Weekly Review August 17th, 2021
One Week To Go!
It's the greatest time of year! Back to School Time! Teachers have reported back to work and we are looking forward to seeing you next week. Since I last wrote to you some new Covid safety protocols have gone into place and I want to ensure everyone knows how arrival and dismissal is going to work this year. I will attempt to be brief in order to be clear. Please call or email if you have any questions--we're here for you and your child to support a smooth transition back to learning this fall! (Quick Tech Tip- On any of the documents below you want to enlarge click on the square with an arrow pointing out of it in the upper right hand corner--this will open the document by itself in a a new tab)
Covid Safety Protocols
Masks- All students, staff, and visitors will be required to wear a mask at all times while indoors, except while eating. Vaccination status does not matter in this rule. Students will need to wear masks for morning recess and at dismissal. Students will NOT need to wear masks when they are only within their pod AND outside.
During meal and snack times clear dividers will be used.
Bus- All students and adults on busses will need to wear masks at all times, failure to do so could result in bus write-ups and loss of privilege. You no longer need to be registered to ride the bus, but all students will have assigned seats.
Illness- students must stay home if they are sick. If they are experiencing Covid Symptoms you will need to work with the school nurse, Lisa Atkinson, and primary care doctor to determine return requirements.
In the event of exposure in the community or at school, the school will follow the Vermont Department of Health's quarantining recommendations.
We will limit the number of visitors in our buildings. Visitors will be allowed for educational purposes and pre-arranged meetings. Masks will be required if meeting inside. Parents/guardians will not be able to enter the buildings at drop off/pick up unless they have a scheduled meeting at those times.
Fall Open Houses will be postponed until further notice except for Kindergarten and PreK Open Houses on August 24th.
Arrival and Dismissal Times/Procedures
Goal: Our goal for arrival and departure procedure is to facilitate a safe transition between school and home. Overview: In order to accommodate a safe morning recess, we will have different processes for dropping off in the morning and picking up in the afternoon.
Arrival:
K-5 = 7:45-8:00 AM
K-5 students will be dropped off in the small loop in front of the school. Cars and busses will both pull up to the gate and drop students off where a staff member will greet them. Families may also choose to park in the municipal lot (next to the Coop) and walk their students to the gate. *IMPORTANT*- There is no staff member on duty before 7:45 AM. Do not drop your students off prior to 7:45 AM. There is also not enough space on Pine Street for people to arrive early for drop off. Please plan to arrive between 7:45-8:00 AM (Fingers crossed construction on Maple street is complete!).
All students will report to the playground for morning recess or go to the cafeteria for breakfast. At 8:00 AM the bell will ring and all students should report to class.
Anyone arriving after 8:05 AM will be considered tardy and will need to be signed in at the main office.
PRE-K Drop Off = 8:00-8:10 AM
PreK Drop off will occur in the back parking lot (by the garden, the Blue Hawk Door). Caregivers should park and walk children to the back door.
Dismissal:
PreK = 2:30 PM
PreK families should pick up their children by the front gate, parking in the front turn around or in the municipal lot, and walking up to the playground to sign them out.
K-5= 2:45- Busses, 2:47 Car riders, 2:55 Walkers and Bikers
Following a similar format as last year, students will be dismissed from two different locations around the school. Busses and cars will loop all the way around the school and stop at designated spaces where staff will escort students into their vehicles. K,1,4 will dismiss from the Blue Hawk Door, by the garden. 2,3,5 will dismiss from in front of the school, White River Door. On the first day of school all families will be given car tags to facilitate the speed of departure for everyone. As with the morning, please do not arrive before dismissal time, there is not enough space on Pine Street for cars to arrive early. All students must be picked up by 3:00 PM.
Click on the button above to access this year's Student and Family Handbook.
White River School Food Service Program
As if you needed another reason to be stoked about coming back to school...well, we have one anyway!
I'm excited to announce that the White River School Food Service Program is up and running. Chef Scott Bunzey will be dishing out scratch meals all year. We have a lot of fun things planned this year including taste samples, student-designed meal contest, garden to table, a tour of the world by food day each week, and so much more.
Click Below to see our first menu!
We'll be seeking your feedback as well as your child's feedback to see how we do on reaching our goal of:
"The WRS food program serves nutritious and delicious food that is accessible and appealing to all.
We hope to feed our WRS family with the best VT has to offer."
WRS_Aug_Breakfast.pdfWRS_Aug_Lunch.pdf
PTA Shout OUT!
Thank you for our new and improved sandbox...that has actual sand in it!
Shoutout to Wrights Sawmill for milling and donating the wood. Also to Tyler Courtemanche, Timberworks Custom Carpentry, for all his work on getting the wood sanded and putting it together.
Great local businesses donating their time and supplies to make this happen!
PTA plans to get us a few new toys to use this fall as well!
Bus Route Information
WRS 14 21-22.docWRS 14
WRS 15 21-22.doc