WEEKLY FAMILY FOCUS Dec 20, 2021
RICK MARCOTTE CENTRAL SCHOOL Principal Kathleen Kilbourne
Grade 3
Recycle and Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Protect Our Earth
Important Dates:
Dec.20th - Original Works will be delivered to RMCS
Dec. 23rd- Jan 2nd- No School for Winter Break
Jan. 11th -PTO Zoom Meeting 6:00- 7:00
Jan. 17th- NO SCHOOL , MLK Day
Jan 28th- Early Release at 12:30
PTO MEETING DATES: PTO Meetings are held the 2nd Tuesday of each month, via zoom.
1/11/22
2/8/22
3/8/22
4/12/22
5/10/22
COVID Support Vermont is offering a free workshop for parents:
"Parenting to Promote Mental Health and Wellness in Children and Youth”
Wed. Dec. 22nd from 4-5pm.
This presentation will be facilitated by Dr. Cath Burns, Licensed Psychologist and Quality Director at Vermont Care Partners. It will highlight parenting/caregiver supports and strategies that promote children and youth mental health and wellness, followed by group discussion and brainstorming! We would be so grateful if school leaders could send this info and registration link through to the families in your community channels, to help get this information out to folks who would benefit from it. Copied below is the registration link:
COMMON ROOTS- Farm to School
Hello South Burlington Families and Friends!
As the temperatures get cooler and the days get shorter, some of us take comfort in cozying up on the couch or by the fire with a warm cup of tea. In Scandinavian countries, people call this hygge (hoo-guh). Hygge is a practice that helps us cope with the winter blues, and almost always involves drinking a warm beverage, evoking feelings of happiness and warmth.
Last week in Farm to School, we brought hygge to the classroom with a warm cup of herbal tea. We practiced mindfulness through movement, breath, and activating our five senses. Your children can suggest some local herbal teas that they explored in Farm to School, including mint, lemon balm, and thyme. Loose leaf tea and coffee filters were used to make our own DIY tea bags. See the steps below to give it a try at home - what a great gift it would be for a friend!
DIY Tea Bag
Adapted from TheMakeYourOwnZone.com
Materials:
● Coffee Filter (round, flat style)
● 1 Tsp Loose Tea
● 5" Piece of String or Heavy Thread
● Scissors
● Stapler
Instructions:
1. Flatten out a coffee filter and then cut a little bit off each side to make a more rectangular shape.
2. Put the teaspoon of loose tea in the center of the coffee filter.
3. Fold the coffee filter in half the long way, closing the tea inside.
4. Then fold the long sides back towards the middle, folding it over three times, making small folds.
5. Now that the tea is folded inside, you'll want to re-center things, kind of rolling the package so that the folded seam is going down the middle.
6. Next fold the filter package in half and cut about 3/4" off the top.
7. Fold in the two top edges so that the top now comes to a point.
8. Fold over the top point of your filter package just a little bit. Lay the 5" piece of string on top, and then staple. This will seal the package shut and also attach the string.
9. To make a little tab for the end of your string, fold your 1" x 2" piece of paper in half. Place the end of the string inside and then staple, centering the stapler over the string when stapling.
10. Your homemade tea bag is now complete!
If you’d like to practice some mindfulness with your young ones over winter break, see below for a few resources to check out!
● Five Senses Exercise: https://positivepsychology.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Five-Senses-Worksheet.pdf
● 25 Mindfulness Practices for Kids: https://parentswithconfidence.com/25-mindfulness-practices-for-kids-who-cant-sit-still/
● 8-min Guided Meditation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtYIQiXyrsE
● Root to Rise Meditation: https://mindfullittles.org/moving-meditation-root-to-rise/
● The Art of Mindful Tea Drinking: https://theteacurator.co.nz/blogs/news/the-art-of-mindful-tea-drinking
Till next month, Nourish to Flourish
Lauren Jones, Common Roots - Farm to School Educator
5th Graders
Made Bus Safety Books
For our K students to practice with
ORIGINAL WORKS UPDATE
Original Works orders are in! If you placed an order for your child/children, they can be picked up starting Monday morning. If you would like to have your order sent home, please call the main office at 802-652-7202 or 802-652-7246. Thank you, Rebecca Poquette, and Kelsey Lewis, for organizing this wonderful project.
