CVSD Update September 25, 2020

Dear Family and Friends,

For the past two weeks, we have been assessing our readiness for bringing back our kindergarten students to four-days per week of in-person instruction. This assessment included a review of our ability to maintain social distancing and all other DOH and AOE guidelines, as well as our capacity to provide stable and sufficient staffing. To that end, we sent a survey to our kindergarten families to understand what, if any changes, families might make if we were to institute this change. We held a Q &A session with Dr. Leah Costello for our kindergarten teachers, principals, and school nurses. The results of the survey, as well as our review of the criteria, all indicate that we are ready to welcome our youngest students back for four days per week, beginning on October 5.

We will be undergoing this same level of assessment, review, and planning for phasing-in, over the next month, our Grades 1 through 4 students. This process will begin with our Grades 1 and 2 students. A survey will be going out later today to these parents. During the next two weeks, faculty and administration will conduct a thorough assessment of our criteria:

• There is no or very low COVID activity in our communities
• Our ability to staff our classrooms remains stable and sufficient
• Our routines are efficient, effective, and any trouble-spots are easily worked out
• We are able to maintain compliance with VT DOH and AOE guidance
• We are confident in the DOH’s ability to respond to any positive cases in our school community.

Assuming a successful re-entry of our Kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2 students, and our continued ability to meet all criteria, we would turn our focus to Grades 3 and 4. Here is the tentative timeline for this to happen.

• Oct. 5 Kindergarten students Mon. Tues. Thurs. Fri. - or Virtual Learning Academy
• Oct. 19 Grades 1 and 2 students Mon. Tues. Thurs. Fri. - or Virtual Learning Academy
• Oct. 26 Grades 3 and 4 students Mon. Tues. Thurs. Fri. - or Virtual Learning Academy

Please know and understand that all of these dates are tentative. If at any point, we are unable to meet the criteria we’ve set, the dates could be moved out or even canceled.

In other news, we are including the October calendar with this newsletter. We cannot finalize the year’s calendar until the legislature has acted upon an expected change to the statute. As soon as this has been accomplished, we will share our adjusted school year calendar. We do not anticipate many if any changes to the calendar that was shared in the spring.

And finally, I know there is some confusion around the Secretary of Education’s announcement that schools are now in Phase III. In reality, there are very few changes to the guidance between these two phases. The social distancing requirement - 3 feet for students age 10 and under and 6 feet for our older students has not changed. This does not mean that students must be socially distanced at 3 ft or 6 ft at all times. It does mean that we should do our best to minimize the number and amount of time that our students are in closer proximity AND add other layers of protection when they are. For example, wearing our masks, sitting side-by-side instead of face-to-face, and being vigilant about hand hygiene all help to mitigate the transmission of the virus. The main areas of change are; the clearance for our sports teams to hold competitions - GO Redhawks! - and the relaxing of the rules for use of our gyms and cafeterias. In Phase II these spaces could only be used as classroom overflow and only if absolutely necessary. In Phase III, these spaces may be used as long as we are still able to follow all other guidelines (social distancing e.g.).

I hope you all have a very relaxing and restful weekend with your families.

Sincerely,

Elaine


To see this letter as well along with other updates, please view our full newsletter.

CVSD Educator Presented with Literacy Award

We are thrilled to share that CVSD's District Literacy Leader, Jensa Bushey, is the recipient of the Vermont Council on Reading's 2020 John T. Poeton Award. This award is usually presented at the VT Council on Reading's Spring conference, but that event didn't take place this year due to safety concerns around COVID-19. 

As stated on the VT VCR website, "The John T. Poeton Award is presented annually by the Executive Board of the Vermont Council on Reading at the Conference. A plaque shall be presented by the President or his or her designee at the Annual Spring Conference to an outstanding educator working in a Vermont school setting fostering literacy development with students and colleagues."

Jensa exemplifies this to the greatest degree. She is an inspiring leader and advocate for literacy with teachers and students alike. In addition to her valued literacy role in CVSD, Jensa stepped up this year and is also teaching kindergarten in our Virtual Learning Academy. This only illustrates how dedicated Jensa is to her work, our district, and student learning. Jensa is a former Shelburne Community School teacher and literacy coordinator.

Congratulations Jensa and thank you!

Remembering a Beloved Principal

The CVSD community lost a beloved past principal last April. Monica Smith was the principal at Charlotte Central School for 20 years, from 1990-2009. She touched and influenced so many in our community and beyond. 

Today, some former colleagues organized a tree-planting at CCS in her memory and planted a sturdy oak tree. Members of Monica's family were present, along with many others who were recipients of her generosity, time, friendship, and colleagueship. 

Superintendent Elaine Pinckney spoke and shared some thoughts, which are highlighted below. 

Monica was full of love. She took care of everyone. She took care of CCS students and staff in the same way that she took care of her treasured family. Through small tokens of affection and appreciation, she made time together special. She instituted many traditions which are carried on at CCS to this day, including Grandparent's day and the Carnation Ceremony.

Monica was a relationship person and was full of joy. She loved people, she loved life. she was generous, unselfish, caring, thoughtful. Those of us fortunate enough to know her, and that's many, count ourselves so lucky to have been a part of her orbit.

The tree is near the playground behind CCS and has a special sign to help visitors find it.

Thank you to all who helped make this special event for a very special person happen.

Schools Are OPEN in CVSD!

We are so excited to see students in person! Here are a few photos from the first days with Cohort or Group A. 

CVSD Update and Food For All Under 18!

Dear CVSD Families and Community,

This is the last update before school starts on Tuesday, September 8. There are some new updates available in this newsletter. We hope that between this and communications from your schools, you're as ready as we are to get this school year underway.

Many of you may have received this message earlier, but we wanted to repeat it here.

We are so happy to share that the USDA has announced it is allowing schools to continue to provide free breakfast and lunch meals to all children 18 years old and younger. CVSD will be offering in-school meals, pick-up, and delivery. To read about our program, see our menu and place your order, go to our district website at https://www.cvsdvt.org/ and scroll down to "Foodservice". Our amazing food service team is excited to continue to serve the children of our community meals that are safe, nutritious, and delicious!

Wishing you a safe, healthy, and happy long weekend. We look forward to seeing your children on Tuesday in one way or another.

Superintendent Elaine Pinckney