SCS Newsletter 2.18.24

Dear Salisbury Families:

Last week was an action-packed week at Salisbury Community School!

Weeks before breaks always seem to have a lot of fun moments, whether intentional or not. This last one saw the continuation of some fun Salisbury Community School traditions, and some great chances for community members to come and share in what we do at SCS.

Monday saw the annual Rural Elementary Winter Band/Chorus Concert, which brought together musicians from Shoreham, Cornwall, Weybridge, Ripton, and Salisbury. They did a wonderful job coming together under the watch of Music, Band, and Choral teacher Sarah Metcalf- it's always cool to see them form together as a group- it can happen so quickly! The parent turnout was great, and the kids really seemed to enjoy showing off what they have learned and practiced!

Wednesday saw us continue our recent tradition of holding an Ice Cream social on Valentine's Day! We all ate together in the gym, and students from all classes mingled and hung out as they had ice cream sundaes (with Monument Farms Ice Cream!) or non-dairy options. Thanks to everyone who scooped- next time we'll pull the tubs out of the freezer a little earlier to spare our forearms! Thanks to parents for being understanding about not sending in candy for the classroom. I think the ice cream does the trick- they get plenty sugared up!

Friday saw a really cool event in Amy Clapp's 3-4 Classroom- a "wax museum" where students became wax figures that come to life to explain how they worked toward a career somewhere in their future. We had reading teachers, astronauts, soccer players, chefs, motocross racers- you named it. It was more than just thinking about careers, though. At its core was an exploration of what makes people memorable in history, and students not only thought about what steps they might have to take to achieve their career goal, how someone in that career might be memorable, and how they might support others or continue to grow themselves once they have achieved success.

Please look below for pictures from the events.

A fun week, and I hope it is followed up by a fun February Break for all of our students and families!

Sincerely,

Bjarki

Important dates:

February 19-23: February Break : No school

March 6: Early Release Day- School ends at 1:00

Thanks again to Sarah Metcalf for her hard work, to the musicians for being so brave and sharing their skills, and to parents and others for coming to support the students!

A fun gathering.

Here are some photos of our wax figures. Some of them are in character as the wax figure for the picture, so if they seem a little stiff- that's why! If you notice a student or two missing- that's because not everyone loves having their picture taken (which seems fair, really).

Get ready...a total eclipse is coming to Vermont on April 8, 2024! What you need to know:

• April 8, 2024 will be an early release day! We will end school early because parts of our district will be in totality (darkness) around 3:30pm and Route 7 is expected to be busy with tourists visiting our area for the eclipse. We will follow our usual early release schedule.

• Salisbury 4th grade teacher, Amy Clapp is leading the way in partnership with colleagues across our schools to plan fun eclipse activities for our PK-12 students leading up to the eclipse. We’ll be sharing more details about activities for school and home soon.

• We have eclipse glasses for every ACSD student! These will come home closer to the event.

This year, ACSD is partnering with Dr. Rebecca Eunmi Haslam of Seed the Way LLC to advance our commitment to equity and justice. Dr. Haslam’s focus is on understanding the impact of racial and bias-based harm in our schools. Her work is designed to inform ACSD’s policy and procedures, increase more inclusive classroom practices, and leverage decision-making in meaningful ways. We hope this work will increase the restorative and reparative experiences for students, staff, and faculty in the ACSD community.

Dr. Haslam has completed the first phase of her work at MUMS and MUHS which included meeting with students and staff directly. She is now set to begin phase two which will focus on students and staff in ACSD’s elementary schools. The complete announcement and plan for phase two will be shared with all ACSD K-5 families in March, with a phase two completion date of June 30th. Please be on the lookout for the invitation to participate in this work.

Upon completion of both phases, Dr. Haslam will share findings with incoming Superintendent Dr. Wendy Baker in preparation for ACSD’s implementation of the ACSD Strategic Plan for Equity.

Dear ACSD Families,

This February, ACSD will launch text messaging for ACSD families. This won't replace our current email/phone communication, but it will help us reach you quickly for urgent issues. We will not text you often and only for short, time-sensitive messages (like early dismissal and snow days).

To receive texts, you must opt-in. Directions to opt-in:

• Text “yes” to 67587. You will get a reply confirming your registration. If you ever want to stop, just text STOP.

• Make sure we have your wireless number in our student database. This is the number you share on school forms in August. (If you currently receive school/ACSD calls on your cell phone, we probably have your wireless number.) If not, please share it with your school.