THE SCHOOL BELL

Reflections on Town Meeting Day 2016

by Carter Smith

On Tuesday of Town Meeting day I spent from 5:30 to 7:00 pm checking in Williston voters and giving them their ballots. What a crowd at that time of day! There were some lines, but I felt we were relatively efficient - No lines winding around the block like we saw in some of the primary caucus states.

We have a lot of work to do as a Nation before we can say we are egalitarian, properly balancing freedom with safety, and taking care of our most fragile citizens. But I am proud to live in a democratic society, and our voting practice is a reminder to appreciate our civil liberties.

As those of you who voted know, if you wanted to vote in the presidential primary in Vermont you had to chose a Republican or a Democratic ballot, much to the consternation of many voters. I witnessed several precious moments where a 17-18 year old High School student was accompanied by a parent. It will be a long time before I forget this image. The parent comes into my line, and I say, “Would you like a Democratic or Republican ballot?” . The parent says, “Republican, please”. I hand her the ballot. Then there is a big pause. The High School student makes eye contact with the parental. Another pause. The parent says - “This is one time where you need to make your own decision - I can't decide for you”. I won’t tell you what ballot her son chose. (Hint: it wasn't the same as his mom’s). A precious and powerful scene.

While I am on the topic of Town Meeting Day I would like to echo Jackie Park’s remarks from last week’s School Bell issue and thank everyone who voted on the budget, for or against. On behalf of the Administration and the School Board who worked hard to craft the final budget proposal, we appreciate the level of support. And we need to work to understand the “no” votes and to work to continue to support a high quality of education while being efficient and responsible. I like to use the phrase “Stewards of Public Funds” to describe our role and our commitment to fiscal responsibility.

Thanks also to Deb Beckett, Williston Town Clerk, and her staff for helping to organize the voting. Deb registered countless new voters who for some reason didn't make it to the voter checklist. There was no panic, no turning away, rather a message that said, “Welcome to the democratic society.”

Click here for the FAP home page and meeting minutes.

Follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/willistonfap

Questions? Email willistonfap@cssu.org or visit the school webpage www.wsdvt.org and find us on the quick links.

This year's show is Friday, March 11, at 6:30pm in the WCS auditorium. Tickets are on sale ($5 each) in the lobby of WCS from 7:45-8:15 a.m. and 2:40-3:15 p.m. through Friday. All seats are assigned.

This evening of family-friendly entertainment is one of the best FAP fundraisers of the year. The variety is what makes this such fun!

Marko Master Magician & Hypnotist

Friday, March 18 6:30 PM

WCS Auditorium

Please join us for a fun filled family evening of Magic and Hypnosis

with Marko the Magician sponsored by Swift House.

General Admission tickets are $8 each

Click here for ticket order form

Finger Puppet Crafts – Movies on the Smartboard – Petra Cliffs – Scavenger Hunt

Root Beer Floats – Legos with the Principal – A Visit from Einstein in your Classroom

Tickets on sale soon – Enter to Win!

Would your student enjoy one of the above activities?
These events and more are part of this year’s LuckyU!

Students will have the opportunity to enter individual raffles for a chance to win a special activity or experience with staff from both buildings to help raise money for FAP grants, field trips, etc. We have over 35 opportunities, with over 125 winners total, between ABS and WCS!

• Tickets will be sold the week of March 14 – 18th at each school
• Drawing on Friday, March 18th and winners notified Monday, March 21st

Each student will get one free ticket and additional tickets will be sold for 25 cents each (suggest limit of $5). During the week of March 14-18 students at ABS can purchase tickets outside the gym between 7:45am and 8:30am and at WCS during lunches. The winners will be chosen on Friday the 18th.

