Current Announcements

4/23/2021

Dear Families,

Thank you for your flexibility this week regarding the change in the health screening process and questions. Everyone’s support and assistance helped make the process go smoothly and quickly. I must admit that I was a bit concerned with Vermont’s easing of restrictions. As a school we cannot require stricter standards than those set by the Vermont Department of Health, as detailed in A Strong and Healthy Year: Safety and Health Guidance for Vermont Schools and the Vermont Forward Plan. For example, we cannot ask families who have traveled out of state or who have had contact with an unvaccinated out-of-state visitor to stay home, nor can we ask students to quarantine while waiting for a COVID-19 test; however, we are encouraging our families to please consider these safety measures and to continue to err on the side of caution. We only have 7 weeks left of school, and we have ALL done a wonderful job of keeping our community safe so far. I am hopeful that everyone will continue to do their part in making the safest choices to protect our bubble going forward.

TOMORROW is the Stay-in-Your-Car Village Parade beginning at 11 a.m. and being organized by the Vermont Arts Exchange (VAE). It’s the second (and hopefully last) year the parade is taking place. The parade line up begins at 10:30 a.m. at the North Bennington Train Depot and backs up to Lion’s Park and then to Lake Paran.

As VAE Director Matthew Perry wrote: “All are welcome to parade your vehicle and express your gratitude with signs, decorations, or live music in the back of your truck. Get creative and give thanks to those who have been, and continue to be, essential over the past year. Celebrate your teachers, school staff, parents, and businesses, as well as those on the front line, our local heroes. You can see a video from last year’s parade on the VAE website and photos from last year’s parade on the Village School website.

This week our school participated in The Seeds of Hope Project, which was created by three local residents, two of whom are art therapists. The project invited children throughout our region to create a picture of a flower they would like to “plant” in Bennington’s “Garden of Hope.” As Liz Luca, one of the organizers, wrote: “the idea is to encourage our children to, in this time of Covid, ‘speak’ about their feelings through flowers. All of us have lived through a very difficult 2020 Covid year, and will continue to be living with Covid this year, as well. As we adults are able to verbalize our feelings, our children sometimes find this difficult to do. This project, working with their hands and creating their flowers, would give the children a ‘voice’ of hope.” We are delighted that all of our classes participated in Seeds of Hope, and throughout the month of May you will see students’ flowers displayed in the storefront windows along Main Street in Bennington.

While we are thinking of gardens, I am excited to share that our school’s partnership with the Hiland Hall Garden will resume next week! This year the instruction will focus on gardening and growing fruit and vegetables for Meals on Wheels, as well as lessons on food insecurity for our oldest students. HHG’s goal is to grow 2,000 pounds of produce for local distribution. The students have always enjoyed their outing to the garden, and I look forward to them coming back to school with dirty hands and knees. One step closer to normal….

Please read below for more announcements, and have a great weekend!

Warm regards,

Tim

Next Week’s Meals

Click here for next week’s meals menu.

Kindergarten Enrollment and Screenings

The Village School of North Bennington is now enrolling children for kindergarten for the 2021-2022 school year. Children who live in North Bennington and Shaftsbury District 1 and who will be five years of age on or before August 31, 2021 will be eligible to attend kindergarten at the Village School. Screenings will be held on May 5 and May 12. Those who need more information or who would like to schedule a screening can call 802-442-5955 or email info@vsnb.org.

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.

COVID-19 Information

All of our school’s COVID-19 information can be found on our website at this link: https://vsnb.org/covid19-2020-21/

COVID-19 health information, guidance and data: www.healthvermont.gov/covid19
COVID-19 local testing information: https://svhealthcare.org/COVID-19/testing
Vaccination information and registration: www.healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine

COMMUNITY EVENTS

The Adventures of Sastrugi presentation on Saturday, April 24, 2-4 p.m. on the East lawn of the McCullough Mansion (rain location: mansion veranda).

Join local artist Dorthy Wallace-Senft and a few collaborating authors, including Nathan & Anne Wallace-Senft and Rebecca Grayck, for “The Adventures of Sastrugi,” a story in the soon to be printed children’s book The Search for Dragon Proof Snow.

In elaborately detailed and colorful images artfully displayed around the mansion lawn, you will be introduced to Sastrugi the Dragon, her unique relationship with snow, and the many adventures and friends that help her along the journey.

There will be original music, treats from a far away planet featured in the story, and fun items to take away.

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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/