RISE at CVU 2024

The last two weeks took on a distinct character as the academic year wound down at Champlain Valley Union High School. The regular class schedules and programming gave way to a flurry of final projects, presentations, and assessments. Once these culminating activities were complete, the school transitioned into RISE, an enrichment program that occupied the remaining two weeks before summer break.

RISE stands for Reflective Interest-based, Student Experiences. Students attended either two sessions a day, morning and afternoon, or chose to participate in a full-day session each day. Students might also have explored an Independent Learning Seminar. RISE is a part of the academic school year and attendance is a graduation requirement.

An excerpt from the RISE 2024 Catalog: 

Our current educational model needs regular, system-wide, and equitable opportunities for student to develop and cultivate interests. We believe that RISE better accounts for the whole student (their interests and values), connects to the pursuit of lifelong learning, and will increase engagement and a desire to learn. Our model shows that, as a student-centered school committed to personalization, proficiency, and social-emotional wellbeing; we value the fusion of conventional and flexible learning opportunities to meet the needs of all students. 

Thank you Peter Booth, Carly Rivard, and Luke Dorfman for your incredible efforts to make this experience happen. And thank you to all staff for sharing your interests and passions with students in an enriching way.

Here's a small sampling of some of the varied offerings this year.

• Art and Activism: Puppets, Power, Protest, and Paint

Puppets? Protest? Join us for an integrated creative and theatrical experience. One of the many uses of art is to communicate, to express thought, to educate, and to motivate. Art and Activism explores the historical and contemporary use of images to create platforms for social issues through art and community engagement. While gaining perspective and context through examination of contemporary artists, we will work together to bring our own passions and interests to the masses. How will we do this? Through the creation of larger-than-life puppets! We will conclude with a theatrical presentation created entirely by participants. 

• Explore Non-Traditional Career Pathways

The intention for this RISE session was for students to be exposed to a variety of career pathways that may not require a 4-year college degree. We explored regional workplaces and career and Technical centers, with a focus on the fasted growing careers in Vermont, especially the trades. We did some career development work to explore interests and abilities and visited different workplaces that aligned with those interests. The goal was to visit a different place of employment daily off campus so that we could explore all of the careers involved and figure out next steps after high school. 

• Sports Analytics

Sports Analytics offered an exciting introduction to the world of data-driven sports analysis. Participants learned statistical techniques, explored data visualization, and applied their skills to analyze performance data from various sports. They unlocked the secrets of sports succedss through data-driven insights!

•  Game Programming

Students learned how to write code to create games of different types. They grew to understand that programming a game is a different experience from playing a game. They looked into the creativity and logic behind creating games. They learned through tutorials, experimentation, and examples from professional game developers. 

• Linguistics: The Art and Science of Language(s)
• Why is it so hard to say "She sells seashells by the seashore?" (Phonetics)
• What's the difference between a tapping bot and a dabbing pod? (Phonology)
• What is the "cran" in cranberry? (Morphology) 
• You this sentence can understand - but how? (Syntax)
• How did 'hlafweard' become 'lord'? (Historical Linguistics)

Participants explored these questions (and more!) by completing linguistic puzzles, investigating word histories, playing language games, composing metrical poetry, and digging into examples from the world's 7000+ languages. 

One session at RISE was called Documenting RISE: Photojournalism in Action. Facilitated by Olivia Gatti, CVU librarian and a Pulitzer prize-winning photographer, a group of students branched out to visit and capture the essence of various RISE offerings, in and out of the school building. See their photos below. (The names on the slides are the photographers.)

Thank you to everyone who helped make RISE a success once again! 

Past posts about RISE: 

2023

2019

The Origins of RISE

CVSD Update June 2024

 

Dear CVSD Staff, Families, and Caregivers,

The last official CVSD Update of the year is ready for your viewing. There's a lot to celebrate this week; we've focused on some details to help you end the year smoothly with support for a safe and healthy summer. 

• A message from Superintendent Sanchez
• Celebrating CVSD's Retirees
• Summer meals information
• Let's Talk winding down
• and more! 

Thank you for reading and for all you've done to support our students. 

Reach out via Let's Talk (for a few more weeks) to share questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, or kudos!

Celebrating CVSD Retirees

It's that time of year where, with bittersweet emotions, we recognize those that are moving on and retiring from CVSD. 

