Announcements 12-7-2021

IMPORTANT DATES DECEMBER Vaccine clinic for children.   Tuesday, December 7th.  Location: St. Albans City School. Details lower down in the announcements. A second vaccine clinic is planned for January 4th. MRUSD Board Meeting Wednesday, December 15th. 6:00 - 9:00 PM. Zoom Meeting Only. Community Conversation Link to Flyer Thursday, December 16th. 5:00 to 7:00 PM. Location: Collins Perley Sports & Fitness Center. 890 Fairfax Road St. Albans Bottle Drive for Homeless Saturday, December 18th. 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Location: Front Steps of our School Winter Break - No School Thursday, December 23rd - Friday, December 31st, 2021.  JANUARY MRUSD Board Meeting Wednesday, January 5th. 6:00 - 9:00 PM. Zoom Meeting Only. Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No School Monday, January 17th.  Inservice - No School Tuesday, January 18th.  MRUSD Board Meeting Wednesday, January 19th. 6:00 - 9:00 PM. Zoom Meeting Only.

VACCINE CLINIC TUESDAY DECEMBER 7th The clinic for students 5-11 years old will be at St. Albans City School on December 7th from 8:00am-2:00pm. It will be held in the large gym. Parents can attend with their child, or completely set up their child online and we will support the child at school to get to the clinic. There are only 200 doses, and to get a dose a child must be registered using the state site (See links to the state site below). This clinic is run by the Department of Health and the school is supporting the clinic by letting them use our facility and facilitating the process by getting students there once they are scheduled and registered online by their parents. If parents want to be there with their children, they should enter by the gym doors at the time of their child's scheduled appointment. Tips for making a covid appointment Read before registering your student Register student for a vaccination appointment

PICTURES DREAMERS - RANKIN, DEDELL Ms. Rankin brought the makerspace bot to visit the PreK students in Ms. DeDell’s classroom. December is the month of code and all grades are exposed to computer and coding concepts. TRIUMPH FOUR-CORNER BOWLING - JARVIS Ms. Jarvis introduced students to a bowling game that had them running around eagerly during their PE class time. The group was divided into four groups with 10 pins each to protect. They used foam balls to bowl and knock down other team’s pins. Any pins they hit could be collected and brought back to their own corner. It was an effective and friendly competition. Unfortunately, the pictures don’t quite do the bowling game justice. Link to 19 Photos. ADVENTURERS SHARING WORK - FARRELL, QUINN Once students had finished their illustrated writing pieces, Ms. Quinn selected two kids to come to the front of the class and showcase their work. The presenters, in turn, could select two students from the classroom to ask questions about their document and art. Link to 8 Pictures. IMAGINATION 3RD GRADE WRITING - JOHNSON Students were photographed while diligently writing. Link to 30 Pictures. NAVIGATORS KINDERGARTEN STEAM CLASS - RANKIN, LAWYER Ms. Rankin came into the class to talk about robots. The discussion closed with students coloring paper robots and making headbands to wear their robots for all to see. Link to 12 Pictures. TRAVELERS 1ST GRADE TAG - WIGHT Ms. Wight brought out the huge but lightweight Omnikin balls to play tag with students. She started with one ball and chased the students around the little gym to tag them out. Then she had three students, or combination of students and staff, chase each other around the gym with the balls. The kids had great fun while they were getting some vigorous exercise.  Link to 11 Pictures.

Operation Happiness Organized by students on Team Renaissance COLLECTION UPDATE  We are at 1181 food items! That’s 181 over our original goal. We are still keeping track of our food item number, so let’s see how many food items we can get! Gold: How much over we are Purple: how far we are from 2000 food items

BOTTLE DRIVE TO SUPPORT HOMELESS PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY I am a student at St. Albans City School and will again be managing a bottle drive for the homeless. We will not be doing care packages like we did last year, but instead will be donating money to four different organizations. Most of the proceeds will go to the Samaritan House which is a living space for unhoused people. We will also be donating to Martha’s Kitchen which is a local soup kitchen. They offer food to the people who cannot afford it. We will also be donating to the Swanton Food Shelf. The last organization we will be donating to is CVOEO which is a food shelf for families.  The bottle drive this year will be on Saturday, December 18, 2021. We will be located at the front of the school from 11 am- 4 pm. Last year we had a great turnout and raised right over $3,000. WCAX and the Messenger did stories about the bottle drive. The bottles would be preferred clean and brought in trash bags. We take cans, glass bottles, and plastic. The only times to donate bottles will be on the day of the bottle drive. We are hoping for another amazing turnout. Thank you for all of the donations and all of the support from the St.Albans community.  Student - Annabelle Peak ampeak@maplerun.org

