Dear Families,
I hope you all had a happy, healthy Thanksgiving and restful holiday weekend. We appreciate all of our families who stayed home and adhered to the recent guidance from the Vermont Agency of Education and the Department of Health. You undoubtedly know that we are currently experiencing an uptick in Covid-19 exposures and we are doing our very best to practice mask wearing, hand washing, physically distancing and staying home when sick.
Today, we are delighted to welcome back our 4th and 5th grade students from split attendance to a regular four day in-school schedule. Individual air purifiers have been put in the classrooms that were negatively impacted by above average CO2 levels and they will be replaced as soon as possible with new unit ventilators. As we know, school ventilation is critically important at this time. Classrooms throughout the school will continue to be monitored to ensure that we are adhering to the appropriate performance targets. We will regularly check indoor air quality using monitors for temperature, relative humidity, fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) and carbon dioxide.
Many thanks to the students who enthusiastically plucked itemized food feathers from our Thanksgiving turkey! In partnership with local churches, synagogues, community organizations and generous donors, we delivered baskets filled with nutritious food and festive goodies to 30 very appreciative families this year. We are also grateful for all of the baked goods that were donated during the Hunger’s Hard, Baking’s Easy initiative supporting the Lamoille County Food Share.
Our first SES Winter Wonderland is coming to life, but we need more projects from our families to really make it shine! The bleachers in our gymnasium will be filled with winter wonderland scenes that each family has created. Please see the information below and HAVE FUN!
Please have your children bring their creations to the gymnasium and place them on the bleachers. I will arrange them and add snow and lights. Please have the children make a card that says ~ Made By: The Winter Family (example). Thank youI
Best,
Nina Slade, Principal
SCHOOL, PTO AND COMMUNITY NEWS
Many, many thanks to our generous SES community for supporting our tremendously successful wreath and citrus sale! Wreath pick up and delivery proceeded seamlessly and we’re excited that the citrus pick up will occur this Saturday, 12/5, between 9:00 and 12:00 Noon at the Rec Center. Please be especially careful to store your citrus properly as it will freeze if left outside.
And while on the topic of freezing, this is just a reminder that as the temperatures drop, children must be dressed appropriately to play and learn outside. Coats, snow pants, hats, mittens or gloves and boots are a must this time of year and all clothing items should be labeled. In sub-zero weather, we ask that families send neck warmers and face masks to protect against frostbite.
A REMINDER FROM MARY KAREN:
Mask Wearing Tips
We have been wearing masks for a while now and we are getting used to this new “normal.” Wearing a mask helps us protect ourselves and others. It is important to wear a mask properly and keep them clean and have extras on hand. Making sure your child’s mask fits correctly and comfortably will help prevent them from fidgeting with it.
- A cloth face covering should fit over your child’s nose and mouth and be secured under their chin.
- Avoid any gaps on the sides by adjusting the mask’s fit so it is snug. Always check that your child can breathe easily when wearing the mask.
- When putting on your child’s mask, or when teaching your child how to put on their own mask, make sure you or your child always wash your hands first.
- Pack extra masks in your child’s backpack. They get messy and having a couple of backups will ensure they have a clean mask to wear.
BUS REQUESTS:
In order to limit possible cross-contamination on buses, we ask that you refrain from requesting that your child travel on a different bus than usual. With COVID numbers increasing and contact tracing being a challenge, the bus company strongly recommends that we stick to the usual riders on the buses.
DROP OFF AND PICK UP CLARIFYING INSTRUCTIONS:
Although we’ve encountered relatively few problem situations, we need to reinforce a couple of required safety measures. In the morning, as soon as traffic stops flowing at the stop sign, cars should not build up in the street. Instead, you should loop around the back parking lot and then enter the drop off line from that vantage point.
No one should park in the car line. If you have to park quickly, please do so in the small library lot or the main parking lot.
No one should back up in the car line. If there is not enough space in front of a car to move, that car should WAIT to pull out.
Thanks for your adherence to these safety precautions!
IMPORTANT DATES:
December 24 – January 1: December break
January 18: No school/professional day
February 5: No school/professional day
February 22 – March 2: Winter break
March 18: Early release
March 19: No school/conferences
March 22: Full day, in-person, school day
April 2: Early release
April 19 – 23: Spring break
May 31: Memorial Day
June 11: Tentative last day of school
LINKS:
Vermont Department of Health Dashboard
