Superintendent's Message

Yesterday was a momentous occasion! We celebrated the grand opening of Orchard ZEMS, marking the completion of two massive construction projects that have added capacity to our two over-enrolled elementary schools. We welcomed our Orchard 5th graders into their new classrooms after three students cut a ceremonial red ribbon to welcome their classmates and families.

On Tuesday, the students got a sneak preview of the classrooms. Thank you Assistant Principal Kane for taking this video:

Many of the students were very eager to talk to the reporters who came to the event. Their enthusiasm for the classrooms was really on display!

See coverage here and below:

I am incredibly proud of this project and what it means for students- an opportunity to learn in facilities conducive to their needs. I would like to thank Principal Trifilio, Assistant Principal Kane, and Tim Jarvis, our Director of Finance without whom this project would not have been possible. I would also like to thank Dore and Whittier and DEW Construction for being exceptional partners on this project. I would like to thank our students, our staff, our parents and guardians for supporting every step of the way. Thank you to our school board and to our community for supporting education through this project. And another big thank you to the high schoolers who helped move furniture and supplies into the classroom last week.

Congratulations to Aimee Bushey, Vocal Music and Drama teacher at the high school and middle school, for receiving the Fred Tuttle Award from the South Burlington Rotary Club. At their breakfast this morning, the Chamber Choir performed (with Aimee jumping in to sing in place of a student who was not able to attend) and after some lovely words from Principal Burke, the Rotarians presented Aimee with the award and a check for $250 that will be donated to the SBHS Music Program.

The full timeline for budget presentations is here, but highlights include:

December 20: School Board Meeting

Second presentation of FY25 Budget

January 3: School Board Meeting

Third presentation of FY25 Budget

January 10: Special School Board Meeting

Final date for board to adopt FY25 Budget

January 22: Steering Committee meeting

All School Board Meetings are held virtually or in person at 577 Dorset Street at 6pm. Zoom links are posted a week prior to the meeting and can be found at sbschools.net/schoolboard. All budget information and copies of the presentations will be available at sbschools.net/budgetfy25. As well, full recordings of school board meetings are available through The Media Factory Facebook and are posted on Thursday morning following the meeting.

Thank you to everyone who has filled out the surveys. So far, we’ve only heard from about 300 families. To best support our staff, students and families, we would love to hear from EVERYONE! Please take 15-20 minutes to take the survey so we can have as much data to draw from.

From December 4th- December 22nd families can respond to a Social Emotional Learning survey about you and your students’ experience with school. This 15-20 minute online survey will help inform us on a systemic and individual school level of how to best support students and families socially and emotionally.

Below are the survey links. Please fill out one survey for each building your student attends. For example, if you have two students at Orchard, just fill Orchard out one time. If you have one student at Orchard and one at the High School, please fill in both Orchard and the High School.

Gertrude Chamberlin School

Orchard

Rick Marcotte Central School

Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School

South Burlington High School

SouthPoint Program (High School)

(Teachers and Staff: Please do not use these links. You should receive a link from your building administrator.)

I have multiple children who are enrolled in the South Burlington School District. Do I have to take multiple surveys?

If you have students in multiple buildings, we ask that you fill in multiple surveys to capture the unique experiences of each school.

What if I don’t want to take the survey? What if I don’t want my student to take the survey?

If you choose not to take the survey, no need to respond to the link via email. If you do not want your student to be surveyed, please let their classroom teacher or building administrator know.

Is the survey anonymous?

Yes, the family survey is anonymous meaning that there is no way to identify what you responded to in the survey.

Who can I reach out to with questions?

You are welcome to contact Monica Desrochers, the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Anti-racism and Social Emotional Learning at mdesrochers@sbschools.net or your students’ building administrator.

Due to the driver shortage, we will continue rolling cancellations for certain bus routes. We know this puts an incredible burden on families to find alternative transportation, but hopefully, the advanced notice will provide more time than a day of cancellation. This is likely to continue on a rotating basis through the upcoming school vacation. We apologize in advance for the great inconvenience to the affected families and students. Please continue to check the transportation dashboard for these updated routes and cancellations.

If you have any questions or concerns contact Kathy LaRock at klarock@sbschools.net or Sean McKenzie at smckenzie@sbschools.net. You can also visit the Transporation Dashboard for updated information.

Our South Burlington School District uses a Positive Behavior Intervention Support System, or PBIS, at all three of our elementary schools. Along with our District PBIS Coordinator, Lauralee Keach and Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Emotional Learning, Monica Desrochers, representatives from our school teams meet throughout the year to develop an action plan and work towards goals to promote positive learning climates in our schools. This year, the primary goal for our work is to continue to implement our PBIS Framework with an equity lens, and review our systems for shifts centered on anti-racist/anti-bias practices. We have three objectives that we developed to support this goal for this school year:

1. Increase Family Engagement - We will distribute a family survey to get input and analyze the survey data to make improvements. Families recently received links to complete the Panorama family survey across the district. We would also like to conduct focus groups for historically marginalized families to better support all of our students and families.

