CVSD Update May 2024

 

Dear CVSD Staff, Families, and Caregivers, 

The latest edition of the CVSD Update is now available! There's a little less content, which we hope will make for easy viewing. It does include important details, announcements, and celebrations. 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• Summer EBT Program to Help Feed Kids
• Introducing Stopfinder
• Celebrations
• Events and Dates to Remember 
• and more

Thank you for taking the time to view it. 

Reminder- Monday, May 27 is Memorial Day and there's no school.

 

As always, reach out via Let's Talk to share questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, or kudos!

Announcing CVU's Interim Principal

The Champlain Valley School District announces the appointment of Katherine Riley as the Interim Principal of the Champlain Valley Union High School (CVU) for the FY25 school year. Her appointment will be effective July 1, 2024.

Katherine joined CVU in 1998 as a social studies teacher and has worked as the Curriculum Director and Snelling House Director. As an administrator, Katherine has played an important role in the school’s transition to a proficiency-based system, the design of CVU’s action plan, and the development of current graduation requirements.

Katherine received a bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University and a Master of Education degree from Plattsburgh State University. She taught in New York state prior to coming to Vermont and has international teaching experience in both Bhutan and Peru. At CVU, Katherine has led numerous international student trips and advised both Amnesty International and the Student Council for over twenty years.

In her application for the position, Katherine shared, “With twelve years of experience at the administrative level and fourteen years as a teacher at CVU, I feel that I am qualified to step into this leadership role. I know the systems and the people...I am confident that I will step into the role of interim principal and allow for a smooth transition for our CVU community.”

Upon accepting the job, Katherine stated "I am humbled and excited to step into the role of interim principal and to build on the good work that is happening at CVU. I look forward to working closely with the students, faculty, staff and community to grow the culture of belonging and high academic standards which have been the hallmark of the high school since long before I began my teaching career at CVU."

Sarah Crum, CVSD’s Director of Learning and Innovation, was on the interview committee. She adds, “CVSD has been fortunate to have Katherine Riley as part of the leadership team at CVU for many years now. Katherine highlighted her desire to maintain the collaborative approach that has been a cornerstone for the CVU leadership team and that continuity is a priority for her. Katherine's steady leadership will ensure that CVU continues to build on the incredible strengths of the administrators, faculty and staff while it fosters innovative solutions to challenges in education.”

We look forward to welcoming Katherine officially as the CVU interim principal on July 1.

WCS Students Win a National Competition

Williston Central School's Equinox team is comprised of third and fourth graders. Two of the teachers, Jamie Coffey and Karin Ward, each adopted cows through the Discover Dairy program. They both got calves from the Gervis Family Farm in Enosburg, Vermont. Jamie and Karin shared photos over time with their combined classes to watch the progress of Aurora and Tawny.

Aurora is the heifer on the left and Tawny is the Brown Swiss on the right

Then they received an email with a challenge to make a video to go with the Discover Diary song. Students helped to choreograph the movements and started learning the words to the song as fluency practice. Thanks to other adults in the building, Tara Weegar and Jessica Wilson, the video was created and submitted. They won the award for the grades 3-5 category, nationally! 

The students won an ice cream party with heifer-patterned décor and lots of Vermont ice cream from Wilcox Dairy, a farm that sits at the base of Mount Equinox. 

Congratulations! 

An Exciting Finish at the State Geo-Bee Finals

Here's a guest post from Sam Nelson, SCS educator and Geo-Bee coach. Thanks also to Josh Roof, WCS Geo-Bee coach. Congratulations to both of you and thank you for your support of these students. 

On May 8th, students from schools around the state gathered at Montpelier High School for the 5-8th grade Vermont State Geography Bee. After a COVID-related hiatus, the Bee returned this year to offer the opportunity for students to flex their knowledge while answering quiz questions centered on state, national, and international geography and culture. The format is simple: sitting in rows of four, students answer individual questions to accumulate points for their teams. The team with the highest point total at the end of 12 rounds of questions is the winner.

At this year's Geo Bee, Shelburne Community School competed against four other schools: Albert D. Lawton Intermediate School, St. Johnsbury School, U-32, and Williston Central School. For SCS, the four 7th grade students representing their school were Ben Gardner, Jonny Thayer, Josh Kalbfleisch, and Leo Wang. For WCS, the team included Avery Antonioli, Kai Maxwell, Charles Meisenzahl, Grayson Pogact, and Annika Scott.

After the first four rounds, SCS had a two-point lead over both Williston and U-32. Four rounds later, however, SCS was down two points to Williston, U-32 and St. Johnsbury. The audience was audibly excited as the scores were close going into the final set of questions.

By the 11th and 12th rounds of questions it was clear that the two schools competing for the win were SCS and Williston. In the final round of questions it was Leo who came through for SCS. Navigating tricky questions centered on the Middle East, Leo came away answering the final round question correctly and, after an incorrect answer from a Williston team member, the results were in: Shelburne and Williston were tied after the final round.

This forced a playoff. Teams had five minutes to calm themselves and prepare. All four members of the SCS team used the opportunity to review a classroom atlas and cram whatever geographic knowledge they could before moving back to their seats on the stage. 

A notable moment came when, before the final round of questions were presented to the two teams, students from both SCS and Williston offered each other fist-bumps, handshakes, and "good luck" sentiments. This served as a model of respect and kindness within a heated competition. 

As the final questions were presented to each student on the two remaining teams, things came down to Leo needing a correct answer to seal the victory. To the question On which of the following seas does Iran have a border: the Aral Sea, the Black Sea, or the Caspian Sea? Leo took a moment, inhaled, and correctly responded with "the Caspian Sea".

Scores were announced, students celebrated, and more congratulatory handshakes and kind sentiments were shared. The SCS team held the state championship trophy high, capping off a triumphant return of the Vermont State Geography Bee. The WCS team ultimately finished as runners up by one point.

What an exciting finish. Way to go to both teams and their coaches! Thank you for representing CVSD and for your hard work that led to this great accomplishment! 

The SCS team and state champs

CVSD Interim Superintendent Announcement

 Here's a guest post from CVSD's Board of Directors

Dear CVSD Community

The CVSD Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Adam Bunting, CVU’s principal, has been appointed to the role of Interim Superintendent of the Champlain Valley School District for the 2024-2025 school year. Adam has served as the principal of CVU for nine years and has led collaborative teams to envision, design, and implement personalized, proficiency-based learning for CVU’s 1,300 students.

Prior to serving in his current role as the CVU principal, Adam was a teacher and house director at CVU. He has served on several statewide councils, and was previously the principal at Montpelier High School. These experiences, along with Adam’s focus on students and deep understanding of CVSD’s educational systems, will be critical in executing our strategic plan and addressing the statewide education funding challenges that are impacting our schools.

CVU and CVSD administrators will name an interim CVU principal before the end of this school year. Both Adam and the interim principal will officially begin their positions on July 1, 2024.

We would like to express our appreciation to Superintendent Sanchez for his contributions to the district over the past three years and look forward to working with Adam and his administrative team in the coming year as we continue to focus on the growth and belonging of all of our students.

The school board will begin the search for a permanent superintendent in the fall and will continue to share more information on that process when it begins.

Sincerely,

The Champlain Valley School District Board of Directors