You Otter Know August Update

• 10/29/26: Walk & Ride #7 (Last Walk/Ride of the fall session)
• 10/30/26 : Unity Day Assembly and Anti-Bully Rally @ 2:00 pm
• 11/2/26 : Early Release - Parent Teacher Conferences (No PreK)
• 11/3/26: No School - Parent Teacher Conferences
• 11/6/26: PTO Fall Dance (DBS Gym - 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM)
• 11/6/26: Final day to order from the PTO Fundraiser
• 11/10/26: PTO Meeting @ 6:00
• 11/11/26 : No School - Veteran's Day
• 11/18/26 : Picture Re-take Day
• 11/18/26: HSD Board Meeting (6:00)
• 11/25/26 - 11/27/26 : No School - Thanksgiving Break

A very happy Friday to all of our Otter Community!

THANK YOU to everyone that came out on a rainy night last Friday to watch Toy Story 5 and enjoy some delicious popcorn! A special SHOUT OUT to our amazing PTO, especially Mrs. Celona, Mrs. Joslin, and Mrs. Ehrhardt for all their help organizing and managing this fun event!.

Congratulations to all of our second grade Otter Scholars on their amazing Reader's Theater presentations! Keep on reading! Thank you to both Mrs. Hammond and Ms. Brown for organizing this and helping to promote a literacy-rich environment.

We are super excited to hold our annual Unity Day celebration and rally next Friday, 10/30. We will hold our Anti-Bullying rally outside the front of the school beginning at 2:00. Please drive by to honk your horns and support all of our Otter scholars in being Upstanders in the community!

Lastly, DBS will hold the final 'Walk & Ride' next Thursday, 10/29/26 for the fall session. Thank you to all of our riders for their participation and a special SHOUT OUT to our parent and DBS volunteers for helping to supervise the path each week. These volunteers include:

• Olivier Gilloux
• Amelia Eichman
• Caitlin Barthelmes
• Brian Barthelmes
• Jes Raymond
• Dustin Lackey
• Jim Hewitt
• Amy Hall
• Stacey Mascola

Thank you again for your partnership and have an amazing weekend.

Regards,

Vinny

mascolav@hartfordschools.net

(802) 295-8647 x5100

Wear orange to promote Unity at DBS. This is the day that we come together to celebrate our community and anti-bullying at DBS. We will hold our Anti-Bullying Rally on Friday, October 30th. We welcome you to come drive by and show us your support! Students are encouraged to wear orange.

• You can always follow our fabulous 5th grade team on Instagram: @5thgradeDBS

READING, our Otter Scholars are becoming experts with the Declaration of Human Rights. This week they did a CLOSE read of the book, We Are All Born Free. Students then worked collaboratively within small groups and partners to determine what human right(s) they felt were the most important.

WRITING, Last week, students focused on how to use effective transitions within their writing. This week students had some fun with "spooky elaboration" writing. The goal was to use the five senses in their writing. Next week, students will continue to practice using elaboration strategies within their writing.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: Students are wrapping up note taking on their political biographies.Up next will be Informational Writing connected to their biographies.

MATH: Students continue to practice volume and surface area but are also now working on multiplication strategies for multi-digit numbers such as doubling and halving, multiplying to a friendly number and adding of subtracting groups, partial products, and identifying number relationships with ratio tables.

SCIENCE: Our 5th grade Otter scientists have been learning about the patterns of space and why they happen. Students have learned the reasons for days, years, seasons, eclipses, and the phases of the moon. Please note that there is a science field trip to McAuliffe-Shepard Museum on 11/12.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6JDMEeWZUX8hkaeFFEkk8HXxrlOUonJsIHtAmIVaqLHNugA/viewform

Join the Adventurers’ Lodge!

Is your 4th or 5th grader ready for an epic quest? The Adventurers’ Lodge is coming to the School Library! Led by Mr. Josh, this club introduces students to Tabletop Roleplaying Games where they will work as a team to solve puzzles and defeat mythical monsters. All materials provided.

• When: Fridays from 2:45 PM - 4:00 PM (Starting October 2nd)
• Where: School Library
• Experience: None required!

How it works: Each week is a self-contained adventure. Scan the QR code below to select your dates up to 4 weeks in advance.

To keep things fair, weekly spots are limited, with priority given to newcomers. You will receive a confirmation email each week letting you know if your student has a spot for that Friday's game.

Questions? Please email Mr. Josh at hamelj@hartfordschools.net.

Each year we create a school directory which is distributed in October. The directory includes class lists and contact information for students. You are given the opportunity to opt out while you are registering and or completing the yearly update in IC. If you do not wish to have your information included, please contact Mrs. Wood at woodr@hartfordschools.net to inform her of your wishes.