CVSD Update

Hello CVSD Families,

Thankful for our CVSD Faculty and Staff

We are very close to the end of another week. As we end this week and get closer to the end of the first semester, I wanted to give a shout-out to all of our teachers, principals, staff, and employees. Their continued hard work, resilience, and adaptability in the service to our students, our schools, and our community have been nothing short of outstanding. Before COVID, I’m very confident that I would have used the same terms to thank them with those exact same words and those exact same actions. In this time, their efforts and actions are being asked to serve many more functions. Their efforts and actions are of a much greater magnitude to our students and schools right now. Their efforts and actions mean much, much more. They have become a lifeline for our students and families to what school was before and during a pandemic. They are helping us get through this each and every day through their efforts and actions. So I am very grateful for all of them for all that they do.

From within the bounds of each school, all of CVSD, and throughout the state, the system and everyone within the system is taxed and stressed beyond their regular limit. In the last several years, our schools have become more than the learning institutions for which they were founded. We are now learning institutions whose mission includes an expanded role in health care, mental health, nutrition, and many other facets. They have had to obtain additional learning and knowledge to perform so many of these new responsibilities. And, we have to find additional time in each day for these new responsibilities. It’s more than challenging. So please, as you drop off or pick up your students, thank the staff at the building. As the bus driver drops off or picks up your students, say thank you. When you get the weekly email from the teacher or the principal, please send them a note and say thank you. The efforts of our faculty and staff are herculean and I am humbled by how much they accomplish each day to ensure our students are both safe and continuing to learn.

November is Native American Heritage Month.

I wanted to provide two resources that you and your family can review. First, from the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, here is a set of reading, listening, and viewing resources regarding Native American history. Secondly, here is a resource from the Vermont Agency of Education and PBS. There are lessons throughout the page that include Native American, and specifically Abenaki, history and culture.

Opportunity to provide questions for the DEI Director Interview Process

The application window for our DEI Director closes next Friday, November 14. After that window closes, we will conduct interviews with the candidates. We are providing various groups the opportunity to share questions that they would like asked of the candidates during the interview sessions. Please use the following link to the question collection on dotstorming. To start, you need to enter your name. It will not be visible to us nor anyone else participating. Then, add a card with your suggested question. Following that, you can vote for up to five of the cards others have contributed. This will be available through at least Sunday, November 16.

Thank you for your continued support of our schools, our administrators, teachers, and all staff. See below for exciting announcements, information, and opportunities.

Rene

Children between the ages of 5-11 can now receive a COVID vaccine. These will be available at local pharmacies, in school-based clinics, and at pediatric offices. You can go to any school-based clinic, if that is your preference, even if it is not your own school.

The Vermont Department of Health selects the sites for school-based clinics. Though we have signed up to be a site, we were not selected for the first round. We will keep CVSD families informed if and when that changes.

From the Vermont Department of Health:

Parents & caregivers can now make an appointment for kids 5 to 11 to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine! Visit healthvermont.gov/KidsVaccine or call 855-722-7878. Appointments are available for clinics in communities and schools. Thank you for protecting your child against COVID-19.

New! Vaccine Q&A next week!

Please see this flyer for information about upcoming Zoom conversations, including question and answer sessions, with Vermont pediatricians. Dr. Leah Costello, a CVSD parent and pediatrician, will be the host on Monday, November 8. There are offerings on other dates as well. Here's a link to the Vermont chapter of the American Pediatric Association's website with more information.

We are thrilled that we have started the antigen Test to Stay (TTS) program in some of our K-8 schools, though saddened by the need to put it into practice. We have already seen that students who most recently would have been home quarantining can stay in school after a negative antigen test. This is great news!

We have added a section to the COVID Reporting Dashboard with data around Test to Stay.

The TTS program is activated when an unvaccinated student or student(s) are identified as a close contact to a confirmed case of COVID-19. The intention of the TTS program is to allow students that would otherwise be required to quarantine to remain in school. A detailed description of this program can be found on the Agency of Education's Test to Stay website.

This optional program is for students who are NOT vaccinated, are asymptomatic, and who may have had a school exposure.

Letters with more information, including the specific links needed to provide both consent AND register your child(ren) were shared with families in each of our K-8 schools. The links are unique for each school. Refer to the email you received last week, school newsletters, or contact your school for the specific information you'll need.

Parents/Guardians must complete both parts below if opting your child(ren) in the Test to stay program.

1. A student can only participate in Test to Stay if their parent/guardian has given consent. If you would like your child to participate in the response testing, including the antigen Test to Stay program, please complete the Consent webform as soon as possible.
2. Vermont will be using SimpleReport to report the results of antigen tests. This reporting system allows for parents/guardians to receive their student’s results instantly. Please register your student, using the link provided by your school. (check for an email sent last week, see school newsletters, or contact your school nurse)

A reminder: students participating in Test to Stay should quarantine when not in the school building.

On Thursday, October 28, a group of Vermont medical professionals and a representative from the Agency of Education held a virtual Town Hall. They explained a lot about Test to Stay and answered questions that were submitted before and during the Town Hall. You can view a recording of the event below.

We are excited to announce that CVSD has been awarded a federal grant that provides assistance for Internet connectivity for families that qualify for the free and reduced-price meals program.

​​If your child is eligible for free or reduced-price meals, you are eligible for the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF Program). The Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) is a program that will help schools and libraries provide the tools and services their communities need for remote learning during the COVID-19 emergency period. It is designed to help students who currently lack the necessary Internet access that they may need to connect to classrooms. It is funded through June 2022.

The first step is to identify needs and determine which providers can best serve students based on where they live. If your child qualifies for the free and reduced meal program, please complete the survey at this link. We will work with eligible local providers to determine the best match for each situation.

Once we receive information back from the providers, we will contact families to let them know what options are available and will assist them in getting the service set up.

If you have any questions about the program, please send a note to CVSDECFProgram@cvsdvt.org. If you have questions about your student’s eligibility for the Free and Reduced Meal program, email Stephanie Hulburt at shurlburt@cvsdvt.org

Thank you to all who participated in the Thoughtexchange and the Budget Forum event last week. 134 people participated in the exchange, with almost 4,000 ratings on the thoughts they contributed. Here's a summary of the exchange and a short video to help you know how to read the summary. The slides that were shared at the Budget Forum and a video recording of the Forum are both available on the Budget page of the district's website.

The budget development process continues with presentations at a series of School Board meetings in the coming weeks and months. All members of the CVSD community are welcome to attend Board meetings. See the schedule in the image above and on the Budget page of the district's website.

Links to join the virtual meetings will be available on that page as well. The presentations will be shared on that page afterward for those that cannot attend.

Serving the communities of Charlotte, Hinesburg, Shelburne, St. George, and Williston

Reach out using any of the methods below or use this form to share a question.

Email: cvsdinformation@cvsdvt.org
Website: https://www.cvsdvt.org/
Location: 5420 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, VT, USA
Phone: (802) 383-1234
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChamplainValleySchoolDistrict
Twitter: @cvsdvt