Thank you, thank you. 

If you'd like to reach out to any of these people, feel free to use the CVSD Kudos topic on Let's Talk and we'll make sure your message gets to them. 

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

CVU Mock Trial Team Earns Second Place

 Thank you to CVU Business Teacher, George Schock, for this guest post. 

CVU competed in the Vermont State Mock Trial Competition held at Vermont Law School. I’m thrilled to announce that the team (Sunny Francis, Ava Nnochiri, Derek Allen, Xander Olszewski, Lily Gruber, Gabriel Dartt), in only their second year competing, took SECOND PLACE in the competition. The team is incredibly proud of the fact that CVU was the first non-MMU (Mt. Mansfield) team to make it to the final round in 5 years!

In addition to the second place trophy, Sunny Francis took the honors of Best Defense Attorney, while Xander Olszewski walked away with the Best Defense Witness award.

The format of the event includes (2) consecutive trials where teams face opposing counsels from other schools. The (2) top scoring teams from these rounds get to compete in front of a packed house in the main court. Each team is made up of (3) attorneys and (3) Witnesses. Attorney’s are scored on how well they deliver opening and closing statements, as well as their ability to conduct direct and cross examination of witnesses. The witnesses must fully embody their character, by not only delivering credible and convincing responses to direct examination from their CVU peers, but also hold up to the intense cross examination coming from the competing team. Each member of the team is scored by sitting state and federal judges, and each member’s performance contributes to the team’s overall score.

Sunny Francis (Attorney) demonstrated an incredible ability to deliver engrossing opening and closing statements that not only convinced the judges of our defendant's innocence, but kept the spectators hanging on his every word. Ava Nnochiri (Attorney) crafted nuanced direct examination questions of key witnesses, while keeping the prosecution's witnesses on their toes during the cross. Derek Allen (Attorney), displayed incredible confidence and charisma when leading each witness through his line of questioning. His confidence was even more impressive since he joined the team just a week before the competition! Xander Olszewski (witness) played a vital role as the defendant during the trial. His character was accused of murder, and the sincere emotion shown Xander showed on the stand, along with his confidence during cross, was unreal. Lily Gruber (witness) served as a witness who had to convince the jury of the defendant's alibi and showed unflinching poise and composure. Lily’s talent for acting really was on display as she played an actress in her role! Finally, Gabriel Dartt (witness), stepped into the role of a used car salesman, effectively spinning a tale describing his expertise while confidently supporting our side of the story.

This competition is an incredible challenge. It requires the ability to manage intense stress while thinking on your feet - not to mention an insane amount of reading and research. I’m incredibly proud of what the team has accomplished thanks to their focused dedication and hard work.

Free Summer Meals!

 

Dear CVSD Community,

We have an amazing opportunity to help families in our district to bridge the food gap during the summer by providing 7-day meal boxes for free for any child 18 or under. The boxes will include everything needed to make 7 breakfast meals and 7 lunch meals for one child. They will be simple, delicious and nutritious. Again, these boxes are available for any child 18 and under. We are able to offer this service thanks to some recent changes in USDA regulations for Summer Food Service Programs.

Feeding children is our main priority and this gives us an opportunity to continue through the summer. Distributing these meal boxes this summer will help families stretch their food dollars. It will also help our school district in several ways. We will be able to keep a few of our food service staff employed and using their skills during the summer. The revenues from federal reimbursements can also help to offset costs that we will incur in the food service department when school begins. The more meal boxes we can serve, the better it will be for families in our district and for our food service department. We hope that many families will take advantage of this opportunity and that we can help meet the needs of many children during the summer like we do during the school year.

There is a catch. Meal boxes must be picked up in Hinesburg at the St. Judes Church on our scheduled distribution day which will be Mondays, starting on June 24th and going every Monday through August 19th. We will have 2 distribution times on each of those days. 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM and 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM or until all of the boxes are gone. We will not be able to deliver any meal boxes. All meal boxes must be picked up at the distribution site, during the approved distribution hours.

In order to make sure we are prepared to help as many families as we can this summer we need your input. Below is a link to a survey which will simply ask if you are interested in picking up meal boxes for your children this summer and how many you would need each week. This will help us determine the need / interest in our district and help us put the team together to handle the job. Please complete the survey by Monday, May 6.

