Current Announcements

4/2/2021

Dear Families,

With snowflakes falling this morning, today does not feel as spring-like as when I wrote last Friday. Nevertheless, the traditional spring activities that we did not get to do last year are resuming, such as the Four Winds Nature Program. I was reminded of how terrific this program is for our students when one of the volunteers came today to give the third grade an outdoor lesson on the water cycle. At least the weather was appropriate for learning about precipitation!

Inside our building, the warmer temperatures are perfect for keeping the chicks in second grade cozy. Sixteen out of 30 eggs hatched this week, and the chicks are happily peeping while students learn about their life cycle and help care for them. You can visit our school’s Facebook page to see some of the chick photos. On our Facebook page, you will also see how the sixth graders livened up the first floor hallway divider (a COVID-19 precaution) with marine-life decals that they made with the help of Vermont Arts Exchange Director Matthew Perry. The pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade students are enjoying the colorful fish, jellyfish, crabs, and other sea creatures.

We don’t have much news to share this week, but, as mentioned in previous communications, if your family is planning to travel out of state for spring break (April 12-16) please notify the school that your student(s) will need to do distance learning. Also, please continue to be vigilant in following Vermont’s COVID-19 health and safety guidelines. As reported in today’s Bennington Banner, the seven-day average of daily new cases per 100,000 residents in Bennington County declined a bit to 18.5, but the county remains in the “high risk” range (according to the nonprofit Covid Act Now).

For complete details on Vermont’s health and safety guidelines, as well as travel and visitor restrictions, please visit the Vermont Department of Health website: www.healthvermont.gov/covid-19.

Enjoy the weekend, and, for those who celebrate, have a happy Easter and Passover.

Warm regards,

Tim

Next Week’s Meals Menu (April 5 – 11)

Click here for the Meals Menu.

School Vacation Meals

Our Spring Break is April 12 – 16. The Abbey Group will also be closed during this week. They will be preparing Vacation Meal Kits with suggested menus (some of the items that they included in the winter break kit were fresh vegetables and fruits, cheese, peanut butter, bread, soup, pulled pork, turkey, breakfast pastries, cereal, milk, etc.). These meal kits are intended to feed one student breakfast and lunch for seven days. They will also be including the normal “Weekend Meals” for Saturday and Sunday.

All meal kits are FREE to Vermonters age 18 and under. We will be taking orders in the classrooms on Tuesday, April 6, and sending them home with students on Friday, April 9. Please discuss this with your student and advise them whether or not they should order the Vacation meals on Tuesday. You can also reach out directly to your student’s teacher or the main office.

If you decide to have your student order the Vacation Meals, please note that they will be going home with a large, heavy bag full of groceries on Friday. They will also have their Chromebooks with them. If your student normally walks, you may wish to make alternate arrangements for Friday pick-up. If you are unable to make arrangements and your student must walk home with the heavy bag, please notify the school (802-442-5955 or info@vsnb.org) and we will do our best to assist them.

Spring Break COVID-19 Reminders

As spring break approaches (April 12-16), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is reminding the public that travel increases one’s chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. The CDC and the Vermont Department of Health recommend people do not travel in order to protect themselves and others from COVID-19; and, according to Vermont state guidelines, students and unvaccinated adults cannot travel without quarantining for 14 days after returning to Vermont and/or getting tested 7 days after returning to Vermont and having a negative test result.

Vermont guidelines also currently limit multi-household social gatherings, as follows:

Vaccinated individuals or households may gather with other vaccinated individuals or households.
For individuals and households who are not fully vaccinated, social gatherings indoors and outdoors in private spaces are limited to only two unvaccinated households at one time, plus any fully vaccinated households.

We sent home a flyer to all families titled “April Break – COVID 19 REMINDERS & Distance Learning Reply form.” Distance Learning will be available after the break for any family that has travel plans and/or if your household will be engaging in higher-risk COVID-19 activities. If you know that your student will need Distance Learning after the break, please fill out the form we sent home and return it to your student’s teacher or email info@vsnb.org. You can also leave a message at info@vsnb.org or 802-442-5955 over the break if a member of your household needs to quarantine and/or is being tested for COVID-19.

Yearbook Orders

Yearbooks are now on sale for the 2020-2021 school year! Each yearbook costs $13. Payment can be made with a check by using the order form that was sent home with students this week. Or, you can order a yearbook online by going to ybpay.lifetouch.com. Enter the yearbook ID code: 11207821.

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THANK YOU TO THE VILLAGE SCHOOL’S 2020-2021 BUSINESS PARTNERS IN EDUCATION

All of these partners are helping to support many of our school programs. You can learn more about these partners at https://vsnb.org/bpie-sponsors

GOLD LEVEL:

Bank of Bennington: https://thebankofbennington.com/

SILVER LEVEL:

D.B. McKenna & Co., Inc.: https://www.dbmckenna.com/

RCS Consulting, Inc.: https://www.rcs.consulting/

Whitman’s / Poulin Grain: https://www.whitmansfeed.com/

BRONZE LEVEL:

Adam’s Lock & Security: https://www.adamslockvt.com/

Danielle D. Fogarty, PLC: https://www.ddfplc.com/

Global Z: https://globalz.com/

Maple Leaf Realty: https://www.mapleleafvermont.com/

West Oil Company: https://westoilcompany.com/