SCS Weekly Newsletter 9/29/23

Dear Salisbury Families:

I hope everyone is well! First of all, I should begin by apologizing for the bad link in last week's newsletter, where people could put in info for the directory. I missed a button in the document settings. I'm sorry! A correct link is below for anyone who has not yet filled it out- we encourage you to! We've got about half the school so far.

But now for this week...

It's been a wonderful first month at Salisbury Community School, and overall I would characterize it as "quiet" in the best possible way. There have been a few rough spots, of course, and those rough spots, when between students, have almost always been caused by behavior that is unkind. We are activity working on reducing those unkind moments with both classes and individual students, but these spots have gotten me thinking about something: the difference between being a "bystander' and an "upstander".

We all pretty much know what a bystander is: someone who is around when something happens. Often we watch that thing happen as we are "standing by" and observing. For pretty much every behavior in an elementary school there are bystanders, because students are basically always supervised, and most always with other students. So our students are often bystanders.

"Standing by", though, is a passive thing: you are watching something happen. If the event is harmful to others, then yes, the bystander is not technically causing the harm, but they also aren't preventing it.

So I'd like to introduce a different word: Upstander.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines upstander as:

1. 
   

   a person who speaks or acts in support of an individual or cause, particularly someone who intervenes on behalf of a person being attacked or bullied,

   "encourage your daughter to be an upstander, not a bystander"

   
   

I love that definition (and their example). It fits perfectly in a school setting. That idea, that we can do more than just not be part of trouble, but instead actively work to prevent it and help someone else- that's something we're really going to be focusing on with our students this year: being part of solutions, not just avoiding problems. When we talk in classes, in small groups, or individually, we will work to make that word, and that idea, an important part of what we do. I hope you will also discuss this idea with your child or children- we all work best as part of a team.

Thanks so much- have great weekends!

Best,

Bjarki

Look below for:

• Info on important dates- picture day and early release.
• "Thank you!" to Hannaford Supermarket and Kinney Drugs.
• Messages from Miss. T and Ms. Megan
• A call for Fall Foliage Fun volunteers!
• Info on our "Clear the Trails" work event.
• Lions Club Daiper Drive
• School House Savings
• A few fun pictures

Important dates coming up:

• Wednesday, October 4th: ACSD Early Release Day- school ends at 1:00.
• Thursday, October 5th: FOSCS Meeting: 6:30 in SCS Library
• Monday, October 9th: Indigenous People's Day: No School
• Tuesday, October 10th: "Clear the Trails" work event. 5:00-7:00
• Thursday, October 12th: Fall Foliage Fun 1:00-2:30.

Families have been asking about picture day. It's not for a while! Save the date: October 30th!

This Wednesday, October 4th, is an ACSD early release day. That means school starts at the same time, but it ends at 1:00. Busses work like normal (except that they leave school at 1:00, not 2:45). However, there is no bus in the afternoon that goes from Salisbury School to either MUMS or MUHS, so there is no way to get to those schools for any students who occasionally do that. Thanks!

SCS would like to send a big "Thank You!" to Hannaford Supermarket, who donated a bunch of coats and sneakers to us! We really appreciate them, and we will put them to good use!

Parents and caregivers- if you feel like your child needs a coat for winter, or sneakers, let us know! You can look over the options! Whatever is left we are going to keep as "back-ups" here at school, for when students forget coats or sneakers (which happens more than you might think!).

And thank you to Jessie Nienow for facilitating this!

Similarly, we would also like to thank everyone at Kinney Drugs for having us be the recipients of a school supply drive. We really appreciate it! Although many of the things are probably most usable in school when we need them (like paper, glue, etc), we did receive some nice backpacks. If your child needs a backpack, or would like some notebooks, please let us know!

And thanks to Anneleise Masi for facilitating this!

Hello all,

During this month of PE our students have been practicing expectations, routines and teamwork. As we are building our PE community we also completed our skills unit of kicking. During this unit students had the chance to practice foot skills in stations and mini soccer games. We look forward to continuing to build a fun and safe community in PE.

The library has been so busy this year, with some classes having the opportunity to come several times per week. Students are choosing a wide variety of books, with dinosaur books as popular as ever, especially with the 2/3 field trip to Button Bay to look at fossils.

On another note, we wanted to let caregivers know that quite a few wet books have shown up in the Library return bin. A few of those wet books have been tied to the weather, but quite a few are due to water bottles. Everyone we’ve contacted has been very willing to help pay for replacements, but we wanted to bring this to your attention. Thanks for supporting your children’s love of books and reading! Ms. Megan

On Thursday, October 12th, we will hold our second annual Fall Foliage Fest from 1:00- 2:30 on our "Secret Soccer Field". We had a blast last year, and we look forward to doing it again! Activities will include: soccer, kickball, hikes on our trails, tug-of-war. egg races, art stations, and more! Parents and caregivers interested in volunteering should reach out to FOSCS co-chair James Clark at jamesearlclark@gmail.com, or attend the next FOSCS meeting on 10/5/2023 at 6:30.

On Tuesday, October 10th, bring your work gloves, loppers, saws, and other trail clearing tools to SCS as we do our annual "clear the trails" evening. Last year we had a lot of fun, and re-claimed some trails that had been disappearing in brush and blowdowns. All of the storms this year have dropped some trees across our trails, and it would be great to clear them out, especially before our "Fall Foliage Fun". To help coordinate tools, please consider signing up here. Even if you don't sign up, please come on by!

The Lions Club of Middlebury is having a diaper drive for the month of October. All diapers collected are going to the Addison County Parent-Child Center. The Middlebury Lions are doing this along with all 34 Lions Clubs throughout Vermont. The effort is to help offset the 70% reduction in funding to the Vermont Diaper Bank. The Diaper Bank exists to help provide diapers to economically challenged young families.

You may drop diaper donations off at Salisbury Community School, and we will transfer them to the Lions Club. We will weigh the diapers, and announce the total weight in a future newsletter. Then, next year, we'll try to beat that number!