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Dear Families,
The Village School’s second trimester is underway, and students’ first trimester progress reports are being sent home between today and early next week. If you have any questions, please reach out to your student’s teacher.
As we enter the holiday season, our calendar is filling up with some wonderful school-wide events that we would like to bring to your attention. I encourage you to review the announcements below.
The Vermont Arts Exchange thought we would enjoy seeing the colorful flowers that Village School fifth graders designed and painted to brighten a parking sign on Main Street in North Bennington, across from the gas station. We appreciate the public artwork that VAE creates with our students and hope you will check out the sign!
Village School first and third graders’ artwork is also on display in the community! Bennington College senior Hadley Pack spearheaded a social practice art project with students last year, and their collective artwork is now on exhibit at Powers Market through mid-December. The exhibit is called “Our Community of Care,” and their artwork represents what “community care” means to our students.
Have a good weekend!
Tim
P.s. Please note that the Abbey Group is making two changes to the December lunch menu: On Wednesday, December 14, the hot lunch will be Oven Roast Turkey with Gravy and on Tuesday, December 20, the hot lunch will be Pizza.
DECEMBER HAPPENINGS:
• Annual Food Drive for local families in need. The second graders are preparing to bring food to the community food shelf at St. John the Baptist Church in North Bennington on Monday, December 19. If you wish to give, please place your food items on the table in the lobby of the school. >> Click here to see the flier.
• Winter Ensemble Concert on December 13th at 6:30 p.m. in the gymnasium. Members of the Village School Band, Chorus, and Strings Program will perform festive holiday tunes. Families and friends are welcome to attend. >>Click here to see the flier.
• Holiday Bazaar on December 14th (during the school day, with the snow date of December 15th). This year the sixth graders are organizing the Holiday Bazaar, which is a wonderful shopping experience for all students and it also raises funds for charity. Donated gift items are needed and can be dropped off in the Bazaar Bin located outside the main office. For more information about the types of gift items that we are seeking, please click here.
>> If you would like to volunteer to help wrap gifts during the Holiday Bazaar, please email friends@vsnb.org.
• National Ugly Sweater Day (December 16th): The third Friday of every December is National Ugly Sweater Day! Students and staff are encouraged to celebrate this fun day by wearing their ugliest, wackiest, or tackiest sweater to school. Homemade ugly t-shirts, vests, dresses, etc. are more than welcome too! >>Click here to see the flier.
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS:
• “Open to the Public” is a new sculpture series by Dylan Spencer Kenney that promotes inclusion and is an active invitation to all of the Bennington College events, which are already established and opened to the public (simply use the QR code on the sculptures for more information). Dylan’s sculptures consist of welded metal and wood, and they are installed at the Village School (located in the lobby outside of the main office), Powers Market, and the North Bennington Variety Mart. For anyone interested in developing a relationship with open-to-public opportunities at Bennington College, contact Dylan at dylankenney@bennington.edu. Dylan is a VSNB parent, community member, and Bennington College student with a double concentration in Visual Arts and the Center for the Advancement of Public Action.
• JISP (Junior Instructional Ski Program) Announcements
The deadline for picking up passes is December 12th. Please visit the Bromley Outing Club (BOC) website for more information and details about passes and the upcoming JISP.
Heather Bullock, the North Bennington/Bennington area JISP Town Chair, said that things have changed a bit this year at the BOC and they are putting ALL the information, from pass pickup deadlines to rental fitting times, on the BOC website.
Heather is looking for volunteer drivers to assist with driving students to JISP. Please reach out to Heather if you can help and include your child’s first and last name AND THEIR SCHOOL when responding. Heather can explain “driver benefits.” Contact Heather at vtjisp@gmail.com
• Lake Paran is now enrolling for its 2023 Winter Break and Spring Break Outdoor Recreation Camps. These are perfect for 6-12 year olds to explore and have fun over the vacations! Click here for more details and to register.
Winter Break Recreation Camp: February 20th-24th | 8:30am-3:30pm
Camp activities will include sledding, nature exploration, learning about hibernation, snowshoeing, making comfort-food soup in our kitchen, and more!
Spring Break Recreation Camp: April 17th-21st | 8:30am-3:30pm
Camp activities will include canoeing, meet and greet baby animals, planting seeds, discovering insects, and more!