With gratitude:
ALL our Rick Marcotte families
Gift Card donations for the Mitten Tree
The Vibrant Church in South Burlington for their yummy snacks for faculty and staff throughout the year.
The Essex Alliance Church for their gift card donations
RMCS PTO - Organizing the Barnes & Noble Book Fair, Picnic Tables, popcorn Days and numerous other ways tjat they support our school with througout the year.
TD Bank for their water bottle donations
South Burlington Police Department - School Resource officer Bri Williamson and Dennis Ward
The Howard Center
Farm to School
South Burlington Public Library Collaborations
The Fabulous Rick Marcotte Faculty and Staff
First Graders Design Houses from groups of 5's and 10's
Is your student fully vaccinated for COVID-19?
As of 12/16/21, over 91% of children in Chittenden County have received at least one dose of the vaccine!
Along with the benefits of being less likely to be infected, to become seriously ill and hospitalized, and to spread the virus...being FULLY vaccinated means that a student DOES NOT need to stay home and quarantine or participate in Test to Stay, if they are determined to be a close contact, and feel well.
If your student has received two doses, please email us a copy of the vaccination card, or contact us, so we may update their health record. Email to: mcannon@sbschools.net
Kids and the American Academy of Pediatrics President talk vaccines:
Watch the fun, short video HERE.
Sue Dattilio and Patrick Knepp celebrate Comfy Clothes Day at RMCS
Vermont Food and Energy Programs
Click on the link below to find information about programs in VT to support families in need of food or energy/fuel resources.
5th graders designed play houses and playgrounds on graph paper first, and then constructed them based on those plans.
SBSD ARP ESSER Community Engagement Survey
SBSD ARP ESSER Community Engagement Survey
In response to COVID-19 and its impact on student learning, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) was signed into law by the federal government in March of 2021 and provides funds to support the Elementary and Secondary School Relief Fund (ESSER). School districts across the State of Vermont have been asked by the Vermont Agency of Education to create Recovery Plans to outline how we will support our students using Federal ESSER funds.
For the third phase of funding, SBSD will be awarded $3,103,484. Federal guidance requires that all funds must be spent to address the ongoing impact of the pandemic specifically targeting three pillars: Social-Emotional Learning, Student Engagement, and Academic Success. We are seeking community input on how best to meet the needs of SBSD learners in these areas.
Please take a few minutes to provide us feedback on our proposed uses for these funds below. You can also read more about how we have spent recovery funds so far and review more detailed information on our Recovery Plan on our SBSD Recovery Planning/ESSER website:
https://sites.google.com/view/sbsdrecoveryplanningesser/home
Survey Link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScyB3fWkJoqN_DShAccoWfRJ8LNd8mA1Exk5pJTqzgWrzHEOA/viewform
Rick Marcotte Central School Physical Education News and Views
“If you had FUN, you WON!!”
I remember my first few years of teaching. I really wanted to be able to take kids outside in the winter for PE. At the time, we had a hockey rink and we even had a small hill out near the back of the fields. I thought about ice skating but our ice skating gear was very outdated. I also thought about little skis to teach downhill skiing on our little hill. Both the hill and the skating rink would be taken out shortly after I arrived so I had to think of another “winter” idea. We started with snowshoes and we ended up getting some neat old fashioned style plastic snowshoes. But the kids and Mr. Day needed more of a challenge so I looked into Nordic skiing and ended up talking to a co-worker’s husband at Rossignol in Williston. He set us up with new and used equipment and the rest - as they say - is history!! We have been skiing at RMCS ever since! Oh - did I mention it is my favorite unit to teach? I don’t have the name Mr. “Snowy” Day for nothing!!
Every January and February at RMCS we switch the schedule around and classes come to PE for an hour a week. We put on ski boots and put on skis and we go Nordic skiing!! This year will be no different.