2. Create Alignment of our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Teams and Practices - We are in the process of creating a cohesive SEL team which includes members from all schools and administration. There is an initial team that is currently reviewing an initial draft of our SEL proficiencies and indicators.

3. Build our School Leadership Teams Capacity for Centering Equity in our SEL/PBIS Work - Our school leadership teams (Principal/Asst. Principal, PBIS coordinator, SEL coach) plan to engage in professional development and coaching to learn effective evaluation and modification of our SEL practices to ensure equity for all students and staff.

If you have questions about our goals, please reach out to a member of the team from your child’s school:

Gertrude Chamberlin School - Principal Rouelle and PBIS Coordinator, Lisa Post

Orchard Elementary School - Principal Trifilio and PBIS Coordinator, Abby Hill-Armell

Rick Marcotte Central School - Assistant Principal Shackett and PBIS Coordinator, Zachary Rhoads

As we head into the winter season and the weather that it brings, you can familiarize yourself with how the decision for school closures is made here. Please also make sure all your information is up to date in PowerSchool so you can receive notifications for school delays and closures, as well as changes to bus routes.

Special Educator Renee Gardner runs the SBHS Life and Employment Skills Class and the Wolf Grr-Den. The group grows food in the school garden, including tomatoes of many varieties, cilantro, and concord grapes which they sell to raise funds in order to keep the garden growing. They are currently raffling jars of delicious homemade Concord Grape Jam (freezer jam). Last fall, they donated over 150 pounds of produce to the South Burlington Food Shelf and provided work-based learning opportunities for many students. They are often looking for extra jam jars or plant containers, so if you have any to donate, please get in touch with Renee.

Thank you, Renee, for everything you do for your students!

Know a staff member who deserves to be spotlighted? Fill out this form.

Senior Rama AL Namee has been named a National College Match QuestBridge scholar and will enroll in Columbia University’s class of 2028. National College Match is a college admission and scholarship process through which high-achieving, low-income students can be "matched" — admitted early with full four-year scholarships to QuestBridge college partners.

The QuestBridge Match Scholarship is offered as part of the college's generous financial aid package worth over $200,000. Over 20,000 high school seniors applied to be QuestBridge Scholars and Rama was one of just over 2000 selected.

Rama has thrived and persevered since her time in our school system. A first-generation college student, Rama's high achievements across all categories have been fueled by an internal motivation to make the most of the opportunities in front of her. She is resourceful, curious, and intelligent.

Rama gracefully manages a highly rigorous high school schedule, extracurricular activities, including Senior School Board representative and family responsibilities. Rama is organized, reliable, and generous. She has a gift of being fully present in what she is doing in that moment.

While intellectual growth and curiosity will always be pillars for her, she consciously tries to be present and follow her heart. This is at the heart of her college search as well. She wants to find a campus with academic rigor where community and humanity are at the core. She wants to be part of higher education, where students and faculty lift each other up so all members can be their best.

Rama is the youngest of four sisters, all of whom graduated from SB schools and attended selective 4-year colleges. Her family left Iraq and came to Vermont through the Refugee Resettlement Program in 2008. She has been enrolled in SB public schools since Kindergarten.

Congratulations Rama!

Know a student who deserves to be spotlighted? Fill out this form.

Burton Snowboards is hosting their upcoming Winter Jam event at their headquarters in Burlington, Vermont on January 18th from 4:00 pm to 7:45 pm.

They will be transforming 180 Queen City Park Road into a winter wonderland, complete with a rail jam, riglet park, games, delicious food and beverages, as well as free hot cocoa and smores. There are also cash and prizes up for grabs for everyone who participates.

Registration Link: https://2024winterjam.splashthat.com

Our wonderful art teachers are having an art show! The show is opening on October 26th and running through January at The Gallery at City Hall. Be sure to stop in and support our art educators!

The district is hiring! Please follow the links to read the full descriptions for these roles.

Executive Director of Learning

Director of Operations

Fiscal Coordinator

Bus Drivers (and Bus Aides)

Training available obtain Commercial Driver's Licenses to eligible candidates, full and part time positions available as well as van drivers and bus monitors

Special Ed teachers:

Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School

Lunchroom:

Middle School

Elementary

Traffic Monitors

Substitute Teachers

Full job descriptions are available on School Spring. If you have questions on hiring processes or on employment, please contact Elissa Galvez, Employment Specialist, egalvez@sbschools.net (802) 652-7247.

Thank you for reading!

Violet

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