THIS IS A SUPER FUN ACTIVITY - WELL WORTH TRYING Artificial intelligence is an important and emerging field in computer science. Try out this quick Google artificial intelligence training application to get an idea of how computers are trained to identify drawings. This drawing game can be played as a whole class (with one person trying the drawings at a time on the smartboard, or individuals can play on their Chromebooks too!) Google Quick Draw You can learn more about how this artificial intelligence works here.

BOOKS FOR MONTH OF CODE Coding is about creativity, self-expression, and telling your story. It's solving problems and being curious, building things, making the world a better place, and creating a future. It's about you: whoever you are, wherever you're at, whatever you want.  Nearly everything you encounter on a screen is made from code. You see, with code you can have an idea and put it into action: it's your voice and your vision. From the outside, tech and code may seem puzzling and mysterious, but when you get through the door and past the first few beginner steps and your code starts to work, it feels like magic.

WINTER SPORTS PRACTICE SCHEDULE Complete Practice Schedules can be found on the St. Albans City School Athletics Webpage at https://sites.google.com/maplerun.org/sacs-athletics/home. Volleyball Practice will begin in late February. Times TBD. -Robbie Maher rmaher@maplerun.org Link to COVID-19 guidelines for Winter Sports Vaccines Masks Spectators Locker-Rooms

JAY PEAK SEASON’S PASS We will have a limited number of Jay Peak Season’s Passes for students in grades 6-8. These will be useful for families that ski. Equipment rentals and transportation to and from the mountain are not included (although equipment rentals are discounted). Yet, for students that will have access to use this pass, we want to make it available. Any student that would like to have access to a pass and feels they will be able to make use of it, please write a letter of request to Mr. Craib and explain how you are a Safe, Achieving, Caring member of our school community. Mr. Craib will create the list that goes to Jay Peak. The deadline for letters of request is December 9th.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION  Thursday, December 16, 5 - 7 pm at the Collins Perley Sports & Fitness Center 890 Fairfax Road St. Albans. Link to this Flyer

WEATHER TODAY WEATHER OVER THE NEXT THREE DAYS

MEALS Link to the Abbey Website with menus BREAKFAST MENU MON 6th TUE 7th WED 8th THU 9th FRI 10th Bagel w/ Cream Cheese Iced Breakfast Bun Assorted Fresh, Dried or Canned Fruit Milk Variety Bagel w/ Cream Cheese Homemade Blueberry Muffin Assorted Fresh, Dried or Canned Fruit Milk Variety Bagel w/ Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Breakfast Round IW Assorted Fresh, Dried or Canned Fruit Milk Variety Bagel w/ Cream Cheese Blueberry Nutri Grain Bar Mozzarella String Cheese Assorted Fresh, Dried or Canned Fruit Milk Variety Bagel w/ Cream Cheese Asst. WG Cereal w/Animal Crackers Assorted Fresh, Dried or Canned Fruit Milk Variety LUNCH MENU MON 6th TUE 7th WED 8th THU 9th FRI 10th 6 Meatball Sub (Beef Meatballs on a Bun) Maple Baked Beans Garden Pasta Salad Bagel Yogurt Fun Meal Sunbutter & Jelly Sandwich w/ Cheesestick Cheese Pizza Fresh Carrot Sticks Fresh Cucumber Sticks General Tso Chicken Steamed Broccoli Steamed Carrots Rice Pilaf Deli Egg Salad Sandwich Sunbutter & Jelly Sandwich w/ Cheesestick Cheese Pizza Fresh Carrot Sticks Fresh Cucumber Sticks Homemade Shepherd's Pie Steamed Corn Steamed Green Peas Homemade Dinner Roll Grab & Go Chicken Caesar Salad Sunbutter & Jelly Sandwich w/ Cheesestick Cheese Pizza Fresh Celery Sticks Fresh Carrot Sticks Oven Roasted Turkey Chef's Mashed Potato Turkey Gravy Seasoned Green Beans Homemade Dinner Roll Homemade VT Cranberry Sauce Deli Buffalo Chicken Wrap Sunbutter & Jelly Sandwich w/ Cheesestick Cheese Pizza Fresh Cucumber Sticks Fresh Carrot Sticks Hearty Macaroni & Cheese Garlic Roasted Butternut Squash Steamed Carrots Deli Ham & Cheese Sandwich Sunbutter & Jelly Sandwich w/ Cheesestick Cheese Pizza Fresh Carrot Sticks Fresh Cucumber Sticks Please advise us if special meal accommodations are required for allergens or other special dietary needs.