Summer Meal Boxes Survey

Please note, this is not the order form. You will need to order meals for your children each week on a special meal order form that will be on our website during the summer. We will also send the link out to all families each week and ask that you plan a week in advance so that we can order food etc. and work on your meals and have them ready for you on the distribution day.

We understand that you may have questions. Please use the Food Service topic on Let’s Talk to submit those.

Thank you!

Gary Marckres

CVSD, Chief Operations Officer

Thank You from CVSD

Dear CVSD Community,

Yesterday, the Champlain Valley School District community voted in favor of our FY25 budget, with 4,358 voting in favor and 2,947 against. First, and above all else, thank you. With the passage of the proposed budget, the school district can return to focusing on preparation for the end of this school year and the beginning of the next one.

We know that the past few months have been difficult. We had to make hard decisions affecting programming and services supporting our students in our schools—directly or indirectly—every day. We value and care for all of the people who hold positions that are impacted and appreciate all they have done for our schools.

Seeing how our community came together to support our schools has been a bright spot. We would like to thank everyone who engaged in the effort - the educators who held visibility events, our parent groups who organized budget meetings, our students who voiced their concerns, community members who spoke to neighbors about the school budget, and every other person who supported our schools. Hearing what you love about the district, what you feel is most valuable to our students, and the importance of CVSD's collective work will continue to guide us.

We know we still have more work to do over the coming years to control costs. We are committed to this work and are actively working through these strategic decisions both at the district level and advocating for CVSD at the state level. We encourage you to stay engaged in this process going forward.

Again, thank you, voters, for supporting our schools.

Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

Meghan Metzler, Chair, CVSD Board of Directors

 

Lindy Gramling wins 2023 Adapted Physical Educator of the Year Award

Williston Physical Educators, Cathy Kohlasch, Dustin King and Kate Grozier congratulate Lindy Gramling (in white) for her recognition as the 2023 SHAPE Vermont Adapted Physical Educator Award.

Lindy Gramling, a school-based physical therapist for the Champlain Valley School District, has been named the 2023 Adapted Physical Educator of the Year by SHAPE Vermont, the Society of Health and Physical Educators.

Lindy has been a physical therapist for 29 years and has worked with many students and staff in the Champlain Valley School District since 2019.

Lindy is an advocate for students who collaborates and communicates thoroughly with a comprehensive team of physical educators, special education case managers, classroom teachers, families, and primary care medical personnel.

She was recognized for her outstanding work as a professional who supports students with skill work, participation, and inclusion to be sure their best interests and needs are met.

"I cherish feeling so invited by my PE colleagues into the service of these amazing kids. Whether sharing lunchtime together on the gym floor or connecting in the offices, classroom, and hallways, we always find time to share our observations, our perspectives, and creativity about helping children thrive in the PE classroom. Being part of such a collaborative and inspired team is as joyful as seeing the children I work with feel a sense of pride successfully participating with their peers."   - Lindy Gramling

"Lindy's years of experience, professionalism, smile, enthusiasm, and perseverance make for a positive connection with all. We are fortunate to have such a caring and competent person assisting the students, families, and staff in our district."   - Cathy Kohlasch, Williston Central School Physical Education Teacher

Congratulations, Lindy and thank you for all you do for students in Williston and CVSD!

CVSD Students Share Their Stories and Voices

We posted these two videos earlier on our social media channels and wanted to make it easy for anyone to access them. 

Thank you to all student contributors. You are inspiring!

Current students share their voices.

Past students share their memories and experiences.

April 11, 2024 Update

 Dear CVSD Community,

Please take a moment to read the latest district update. It includes: 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• An explanation about RIF notices
• Additional Budget Information
• Reminders and Events

Thank you so much for engaging in this process with us.

 

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

CVU Scholars Bowl Team Takes the Championship!

The team from Champlain Valley Union High School secured the state high school academic championship on Saturday, April 6th, winning the Vermont-NEA Scholars' Bowl at Montpelier High School.

CVU capped a run of four blowout wins at the April playoffs with a 505-245 victory over defending champion Burlington. The Redhawks also swept through the first set of playoffs in January, meaning they secured their third state championship overall and second in the last three years without needing to play in a championship match.

