eBuses Have Arrived in CVSD

 In December 2019, we published this post about electric buses coming to CVSD. The Champlain Valley School District was selected to be a partner in the Agency of Natural Resources Electric School and Transit Bus Pilot Program. In March of 2020, voters in our towns approved the purchase of two buses (at the price of our regular diesel buses) and the grant we were award provided funds to make up the substantial difference. 

After a number of delays due to varied reasons, the buses have arrived! We have two electric buses, easily recognizable by the blue bumpers and wheels, that are running routes in Williston. They may also be used for other activities like field trips or transporting athletic teams, which could benefit our other schools as well. 

A group of CVSD leaders went to check out one of the buses today after it completed its morning route.

Greg Marino - Williston lead principal, Superintendent Rene Sanchez, Barry Russell - transportation supervisor, Angela Arsenault - board chair, Jeanne Jensen - CVSD COO

We could barely hear it coming into the WCS bus loop. What a difference! These buses will certainly help to reduce air pollution as well as diesel fumes. 

Barry Russell, transportation supervisor

The only need for diesel is for heat.

That looks a lot different than in a diesel bus!

Charging station at ABS

A few of our bus drivers have been trained to learn any additional details that pertains to driving an electric bus. There's great enthusiasm from students as well, especially those lucky enough to be on the routes covered by the electric buses. 

One lucky bus driver!

As we said in our December 2019 post, this opportunity allows us to not only transport students more safely and efficiently, but to make a concrete example of living up to our values. We are excited to take such an important role in helping Vermont reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency. 

CVSD Update August 24, 2021

 

We are excited to officially welcome everyone back to school this week! In this CVSD update you will find: 

• A welcome video from Superintendent Sanchez
• COVID reminders and updates
• Transportation news
• CVSD job opportunities
• and more!

We look forward to greeting your children and having them back in the buildings 5 days a week. 

A Conversation with Medical Professionals About Returning To School

We were honored, once again, to host this conversation with local medical professionals about returning to school. They also discussed COVID safety measures including vaccines, masks, and more. 

We did the same thing at about the same time last year and are hoping that it's not going to be an annual event!

Thank you so much to the doctors and CVSD educators and lead nurse, Jocelyn Bouyea, for contributing to the conversation. 

CVSD Update, August 18, 2021

 

Dear CVSD Families,

The final days of summer vacation are upon us. We are finalizing plans, welcoming new faculty, getting buildings ready, and more. We have so many to thank for the work that has been done over the summer to benefit our students and our schools. We can’t name all of them, but it includes food service, transportation, facilities, IT, administrative assistants, principals and other administrators, all educators involved in our summer programs, and many more.

COVID and Opening Schools

We wanted to provide you with the most recent update and information about how we will open our schools next week. This slide presentation was shared with the CVSD Board of Directors last night. It includes information about three elements:

• Keeping everyone safe and healthy

• Managing active cases

• What school will look like this fall

We hope it helps to clarify and answer some of the questions you may have. We continue to wait on further guidance from the Agency of Education and the Department of Health with more specific information about some topics.

Powerschool Parent Portal

Most families have received the letter in the mail about setting up Powerschool Parent Portal accounts. We know that some have had issues receiving the verification email. Please check your spam folder for an email from cvsdnoreply@cvsdvt.org. If you find anything there from that address, please mark it ‘not spam’ so that you receive further emails from the district and Powerschool. You can access additional information about Powerschool on the district’s website. Look for the yellow Registration button or the headline further down on all school and district websites.

Thank you once again, for your patience and understanding as we roll out this new system and begin yet another unusual school year. We are very excited to see your children next week to welcome them (and you!) back to school 5 days a week.


Rene Sanchez, CVSD Superintendent



If you have any questions, please contact your school directly. If it’s a question pertaining to the district, please use this form to share your thoughts.

CVSD Update August 6, 2021

 

This newsletter features an informative letter with updates regarding recent Agency of Education guidance, an upcoming vaccine clinic at CVU, free meals, and more! 

CVSD Update July 19, 2021

 

July 19, 2021

Good afternoon Champlain Valley School District Communities!

I hope that the midpoint of the summer finds you enjoying the lovely weather, family time, and the Vermont outdoors.