** Click HERE to sign-up to help sell tickets mornings at ABS **

Contact Shani Varricchione/FAP with questions

willistonfap@ccsu.org

• Creating beautiful baskets for the raffle, setting up and decorating, selling raffle tickets, making a food item for guests to enjoy—all of these are opportunities that are available between Friday, March 25th and Saturday, April 2nd!
• We DEPEND on you to help us with this largest of our school fundraisers.
• Please check out this SIGN UP LINK for information on how you can help with the Big Basket Raffle, as it takes the support of many!
• Classroom Baskets are now in place for family donations. Here is the LINK to the list of baskets.
• Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 2nd for the Big Basket Raffle and Silent Auction fundraiser. And if you have younger children, there is a Fun Night that same evening at WCS too!
• Planning Committee Members: Becca Ashford, Karen Boutin, Emily Ponce Downing, Mary Jo Dubois, Sarah Francisco, Sheri Gates, Karen Maklad, Carrie Murray, Lyn Porter, Amber Rich, Wendy Ruggles, Debbie Underhill, Shani Varricchione, Karen Wyman
• Any questions, please email karenmaklad@gmail.com

To be Discussed at the WSD School Board Meeting, March 15, 2015:

Every school calendar is built in a manner that considers many elements; one critical element is professional development for faculty and staff. Our current model depends on just a few full in-service days, distributed throughout the year. These staff inservice days are non-student days. This has not proven to be the most effective way to provide the embedded professional development required to ensure that our students are receiving the very best instruction. The increasing demands on schools, including the implementation of personalized learning and proficiency-based graduation requirements, has resulted in a growing number of school districts across the state making changes to their professional development calendars. These changes allow for more frequent, sustained professional development and include regularly scheduled student days that have either a late start or early release.

The CSSU leadership team, comprised of administrators from all CSSU schools, has developed a proposal for 2016-17 that will go before the CSSU and local school boards as a discussion item at their March 15th meetings. The primary details of the proposal include:

• Adding FOUR student days to the minimum requirement of 175 student days, resulting in 179 student days for CSSU students in 2016-17

• Eliminating full-day in-services with no students in attendance during the school year

• K-8: Weekly early release on Tuesdays, one hour earlier than their current release time.

• CVU: Weekly late start on Wednesdays, one hour later than the current start time.

• There will still be two non-student days during the year dedicated to parent/teacher conferences

WSD's annual Jump Rope for Heart will take place at Allen Brook School the morning of Friday, April 1st from 8:45-11:15 am.

Jump Rope for Heart is a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. Participating WCS students will be bused to ABS in the morning and brought back to WCS after the event is over.

Children in grades 1-8 can participate in the event. Signed permission slips should be handed in to a physical education teacher.

Registration deadline is Wednesday, March 23 or when we reach the maximum capacity of 375 students (whichever comes first). Fundraising envelopes will be given out after permission slips are handed in. Fundraising envelopes must be turned in by March 28th. Look in the pledge envelopes for information about on-line fundraising opportunities. The online fundraising has worked very well for the students participating in the past. If you choose to do online fundraising please still turn in the envelope and enclose a print out of the online summary fundraising sheet. Classroom teachers with concerns about a student’s status for participation in the Jump Rope for Heart may hold the student from participating.

Click here for the registration form.

Ever wish your child came with a “how-to” manual? You’re not alone!

Connecting Youth Parent Workshops

Staying Connected with Your Teen and Guiding Choices are nationally recognized parent programs for 5th-12th grade parents that can help!

Click here for flyer and more info
$35 per participant-waivers available; Dinner/Lunch provided

Register today by contacting Lynn Camara, CY Project and Outreach Coordinator

at (802) 383-1210 or by email at lcamara@cssu.org

The group rehearses every Wednesday after school in the WCS Band/Chorus room 3:00-4:00. If your child has already been in chorus this year, there is no need to sign them up again. They’re already on my list. Starting with the March 16th rehearsal, only “official” chorus members may continue to attend. So… If your child “officially” wants to be a member of the 3rd/4th grade chorus, please send in the bottom portion of this form on or before March 16th, and he/she should attend rehearsal each Wednesday afternoon. I will also have the forms available at rehearsal.

MySchoolBucks is a convenient, secure way to pay for school meals anytime, anywhere from your computer or smartphone. Go to MySchoolBucks.com to create your free account and get started today. If you need your student's customer ID number please contact Scott Wagner. MySchoolBucks adds money to your student's existing school cafeteria account. It also lets you keep track of purchase history and can send you a reminder when your account is getting low. You can also set up automatic payments to add money to your student's account when it reaches a low balance threshold that you can set.

