Mustang Messenger April 16, 2021
Happy Spring ACEC Community!!!
As many of you have heard, the Safety and Health Guidance for Vermont Schools was revised on April 8th. Morning screenings will now look a little different for our students and staff. We will no longer be taking temperatures of students or staff in the morning. Parents/guardians are still required to be present when dropping students off or be present when the bus arrives to pick up your student(s). Our staff will still be checking in with students in the morning.
Distancing has not changed for grades PreK-5th. Middle school guidance regarding distancing has been reduced to 3 feet in the classroom but remains at 6 feet for eating. What does this mean for our middle school? Can we fit the 6th-8th grade in our middle school classrooms with this new guidance? New individual desks have been ordered through ESSER funds for our middle school classrooms. These should arrive on April 19th. The custodial staff will be working over vacation to remove the tables from the middle school classrooms and set up the new individual student desks with the required 3 feet distancing. When this is completed, we will have a better understanding of how many students can be in a middle school classroom following the new guidelines. If our classrooms with the new desks can accommodate our entire middle school student population, we will be bringing middle school students back 4 days per week starting May 3rd. This decision will be based on the guidance, classroom sizes and 3 feet distancing. I will send out an email to all middle school students and parents/guardians no later than April 27th.
Lunch will continue in the classrooms for the remainder of the school year. If middle school does come back in person 4 days per week, I will need to work with classroom teachers, custodial staff and cafeteria staff regarding keeping students 6 feet apart when they are eating breakfast, snack and lunch.
Families that have chosen 100% remote this school year will continue to have the opportunity to stay 100% remote. Students in grades 3-8 who are 100% remote will need to come to school and take SBAC testing. We most likely will have these students come in on Wednesdays in May to complete this testing. More information to come regarding the SBAC schedule for 100% remote students. Teachers will also be reaching out to the students in grades 3-8 who are 100% remote and what they can doing academically when students who are in person are taking the SBAC tests.
Preschool and Kindergarten registration is currently underway. Children who are turning 3 by September 1st are eligible to enroll in the Alburgh Community Education Center Preschool Program. Children who are turning 5 by September 1st are eligible to enroll in kindergarten. Please contact Shannon English, the school registrar, at 796-3573 extension 0 to speak about enrollment. You can also find the enrollment forms at alburghschool.org website under new student registration tab on the left of the screen.
It looks like we will be able to hold an 8th grade graduation in person this school year. More information will come in mid-May regarding this to allow for families to plan.
We are anticipating having an Academic Enrichment Summer Program. The theme will be the Olympics. The program is anticipated to be July 5th-August 13th. It will run Monday-Friday from 8:30-1:00. Breakfast, snack and lunch will be served. There will be a big emphasis on reading and math this summer as many of our students have shown regression during the pandemic. Students will have 60 minutes of math and reading per day. The program will also include physical education and arts/crafts daily. Parents and guardians will be able to sign their student(s) up in early June. We are not sure what families will be planning this summer, so parents and guardians can sign their student(s) up for two-weeks, 4 weeks or 6 weeks (July 5th-July16th) (July 19th-July 30th) (August 2nd – August 13th). I am hoping that giving you this information now will help with your summer planning.
I have also attached to my letter the Vermont Department of Health Spring COVID-19 Safety Messages for Schools to share with Families-April 2021.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to reach out to me via email at bhemingway@gisu.org or call me at 796-3573 ext. 2.
Enjoy April break!!
Take care and be well.
Ms. Beth
Happy Spring ACEC Community!!!
As many of you have heard, the Safety and Health Guidance for Vermont Schools was revised on April 8th. Morning screenings will now look a little different for our students and staff. We will no longer be taking temperatures of students or staff in the morning. Parents/guardians are still required to be present when dropping students off or be present when the bus arrives to pick up your student(s). Our staff will still be checking in with students in the morning.
Distancing has not changed for grades PreK-5th. Middle school guidance regarding distancing has been reduced to 3 feet in the classroom but remains at 6 feet for eating. What does this mean for our middle school? Can we fit the 6th-8th grade in our middle school classrooms with this new guidance? New individual desks have been ordered through ESSER funds for our middle school classrooms. These should arrive on April 19th. The custodial staff will be working over vacation to remove the tables from the middle school classrooms and set up the new individual student desks with the required 3 feet distancing. When this is completed, we will have a better understanding of how many students can be in a middle school classroom following the new guidelines. If our classrooms with the new desks can accommodate our entire middle school student population, we will be bringing middle school students back 4 days per week starting May 3rd. This decision will be based on the guidance, classroom sizes and 3 feet distancing. I will send out an email to all middle school students and parents/guardians no later than April 27th.
Lunch will continue in the classrooms for the remainder of the school year. If middle school does come back in person 4 days per week, I will need to work with classroom teachers, custodial staff and cafeteria staff regarding keeping students 6 feet apart when they are eating breakfast, snack and lunch.
Families that have chosen 100% remote this school year will continue to have the opportunity to stay 100% remote. Students in grades 3-8 who are 100% remote will need to come to school and take SBAC testing. We most likely will have these students come in on Wednesdays in May to complete this testing. More information to come regarding the SBAC schedule for 100% remote students. Teachers will also be reaching out to the students in grades 3-8 who are 100% remote and what they can doing academically when students who are in person are taking the SBAC tests.
Preschool and Kindergarten registration is currently underway. Children who are turning 3 by September 1st are eligible to enroll in the Alburgh Community Education Center Preschool Program. Children who are turning 5 by September 1st are eligible to enroll in kindergarten. Please contact Shannon English, the school registrar, at 796-3573 extension 0 to speak about enrollment. You can also find the enrollment forms at alburghschool.org website under new student registration tab on the left of the screen.
It looks like we will be able to hold an 8th grade graduation in person this school year. More information will come in mid-May regarding this to allow for families to plan.
We are anticipating having an Academic Enrichment Summer Program. The theme will be the Olympics. The program is anticipated to be July 5th-August 13th. It will run Monday-Friday from 8:30-1:00. Breakfast, snack and lunch will be served. There will be a big emphasis on reading and math this summer as many of our students have shown regression during the pandemic. Students will have 60 minutes of math and reading per day. The program will also include physical education and arts/crafts daily. Parents and guardians will be able to sign their student(s) up in early June. We are not sure what families will be planning this summer, so parents and guardians can sign their student(s) up for two-weeks, 4 weeks or 6 weeks (July 5th-July16th) (July 19th-July 30th) (August 2nd – August 13th). I am hoping that giving you this information now will help with your summer planning.
I have also attached to my letter the Vermont Department of Health Spring COVID-19 Safety Messages for Schools to share with Families-April 2021.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to reach out to me via email at bhemingway@gisu.org or call me at 796-3573 ext. 2.
Enjoy April break!!
Take care and be well.
Ms. Beth