Starting on January 3rd and going all the way until February 18th, RMCS students will be SKIING!! Below is the schedule for each class:
Monday - Eddy, Hockenberry, Kulhowvick, Ross
Tuesday - Cooper,Knepp,Ransom, Dvorak
Wednesday - Appleby,Vincent, Belisle, Kelliher, Pecor
Thursday - Kavanaugh,Bailey, Sevigny, Carp./Mahl
Friday - Currier, Cope, Ligouri, Miller, Scott
**I need to mention that this schedule would not be possible if not for the flexibility of all the teachers. I also need to extend a BIG thank you to Lizzy Guido,Danielle Vincent, and Hilary Sales for changing their schedules around to accommodate skiing!
THINGS for Parents to know about SKIING
1. PLEASE make sure your child/children are prepared for winter weather on their SKIING day. This would include a winter coat, warm gloves/mittens, SNOWPANTS, and a nice warm winter hat.
2. We do not go skiing if the temperature is below zero. This includes windchill. I also carefully monitor the weather so that if it looks like it will warm up after the first class or two, we go out. We obviously don’t ski if there is no (GULP) snow. We do winter olympic activities inside.
3. Kids can bring in their own Nordic ski equipment. I can lock it up at night. Kids are not allowed to bring it in on the bus - it must be dropped off.
4. We usually do a SKI CLUB on Friday afternoons but we will not be able to do that this year because we can’t mix grade levels. AARGH!! Hopefully, next year!!
5. This is a BIG one. I need parent volunteers, especially for the younger grades - K-2. We need help with tying shoelaces on the boots and putting on the skis. If you help out, YOU get to SKI with us. I do have adult equipment you can use. It’s a lot of FUN - hope you can join us!! If you help, please be aware of the school district rules: 1) You need to stay outside, 2) You need to wear a mask, and 3) You will need to prove vaccination status. I hope you can help out, even if just for a little bit of time. THANKS in advance!!
If you have any questions/concerns about skiing, please email me at dday@sbschools.net
If you can HELP us out for skiing, please email me at dday@sbschools.net ______________________________________________________________________
Now all we need is snow!!! Think SNOW*********
Think SNEW!!! (What’s snew? I don’t know - what is new with you?)
That’s it for now!! Please make sure to have a great Holiday break. I hope we get some snow to go out and PLAY in.
Can’t wait to start SKIING in PE in January!
SKI YOU THEN!!!!
Your PE teacher - Mr. “SNOWY” Day / Mr. “SKI ALL” Day
RMCS - The School that SKIS!!!
South Burlington Town Library Dec Calendar
RMCS 2021-2022 Yearbook NOW ON SALE!! $15.00 Each
Don't miss a single edition of the Rick Marcotte Central School Year book!
Order forms have been sent home, but if you would like purchase your yearbook online, please click here:
https://www.jostens.com/apps/store/customer/1140092/Rick-Marcotte-Central-School/
Then select Order My Yearbook to make your purchase and check out. Please put your child's teacher's name under 'Homeroom' All yearbooks are shipped to the school then delivered to your child's classroom the last week of school.
Any questions please contact Holly Young or Carrie Rice.
RMCS has open positions for:
Interventionists- Full time - 5 positions available
Recess/Lunch Supervisors (3 hours a day)
Substitute Teachers (1 full time floating sub, 5 days a week)
Substitute Teachers- Flexible scheduling
Howard Center is also seeking an additional School Based Clinician to serve at RMCS- Full Time (to add to our current mental health partnership).
Please apply via SchoolSpring.com or call Kathleen Kilbourne for more information at 652-7201.
Daily Health Screening - Ruvna App
Families are required to complete the daily health screening questions about your child's health status through an email or text using an app called Ruvna. Please be sure to complete it daily before your child comes to school. Nurse Cannon follows up by phone with families who have not completed the health screening questions. Thank you!
Need Help with Technology? Use this link to access Tech supports!
https://sites.google.com/sbschools.net/sbsdedtechforstudentsfamilies/home
Rick Marcotte Central School
Email: kkilbourne@sbschools.net
Website: sbschools.net
Location: 200 Market Street, South Burlington, VT, USA
Phone: 802 652 7200
Twitter: @rmcschool