I want to thank the family and community members who came out to the Shelburne Farmer’s market on July 10. We liked it so much that we are planning to make it a monthly event. CVSD will have a booth at the Shelburne Farmer’s Market on the first Saturday of each month. Not only will we be there to meet people, but we will be able to provide information and updates on our COVID-19 Response Plan, the return to school, job opportunities, and much more.

Though the original date for the Charlotte Grange on the Green was postponed, CVSD plans to have a table at the August 12th happening. We are also looking to be present at the July 28 Hinesburg Concert in the Park. If you are interested in listening to some great music, please join us at these wonderful events.

As we prepare for a full five-day-a-week return for the fall, the Vermont Department of Health is still recommending that unvaccinated people over the age of two should wear masks indoors. It also recommends several other ways to remain safe, even though Vermont does not have state COVID-19 restrictions or requirements for Vermonters or visitors to follow. However, we still need to follow the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidelines for travel on school buses.  Students and drivers are required to wear masks until further notice, including for transportation this summer.

We have no doubt that there will be additional guidance provided between now and the first day of school. We are in frequent contact with Secretary of Education French and with the Champlain Valley Superintendents Association so that we can align our policies, our communication, and our actions to other school districts in Vermont, and especially in the Champlain Valley region.

Finally, in coordination with our district’s annual focus on literacy, especially when it comes to summer reading, I would like to share the books that I am currently working through in July. The first is Coaching for Equity by Elena Aguilar and the second is Noise by Daniel Kahneman, Oliver Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein. Both books are valuable scaffolds for my role as an administrator and both are by authors whom I have read in other contexts. Noise is heavy on the research surrounding bias while Coaching for Equity provides the hands-on, personal experiences that coaches challenge practitioners to muddle through in order to grow their craft. Though written in very different styles, I still find myself working through their text rapidly, but attentively. If you have time this summer, please wander through any of our town libraries to see if some book or other story-telling medium catches your or your student’s interest. (Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, or Williston).

We will be sending out regular communications and updates, so look for the next one in a few weeks.

Rene Sanchez, CVSD Superintendent

This letter and more can be found in the full newsletter here. We also post these communications on our website and on our Facebook and Twitter accounts. 

A Warm Welcome from CVSD's New Superintendent

Good Friday afternoon CVSD!

I am so excited to begin my tenure as the Champlain Valley School District Superintendent. From the Little League baseball fields outside of my office window and the church bells ringing on the hour, to the rainbows on the back-to-back days when I arrived, my joy is overflowing to serve here in your district as superintendent. Though I will oversee the district, I, too, will be a CVSD resident and a parent who will send students to our schools. As we transition from the distance and hybrid learning of the last 18 months to more recognizable instruction for the next school year, we must learn from each other what was missed, what worked well, and what we need to sunset. Like you, I want to ensure that we provide the schools that our students and community deserve. However, CVSD cannot create those schools alone. We are counting on students, families, and the community to help us.

First, this coming fall will be an exciting time. Our students and staff will return to their campuses five days a week. In preparation for the return, many of our schools are undergoing renovations to improve the learning environment. Thanks to additional federal and state funding, our school district will implement a COVID Strategic Response Plan with three main components: Social-Emotional Learning, Student Engagement, and Academic Success. CVSD has created a website and survey for the community to learn more about and provide input for the plan.

Next, so we can engage with parents and families about the plan and introduce myself to the community, we have identified several occasions to inform and seek feedback on the Strategic Response Plan and for me to meet attendees to local events. Members of the CVSD administration and I intended to be present at the Williston Book Sale on July 2, but the weather has impacted that plan. So instead, I will be at the Hinesburg Parade on July 4, the Grange on the Green in Charlotte on July 8, and at the Shelburne Farmers’ Market on July 10. Please find me and say hi!

I look forward to meeting you and your current, future, and past students of CVSD over the next few weeks. Please stop by one of the events in July so I may introduce myself to you. If you cannot stop by this time, I will attend school Curriculum Nights and extracurricular activities, so do not hesitate to say hello for the first time or for the second or third time at that point. Have a great holiday weekend with your family, and I hope to meet you soon.

Rene Sanchez, Superintendent



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