May 2, 2025

Dear Hartford School District Learning Community,

The analogy of a rollercoaster to describe a fast moving and ever-evolving situation is fairly common, but I could not think of another way to describe the last weeks of school!

It is exhilarating to experience the gradual and slow ascent, the view from the pinnacle, and the acceleration and twists and turns and joys of all of the celebrations, rites of passage, and special events that culminate the school year.

I was recently reminded of how critically important it is that we continue to challenge our students right up until the very end of the school year; they are more ready than ever to demonstrate what they have learned all year and how this will transfer to the coming learning and promise of the next school year.

Thank you for partnering with us to ensure that our students benefit from every single millimeter of learning we can extend throughout the precious time we have with them.

Enjoy the weekend!

Warmly,

Caty Sutton

Superintendent

Hartford School District

suttonc@hartfordschools.net

Calling all Hartford Community Members!

The Hartford School District will be hosting a public forum with several local legislators and AOE representation to discuss pressing issues that the legislature is working on as the legislative session comes to a close. Please join your local legislators and AOE and school leaders to engage in a conversation on the issues that are directly impacting our schools and community: class size mandates, consolidation, PCB mitigation, and school funding, to name a few topics of great importance.

The event will be held on Monday, May 5, 2025, at 6:00 PM, and it will be hosted in the auditorium at Hartford High School. Those who wish to listen in online may do so by accessing this YouTube live link (https://www.youtube.com/@junctionartsandmedia) or the Zoom link used for our School Board meetings (https://zoom.us/j/97430755984 Meeting ID = 974 3075 5984).

The legislators will discuss the significant changes being proposed with regard to education reform in Vermont, as well as share any related efforts that are being made at the state level to address some of the Hartford School District's unique challenges and needs, including building infrastructure related to PCB remediation and abatement in our District.

We are looking forward to hearing from our legislators and invite you all to share at this public forum any concerns, comments, questions, and support you may wish to provide as the legislative session concludes.

We are tremendously grateful to our local Senators and Representatives as well as the Agency of Education for their participation and the opportunity to meet with them.

Please join us!

But it's NOT!

If you happen to see your school's Principals or Directors, be sure to let them know how much they are valued!

We are incredibly fortunate to benefit from the knowledge, expertise, wisdom, humor, and care of our fearless leaders!

It was so heartening to see how school communities celebrated the day! Please see the photos below to see how DBS celebrated Mr. D, and how HMMS dressed to impress as their school leaders!

Up next? We celebrate our staff next week (May 5-May 9) for Staff Appreciation Week!!

Stay tuned for more on that in the next newsletter!

Congratulations to Nalah Taylor, Carter Potwin and Noah Potwin, who presented to the Hartford School District Board of Directors this week about the OQS Wolf Way! They were among 7 students that the 5th grade teachers nominated as exemplary leaders of Den Meetings within their own classes. During the presentation, they showed amazing courage and perseverance. Congratulations!

Check out their entire presentation here, and view our fourth graders' Wolf Way testimonies below. (All the testimonies are entirely student written.)

Thanks for all who came out for Weather at Your School with NBC-5 last Friday, April 4. Our kindergarteners were the star of the show, as several of them read their weather stories on TV.

This was culminating project of their recent literacy module all about weather. What a great example of our students researching a topic, developing background knowledge and vocabulary, writing about what they've learned, revising their writing, and finally sharing their work with a broad audience. In EL Education partner schools, we call this "High Quality Work": school work that is complex, shows craftsmanship, and is produced for an authentic audience and purpose. Check out the link below for this video along with all the weather reporters from that day.

See photos below for many examples of how teachers are using PLAY to create joyful learning opportunities for our learners.

White River School: May 1, 2025

HMMS Team Mango Tango represented Vermont while competing at the FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston Texas over Spring Break. They competed with over 160 teams from all 50 states and over 60 countries from around the world. It was a pretty amazing experience!