BIRTHDAYS FOR DECEMBER 6TH - 12TH. STUDENT FIRST NAME LAST NAME Oliver McGrath Kaiden LaVallee Arianna Gleason Jeremiah Prim Aubree Bohannon Keenan McRae Parker Cook Eva Phillips Aubriella Jones Nathaniel Pinkham Amora Byrne Aubrey Silloway Oliver Gagne Coraline Kuhns Diva Yandow STAFF FIRST NAME LAST NAME Ms. Wendy Trainer If your name is missing, please email mcraib@maplerun.org to have the addition made.

QUESTIONS ABOUT COVID VACCINATIONS FOR CHILDREN? The following is a link to zoom meetings for Parents to have conversations about COVID 19 Vaccinations for children.  It is sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics.   http://www.aapvt.org/news/join-us-conversation-about-covid-19-vaccines-children

The Test to Stay Program (Link to FAQs) Who: Unvaccinated, asymptomatic students who have been exposed to COVID at school. Where: Starting Wednesday 11/3, testing will be conducted behind the district central office (28 Catherine St.), on Market St. in St. Albans.  When: 6:30-7:30am on weekdays only How to participate: 1. Fill out the consent form:  2. Fill out the Simple Reports Link  3. Wait for a notification that your student is a close contact. 4. Go to the testing site for the remainder of your 7 day quarantine window (not including weekends)-refer to the dates provided to you by the school. If your student receives: A negative result: they can return to school for that day, and continue to quarantine outside of school. Please realize that you must test each morning to attend that day. A positive result: they have tested positive for COVID and must quarantine. You will be contacted with next steps about testing and your quarantine timeline. All students (positive or negative results) must continue to quarantine outside of school. If your child develops symptoms at any point, inform the school, seek a PCR test right away and keep your child at home and away from others.

COVID 19 PRECAUTIONS Stay home if:  You are sick, or exhibit any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19:  Fever (100.4), cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose, lack of smell/taste, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, muscle aches, headache You are currently in quarantine or believe to have been in close contact with a person positive with COVID-19 If you are waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test When in doubt, keep your student home and give us a call in the nurse's office with questions. 802-527-0565 #3 on the main menu Your student may be sent home due to symptoms associated with the Vt Department of Health guidance related to COVID-19 that is used statewide. Please provide SACS with any updated phone numbers throughout the year for ease of communication. Returning to school after symptom(s) If symptoms last 24 hrs or more, a negative COVID test, alternative diagnosis from the physician or quarantine for 10 days is required If symptoms last less than 24 hrs, remain home until an additional 24 hrs have passed since the symptom(s) resolved. Feel free to email or call the Nurses with questions.

NEED TO UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION?   Have you recently moved or changed your phone number? Please be sure and update your student's information that we have on file. To update, let us know by calling the school at 802-527-0565 and we will send you a new verification form. Please remember to sign the form so that we can make the change in our system.

Educational Support Personnel Jobs Open at St. Albans City School If you love working with kids and need a job with benefits during school hours (7:25am to 2:55pm) then please consider applying to join the staff at St. Albans City School. We have openings for people who are good at collaborating with team members and who enjoy children. An ability to support students in feeling that they belong and are held accountable is what we are looking for in our staff. We will help you with the paperwork involved in becoming employed.  Contact Stacie Rouleau at srouleau@maplerun.org or call 527-0565 ext 3799 Substitute Teacher Employment Not sure if five days a week is right for you?  Consider adding your name to our substitute list.  Although there are no benefits associated with this position, you do get to choose when and how often you would like to work. Contact Jen Seymour at 527-0565, ext. 3736 and she can walk you through the process.