CVSD Update, December 2023

 Hello,

We are happy to share the December issue of the CVSD Update, a newsletter for all CVSD families, caregivers, and community members. 

In this issue, you will find: 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• Reminders about upcoming events 
  • There is a board meeting and budget presentation tonight!
  • Our rescheduled December Virtual Town Hall is tomorrow night!
• Information about how decisions for cancelations and snow days are made
• Updates from our community partners
• and more

Thank you for taking the time to read it. Feel free to reach out using Let's Talk with any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns, or kudos. 

CVSD's National Board Certified Educators

Three additional educators in the Champlain Valley School District, all based at the Williston Central School, have attained National Board Certification, a significant achievement in the field of education.

We extend our sincere congratulations to:

Colleen O'Brien - Early Adolescence Mathematics
Courtney Sherman - Exceptional Needs Specialist, Early Childhood through Young Adulthood
Deb Laskarzewski - World Languages, Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood

Two educators maintained their certification, which is also a proud accomplishment. Congratulations to Erin Crowley (ABS) and Andrea Griffin (WCS). 

Colleen, Courtney, and Deb join others in CVSD who have achieved this recognition. At fifteen, our district has the largest number of Board Certified Educators in the state of Vermont! 

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National Board Certification was designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide. It is the most respected professional certification available in K-12 education.

Created by teachers, for teachers, the National Board Standards represent a consensus among educators about what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. Board certification is available in 25 certificate areas spanning 16 disciplines from Pre-K through 12th grade.

The certification process requires that teachers demonstrate standards-based evidence of the positive effect they have on student learning in alignment with the Five Core Propositions. They must exhibit a deep understanding of their students, content knowledge, use of data and assessments and teaching practice. They must also show that they participate in learning communities and provide evidence of ongoing reflection and continuous learning.

Special Guests at HCS

Matt Meuneir, the Student Assistance Professional (SAP) at CVU, is an assistant coach for the St. Michael's College baseball team. The coaches ask their players to be thinking of ways they can help their community. The senior captain had the idea of doing a toy drive for a group of young students. The team decided that Hinesburg would be a great place to do it. Matt reached out to HCS saying some of his players wanted to give back to a school. The players wanted to do something for the kindergarteners. 

Eight players visited with the kindergarten classes at HCS yesterday with the head coach.

Thank you for such a thoughtful and generous visit! 

A Long-Awaited Sculpture in the WCS Courtyard

 Here's a guest post from WCS art educator, Abbie Bowker. 

Our guest artist/educator, Katie O’Brien had the idea for this sculpture when a cedar tree fell in her yard and she wondered “what if I were to put the tree back together again - as a sculpture?” The idea was formed and she worked with ABS/WCS teachers Sara Beeken and Julie Rogers to create a proposal for collaborative outdoor sculpture at one of our Williston Schools. The trio received a grant from the Williston Family as Partners group to fund the project which was supposed to happen the spring of 2020. We picked up the project and planned to reinstate it this fall!

Katie supplied all the materials for the project from the grant, and her fallen cedar tree. She cut off small pieces of the branches so that each student could “take home a piece of the sculpture” and make something special they could wear as a necklace or hang as a decoration. She wanted the kiddos to be able to contribute to the community sculpture, but also wanted something tangible they could keep as a memento.

As a class we prepared by learning about color theory and color mixing. Next, we learned about contrast and unity as concepts relating to color, and balance and repetition as concepts relating to design/pattern. When Katie came to us, our students learned about the idea of abstraction being either representational or non-objective and considered what kind of design they wanted to use on their section of the sculpture. 

She showed them an example of a similar work she had made in her garden, and demonstrated painting techniques they could use on their artworks. Over the course of the next few days two of our 5th and 6th grade classes contributed to painting the sculpture.

A few students helped to “thread” the sculpture like beads and we fine tuned the presentation of it indoors.

Then, Katie and her husband Tim came and installed the sculpture in the courtyard! It was a fantastic experience for all!

Thank you to our student artists, Katie, Tim, Sara Beeken and Julie Rogers, and Families as Partners for whom we could not have had the experience without! I hope you will be able to see the beautiful sculpture in the courtyard, or outside our music room window, soon!

CVSD and Hinesburg Joint Communication

Joint Communication from Champlain Valley School District, Hinesburg Community School, the Town of Hinesburg, and the Hinesburg Police Department

Date: December 8, 2023

Strengthening Our Collaboration for a Safer and More Supported Community

Dear Hinesburg Community,

We are writing to you jointly, as representatives of Champlain Valley School District, Hinesburg Community School, the Hinesburg Police Department, and the Town of Hinesburg, to address the incident at Hinesburg Community School on December 1st. We understand there was great concern and worry about the incident involving the discovery of a firearm and illicit drugs on HCS property. As a result, we have met to address our parts in how this incident played out in the community. We are committed to addressing these issues and working towards a robust and effective partnership in the future.

