Waitsfield Elementary
August 28, 2025
Dear friends and families,
We had an auspicious start of the school year yesterday, with engaged, positive energy throughout the building. We ended the day by gathering together as a whole school community, reflecting on how growing our minds is a bit like growing a garden. A seed sprouting is as natural as a mind expanding, but both are more bountiful when they are well cared for. We discussed how a brain, like a plant, needs to be fed. We feed our minds not only with healthy food and hydration, but also by reading and being curious. Just as we care for a garden through weeding and fencing and staking, we need to care for the environment our brains are growing in, keeping it safe and supportive for all of us to thrive. Following our three core principles of being engaged, responsible and safe is a lot of how we care for our “growing” environment. I asked students to look around at one another, knowing that we’re all in this garden together and we want to all help one another grow. And then we had some popsicles and got ready to go home and get a little rest and play to come back ready to grow some more tomorrow.
Thank you to everyone who has updated your child’s school registration; it's critical that we have this updated information. We still need about 25% of you to do that. The link and directions for how to complete registration updates is here.
If you haven’t yet completed this quick response regarding the school directory, could you please also do that? Each year, we share a directory of students and their family’s contact information JUST with other families in the school. We only share this information with your permission. To give permission for your family’s info to be shared this school year, please complete this short form. We’re hoping to have the directory ready in September, so we need this information from you now.
The WES Family/ Student Handbook contains a variety of important information about our school, from our attendance/ absence procedures to what you need to do to volunteer in our school. I will highlight pieces of the handbook in this weekly newsletter, but also encourage you check out the handbook. It’s also linked on our school website. One of the first sections of the handbook that I’ll highlight is our expectations around Personal Electronics/ Toys. Per our handbook: “ All personal toys, items of personal worth, entertainment devices, and cellphones should not be brought to school. If a student uses any personal items during the school day that is not by permission, staff members can hold on to any personal items until the end of the day when it will be returned to the student, or a parent may be asked to come to school and pick up the item.
The school is not responsible for any lost, stolen or destroyed personal toys, possessions, entertainment devices, or cell phones that are brought to school.” This expectation does also apply to “smart” watches, which we also ask are not used during the day.
While it is a “short” week, I think we will all be ready for the upcoming three day weekend as we get ourselves back into the routines of school. Cheers to a great year ahead!
Respectfully, Kaiya
STEM Event at Inklings
Author Tanya Lee Stone Visits Inklings
Inklings is thrilled to welcome award-winning author Tanya Lee Stone to Inklings on Saturday, August 30th at 10:30am!!
Join Tanya and help celebrate Women's Equality Day with a reading of REMEMBERING ROSALIND FRANKLIN, an inspiring nonfiction picture book about Rosalind Franklin, the groundbreaking chemist who helped discover the structure of DNA but was not credited for it.
In this wonderful book, Rosalind Franklin is remembered, and her story put back in the narrative where it belongs!
Following the reading, children will have the chance to create a fun, colorful DNA double helix - the kind that Rosalind's work made possible to discover. Tanya will also discuss her other wonderful books about women's empowerment.
Mad River Valley Fall Soccer Registration
In the fall, the Mad River Valley Soccer Association provides a recreational youth soccer experience for players from the Mad River Valley. The first games are held the weekend after Labor Day, and the final games are held the first weekend in November. The primary purpose of the Recreational Team is to offer instruction-based soccer. Recreational teams participate in intra- and inter-league play on a regularly scheduled seasonal basis. Matches are instructional and promote equal playing time for all participants. Recreational teams focus on skills development in a non-competitive environment.
Here is the link to register: https://system.gotsport.com/programs/L68467580
- PreK4-Kindergarten Program: $75 Players must be 4 years old at the start of the program. The program is on Saturday mornings. Uniform is included in the program cost.
- Grades 1-2 Program: $100 1 practice per week. 1 Saturday game per week. Uniform is included in the program cost
- Grades 3-4 & 5-6 Program: $125 2 practices per week. Games on Saturdays with the possibility of an additional game on another day/evening. Please note: Uniforms are not included in the price for the 3/4 and 5/6 program; they will need to be ordered separately (link forthcoming). We are using the same kits from the spring travel league, so if you have a uniform from spring, you will not need to order another one.
Scholarships are available. Please reach out if you are in need of financial support.
Please reach out to registrar@madrivervalleysoccer with any questions.
New STEM show at Mad Arts
Stardust
The Big MAC (Mad Arts Collective)
August 21- October 31, 2025
Open: Tuesday - Saturday, 1-5pm
Reception: September 19, 5-7pm
Mad Arts is excited to present "Stardust", a new exhibition on view from August 21 through October 31st at the Gallery and coinciding with the 2025 International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. Stardust is rooted in an age-old inquiry “Where are we going”?, a journey about the Self through the Cosmos and The Quantum World. Artists in the group ‘The Mad 802 Collective’ express their interpretation of the immaterial while engaging with the scales of the unimaginably tiny to the infinitely large in measurable and mythical time and grounded in the essence of nature itself. The Quantum World is one of uncertainty. One can’t really talk about where a quantum object is, we can only talk about where we might find it. Yet, our seemingly solid reality is built upon this tiny world of possibilities, stuff has form, the universe has form and we are solid. This show looks at the behavior of photons, particles and mysterious patterns of quantum phenomena. It inspires us to think about the magic of the quantum fundamental basis to reality and asks us to be curious about where the human species is going. Artists open up to their interpretation of the immaterial while engaging with the scales of the unimaginable tiny to the infinitely large.
About Us
Website: https://www.waitsfieldschool.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waitsfieldschool/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=waitsfield%20elementary%20school
Phone: 802-496-3643
Location: 3951 Main Street, Waitsfield, VT