SCS Weekly Newsletter 3/10/25

Dear Salisbury Community School Families and Friends,

Well, the year keeps barreling along, and a lot has been going on, both at SCS and at Addison Central School District! Here at SCS we have continued to be graced by wonderful authors and presenters that have joined us as part of our Children's Literacy Foundation (CLIf) "Year of the Book". In late February we were joined by poet Ted Scheu for an evening of pasta and poetry, and now we are in the middle of a two week "author residency" with author Natalie Kinsey Warnock. Please look below for news and pictures related to our CLIf visitors.

Please save the date for one more family literacy night! On Wednesday, March 26th we will be welcoming author Katy Farber and (Salisbury's own!) herpetologist Jim Andrews to discuss salamanders, and writing about nature! This event is designed (we hope) to occur before the salamander crossings that happen every spring in Salisbury- and to get students jazzed up for them. Look for more info as we get closer.

Also in important news, the ACSD Budget passed by a wide margin, and several new school board members were elected. I look forward to working with Jess Venable-Novak, Ron Makleff, and Steve Cash- welcome aboard everyone!

Best,

Bjarki

Monday. March 10th: Little Caesar's Pizza Distribution @ 2:30.

Wed, Thurs, Fri March 12-14: Author visit with Natalie Kinsey Warnock

Thursday, March 13th: Ski Day! We are planning on skiing (this is our make-up day). If this week doesn't work out, we will just decide it wasn't meant to be.

Wednesday, March 26th: Title 1 Family Literacy Night. SAVE THE DATE!

Pick up your Little Caesar's orders on Monday, March 10th- beginning at 2:30. Latest pickup at 5:00.

Thank you to Austin, Lindi, and all of FOSCS for leading this great fundraiser. And thanks to all those who purchased!

On February 20th "the Poetry Guy" Ted Scheu joined us again, this time for a family literacy night! We began with a pasta dinner (thank you Kathleen and Steven!), and then Ted engaged families about poetry, and even got families to write poetry together! We had a great turnout, and it was really heartwarming to see families sitting around together thinking about their shared memories- and writing poetry about it. Thank you Ted, and thank you CLIf! It was a wonderful evening.

Last week, this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and next Thursday and Friday we are hosting Natalie Kinsey Warnock, an author and storyteller from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont who writes beautiful books often focusing on growing up in the country and stories of family. She started her "author's residency" with a transfixing presentation, and then began working with all of our classrooms. We are, again, SO LUCKY to be able to host her, and all these wonderful authors, through the generosity of the Children's Literacy Foundation!

It is highly recommended that all students K-5 keep an extra full-set of clean clothes in their backpacks at all times. All sorts of things happen requiring a need to change clothes during the school day (i.e. spills, vomiting, mud-puddles, snowsuit/boot issues, restroom accidents, etc.). Students usually prefer to wear their own clothes that fit and are their style, instead of borrowing from the limited school supply. Having their own clothes will allow for quick changes and less time away from learning. Thanks for helping us help your student!

As we have for the past few years, ACSD school will be administering the "VTCAP" Standardized testing in grades 3-5. Please read the letter that can be accessed using the "button" below regarding VTCAP.

Parents, Caregivers, Students, Staff & Community, we want to hear from you! In the Spring of 2024, ACSD began a two year process toward joint accreditation by NEASC and IB (read more here). We are currently in the self-study and evidence gathering phase and we want to hear from you! Please take 10 minutes to fill out this NEASC Learning Community Survey to help inform how we are doing in key areas and where we need to focus and improve in the future.

Please choose the survey links that best fits your role and school affiliation.

ACSD Elementary Schools:

• PARENTS: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Parents-Fall-2024?id=54

• FACULTY: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Faculty-Staff-Fall-2024?id=54

• STUDENTS: https://surveys.neasc.org/s3/NEASC-CIE-Students-Fall-2024?id=54

This year, we thought it would be fun to chronicle the changes of the season at Salisbury Community School by taking the same picture, at the same time, from the same spot, every week. At the end of the year it will hopefully be a fun thing to look at and share!