The result capped a dominant season which saw the Redhawks win every Vermont competition without losing a match. Including the regional round in the fall, the Redhawks finished the state tournaments with a record of 23 wins and no losses. CVU also won the the league's three side tournaments -- the Sue Pasco Opening Tournament in September, the Pre-Holiday Academic Tournament in December, and the Vermont NAQT Championship in March -- to finish the regular season with an overall record of 47-0.

A similar situation occurred in the JV tournament as January winner CVU B outlasted Burlington B, 330-240, in the JV championship game. CVU's JV players have now won that tournament eight of the past eleven seasons.

Scholars' Bowl is a question-and-answer quiz competition, similar to Jeopardy! but featuring teams of high school students and with a heavier focus on the academic curriculum. The tournament has been held annually since the 1983-84 school year and is sponsored by the Vermont-National Education Association.

Competing members of the CVU team Saturday included (varsity) Frank Fidler, Jacob Graham, Elias Leventhal, Zoe Mui, Colin Ravlin, Nolan Sandage (JV) Mateo Dienz- Del Rio, Dylan Elder, Leo Elder, Willcox Elliott, Leah Rauch, Charles Redmond, and Wylie Ricklefs. The team is coached by CVU teachers John Bennett and Kiran MacCormick. Some members of the CVU team will be traveling to Atlanta with their coaches to compete in the High School National Championship Tournament (HSNCT).

Proposed Budget Updates and Resources

 Dear CVSD Community,

We are writing to share a reminder and resources about the proposed 2024-2025 budget. 

• Reminder: Please join district administration and school board members at tomorrow's CVSD Budget Virtual Town Hall. 
• Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at 6:30 pm
• The Zoom information to join is on the left side of the district's website and on the budget page of the website

• The new Budget FAQs (frequently asked questions) resource is now available. We will add to it as we receive more questions, so check back! 

• Included in the FAQs is a link to a separate document with a chart of specific reductions. 

• Please check out the Budget Information for the April 16th vote.

• See this blog post about yesterday's Legislative Breakfast. Our school board hosted the event to connect with legislators. Education and property taxes were the main topics discussed. 

We hope this information is helpful and provides answers to any questions you may have about the proposed budget. We will post this on the budget page of our website for easy future access. 

For more information, please visit our Budget page on the district's website, use the Let's Talk School Board or Budget topics, or email the school board with questions. CVSDschoolboard@cvsdvt.org

CVSD Hosts Breakfast with Legislators

 

On Monday morning, members of the Champlain Valley School District’s board of directors, along with district and building leaders, hosted an annual breakfast meeting with several members of the Vermont legislature, most of whom represent towns in our school district.

The meeting opened with an acknowledgment that, though this is called a Legislative Breakfast, the meal hasn’t been an element since before COVID. It was a pleasure connecting in person for the first time in many years!

CVSD Board Chair, Meghan Metzler, welcomed everyone and shared a summary of the work that the Board and district administration had done for years to prepare for the implementation of Act 127. The late changes in the process and the arrival of H.850 felt like a gut punch. They knew that there would be budgeting challenges but thought we had five years to ease into them. Instead, it all happened at once. Even though the overall budget increased by around 10%, many towns were facing nearly a 30% increase in their property taxes. As the second-highest impacted district in the state, CVSD is facing significant challenges.

We are now presenting voters with a new budget which includes $5 million in reductions. The estimated property tax impact, still not fully determined, is going to be significantly less than the budget proposed on Town Meeting Day. The reductions in the new budget result in a large impact on our schools and ultimately on the community.

Other board members chimed in to say how the failure of our budget passing has impacted people who currently work in our schools, their livelihood, and their families. We all know and understand that voters wanted to send a message. However, the ones who feel the message the most are those who work in our schools and students who rely on our schools for their education, other needs, services, and especially a connection. When cuts are made at schools, it’s the students who will suffer most.

Legislators, including Erin Brady, a former CVSD board member who is the vice chair of the House Committee on Education and a teacher in another district, provided insight from their perspective. This is a much larger topic and the issues related to education will not be resolved at the end of this session.

