WCUUSD Curriculum Newsletter

Hi, WCUUSD educators--

I recently read a book entitled How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days by Kari Leibowitz.

I loved it, and I've been thinking a lot about it. I think one of the reasons I loved it so much is that it reminds of my psychology background (I majored in psychology and Spanish in college). It is essentially rooted in mindsets (think Carol Dweck) and the tenets of positive psychology. The author encourages readers to notice the awe and wonder of the season and to verbalize it--out loud, to another person. In my opinion, her work has broad application across settings--noticing the good, maintaining a stance of curiosity, being prepared, amplifying success. I am working hard to apply the lessons from the book to both my personal and professional lives, especially on cold, dark, or difficult days.

Warmly,

Jen

Curriculum Council has decided to wait until January to share talking points. On December 8 we finalized the plans for the elementary half day on December 10 and made school-based plans to engage in progress monitoring of our Continuous Improvement Plans. On December 22 we will continue to review school-based PD plans and the most immediate modules and continue to consider how we will evaluate the impact of our collective PD. Stay tuned for more information next month!

• Berlin: Celia Guggemos, Melissa Maring

• Calais: Ainsley Burroughs, Jenna Howard, Jarrod Weiss

• Doty: Allison Fayle, Gillian Fuqua

• East Montpelier: Alicia Lyford, Hilary Paquet, Dave Willard

• Rumney: Veronica Fair, Karoline May

• U-32: Jenn Ingersoll, Brittany Perry, Becca Tatistcheff

• WCUUSD: Ellen Dorsey, Jen Miller-Arsenault

The EQC met on December 11 to focus on Transferable Skills. A few photos from the presentation are below, and you can find the full presentation here.

The next meeting is Wednesday, January 21 from 5:00-6:00 p.m. at U-32. We will focus on progress monitoring each school's and the district's Continuous Improvement Plans.

The Humanity and Justice Coalition is partnering with interested students to plan the inservice day on Tuesday morning, January 20, 2026. We will focus on the implementation of the Education Quality Standards. Current plans include a student panel, a gallery walk to share our work, and a closing debrief panel with students. We will share more details in mid-January. In the meantime, know that we will meet from 8:00-11:15 a.m. at U-32 to engage in this important work together.

Shelley Vermilya, our Humanity and Justice Scholar-in-Residence, is planning to offer a course this spring entitled Education in an Era of Change: A Class for These Times. The course will run for nine weeks on Tuesdays from 4:15-6:15 p.m. starting on January 13 and ending on March 24 (Note: The start and end dates have shifted by one week from what we originally advertised). The first and last classes will meet in person; the rest will meet virtually. Topics include: Identity, Poverty, Racism, Gender and Sexuality, Responding to Hate and Harmful Speech, Trauma Wise Practice, Neurodiversity, and Reframing Equity in Organizations.

Importantly, the course is free and open to all educators. There is an option to take the course for 3 graduate credits from Southern New Hampshire University for a small fee of $360.

Here is the syllabus. Here is the sign up form. Please sign up no later than Tuesday, December 23.

Elementary teachers, please complete this brief feedback form about our work together on December 10. Your feedback is super important and will inform the next half day professional learning meeting in May. To date, we've received only 19 responses. We'd love to hear from more of you.

I will include a summary of the feedback data in next month's newsletter. I would like to hear from more of you before I share the results. In the meantime, below is the Menti that we created together at the end of the afternoon. The prompt was "Summarize your takeaway from today in one word..."

Finally, and most importantly, a huge thank you to all who helped plan, support, and facilitate this work. Wow!

Please take a few minutes before you head out for December break to look at our Local Comprehensive Assessment Plan (LCAP). Our winter assessment windows open shortly after we return from the break. Please know what is coming up for you and your students and plan accordingly. Please reach out to your principal if you have any questions or concerns.

Below is a repeat of the piece I wrote last month. Please reach out if you want to borrow any of the books we recently acquired--they have all arrived-- and please mark your calendars for August 11-13, 2026; we hope to host RC courses again this summer.

Because our district hosted a Responsive Classroom course this past summer, we received a few host site benefits. Each of our elementary school counselors recently received a complimentary license to Fly Five, a social and emotional learning program developed by the Center for Responsive Schools. They will explore the program and pilot lessons in the months to come.

We also received a gift certificate to the online bookstore. I used the gift certificate to buy the following books for the district:

• Building an Academic Community
• Closing Circles K-6
• Doing Language Arts in Morning Meeting
• Doing Social Studies in Morning Meeting
• Energizers! K-6
• The Joyful Classroom
• Make Learning Meaningful
• Middle School Motivators!
• The Power of Our Words: Middle School
• Refocus and Recharge: 50 Brain Breaks for Middle Schoolers

• The Responsive Advisory Meeting Book
• Seeing the Good in Students

The books should arrive during November break. Please let me know if you'd like to borrow any of them.

On a related note, we've been selected to host Responsive Classroom courses again next summer. This is great news! If there is enough interest, we will host both elementary and middle school levels. More information will be forthcoming. For now, save the date: August 11-13, 2026.

The AOE is tasked with recommending statewide graduation requirements to the State Board of Education this month. As soon as their recommendations are available, I will include them in this newsletter. In the meantime, here is a slideshow entitled Graduation Requirements Updates and Survey Analysis that is linked to the State Board of Education agenda for December 17. Stay tuned for more information!