child while teaching important skills and concepts.

If you have any questions about i-Ready, please do not hesitate to contact me or the school. You can also learn moremabout i-Ready by visiting i-ReadyCentral.com/FamilyCenter.

As always, thank you for your continued support and for being a partner in your child’s learning! It is much appreciated.

January 10, 2022

Dear Williston Families and Caregivers,

This letter is very similar to the one we sent on Friday. Today, we have identified additional confirmed positive COVID cases in the Williston Schools. The Williston leadership team is still working on the contact tracing and the communications to those who have been directly impacted. As a result, we do not have a specific number of cases to share with you at this time. We wanted to provide the update that there were, in fact, additional cases today.

Vaccines

Families can now register children ages 5 and up for the COVID-19 vaccine. The Vermont Department of Health selects the sites for school-based clinics. Though we have signed up to be a site, we were not selected for the first round. We will keep CVSD families informed if and when that changes. See this information from the Vermont Department of Health:

• Parents & caregivers can now make an appointment for kids 5 to 11 to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine! Visit healthvermont.gov/KidsVaccine or call 855-722-7878. Appointments are available for clinics in communities and schools. Thank you for protecting your child against COVID-19.
  
  

Children ages 12-15 may now get a booster, if eligible. (five months after their second Pfizer dose)

There will be a vaccine clinic at Williston Central School on January 26 and February 16. Registration is now open!.

These clinics will include Pfizer for ages 5+, first and second doses, and boosters for ages 12 and up. Please go to the Dept of Health’s website. If parents/caregivers are having trouble signing up online, they can make an appointment by calling the Health Department at 855-722-7878, Mon. - Fri. 8:00 am - 4:30 pm, Sat. and Sun. 10:00 am - 3:00 pm.

Families/Caregivers of WCS students may be interested in having your child vaccinated without a family member or caregiver present. The Department of Health reports that if parents/caregivers sign up via the website, there is a box to check where they provide consent. The site asks the necessary medical screening questions. So while you are welcome to attend the clinic with your child, you do not need to and you don’t need to fill out any forms as long as you’ve used the website to sign up. If registering by phone, please ask them about this possibility.

Important Information about Vaccines and Test to Stay

Students are not considered FULLY vaccinated until 2 weeks after their second dose. They can still participate in Test to Stay until then.

Parents/Guardians - please send your school’s health office a copy of your child’s vaccine record AFTER they get their SECOND dose.

Families should continue to monitor their students for COVID symptoms daily. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, coughing, and shortness of breath. Some people have reported additional symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, nausea, lethargy, lack of appetite, vomiting, and diarrhea. Parents and guardians of students or staff exhibiting symptoms are asked to contact their family physician, the Vermont Department of Health, and the school nurse. As always, the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and families is our top priority.

We thank you for your investment in the health and wellbeing of our school community.

Sincerely,

Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

Hello 8th graders,

It is that time of year where we start to collect baby pictures, 8th grade quotes and your yearbook dedication nominations. Please read everything. It may look like a lot of information but it really is not.

Buy Your Yearbook Here

If you are interested in purchasing a yearbook your order needs to be placed by February 24th. This is the Friday right before February Vacation.

Baby Pictures -

Pick your favorite picture of when you were a baby/little kid. If your picture is digital you can email it to me. If it is a hard copy you can give it to your house TA. They will have an envelope that I will collect. All hard copy photos will be returned after a few weeks. Please submit by February 4th.

8th Grade Quote -

Please submit your quote in the link below. The quote needs to be under 100 characters and cannot include emojis. The yearbook design program does not have the ability to use emojis. Your quote needs to be appropriate! Administration and the Direction Center reviews each quote before it is given to me. If you would not want your parents to read it then it is probably not appropriate. You will not be given a second chance if they think it is inappropriate. If you are not sure then feel free to send it to me privately and I will give you my opinion. Please submit by February 4th.

8th Grade Quote

Yearbook Dedication -

Please fill out the form in the link below. You will have the option to nominate 3 people to have the yearbook dedicated to. This can be anyone from teachers, administrators, custodians, TA's, nurses, kitchen and so on. Any adult that works in the school that you feel like deserves some recognition. Please do not include student teachers. Please submit by February 4th.

Yearbook Dedication

You are not required to have a baby picture or a quote. This is just a fun section of the yearbook for the 8th graders.

Please email me if you have any questions.

- Ashley Beauregard

Thursday February 3 & Saturday February 5

If you are a student in grades 7 - 11, sign up for a Discover CTE Session as a way to visit the Center for Technology in Essex, meet instructors and participate in a hands-on workshop in your program of interest.

Click here for session details and sign-up information.

We want to meet you!

Some programs have switched to virtual and/or been canceled. And one new program has been added. You can learn about each program and register at the 4-H Announcements Page: https://www.uvm.edu/extension/youth/announcements

Teen Science Cafes

• The January 22 in-person cafe will now be held virtually on Thursday, January 27 from 7-8 pm.
• The February 5 in-person cafe will now be held virtually on Wednesday, February 9 from 7-8 pm.

Note: Start Thinking About Summer! We will be hosting the AgroTek Summer Academy at UVM at the end of June 2022. Both of these science café topics will be one of the featured free week-long residential academies where participants will dive deeper in to the subject. More information about the AgroTek Summer Academies will be provided at each teen science café.

Discover Engineering

• The in-person event to be held at UVM on Saturday, February 12 has been canceled.
• All other events and activities connected to Engineering Month are still happening (i.e., learn to code, teen science cafes, career exploration, Rube Goldberg Challenge, Create Your Own Invention Contest). See an updated calendar of events here.
• We have added a new program on Tuesday, February 8 called 4-H Teen Time: Career Exploration - Engineering & Product Design.
  

Science Olympiad

• This event is still being planned for Saturday, April 2 and we would love more high schools, youth groups or organizations from around the State to field a team. We can put you in touch with an experienced SO coach to help you get started. The best advice we heard from existing teams has been: Give it a try. Don't get overwhelmed with all that you could do. Just start small. Maybe compete in just a few of the SO events to get a feel for this event. SO is really well-known and is a big deal; looks great on student's college applications. Email Lauren.Traister@uvm.edu if you are interested in participating.