Our 7th and 8th grade students on Team Polaris participated in Trout in the Classroom, a statewide program where they successfully raised 50 brook trout from eggs and released them into the White River. Throughout the project, students studied the trout life cycle, their basic needs for survival, and the ecological niche they occupy in freshwater environments. They explored trout anatomy and physiology in depth, learning how these fish are adapted to their habitats. A highlight of the program was a visit from a state fish biologist, who guided students through a hands-on trout dissection to better understand internal structures and systems. This authentic, experiential learning connected science concepts to real-world conservation efforts.

Polaris students go to Watson Park to release trout fry they raised in their classroom and break out into a spontaneous song!

Please check out the regularly updated Student Assistance Program newsletter, click here– SAP Newsletter for information on prevention, substance misuse, bullying and wellness

• Vaping in 2025: What’s Changed & What Parents Need to Know

• Host: Operation Parent

• Date: Recorded Webinar (from 2/19 event) | Watch

• Location: online

• Description: The face of vaping has changed significantly since they first emerged about a decade ago: vapes are bigger, stronger, and distributors have developed new methods to appeal to youth and evade FDA regulations. Join Dr. Weiner for an in-depth look at the evolving vaping landscape, the hidden risks to physical and mental health, and practical tips to help you have informed, impactful conversations with your child.

• Hartford Parks & Recreation is looking for ideas for the future possibilities of Lyman Point Park, including how to make it more accessible. If you have a chance, please fill out the survey

Please check out the Hartford Parks and Recreation offerings for the Summer and Fall: https://hartfordvt.myrec.com/info/default.aspx

Please use this link to access the HMMS Athletics page.

Thank you to our learners from the Student-Created Independent Projects (SCIP) class for their presentations as this week's School Board meeting. Our students articulately represented their individual projects and provided a glimpse into what is possible through this class.

Welcome home to our students and staff who spent their Spring Break in Ecuador and Germany. By all accounts our students had a great time and represented themselves, our school, and community very well.

Spring sports are in full swing and are providing all of us with many opportunities to breath fresh air and cheer on our students.

Hartford High Lites: April 25, 2025

We were thrilled that the HACTC was a stop on Vermont Governor Phil Scott's "Capital for a Day" tour through Windsor County a few weeks ago. Governor Scott visited with HACTC staff and students while touring many of the center's programs.

Level I:

• "I've learned a lot, how to use a chainsaw, how to climb the trees."

• "I think that it's really good at preparing you for real scenarios or jobs. I think that's the thing that has most affected me.

• "I learned a work ethic."

• "I enjoy being here…- you're outside, you're doing stuff you actually want to do."

• "I've gotten a lot of useful skills, and I've found things that I love. Things that I've gone out of my comfort zone to learn have become really fun, like climbing. I've climbed 60 feet high, and when I first did that, I was physically shaking, and then I wanted to come down. And then I did it again a second time, and I was like, oh, this is fun."

Highlights from the HACTC: April 25, 2025

The Hartford Fire Department were wonderful hosts to the students from the Autism Program at The Wilder School. Students learned about safety, equipment, and the roles of the staff at the fire department. A fun time was had by all!

In May we will be saying goodbye to our amazing clinical Master’s of Social Work intern AJ Chabot. AJ is headed off for another summer of course work at Smith School for Social Work in Massachusetts. This school year our district has been lucky to have AJ working across schools with students of all ages. He has been one of the co-leaders of HMMS’s Pride Club and facilitated other groups for kids in our elementary schools. He has brought joy and insight to all of his work and will be deeply missed!

Please enjoy the Equity Newsletter for April!

A link is here for your convenience!

Hartford Athletics

Jeff Moreno, CAA

Athletic Director

morenoj@hartfordschools.net

Girls tennis is off to a great start this spring! They have cruised to victory in their first 3 matches including a signature 6-1 victory over Rutland this past week. The tennis program continues to defy the odds with increased numbers each of the past several seasons. Head Coach Amanda Nelson and asst. Coach Anne Musson took over for Coach Kate Godek while she is on maternity leave and the Canes haven’t missed a beat! Keep up the good workCome cheer the girls on this spring on the newly renovated Campus Courts!

