Announcements 3-31-2020

TUESDAY, MARCH 31st

UPDATES FROM STUDENTS AND TEACHERS Here are images and stories sent in by families and staff over recent days. A HEARTWARMING VIDEO AND MESSAGE OF SUPPORT LINK TO VIDEO SIDEWALK JOY Here is a student brightening up our city sidewalks for those out walking while getting some much needed fresh air! PIZZA DOUGH This is a St. Albans City School student making pizza dough, combining movement and exploration. HOME WORKSPACE Check out this learning-from-home workspace set up by a Discovery student. With a Chromebook, papers from school, reading books, and pencils, it’s a wonderful place to focus on a little bit of learning from home. Anyone can do this, because all you need is a good place to sit and as many or as few of whatever learning materials you want. Try setting up a positive learning space of your own!  P.S. Nice work on the latest piece from “art class” in the corner! SCIENCE AND ART Mixing colors to identify other colors! DINING TABLE WORK Check out these images of some of your classmates working on various school-related tasks. BACK YARD EXPLORATION Ms. Culligan's first-grade student had fun searching for worms in her back yard after the rain.  FRONT AND BACK YARD SIGNS OF SPRING These photographs came from Mrs. Wade's yard. It has been a long winter and it is exciting to see some of the first signs of Spring. 3-28-2020. There may be some of these plants in your yard too. CROCUS In many regions, crocus flowers (Crocus spp.) mark the arrival of spring. These early bloomers can often be seen peeking up through the snow well before any other flowers appear on the landscape. They grow in a range of conditions, including woodlands, coastal gardens, and suburban lawns. Crocuses are low-growing, clump-forming perennial plants from the iris (Iridaceae) family. Bloom colors on the tube-shaped flowers include mauve, lavender, and yellow. There are more than 80 crocus species, but most of the bulbs available are hybrids. Link to reference SNOW DROPS As the name suggests, snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) are one of the first of all spring flowers to bloom; depending on region, they appear in February and March, often while snow still blankets the ground. This low-growing plant tolerates partial shade to full sun, a variety of soil types, and requires almost no maintenance. It is toxic to animals and humans, but where this is not a concern, it offers the benefit of being virtually immune to feeding by deer and other wildlife. Link to reference SCHOOL WORK, EXERCISE AND CHORES Science project. Growing crystals. Outside “gym” time Chores - Raking leaves RAIDER PRIDE Some teachers are confirming our sense of connection as a large school family by wearing Raiders clothing.  You are welcome to send in your own pictures of you wearing blue and white clothing to celebrate belonging to the larger St. Albans City School family. CONNECTIONS THROUGH TWIN PHOTOS One of the surprising things that happened this school year was the daily submission of one or more "twins" pictures to the announcements. This phenomenon meant that students and staff were taking note of shared commonalities with each other. It was a fun way of connecting. Check out this LINK TO MANY OF THE TWINS PHOTOS we got to see on the announcements this year. FIND THE STUFFED ANIMAL CHALLENGE Mrs. Biggie and other community members are putting a teddy bear or other stuffed animal in their windows or front doors so when parents take their kids out for a ride they can look for them and see how many they can find. Mrs. Biggie says it will be a safe and fun activity for the kids and will help with their counting skills. Hopefully, more people will participate. Kids can also participate by finding a bear or other stuffed animal (with Easter coming a bunny would be good) to hang on their door or window. Pictures for the announcements are welcome. CONTENT WANTED St. Albans City School families and staff members, if you have anything positive to share on the announcements that show what students and adults are doing to promote learning and a sense of community in this time of uncertainty, then please send it on to Mr. Craib at mcraib@maplerun.org. Please add a short descriptive note to go with your content. It would also be helpful if you wrote that you are providing consent to share your images, video clips, artwork, etc... Thank you.

UPDATED MEALS INFORMATION Meal delivery and pickup will now occur on Mondays and Thursdays. Times listed below. The pickup sites are at St. Albans City School and BFA LINK TO DOWNLOADABLE VERSION OF THE FLYER

INTERNET ACCESS FOR VERMONT FAMILIES From our district technology staff... Below are a couple of different resources that are from companies providing free internet access for households without internet. LINK TO COMCAST, CONSOLIDATED COMMUNICATIONS, and CHARTER-SPECTRUM information. Xfinity WiFi Free For Everyone: Xfinity WiFi hotspots across the country will be available to anyone who needs them for free – including non-Xfinity Internet subscribers. For a map of Xfinity WiFi hotspots, visit www.xfinity.com/wifi. Once at a hotspot, consumers should select the “xfinitywifi” network name in the list of available hotspots and then launch a browser.