Some main points that were made at the meeting include:

• There’s an understanding that many school district budgets were voted down to send a message to the legislature. They heard that message. However, community members should directly reach out to our legislators to provide thoughts and feedback about education and education funding in Vermont. Keep sending messages.
• We need to right-size public education that serves all students and uses public funding sustainably. It is a systems problem and a funding problem. We need to fix both at the same time.
• The House Ways and Means Committee focuses on how education is funded, not education itself. We can’t lead with taxes. It’s purely a funding formula; it’s not about what our students need.
• We’ll be using the tax rate in H.850 for the next fiscal year. There is likely no change to the funding formula coming before the end of this session.
• Another challenge is that the Agency of Education is under-resourced. It doesn’t have the capacity to fix and improve things.
• Mental and behavioral supports are in school budgets - that is not going away. Here’s a piece from Senator Doug Racine in VTDigger about children’s mental health and property taxes.
• There’s work underway to explore school facility needs across Vermont. Again, this won’t be solved soon, but it is a focus.
• We have this year and maybe next year to buy time to find ways to add revenue to the ed fund. That’s competing with other priorities the legislature is working on. The state, the legislature, the governor, and the people of Vermont must be committed to education.

Toward the end of the meeting, CVSD Board members summarized our current environment for the legislators - say that you heard us. Say that more money is going into our education fund. We are all taxpayers. Failing budgets only impact the system negatively. We have a high-quality school district. The longer this system continues, the worse it’s going to get because we’ll have to decimate our district.

We need communities to reach out to our legislators so they continuously hear that we have to deal with public education now. Send an email, make phone calls. They need to hear more and directly from taxpayers. Tell them how you feel. Communicate as widely as you can and encourage friends and neighbors to do the same.

Here’s a recording of the Legislative Breakfast.

-----------------------------------------------------

Legislators attending the breakfast: Rep. Chea Waters Evans, Senator Tom Chittenden, Rep. Jessica Brumsted, Rep. Erin Brady, Rep. Angela Arsenault, Rep. Phil Pouech

CVSD Board Members attending: Angela Arsenault, Erika Lea, Erin Henderson, Cassandra Townshend, Kate Webb, Dave Connery, Meghan Metzler, Brendan McMahon, Keith Roberts, Lindsay Colf

Contact information for some of our legislators:

• Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale kramhinsdale@leg.state.vt.us
• Sen. Thomas Chittenden TChittenden@leg.state.vt.us
• Sen. Virginia Lyons VLyons@leg.state.vt.us
• Rep. Kate Lalley KLalley@leg.state.vt.us
• Rep. Jessica Brumsted JBrumsted@leg.state.vt.us
• Rep. Phil Pouech PPouech@leg.state.vt.us
• Rep. Chea Waters Evans CEvans@leg.state.vt.us
• Rep. Erin Brady EBrady@leg.state.vt.us  House Committee on Education Vice Chair
• Rep. Noah Hyman NHyman@leg.state.vt.us
• Rep. Angela Arsenault AArsenault@leg.state.vt.us
• Sen. Brian Campion BCampion@leg.state.vt.us  Senate Committee on Education Chair
• Rep. Peter Conlon PConlon@leg.state.vt.us  House Committee on Education Chair

Superintendent Message to Families

March 20, 2024

Dear CVSD Community:

I hope this note finds you well.

As you may already know from last night’s CVSD board meeting, I will be stepping down as superintendent at the end of this school year. I am honored to have served as the CVSD superintendent for three years, and, please know, the district and the five towns will always hold a special place in my heart.

I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished during these last three years. CVSD has excellent forward momentum to further our progress in serving our students and community. In particular, by using our demographic study to assist in budgeting and review of facilities, implementing our equity audit to improve accessibility and inclusiveness for our students and staff, and utilizing our new data warehouse to readily and quickly identify and address student needs and opportunities for enrichment, we will enhance our status as one of the best school districts in Vermont. Additionally, the development of a unified, community-built strategic plan sets us on a path to work with a shared vision for the future success of students, staff, and the operations of our district.

I am proud of the work that each CVSD employee and the school board perform every day in support of our students. Preparing the next generation of Vermonters for the world of the mid- and late 21st century is challenging but rewarding work. The caring, loving, and empathetic approach of our teachers and staff is one of the things that I most value about our remarkable district.

As we look ahead, there is still important work to be done, and I am dedicated to ensuring a strong finish to the school year. I will continue to be actively involved in our schools and community, advocating for our shared vision of excellence in education.

