SCS Community Newsletter

Dear SCS Families, Caregivers, and Shelburne Community,

We pause in this busy week to celebrate, to acknowledge and to share important information to keep everyone informed.

Celebrations

• School Spirit was alive at SCS this week. Our Middle School Student Leadership Council planned out the themes for each day, inspiring the kids and adults.

• Many classes attended field trips to the Shelburne Farms or learned from our neighbors at New Village Farms.

• Dynamic Experiences continued this week, bringing together the winners and dedicated adults in the school who spent invaluable time making connections and lasting memories. Thank you PTO, for organizing these joyful opportunities.

Acknowledgments

• This week, a PTO fundraiser raised the necessary amount to cover the deductible for our Part 2 Staff members’ damaged car. THANK YOU to everyone who supported this initiative to wrap around our extended SCS family!

• Community Engagement Conversation about Hazing, Harassment and Bullying. On Monday morning, a group of parents, caregivers, and community members joined us in the library (and virtually) to learn more about our Behavior Systems Team and how we respond to incidents of misbehavior that come up here at school. We are grateful to have an active and engaged support system, both here at school and from all of you. When dealing with these issues, our primary goals are always 1) to make sure students are supported to learn from misbehavior so that it doesn’t happen again and 2) to repair any harm to our community. You can view the slides here.

Important Information

The Shelburne Community has always embodied an extraordinary spirit of generosity, and we want to extend our gratitude for your ongoing commitment to supporting our students and their caregivers. While many in our town are thriving, some of our neighbors are quietly facing acute food insecurity, a challenge amplified recently by gaps in benefit coverage and financial processing delays. These struggles impact our students directly. With the uncertainty around the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), if you need support due to food insecurity, reach out to our SCS text number: 802-318-4661. Please leave your name and best contact number. A member of our counseling team will be in touch.

It is in times like these that our deep community partnership becomes most vital, ensuring that every family feels seen, supported, and secure. To address the urgent need, we are offering specific ways you can provide tangible support right now. Our 7th and 8th-grade Student Leadership Council is hosting a food drive competition to benefit the Shelburne Food Shelf. Students are invited to bring in shelf-stable foods and toiletries from Monday, 11/3, through Friday, 11/14. A list of items needed can be viewed here. We are also urgently collecting grocery store gift cards in $20, $50, or $100 increments. These cards offer immediate, flexible relief, allowing families to purchase the specific food items they need. Please send these gift cards directly to the SCS front office, marked "Student Support Team." Your contribution, in any form, directly translates into peace of mind and full bellies for our students, strengthening the foundation of our entire community.

In partnership,

Jen, Brett, and Antonia

11/3 - Food Drive to benefit Shelburne Food Shelf begins

11/3 - Band & Chorus Annual Poinsettia Sale Starts

11/5 - Bike & Walk to school event (7:15 am, meet at Shelburne Parade Green)

11/6 - 4th Grade (Bartell & Cadwell) Field Trip (8:30 am - 2:15 pm, Shelburne Farms)

11/9 - Sibling Photo Day (9:00 - 11:00 am, SCS Breezeway)

11/10 - Robocats Field Trip to Global Foundries (11:00 am - 2:30 pm)

11/14 - Last day of Food Drive

11/15 - SCS/New Village Farm Partnership Fundraising Event (see details below)

11/21 - Poinsettia Sale Ends

11/24-28 - NO SCHOOL

CVSD 2025-2026 Calendar

Please sign up by 9:00 am Monday if you would like your student(s) to ride the late bus next week on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, &/or Thursday.

THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO SIGN UP FOR THE LATE BUS.

If your student is signed up for the late bus, we expect they will be on the bus. Please notify the front office if there is an unexpected change in plans.

If you ordered school photos, they were delivered to SCS and should be will be in student backpacks by Friday. Please keep an eye out for them!

It's not too late to order your child's school portrait online at amvphotography.com.

Make-Up Day envelopes have also been delivered to school.