If you haven’t come to a Unified basketball game at Hanley Gymnasium you are missing out! HHS was recently named a National Champion Unified School and it isn’t hard to see why when watching the Unified Canes in action. The highlight of each game goes well beyond the incredible sportsmanship and teamwork. It goes beyond the capacity crowd cheering for ALL participants (even the visiting team!) And it goes well beyond the final score (which rarely matters). The highlight has got to be the halftime dance party which has become a Hartford tradition and a sight to soak in. And if the halftime dance party is the highlight of the event then Asa Henry is the star of the show with his Elvis Presley routine to kick things off. This is can’t miss viewing! We invite you to join us in Hanley Gymnasium on May 9th for the final home game of the year. Doors open at 12:05. Game tips off at 12:30.

Fall sports registration will be open in a few weeks! Once open, families may go on Infinite Campus to register for field hockey, football, girls volleyball, soccer, cross-country, Unified soccer, and bass fishing (if we have enough interest). Information and instructions can be found on the athletic webpage (https://hhsvt.com/athletics-2). Pre-season starts on August 11th (football) and 14th (everyone else). Please contact Burke Farrell (farrellb@hartfordschools.net) if you have any questions about your child’s physical. There will be a parent meeting in June. (Date TBD)

There are 216 Hurricanes on spring rosters which represents just below 50% of the student population participating in a spring sport! We believe participating in extra-curricular activities is a major component of a well-rounded education and helps students learn to overcome adversity, to meet challenges, to work together, and to push themselves to achieve things they might not have once believed were possible. We are grateful that so many of our students choose to participate. That they choose to put in extra hours after school and over the weekends. That they choose to be part of something bigger than themselves. And we thank you, the parents and families for making so many sacrifices to make it all happen.

HHS softball is thrilled to have Jess Ovitt back as JV coach for her 2nd year at Hartford. Coach Ovitt attended Mascoma where she excelled in softball and basketball before attending Franklin Pierce and Plymouth State where she studied Sports Management and SNHU where she got a degree in Information Technology. She has been a coach for 5 years now with the last 2 right here at HHS! Coach Ovitt loves coaching the Hurricanes and says it is extremely rewarding to join the girls on their softball journey. Keep up the good work Jess!

Please join us!

As the community is aware, we have been carefully monitoring the level of PCBs throughout the district and very recently have discovered that the PCB levels at the high school require more attention, and the scope of the project has significantly increased.

Based on the information that was provided by Buildings & Grounds Director Jonathan Garthwaite at a board meeting held on April 23, 2025 at 6 PM, at which time the Director presented the latest findings in the developments of the PCB remediation and abatement analysis, the board has directed that the following actions be taken:

• District Building & Grounds Director will work with contractors to conduct an in-depth and thorough bulk sampling of affected areas, which will help to fully understand the depth and scope of this project and assist the board in making timely and critical decisions concerning the direction and costs that will be involved in this project.

• District Director of Finance, Jacob Vezina, will investigate funding sources that will look beyond what might be recovered through a litigation process.

• Superintendent, Caty Sutton, will confer with legal counsel to discuss other pending litigation action against Monsanto to help determine how the district will proceed and will explore how the Administration will move forward with planning academic and co-curricular programming.

Our guiding priority is that our teaching and learning community is safe and that we maintain our students’ academic and co-curricular programming with minimal disruption. This is an ever-evolving situation that we are assessing and planning for in real time. We will continue to update the community with the latest developments in this evolving situation.

HSD budget materials and resources can be found here!

Vermont Public Radio provides a good explanation of how Vermont schools are funded in THIS piece. The article and the video work well to bring clarity to a confusing system.