For the 2024-25 school year, the school board will appoint an interim superintendent and more details will be communicated in the coming months.

I’d like to thank you for welcoming me to Vermont and for all you do to make CVSD a great place. I look forward to seeing you in the days and months to come.

Sincerely,

Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

Champlain Valley School District

Welcome to Our New School Board Members

CVSD's Board of Directors

 At last Tuesday's Champlain Valley School District's Board of Directors meeting, we welcomed two new members. But first, we want to thank and acknowledge those who have left the Board. 

Josilyn Adams from Williston, and Barbra Marden from Shelburne, both served on the CVSD Board for many years. We thank them for their dedication to our schools and our district and for the many contributions they made over their years of service. 

We welcome Sarah Showalter-Feuillette from Williston, and Kate Webb from Shelburne, who were elected on Town Meeting Day for three year terms. In addition, Brendan McMahon from Williston, and Meghan Metzler from Charlotte, were re-elected to three year terms on the board. 

Also at the March 12th meeting, elections took place for Board positions. Meghan Metzler is our new Board Chair and Dave Connery is the Vice Chair. We thank outgoing Chair, Angela Arsenault, for her tireless efforts on behalf of CVSD. 

Two days after officially becoming Chair of our school board, Meghan Metzler testified before a joint meeting of the House Education Committee and House Ways and Means Committee. 

• Here is the text of Meghan's testimony.
• View a video of the meeting
• View the full text of all testimonies

We encourage community members to reach out to the legislature to share your thoughts about education funding and tax increases. 

Learn more about our School Board on this page of our website. 

March 8 Budget Update

Hello CVSD Families, Caregivers, and Community,

This is a quick note to update you at the end of the week on where we are in the process of bringing a new budget to the community. On Wednesday afternoon, we emailed this statement to our families and community.

For context, we are not the only district in the state whose budget did not pass on Tuesday, Town Meeting Day. Twenty-nine other districts will need to re-warn their budgets (fourteen out of twenty-one in our four-county region), sixty-four budgets passed, and twenty-six other districts are waiting on results, postponing their elections, or voting at a later date.

Since the morning after the budget vote, our entire administrative team has been working on a revised budget proposal, with a focus on identifying reductions that will have the least impact on students. This proposal will be shared with the school board for review at a Special Meeting on Tuesday, March 12. The board will consider the administration’s proposed new budget and either adopt it or recommend a change.

Finally, we must warn the budget for at least thirty days. If the board approves or decides on a different budget number on Tuesday, we hope to hold an election on April 16, 2024, before the April school vacation week.

During the thirty days of warning, the administration and the Board will offer opportunities for everyone to learn more about the new proposed budget and its updated tax implications for residents. We also plan to mail out a more condensed budget document to help inform our community about the proposed budget, similar to what we typically send out each year. That didn't happen previously due to the last-minute changes from the legislature in late-January and February. We will update our website to ensure the latest information about the budget is available.

Thank you so much for your support of our schools and our students. Have a great and restful weekend.

Rene

Post Election Statement

Hello CVSD Community Members,

Thank you for participating in this year’s Town Meeting Day elections. More than 8500 votes were cast for our four articles, and three of the four passed: the bond for new buses, the application of the district’s fund balance as revenue on a future budget, and the additional funds needed to support the 2022 facilities bond.

Unfortunately, Article VII, our annual budget, did not pass last night. While we are disappointed in the election results, we appreciate the insight we gained from our community through the voting process. With your vote, and through various other methods, we heard that the community overwhelmingly supports our schools. However, the state education funding formula, which caused our property taxes to increase dramatically, was a bridge too far for most. The voices and perspectives from within our schools and from our five towns continue to be essential as we plan for the future direction of our district.

Next steps for the board and administration include taking a closer look at our proposed FY25 budget to see where reductions might be made that will have the least impact on our students and schools. The board will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, March 12, at 6 pm, to consider a new proposed budget. Because budget articles need to be warned for 30 days, we anticipate a re-vote in mid-April.

Thanks again for your participation and continued support as we navigate this challenge together.

