Student Work, Free Meals, EPIC Update,
Art Projects, and Preparing for the Long Haul

March 20, 2020

Dear Families,

We hope your first week of distance-learning has gone well and that you are getting the resources and support you need. It’s been good to hear from teachers that many students are participating in online classrooms and/or keeping in touch via email. Now, more than ever, it’s so important to stay connected. We’d love to share photos and short videos of your student(s) at home doing work, projects, being creative, and playing outside. Please upload them to our school’s Google Album, and they’ll be selected on a rotating basis to share on our school’s website and Facebook page. We all need to see some familiar faces and smiles during these uncertain times. Check out our first video sent in by Charlie. 

Please encourage your kids to continue to do their best with their classwork at home.  The assignments are intended to help your students maintain core academic skills. If you or your students are having difficulty connecting with your teacher or need assistance with any work assignments, please reach out to us at info@vsnb.org or 802-442-5955. We will do our best to support you and your student(s). 

SCHOOL LOBBY HOURS FOR PICKING UP/DROPPING OFF STUDENT WORK:

• Monday, March 23 from 7:30-9 a.m. and 4:30-6 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 24 from 7:30-9 a.m. and 4:30-6 p.m.

MEALS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE: 

During the closure meals are being made available to all young people under the age of 18 regardless of status. The meals can be picked up during the week at the following locations and times. Just visit the big yellow school bus and grab a meal to go.

Meals will be delivered to students in North Bennington and Shaftsbury according to the following schedule:
10:10AM – Former Chem Fab BCIC Building
10:30AM – Power’s Market
10:45AM – North Bennington Train Station
11:00AM – Harvest Hills
11:10AM – Dunham Ave & White Creek Rd
11:20AM – Village School of North Bennington

For additional information go to, https://vsnb.org/covid-19-meal-service/

EPIC UPDATE:

Great news that EPIC—the leading digital library for kids—is working again. This resource is being made available to kids across the U.S. for free. The school account should work from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. You should have received an email on March 18 from Amanda Bickford inviting you to join your student’s classroom. Follow the links in Mrs. Bickford’s email, and then log in as a “Student” and enter the school code: psy3848. If you did not get the email invitation or have any difficulty, please contact Mrs. Bickford at abickford@vsnb.org.

ART AT HOME

Additionally, The Vermont Arts Exchange program at The Village School is committed to providing your students with a creative outlet during this time. Thanks to the efforts of Gabi Rynes and Caitilin McAdoo, students in grades K-6 will have materials and optional work in Monday’s pick-up that will practice the skills they have been touching on in classes. There are art supplies available to families who do not have supplies at home. One set of supplies can be provided to each family, as needed. Please let the staff person in the lobby know if you need a set of supplies when you pick up your student’s work from school. Students in grades four through six will have a hardcopy of this work in their packets, and have also been invited to a Google Classroom page with the same work presented electronically. Gabi sent the links directly to student email addresses @vsnb.org.  Students may also access these pages with their school email through the following links:

Grade 6 Google Art 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/130bQ3384CY2LyDxXvHkRmFS6nOgnmVbGc6WkDRWCW4c/edit?usp=sharing

Grade 5 Art

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KN5anx2gFNm8hYDxllDkRblxromDtBzMMUT86UUtdkQ/edit?usp=sharing

Grade 4 Art

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KVXm-PxRPWtcEECaBP08ZvPVRTWqaodFFM-yuLj5n9w/edit?usp=sharing

Grade 3 Art

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KaQfU-_lK5snlq2ZjAhVEZv5a_WMpWFLsXnWmOLeCeI/edit?usp=sharing

PLEASE BE PREPARED FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF A LONG CLOSURE

You may have heard that Governor Laura Kelly on Tuesday closed Kansas’ public and private K-12 schools for the rest of the school year. We are not at that point yet, but from all that I am reading and hearing from the CDC, the Vermont Department of Health, and the Agency of Education, I think we need to start preparing ourselves for an extended isolation period.

This period of isolation would be put into effect to flatten the COVID-19 infection curve. The idea being that by slowing down the spread of virus we keep the number of infected low enough for our hospitals and medical professionals to manage. A significant spike of infections could overwhelm the system and cause great harm to all. If our government and health officials ask our community to extend our social distancing, then the Village School would be closed for 6 to 12 weeks, or more. This would mean that students would not return to school until September.

I am not trying to be alarmist, but I think we all need to prepare mentally for how this may feel for us and what kinds of feelings it may evoke in our children. There will be a lack of understanding for many young people, and there will also be sadness and anger. We, as the adults, need to take care of ourselves so we are in the best place possible to take care of our children. As we learn of good resources, we will continue to post them on our website. This is not a time to lay blame, this is a time for us to support and rally around one another like never before. Love thy neighbor, no exceptions….

Warm regards,

Tim Newbold

Head of School

The Village School of North Bennington

“Children are at the heart of all we do.”

phone: 802-442-5955 ext. 201

email: tnewbold@vsnb.org

https://vsnb.org/