The Lamoille Ledger
August 15th, 2025
Important Dates and Resources
August 18th - Faculty and Staff Return
August 21st - Stowe Middle School Ice Cream Social 3-4PM
August 21st - Elmore School Ice Cream Social (6PM)
August 21st - MES Kindergarten Ice Cream Social 5:00PM
August 22nd - MES Meet and Greet 8-9AM
August 25th - First Day of School (PreK to Grade 9 and new students)
August 26th - Grades 10-12 Return
August 26th - Middle School Sports Information Night
August 29th - No School
September 1st - No School (Labor Day)
September 2nd - SSD Board Meeting (5:30PM) - SES
September 9th- EMUU Board Meeting (5:30PM) - MES
September 16th - LSSU Board Meeting (5:30PM) - MES
October 2nd - No School (Yom Kippur)
October 13th - No School (Indigenous Peoples Day)
October 24th - Early Release
Welcome Back!
Dear Lamoille South Families,
As we wind down summer break, we are excited to welcome our students back to school. I hope that the past two months have been filled with good memories and plenty of time with family and friends. It is a privilege to start my fifth year as your superintendent and we are looking forward to a great year ahead.
Our schools have been busy this summer with various capital improvement projects. At Peoples Academy, the new gym floor is coming along nicely and is scheduled to be completed by mid-September. New carpeting, weight room equipment, and a new parking lot have also been on the PA/PAML list. In Stowe, the middle school has remodeled all classrooms with fresh paint, new flooring and many upgrades to lighting and ceiling tiles. Two new walls have been installed in the art space and several high school bathrooms have been renovated with new fixtures, stalls, and fresh paint. The auditorium at Stowe/Middle High will also be renovated this winter and new seats and flooring will be installed.
Our elementary schools have also undergone extensive painting and SES has upgraded its heating system, which has been a constant maintenance issue over the past few years. Years of careful financial planning have allowed us to make consistent, smaller investments in our buildings, avoiding large-scale repairs. The facilities team has gone above and beyond this summer to ensure our buildings are clean and ready for fall.
Below you will find important information regarding the legislative news that has been on everyone's mind. Also, our grading changes are going into effect at the middle/high level. It should be a positive change for families to easily access student grades and progress via Powerschool. Of course, things won't be perfect and we welcome feedback as these changes go into effect.
Please always reach out with questions or concerns. It takes a village to take care of our children and your input and involvement is crucial for student success.
Sincerely,
Ryan Heraty
Superintendent
Lamoille South Supervisory Union
802-888-4541
Welcoming New Teachers!
We are thrilled to welcome a group of experienced teachers to our schools this year. There are some excellent additions from Vermont that will contribute new ideas and positive energy to our schools. This high-energy group brings decades of experience and includes educators from all over the country, including California, New Jersey, and Seattle. As you can see, they are a fun group and ready to meet their new students!
School Safety
This summer, the LSSU administrative team participated in a comprehensive school safety training with the State of Vermont and our local law enforcement and safety partners. We have been reviewing our policies and procedures pertaining to threat assessment and response to emergency situations. Our local emergency partners have also conducted a separate comprehensive active threat response training at Stowe High School a few weeks ago. Two years ago, the same group conducted this training at Peoples Academy. We feel grateful to have such amazing first responders in our communities as all three of our towns collaborate with the Sheriff's Department and Vermont State Police.
As we prepare for a return to school, HERE is a brief checklist from the Red Cross that you may find helpful. We also remind all drivers to please slow down in school zones and remember that you cannot pass a bus with flashing lights.
Grading and Reporting Changes
Last spring, we announced that both districts would be reverting to a more traditional grading system at the middle and high school level. Although proficiency based learning (PBL) has many benefits, the grading aspect of this model has been difficult for teachers, students, and families. We are retaining all of the positive aspects of the PBL system. Specifically, we are continuing our focus on growth and opportunities to demonstrate progress over time. We believe this change will improve communication between school and home. Most of our students also decide to pursue post-secondary education after they leave our schools. This shift will help students transition more smoothly to the traditional grading systems that continue to exist in most colleges and universities across the country.
The most exciting shift is that parents and students will be able to access an updated grade every Friday morning via Powerschool. These grades will automatically sync with Schoology, listing assignments that have been graded that week. This will allow students and families to clearly understand how students are progressing and identify any missing work in a timely manner. This will also allow our support teams in each building to quickly identify students that need additional support.
This informational letter was shared last spring with families, along with the frequently asked questions. Students entering their senior year will meet with counselors early in the fall to understand the positive changes that have been made to their transcripts and support any application process.
Legislative Update - Act 73
As most know, the Vermont legislature adopted H.454, now known at Act 73, which will move to consolidate school districts across the state. There is a redistricting task force that has met once and is meeting next week as well. This task force is charged with drawing up to three maps that will be shared with the legislature by December 1, 2025. I attended the first meeting, which was held at the state offices in Waterbury. My main takeaway was that Lamoille County also lacks any representation on this working group. It will be extremely important for us to follow along as this process unfolds to ensure decisions are not made that could have a negative impact on our schools and communities. Other regions of the state are paying close attention and advocating strongly for specific outcomes.
The biggest concerns I have with Act 73 include the arbitrary 4,000 student minimum that is embedded in the law and the reality that this will most likely increase the cost of education in our state. There is significant and recent research that district consolidation can have a negative impact on communities with little financial savings. The state of Michigan recently published a 375 -page report on their public education system, noting in detail (page 50) that consolidation is not a solution for cost containment. Two years ago, I participated in a study with a graduate student from Yale that showed the last consolidation law (Act 46) did not result in any cost savings. The evidence is overwhelming that trying to solve Vermont's problems by just merging districts together is a short-sighted and irresponsible policy decision. Prior to Act 46, legislators were warned this would be the case by a team of researchers from Penn State. Ignoring the research, they went forward and have now doubled down on this strategy.
Vermont does need to make significant changes to its system. However, removing local control and putting more decision-making power in the hands of people disconnected from their communities is not the answer. It is refreshing to start hearing media outlets and op-ed writers discuss how consolidation could have the opposite effect on tax rates. The loss of local oversight, combined with the leveling of contracts and school construction needed to sell these mergers will likely raise taxes. At the end of the day, the decision will be up to our legislators and I encourage our communities to be actively sharing your thoughts and concerns with those senators and representatives.
Fall Sports
This past week, both high schools held our fall sports informational meetings. Next week, middle school fall sports meetings will be held as well.
The Vermont Principals' Association is responsible for overseeing all middle and high school sports. They recently released this powerful video regarding sportsmanship. Lamoille South has historically had a very respectful and positive fan base. We want to maintain this reputation and encourage every spectator to watch this video and hear directly from students in Vermont.