October 9, 2020
Dear Families,
This weekend will mark our first long weekend of the year. School will be closed on Monday, October 12, in observance of Indigenous People’s Day. In making this decision, our school is joining with Vermont and 13 other states to recognize the contributions, history, and culture of America’s native peoples. Indigenous People’s Day was first suggested in 1977 at a United Nations conference. South Dakota was the first state to officially shift from Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day in 1989, and other states and municipalities have slowly followed suit. Vermont made the shift official last year. Changes like this mark a deeper understanding of our country’s history and are an attempt to reconcile the racial and ethnic inequalities that exist.
As we enter the long weekend, thank you for continuing to keep in mind the school’s Community Commitment for activities, events, and get-togethers outside of school. When making travel decisions and/or hosting visitors, please remember to check the State of Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development website for the latest updates on where travel is permissible and for what reasons. The cross-state travel map is updated every Tuesday, showing red and yellow counties with high rates of active cases versus green counties with low rates of active cases.
Please be on the lookout for a letter we sent home with your students today explaining the school’s illness policy and new information that came out from the Vermont Department of Health providing COVID-19 information for families to follow regarding the return of students to school following illness.
Below are a few important items regarding student internet use, dressing your students for the cool weather (and for our open-air school), and next week’s menu.
Warm regards,
Tim Newbold
P.S. Our school has an opening for a substitute teacher position. If you are interested, please apply through our ad on Indeed: VSNB on Indeed.
STUDENT INTERNET USE
Keeping students safe on their school-provided devices is of paramount importance to VSNB. While your students are in school, their internet access is restricted and there are several layers of protection for what students can see on their devices in the school building. However, when students are at home using their Chromebooks, they have access to the full internet. There is a safety filter in place called “Bark for Schools” that provides some peace of mind, but it is not foolproof. The best protection for your children is to monitor their online activity at home and know what your students are navigating and how they are using the internet.
DRESSING FOR THE COOL WEATHER
Ventilation is one of our best tools in the fight against airborne illnesses like COVID-19. Even as we enter the cooler months, we will continue to have one or more windows open in each classroom to allow fresh air to come in. Physical education classes will also continue to take place outside as much as possible. Please be sure to dress your students in warm layers that they can put on or take off as needed for the classroom, gym, and recess. Soon it will also be time to send students in with coats, hats, gloves and boots. If your student(s) does not have enough cool-weather clothes and gear, please reach out to the school nurse, Kaitlyn Hewson, at 802-442-5955 or khewson@vsnb.org.
BREAKFAST AND LUNCH MENU – OCTOBER 13-25
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS
- 28th Annual North Bennington Halloween Parade: Save the date of October 31 at 4 p.m. for another “stay in your car” parade! Car costumes (and people’s costumes) will be judged.
