Dear Salisbury Community School Families and Friends,

I truly love it when we do something, either as a school or as individual classes, for the first time. There are a few reasons for that. One is that the students get very excited and into it- even if they are a little nervous, they really want to know what is going on and they really want to "dig in" to whatever the thing is. Another reason I really enjoy when we do something new is that we add it to our "menu" of things we do at Salisbury Community School. Once we've done it once, we are really able to feel confident in our process as we get ready to do it again.

I am happy to say that our first time going skiing as a school went really, really well! The folks at Rikert were incredibly prepared and engaging- it was so easy for our students to get their gear, get matched up with instructors, and get going. Betcha Transit (yay Sue!) made things really easy, the schedule worked, the kids rolled along with things and tried hard- it was great. I think everyone is ready to go again!

One bummer thing though: we will not be going this week. With an overnight low of 3 degrees being forecasted, it would take a long time for it to warm up enough for the kids to be comfortable, especially as it seems that the high temperature of the day will not actually occur during the day, but during the night going into Friday. We WILL reschedule though, because it is so fun- likely in late Feb or Early March. Our next planned ski day is February 13th.

Thanks so much for reading! Please look below for some news and announcements, as well as information about our "Options-Based" safety drill we will be running on Friday.

Best,

Bjarki

• Friday, January 31st: Progress reports sent home with students- mailings will also be sent out .
• Friday, January 31st: SCS "Options Based" safety drill (details below)
• Monday, February 10th: "Rural School" Band and Chorus concert at SCS. Call time 6:00- concert starts at 6:30
  
• Wednesday, February 12th: Early Release
• Friday, February 14th: In-School Band Concert- begins at 10:00.

Last Thursday, we had an awesome time going up to Rikert Outdoor Center and doing some skiing. The folks at Rikert, (and especially Mia Allen, who set everything up) were incredibly welcoming, engaged, and kind to our students. We went in two waves- the youngest classes first and then our 4th and 5th graders in the afternoon, and it went as smoothly as can be. Our kids were real troopers about the weather, and they worked SO HARD at skiing- and we think they had a really good time! Although we have cancelled this week because of the prediction of cold temperatures, we look forward to getting back on the trails soon!

Last Friday we came together for FOSCS movie night! After some voting we chose "Elemental" and had a great time. Thanks for the popcorn, FOSCS, and thanks to all the students who came!

This Friday, as part of our normal process of school safety preparation, we will be running a School Safety Drill. This drill will have our students think about and practice what they can, and should, do in case of an event that requires us to clear the halls when we are in a time of day where students are transitioning from place to place, not just in their rooms. This will not be a "simulation" in the sense that we will not be pretending that something has happened, but we will have students move around some and walk through what their options would be in different areas of the school. There's a letter linked below with more "legal" language about what we are doing.

We will spend time in an all-school meeting on Thursday explaining the drill to the students, and then we will run it Friday. It will only take about 15-20 minutes.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Bjarki.

In February we are lucky to have some fun Children's Literacy Foundation events coming up! On the the 4th "That Poetry Guy" Ted Scheu will be joining our classes to do some poetry activities, but that will just be a warm-up to our big event: an evening "CLIF Literacy Night" on THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20th where Ted will return to be part of a larger event focusing on poetry, writing, and using language to express ourselves. We will serve dinner as well. Please come- so SAVE THE DATE!

January progress reports will be sent home in your child’s backpack next Friday, Jan. 31. This report is a summary of your child’s learning and development to date and will focus on students’ progress toward meeting end-of-year grade level standards. In addition to academic progress, students’ progress relative to the Approaches to Learning (ATL) skills is reported.

Prior to reading the progress summary it is helpful to review the description of the assessment criteria found in the report. Teachers will be reaching out to you by phone in the next two weeks to answer any clarifying questions about your child’s progress.

• Do you have a child who plans to start Kindergarten in 2025-2026? Make sure they are on our incoming student list! If your child will be 5 years old by September 1, 2025 (or you know a friend or neighbor whose child will be) please reach out to our front office at 802-352-4291, or contact SCS Administrative Assistant Donna Simpson at dsimpson@acsdvt.org.

• Do you have a 3-5 year old ready for preschool? Every preschool age child in ACSD is eligible for 10 FREE hours of preschool at a pre-qualified preschool program and NOW* is the time to begin thinking ahead to the 2025-26 school year. Visit https://mbaker61.wixsite.com/uprek/partners for a list of preschools and more information. Reach out to Ashley Bessette, Universal Prek Coordinator, at abessette@acsdvt.org for support or to ask questions.
  *Most preschool programs will begin enrolling in February/March for the 2025-26 school year.

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!