9/24/2021

Dear Families,

It’s been a great week with all of our classes back at school in-person. I know that many teachers have already reached out to parents and guardians about scheduling conferences to discuss your children and learning goals for the year ahead, and some of these conferences are even taking place today.

Hopefully many of you heard your children talking about the start of the Hiland Hall Gardens program this week. It’s always a highlight, and this fall it’s particularly exciting for our returning students who are harvesting the food they helped plant in the spring. All the crops they harvest will be donated to the Meals on Wheels program in Bennington County. 

While on the topic of food, I’d like to bring to your attention our new “Breakfast After the Bell” program, starting next week. The Village School and the Abbey Group serve breakfast in the gym/cafeteria every morning from 7:45 – 8:15 a.m.; however, if students arrive after 8:15 a.m. they will now be able to pick up a bagged breakfast to take to the classroom. Please see the “Breakfast After the Bell” flyer with full details. 

While things are regrettably still far from normal this year, we are excited that we can host Picture Day on October 13. If you have any questions about Lifetouch’s safety protocols, visit www.lifetouch.com/covid19. Lifetouch flyers were sent home with your student(s) this week. You can also order online at mylifetouch.com using our schools Picture Day ID code: EVTNDW7DR. 

Lastly, if you have not enrolled your student for the COVID-19 Surveillance testing, you can use the CIC Health consent form to do so at any time. We will begin this preventative monitoring next week, on Wednesday, September 29. It’s a quick and easy, non-invasive nasal swab. Some even refer to it as a “nose tickle,” and it only takes about 20 seconds. We are participating in the program based on the strong recommendation of the Health Department. Thank you for helping us to keep our school community safe and your student(s) in school.

Enjoy the weekend,
Tim

P.s. The Berkshire Family YMCA at the Bennington Recreation Center shared a flyer with our school about some of the wonderful youth and family offerings it has on tap for this fallClick here to find out more about their programs, events, and activities.