Rene Sanchez, Superintendent

 

Summary of the Proposed 2024-2025 CVSD Budget

Dear Champlain Valley School District Voters,

This year has presented significant challenges and complexities regarding our proposed budget. Initiated by the school board and administration in line with Act 127, the new education funding law passed in 2022, the budget development process began in September. However, considerable changes arose in late January. Rather than attempt to explain what has transpired in a lengthy post here, the district has compiled a series of articles published by local media and state representatives in recent months. These can be found at the bottom of the Budget page on the district’s website.

This budget represents what the CVSD School Board does have control over. It continues to provide the programming and support that have served our students well, including consistent class sizes.

With that being said, the Board makes changes when they need to. This budget does reduce five teaching positions and four unfilled paraprofessional positions while maintaining class sizes within CVSD recommendations.

In addition to maintaining programming, this budget continues some of the previously ESSER-funded positions, but not all. The Board has reduced the number of positions in place this year by 20% for the coming year. These positions have provided critical social/emotional support to our students where the need has never been greater, and where finding support outside of the school has never been harder. We are committed to phasing them out over time and our strategy was to do it over five years. We may have to accelerate this going forward.

The final “add-on” in this budget is for certain one-time facilities projects- including some HVAC work that is needed to provide the learning environment needed for our students.

There is nothing in this budget that the Board considers to be irresponsible or unneeded spending.

We encourage you to get informed. Please reach out to the CVSD School Board with any questions. cvsdschoolboard@cvsdvt.org or use the School Board or Budget Let’s Talk topics 

Please join the CVSD Annual Meeting on Monday, March 4, 2024, at 5:00 at CVU. Information about how to join in person or remotely can be found on the left side of the district's homepage or on the Budget page.


More information:

CVSD’s Budget page

CVSD Annual Report

 

CVSD Update February 2024

 

Dear CVSD Families and Caregivers,

We know that a lot of information has been coming your way in the last few weeks about the proposed 2024-2025 budget. There are other exciting things to celebrate about our district.

This edition of the CVSD Update, our monthly district newsletter, contains information about the proposed budget and much more. We hope you'll take the time to check it out.

Some highlights: 

• A letter from Superintendent Sanchez
• Budget resources
• Celebrations
• Upcoming events- don't miss the DEI event in March to learn about the Somali community in Vermont
• Announcements and updates from our partners
• and more!

We hope you can spend time next week with family and friends. Please remember to vote on or before March 5!

Feel free to reach out using Let's Talk with any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns, or kudos.

Understanding the Proposed 2024-2025 Budget

At Tuesday night's Champlain Valley School District's school board meeting, the board voted to adopt the finance committee’s recommendation to move forward with the originally warned budget that they spent more than six months reviewing and evaluating.

• At the meeting, CVSD Board vice chair and finance committee chair Meghan Metzler read this statement to begin the discussion. https://bit.ly/FinanceCommStatement

• After the meeting, Superintendent Sanchez shared this letter as well. https://bit.ly/SuptFeb2024

• Here are some budget highlights to help our community understand important elements of the proposed budget. https://bit.ly/FY25BudgetHighlights

If you are able, please attend tonight's CVSD Virtual Budget Town Hall to get more information about the proposed budget and your questions answered. To join, please find the Zoom link on the left side of the district's homepage. https://www.cvsdvt.org/

We deeply appreciate the support this community has shown us and we hope you can continue to do so.

All of the documents above are also shared on the Budget page of the district's website:
https://www.cvsdvt.org/budget

Congratulations to the CVU Robotics Teams!

 Here's a guest post from CVU Robotics Coach, Olaf Verdonk: 

Both of CVU's robotics teams competed at the Vermont State Robotics Championship held at Lamoille Union High School. Both teams performed with excellence!

The Varsity RoboHawks earned 1st place in the Inspire Award once again due to their outstanding work in STEM outreach to CVSD and the community and their ability to clearly and effectively communicate their engineering design process and growth both in writing and presentation. This most prestigious award qualifies them for the World Championships in Houston in April!

The JV RedHawks earned great reviews from judges as a rookie team and they earned the prestigious Judges Award and a 3rd place in the Connect Award.

In the competition the JV robot performed flawlessly and never had a breakdown!

The Varsity robot performed excellent in all areas and working together in an alliance with South Burlington's robot they were able to win the tournament! They sailed through the semis beating an alliance between Mater Christi and MMU. Winning best of three (in two) 193 to 68 and 103 to 55. They then went on to dominate the finals beating an alliance between Saxton River and Manchester! Winning best of three again in two 137 to 64 and 153 to 65.