If you are already a MySchoolBucks customer and your automatic Smart Pay option has stopped working for some reason, please check to make sure your credit card has not expired; if it has please enter the correct updated billing information. After that, you must make a manual payment to get your student's account above the threshold you have set. If nothing has changed with your billing information, you should still make a manual payment and check the auto-pay settings for this function to begin working properly again.

Check out our monthly menu and other great info on the school website: www.wsdvt.org
Click here for the current menu.

FAP Meeting / Thu. March 10 / 8:15-10:15 am / WCS Dining Room

Variety Show / Fri. March 11 / 6:30-9 pm / WCS Auditorium

School Board Meeting / Tues. March 15 / 5 pm / CVU rm. 142

School Concert (Gr. 7 & 8) / Wed. March 16 / 7pm

Continental Math Meets / Thur. March 17 / gr. 3: 8:15-8:45 / gr. 4: 9-9:30 / gr. 5-8: 9:45-10:15

Ski & Ride End of Year Trip / Fri March 18

Marko the Magician / Fri. March 18 / 6:30-9 pm / WCS Auditorium

NO SCHOOL - Parent/Teacher Conferences / Fri. March 25

Voyager Recycle Sale / Sat. March 26 / 9am - 2 pm / WCS Cafeteria

Jump for Heart / Fri. April 1 / 8:45 - 11:15 am / ABS

School Dance / Fri. April 1 / 6:30-8:30 pm / WCS

Big Basket Raffle and Fun Night / Sat. April 2 / 6-8:30 / WCS

Kindergarten Registration / Tue.-Thur, April 5-7 / ABS

School Play / Fri. April 8 & Sat. April 9 / 7 pm / Sat. matinee 1 pm

Four Winds Training / Wed. April 13 / 8:15-10:45 am / WCS Dining Room

Horizon Reading Restaurant / Wed. April 13 / 6-7:45 pm / ABS

FAPAC Mtg. / Thu. April 14 / 8:15-10:15 am / WCS Dining Room

Synergy Family Showcase / Thur. April 14 / 6-7 pm

No School / April 18-22

Click here for athletics

Click here to access the DAML web site listing of events.
Click here for the Bell listing of DAML events scheduled for children.

Click here for the DAML newsletters.

Included this week:

an evening of Student Directed Comedy One-Acts

Nurturing Parent Workshop - Hinesburg

Girls on the Run (grades 3-5) and Heart & Sole (grades 6-8)!

Chittenden County - VARIETY SHOW TO BENEFIT DOG RESCUE....Your Talent and Acts are Wanted

Events at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library

Williston Rec. Dept.

Free Flag Football Program at CVU on Sundays!

Youth Lacrosse Leagues- Grades 3rd-8th

Deadline to register this Friday, March 11. http://www.willistonrec.org/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=29960

Freestyle/Ninja/Parkour Combo- This program focuses on strength, agility and balance. Participants will use obstacles from the ninja warrior center, freestyle trampoline and parkour equipment. Instructors: Green Mountain Training Center.

Ages 7-15, Mondays, Mar. 21- Apr. 11, 5:00-6:30pm. $80. http://www.willistonrec.org/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=29944

Middle and High School Performance Training

This unique training program is proven to enhance speed, agility, power and strength all while significantly reducing the risk of injury. Our scientific integrative approach combines the latest in sports performance training. Grades 6th-8th, Tuesdays, March 29- May 3, 4:30-5:30pm. $75. Grades 9th-12th, Mondays, Mar. 28- May 2, 4:30-5:30pm. $75. http://www.willistonrec.org/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=29966

Summer Camp Guide- http://en.calameo.com/read/004088855136cbc21b91d

Summer Camp Grid and Camper Info/Health Form- http://www.willistonrec.org/forms/5970_campgridcamperform.pdf

Updated Spring/Summer Program Guide- http://en.calameo.com/read/004088855d067572b307c

Click here for the Recreation & Parks website.
Click here for this months Rec. newsletter.

Allen Brook School and Williston Central School

Email: cpavlik@cssu.org
Website: www.wsdvt.org
Location: 195 Central School Drive, Williston
Phone: (802) 878-2762
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Williston-School-District-1483758238612170/timeline/
Twitter: @wsdvt