Important Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, November 23 – early dismissal at 11am (JFK parent-teacher conferences)
- Tuesday, November 24 – early dismissal at 11am (JFK parent-teacher conferences)
- November 16 – No School
- November 25-27 – No School
At this time there are no plans to move to a fully remote learning model between November break and the end of 2020. More on this topic below.
- Find the WSD’s updated school calendar here.
- Flu Shot Clinic – Tuesdays and Thursdays in December
Dear WSD Families,
To my great disappointment, 5th grade will not be returning for increased in-person instruction next week. Despite our efforts, we have not been able to fill our staffing needs. At this point, we don’t have a clear idea about when we will be able to bring 5th graders back to in-person school four days per week, but we will continue to keep you informed about the situation on a weekly basis.
Our schools, like many other districts across our state, need qualified Instructional Assistants and Support Staff. We are monitoring our staffing levels weekly, and the decision to maintain four days per week of in-person learning for elementary students will depend on whether we have enough staff members. If you would like to help, please consider applying.
Student Absences
If your child will be absent from school, remember to email or call the school to provide information about the nature of the absence. Our COVID-19 Co-Coordinators will follow up if it is a health-related issue.
- For JFK students please call or email Linda Casier at [email protected] or 802-655-0411.
- For WMHS students please call or email Angie Small [email protected] 802-383-6106.
Help Us Keep Vermont Open
Families are making hard decisions about holiday plans to travel and gather with loved ones. Since last spring, Vermonters have changed their lives to stay healthy during the pandemic, and many are tired of the daily effort required to prevent the virus from spreading.
We are all longing for connection and crave things that feel normal, like our traditional holiday celebrations. But travel and gathering does increase your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19.
As the virus continues to spread throughout the country, we encourage families to make safe choices about travel and gathering this holiday season by taking the following steps:
- Check the map to find out the risk of COVID-19 infection at your destination,
- Decide if the risk is worth it for your family,
- Plan to have a safe trip or gathering, remain flexible and get your flu shot and
- Quarantine when you return.
By making safer choices, we can help Vermont stay open together.
More On Safe Travel
Travel for parental shared custody is considered essential travel, however, there are some important guidelines regarding quarantine and safe ways to travel on The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development website.
Rumors Related to School Closure
I have heard that there are rumors that schools across Vermont will return to fully remote learning from November break until January 1, 2021. Given the adverse effect of the abrupt dismissal on the academic growth and social emotional wellbeing of our students, as well as the adverse impact dismissal had on working families, I believe it is very unlikely Governor Scott, the AOE and VDH will require schools to go fully remote this year unless the health data demands it.
Health Commissioner, Dr. Levine, recently stated, “The less risk we take on, the more we can protect our students, co-workers, our own families and our community.” If everyone does their part, then Vermont schools can continue to safely operate.
Winter Sports
We are excited to announce that we are able to hold a limited WMHS basketball season, per Vermont Agency of Education guidelines. There are many details we are currently looking at and we will share more information next week. Practices will not start until December. Due to health and safety restrictions, there will not be any spectators allowed but we are exploring options to live stream games.
Antiracism Updates
Next week, at the November 11th regular school board meeting, the WSD School Board will continue with their antiracism work.
The board will begin by prioritizing the Winooski Students for Antiracism’s (WSA) demands. They will then establish the composition and roles of each demand-based working group and discuss how to conduct outreach to recruit the necessary team members.
The full agenda for the board meeting will be released next week.
School Safety & Security Community Engagement
The goal of the School Safety and Security Engagement is to plan and run a community education, engagement and voice process about school safety and security. This effort is being directed by our school board in response to student demands about the immediate removal of our School Resource Officer (SRO). The board has directed this process so they can hear from the community to inform their decision-making about general school safety and security by mid-January, and specifically the SRO role for the 2021-22 school year.
Lindsey Halman of UP for Learning and Evelyn Monje of the Winooski Students for Antiracism will co-lead the project through the established Restorative Justice (RJ) group of students, staff and community members, with support from an advisor and consulting team from UVM.
Additional Information:
City of Winooski Virtual Tutoring Program in partnership with 21C Afterschool
There are UVM Education majors available to work 1:1 with middle and high school students virtually Monday-Thursdays from 4:30-7:30. All UVM students have been fingerprinted.
If you know of a middle or high school student that could benefit from individual tutoring, please email Suzanne Skaflestad at [email protected]. She would be happy to help facilitate communication with the City of Winooski staff.
Pick-up procedures for parents/guardians for 21C Afterschool Programs at JFK:
If parents/guardians prefer to drive up to the JFK elementary school to pick-up their student from the 21C Afterschool program, it would be most helpful if they stand outside their cars so we can identify them quickly. Or, they can walk up to the entrance to the JFK building and wait physically distant from other parents with a mask on.
COVID Criteria for Building Entry of Non-District Personnel
Stay Connected
For more school-specific highlights, remember to read our Middle High School news and JFK weekly Elementary newsletters.
Thank you,
Sean McMannon, Superintendent