EXTRA KUDOS go to James Haines for being selected as a FIRST Robotics Dean's List Finalist to represent Vermont at the World Championships! A well deserved honor!

Congratulations to both teams! 

CVSD Budget Town Hall

 

Earlier this week, the CVSD School Board's Finance Committee had a productive meeting to discuss the options and implications for the district and taxpayers regarding the proposed 2024-2025 budget. At next week's school board meeting on Tuesday, 2/20 at 6:00 pm, the full board will come together to discuss the budget and work toward a decision on how to move forward.

On Wednesday, 2/21 at 6:30 pm, the district's administration and school board will host a virtual Town Hall at which they will provide the latest information available about the proposed budget and answer questions.

We hope you can join us for these events. See the calendar on the left side of the district's homepage for details about how to attend. https://www.cvsdvt.org/ 

 We will share another update next week.

WCS School Counselor in the Spotlight

 

Williston Central School's school counselor, Chris Ford, is in the Vermont School Counselor Association's Spotlight this month. Chris answered a few questions below. Congratulations on this honor and well-deserved recognition, Chris!  

What influenced you to become a school counselor?

In reflecting on this question, I think three things influenced my path to becoming a school counselor: 1. Always enjoying and having fun with kids in all parts of my life; 2. Having a high school counselor that was supportive, kind, and helpful; 3. Seeking a career path that is meaningful and rewarding each day.

What's your favorite part about being a school counselor?

Definitely connecting with kids in my role as a school counselor. Whether it is in classes, groups, or individual meetings, the days I work more with students are the days that seem more satisfying (even when the work is challenging).

What’s unique about your school community?

I appreciate all the student leadership and extra-curricular opportunities that our students have available to them during the school day, and after school, to help them connect with others, find their passions, and contribute to making our school community better for all students.

We are proud to call Chris a colleague and thankful for the work he does on behalf of students.

CVSD Schools Take the Plunge

The annual Penguin Plunge event, a fundraiser for Special Olympics Vermont, took place on February 10. Once again, CVSD schools came through! The total raised by teams representing all of our schools came in at over $41,000! 

All funds raised through the Penguin Plunge support Special Olympics Vermont’s local and school-based programs that foster awareness and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities by using the power of sport to showcase their gifts and abilities.

Thank you to the organizers, students, faculty, staff, parents and caregivers who dedicated their time to raising funds and to those who created alternate events to keep the spirit strong.

Here are updates from each of the CVSD schools who participated this year. 

Charlotte: 5 people participated this year representing CCS. We raised $1,840 this year and it was a great time!

CCS

CCS

Hinesburg: The Hinesburg team was made up of 38 5th-8th grade students, along with teachers Paul Lasher and Alyssa Wieland and board member Cassandra Townshend. We raised $11,500, the third most for all teams. 5th grader Nora Cudney raised $1700 herself!

HCS

HCS

Shelburne: SCS had 14 members and collectively raised $8,370. SCS team was the fourth highest fundraising school, coming in just behind CVU and Hinesburg. SCS also had the highest student fundraiser of all the Cool Schools (Gray Latka $3,270)!

SCS

SCS

CVU: We had 55 plungers for the CVU team and raised $19,486! This was the most raised by a school team.

CVU

CVU

Congratulations and thank you all for your effort and dedication to this incredible event, and thank you to all who contributed in support of it as well. 

Author Jason Chin Visits CVSD Schools

Science teachers across the district have been looking for ways to integrate science into reading and writing classes while also creating a shared experience for our PreK-8 students. This week, CVSD's PreK-8 buildings are welcoming Jason Chin to share his experiences and insights into writing and illustrating children’s books. Jason Chin, a local author and illustrator, is a diverse author and a Caldecott Medal winner who has written and illustrated a series of children’s books including many on non-fiction science topics.

“I love meeting readers and sharing what I love, and I hope that my visits will help young readers see themselves as artists, scientists, readers and writers.” -Jason Chin

These visits were funded through a grant, the school district, and each school's PTO/family organizations supported it as well.

Thank you, Jason, for such enriching and engaging presentations! Here are a few photos from the visit with Williston students yesterday. He was in Charlotte today and will be in Shelburne and Hinesburg this week as well.