Acknowledgment of Differing Communication Regarding Friday’s Event

First and foremost, we wish to acknowledge the need for better communication and collaboration between our school district and the police department. We understand that this has caused concern among parents, staff, and community members, and we apologize for any distress or confusion this may have caused. Over the last two days, we came together to build an understanding of the sequence of Friday’s event. We reached an agreement for many of Friday’s events and now recognize that misunderstandings in communications and authority impacted the response.

Commitment to Open Communication

Moving forward, we are dedicated to establishing open lines of communication. To facilitate this, we identified and agreed to these five commitments: frequent and regular communication; the need to repair; shared policy and procedures; memorandum of understanding; and monthly school safety meetings.

These commitments to one another ensure a path forward for the safety and security of schools and our community. Transparency and open dialogue are crucial, and we are committed to keeping you informed and involved in our decision-making processes.

1. Frequent and regular communication:

Each of our organizations contributes to the safety and security of the Hinesburg community. We understand that effective communication — with you and between us as collaborators — helps build trust, which increases security.

2. Need to repair:

Representatives from the school and police department were harmed by the media coverage, social media posts, and direct attacks on their reported actions. In addition, other members of the community, students, caregivers, teachers, and others were also impacted. For the community to believe we deserve their trust, we need to build trust among one another. To do that, we will demonstrate integrity, humility, and honesty towards each other.

3. Shared Policy and Procedure:

As mentioned earlier, responsibilities overlap across all four organizations regarding the safety and security of the Hinesburg community. Creating a common policy and procedure will go beyond just emergency operations to include a description of regular interactions, communication protocols, and shared responsibilities.

4. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU):

This is the written documentation of the shared policy and procedure.

5. Monthly School Safety Meeting

All schools in the Champlain Valley School District hold regular safety and security meetings. The Hinesburg Police Department will serve as a regular member of the HCS Safety and Security Committee. At these meetings, any items from the shared policy and procedure MOU can be reviewed to ensure the continued collaboration between HCS and HPD. Act 29 requires all schools in Vermont to review and rewrite their Emergency Operations Plan after it goes into effect in July 2024. The Town and the Police Department are essential partners in this endeavor.

 

In closing, we thank the Williston Community Justice Center for its role in helping each party further understand the other so we can reach this point. We have learned from this experience and look forward to working alongside each of you to cultivate trust and shape an even more promising future for our community.

Sincerely,


Todd Odit                                           Rene Sanchez

Hinesburg Town Manager                 CVSD Superintendent



Contact Information:

For further inquiries or to provide feedback, please feel free to contact us at:

School District Contact Information

Champlain Valley School District

5420 Shelburne Road

Shelburne, VT 05482

802 383-1234

http://www.cvsdvt.org

Let's Talk

Town Contact Information

Town Hall

10632 VT Route 116

Hinesburg, VT 05461

(802) 482-4206

https://www.hinesburg.org/

CVSD UVM Outstanding Educators 2023

We are proud to share that Jen Bickel-Hayes and Michaela Whitman were recognized recently at UVM's 43rd Outstanding Educator event. Jen is a school counselor at CVU and Michaela is a primary teacher at Hinesburg Community School. They were nominated by their peers and building administrators. 

The comments below were submitted with their nominations for this award.

Jen Bickel-Hayes Champlain Valley Union High School, Champlain Valley School District 

Jen takes responsibility for the students who she most directly serves, and works tirelessly meeting their educational and mental health needs. She manages the school’s Naviance system, communicates with families, helps coordinates with transfer students, while squeezing in more students than her schedule physically allows - and all with a smile on her face. She makes every student feel seen, heard, and cared for. Jen cares about her work, the people she serves, and the systems she oversees.

Michaela Whitman Hinesburg Community School, Champlain Valley School District 

Michaela is an incredibly collaborative teacher. She is eager to learn new teaching strategies. I see her actively implementing those ideas and sharing her observations with her team. Michaela builds a community within her classroom and finds ways to include all students. She works actively to keep all students engaged in the classroom. Michaela has a wealth of professional knowledge about teaching.

Congratulations to Jen and Michaela and thank you for all you do on behalf of CVSD students!

WCS Engineering Design Challenge

Middle school students at Williston Central School recently participated in an engineering design challenge. Students chose to create designs for either the rampball or catapult challenge and then competed against others to determine which had the greatest success. 

Students discuss ideas during the planning and building process.

Engineering in middle school sometimes means lots of glue, tape and recycled materials!

So how does the incline of the ramp affect the distance a ball will travel? Students tested it to find out!

Students compete with their catapult, which earned them a 3rd place finish at the Engineering Challenge!

Putting their catapult to the test!