Please return these envelopes by Tuesday, November 4th. Orders can also be placed online.

Please join us for one more Bike & Walk to School event, hosted by Shelburne Forward's Bike & Pedestrian Task Force. On November 5th, let's meet at the Parade Green (Church St and Route 7, across from Town Hall) at 7:15 for breakfast treats. We will then walk and bike to school together at 7:30. We hope to see you there!!!

The Shelburne Food Shelf invites you to participate in the Food is In When School is Out (FIIWSIO) program where you can shop for food for your students for each school vacation. Please sign up by completing this form.

YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO SHOP at our regular food shelf shopping times which are listed on our website: https://www.shelburnefoodshelf.org/food/calendar

You are invited to shop on Saturday, Nov. 22, 11 am to 1 pm for THANKSGIVING. Please complete the form to indicate your choice of meal.

All residents of Shelburne may participate. We are excited to see you!

Champlain Valley School District is committed to fostering learning environments where every student can feel safe, valued, and respected. To support this commitment, we have updated the Student and Family Handbook to clarify our expectations regarding the use of language in our schools. We encourage you to review the updated handbook language and to discuss these expectations at home. We thank you for your continued partnership in supporting a positive learning environment for all students.

Champlain Valley School District (CVSD) and CVSD Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) Leadership Team recognize the concern and uncertainty caused by recent reductions to the federal Offices of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and Civil Rights (OCR). While we are still working to understand the full implications of these reductions, we wish to share what we know now and reaffirm our shared commitment to supporting students with disabilities and their families and caregivers.

Please read the full statement here — including the short-term outlook, long-term uncertainties, our core commitments and available resources.

Our teachers and staff continue to host fun and memorable Dynamic Experiences for students. Cooking decorating with the cafeteria staff, creemees at the Country Store with Joey,

H-O-R-S-E with Mr. Cluff, and mountain biking in the woods with Lynda, Gina & Alice,

were just some of the adventures enjoyed over the past week.

It was a festive Spirit Week for 5-8 students and Jeff Badillo was chosen to compete in the intermission competition during the Yellow Team field trip to the UVM Women's hockey game.

Scenes from 7/8 Wellness Wednesday

Support our annual performance travel programs to Boston, Montreal and all around Vermont!

Purchase quality locally grown poinsettias and cyclamens at this link.

Please also sign up to join our volunteer team to collate orders and hand out plants.

Sign up for a Goat Snuggle or Family Photo at New Village Farm at our Fundraising Event on November 15. All proceeds fund our NVF/SCS partnership.

Interested in supporting or volunteering for Farm-to-School activities? Please contact devinb@shelburnepto.org

Prescription medication misuse is when they are taken differently than or without a doctor’s orders. The misuse of medications often happens by accident and can pose potential risks such as habit formation, substance use disorder, poisoning, overdose, and death.

Good news!

2 ways we can protect ourselves, our family members, and friends are by…

1. Disposing of unwanted, unused, or expired medications. You can do so:

• In person at the Shelburne police department any day of the year!
• At a drop off kiosk at your local pharmacy
• Or by mail in a prepaid envelope - click here to request one

Click here to learn more about safe prescription disposal from the Vermont Department of Health.

Click here to watch a 10 minute video about medication safety at home from the Northern New England Poison Center.

Click here or call 802-565-5465 for help connecting to alcohol and drug support services through VT Helplink.

Questions or concerns?

Contact Gina Pandolfo (gpandolfo@cvsdvt.org), SCS Student Assistance Provider (SAP)

This is open to ALL families, not just Hinesburg residents:

Are you interested in having some fun learning alongside our students as a guest teacher (aka sub)? If so, please reach out to CVSDHR@cvsdvt.org or Louise Michaels.

Click here for more information on becoming a sub!

Shelburne Community School Administrative Team

Jen Roth, PreK-4 Principal

Brett Cluff, 5-8 Principal

Antonia Trono, Director of Special Services