SCS Weekly Newsletter 2/17/25

Dear Salisbury Community School Families and Friends,

It's been a wild couple weeks of weather, for sure, but hopefully one result of it is that kids have been able to have a ton of fun in the snow! Certainly the snowbanks at SCS have been a wonderful gift for recess!

I've been previewing it for a few weeks, but now it is upon us: CLIf Family Literacy Night! This Thursday, February 20th we will be hosting "The Poetry Guy Ted Scheu", who will be joining us to share poems, talk about the creative process, and share some of the work our classes did with him on the 4th of February! Doors will open at 5:30, and we will begin with a FREE DINNER from 5:30-6:00, followed by a presentation to students and families, as well as a book give-away!

This is one of the big events of our CLIf "year of the book", so we are hoping a lot of folks will come out! Come have some food, hear a great presentation, and get a free book!

One other literacy related thing: we have re-scheduled our "Title 1 Literacy Night Planning Meeting" because it got snowed out last week. On Thursday, March 6th, before the beginning to our regular FOSCS meeting, we will hold a "Title 1 Literacy Night Planning Meeting". Any community members interested in what Title 1 is (it's a great federal program that gives extra funding for schools who are seen as needing funds because of their poverty rate) and interested in helping to create a vision for our Title 1 Literacy Night in March should attend! We will begin at 6:15 in the Library.

Thanks so much! We hope to see you this Thursday!

Best,

Bjarki

• Thursday, February 20th: CLIf Literacy Night with "Poetry Guy" Ted Scheu.
• Monday Feb 24th- Friday February 28th: February Break
• Monday, March 3rd- Still break- no school
• Tuesday, March 4th: Inservice day.

It is highly recommended that all students K-5 keep an extra full-set of clean clothes in their backpacks at all times. All sorts of things happen requiring a need to change clothes during the school day (i.e. spills, vomiting, mud-puddles, snowsuit/boot issues, restroom accidents, etc.). Students usually prefer to wear their own clothes that fit and are their style, instead of borrowing from the limited school supply. Having their own clothes will allow for quick changes and less time away from learning. Thanks for helping us help your student!

Once again, ACSD music teacher Sarah Metcalf and all of her students put on a stupendous performance for us. Students from Weybridge, Shoreham, Ripton, Salisbury and Cornwall combined into one big band and chorus on Monday for an audience of more than 150! Then, later in the week, Salisbury Community School was treated to a concert from just our SCS musicians!

Special thanks to Ms. Metcalf for making this wonderful work happen, and to all the students for their practice, perseverance and courage in performing! It's a ton of work to set this up and make it happen, and we appreciate it!

Over the past couple years we have created a new tradition here at SCS. On Valentine's Day, instead of having lots of candy in class, we have an ice cream social! We enjoy it a lot- it's a nice way to come together and share a day that celebrates love as a whole group -that way everyone can feel special and like they got a treat on Valentine's Day. Thanks to the adults who served the ice cream, and to Ms. T who is always flexible when we mess with her world a little by setting things up in the gym at random times.

Thanks, too, to all the students who helped clean up. It's really cool how they will just jump in and volunteer. We're not against a little child labor! (It's always voluntary, of course).

This last weekend, many SCS community and staff members had the chance to see some awesome young skaters in action at the Middlebury Ice Show, which brings local kids and Middlebury College Students together in a winter extravaganza! ! Elsa Rheaume, Nala Rheaume, Isla Sims, and Olivia Wimett all were incredibly brave to go skate in front of so many people, and they did a wonderful job. Way to go SCS skaters!

Parents, Caregivers, Students, Staff & Community, we want to hear from you! In the Spring of 2024, ACSD began a two year process toward joint accreditation by NEASC and IB (read more here). We are currently in the self-study and evidence gathering phase and we want to hear from you! Please take 10 minutes to fill out this NEASC Learning Community Survey to help inform how we are doing in key areas and where we need to focus and improve in the future.

Please choose the survey links that best fits your role and school affiliation.

ACSD Elementary Schools:

• PARENTS: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Parents-Fall-2024?id=54

• FACULTY: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Faculty-Staff-Fall-2024?id=54

• STUDENTS: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Students-Fall-2024?id=54

We want to thank our thirteen ACSD School Board members for the time, collaboration, and deep investment they make to ensure a brighter future for our students, our district, and our community. We want to send a special appreciation to Chip Malcom and Joanna Doria who are leaving the Board this year. Chip has served on the ACSD board since unification in 2016 and previously served on the UD3 Board from 1985-2000, including 6 years as chair. Joanna has served on the ACSD Board since 2022. School board members are elected officials who live in one of our district towns and represent all members of the ACSD community. School board elections are held each Town Meeting day with a rotating number of our thirteen seats up each year. Learn more about the board: www.acsdvt.org/school-board/

This year, we thought it would be fun to chronicle the changes of the season at Salisbury Community School by taking the same picture, at the same time, from the same spot, every week. At the end of the year it will hopefully be a fun thing to look at and share!