Happy February! But where is the snow?!? It's not spring yet!
Be sure to check out the events for the whole year. There may be more to come (and some details might change), but we'll keep you updated!
THIS MONTH...
Bolton Ski and Ride, February 14. There will be five trips on Wednesdays beginning February 14. Questions? Michael Krasnow (802-425-3997). And read about him in Seven Days!
Community Connection Series Part 3, February 15, 6:30-7:30 in the CCS Library: The third in a four-part series designed to foster connections between our students’ caregivers and school, this meeting will focus on mental health. Like the first two, it will be Q&A style. Please send your grade rep or Damaris Herlihy your questions by February 12. You may listen in only by GoogleMeet. ... If you missed it, read notes from Part 1 here (with special guests Jen Roth and Amanda Riggleman) and Part 2 here (with special guests Rene Sanchez, Meghan Metzler, and Meghan Siket).
Staff lunch, February 16. Our third Staff lunch of the year is Friday, February 16th! We want to offer a cozy meal to thank the staff for all their hard work this year—soup/stews, salads, and rolls. It's sponsored by parents of kids in k-14. Please take a look at the sign up slots. Thank you!! And a huge thank you to Chantal Pilon for always organizing these lunches. Teachers love them and they're a fairly easy way for caregivers to give their thanks to teachers.
Charlotte's East and West Villages Project. You may have heard that the town is embarking on a collaborative, community-led planning and design project for Charlotte’s East and West Villages. With funding partners from the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, and Vermont-based planning and engineering consultants DuBois & King, the town will build on our Town Plan, the ongoing Community Heart and Soul process, and resident input to shape a clear and supported vision for safe, healthy, thriving, and connected Villages. As the town moves through this Villages project, they would like to hear from YOU! Please respond to this survey. Your responses are confidential. Most respondents so far are over the age of 60, so they'd really like to hear from parents of younger children!
CCS Board Membership 2024-2025. You’re already a CCS PTO member, so take the next step and be an ACTIVE member! And for those inclined, we're actively looking to find new leadership for the next school year. Reach out to Jen Banbury and Damaris Herlihy to find out more!
Amazon Wishlists! The CCS community would love to give back directly to CCS teachers. Consider a donation directly to your child's teacher or another staff member! You may hear from your teacher directly with an amazon wishlist, but there are some teachers or staff you won't hear from because they are not the lead teacher for a specific class. We have collected the staff wishlists we have so far!
COMING IN HOT...
Town Voting Day, March 5. It will be important to all of our schools to vote in favor of the proposed school budget. Many incorrect rumors have been reported and shared. Now that the budget has finalized (since our Community Connection Meeting with our superintendent), the district has more concrete numbers to share and what the impact of a yes or no vote would be. Please check out the CVSD budget page and consider joining one of their meetings to learn more. We might even host another meeting in February. Stay tuned!
Math Night, March 27. Stay tuned for more details!
The PTO Board of Director's meeting, March 28. For regular PTO business meetings, the PTO Board of Directors will meet on the last Thursday of every other month by google meet. We encourage anyone to join us! We will discuss the PTO's financial status; we'll review events; we’ll discuss volunteer opportunities; and we’ll discuss new event and fundraising opportunities. The January summary is available here. The November meeting notes are available here. The September meeting notes are available here.
Lake Monsters Game, June 6! Stay tuned for more details!
Volunteer Needs: If you'd like to be involved with some upcoming events, here are a few important ones coming up. Stay tuned for more detailed information on all sorts of volunteer opportunities. Contact Jen Roth for the Spring Musical production/parent coordination (it will only happen if we have volunteers!). For Lunch/Recess monitors, contact Amanda Riggleman. For one-on-one student mentoring, contact Kate Rooney. Contact Naomi Strada for substitute teaching. For all volunteering, please contact Genevieve Trono.
Omega (grade 7 and 8): Science teacher Andrew Lounsbury is looking for parents of 7th and 8th graders who are interested in coming into the classroom to talk about what they do. He's very open to working with family members to create a really cool learning experience for the students. Here is the 7/8th Grade Unit Overview. Even if the parents' science field is not quite the same as the unit, there are still ways I can integrate what they do into my lessons. If you are interested in helping out in those areas, please add your name along with your area of expertise to this spreadsheet. We're pumped to see ways in which you & the teacher will make a connection between the science lesson and your talents and skills. All volunteers would need to be at least CORI'd (see the Caregiver Volunteer Requirements).
JANUARY WRAP UP
The PTO Board of Director's meeting, January 25th. Check out the summary is available here!
Student Directory. The directory is out! We'd like to give a huge THANK YOU! to full-time-working-mom-extraordinaire Kristin Hamilton for putting the directory together. We are so grateful to her! While the CCS PTO funds the printing of the directory, we couldn't do this without her. Thank you, Kristin!!!!
THINGS TO ALWAYS REMEMBER...
Please consider making a donation to the CCS PTO. The PTO's mission is to support the school community by providing the means to enrich the learning experience of faculty, staff, and students at CCS. To that end, we gave out $5,000 in grants to teachers this fall; we have a second grant cycle in the Spring. We pay for equipment such as sleds, musical instruments, art supplies, STEM learning kits, sports uniforms, theater sets, recess equipment, and more. We have an EMERGENCY FUND that provides support when members of the community need a little help during lean times (please see the next bullet for more info!). We host and fund beloved community events like STEM Night, Math Night, and the Fun Run. We've been running fingerprinting drives to cover the costs of background checks so parents/caregivers can volunteer in the school; we are working toward connecting volunteers with opportunities. The PTO is a nonprofit, so your donations are tax deductible. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND DONATE.
DON'T FORGET! $25 GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE TO CCS FAMILIES: The PTO Emergency Fund is there to provide support when members of the community need a little help during lean times—at any time of year. If you could use a $25 gift card to places like Healthy Living, Hannafords, Healthy Living, Target, or elsewhere, please reach out to School Counselor Betsy Lloyd or 802-425-6691. No questions asked and totally anonymous! ... In order to keep this fund going, we need contributions. Please consider contributing to the Emergency Fund (scroll down)! We are grateful to Healthy Living (owned by a CCS family!) for donating cards directly to the school. The PTO purchases all other cards so all donations are appreciated!
Instagram and Facebook: Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. But we could use some help keeping it updated! Feel free to let us know if you're social-media savvy and interested in helping out a bit!
CCS Caregiver Volunteer Requirements. CCS and the PTO will continue to make efforts this year to increase volunteer opportunities—in both K-4 and 5-8. We encourage parents, grandparents, and all caregivers to go through the necessary process to become a volunteer. The CCS PTO has made it easier than ever to become a volunteer. Here is what you need to do. There are some changes that were just made as of October 17, 2023, so if you've already read this document, please check those changes (all in blue font). Most notably, be sure to reach out to Jessica with CVSD to check on your status.
CCS Garden: The school grounds has a beautiful garden. It is not affiliated with the PTO. It has been managed for many years by Deirdre Holmes, even after her daughters had moved on from CCS. Rodney Centeno (dad to a 7th grader and CVU sophomore) has graciously volunteered to step in as her replacement and to coordinate future volunteers from the community. If you would like to participate in the garden at some point in the future, please let Rodney know!
HELPFUL LINKS
If you have a hard time finding links when you need them, here are a few...
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, always feel free to reach out to us!
Best,
CCS PTO Co-Presidents Jen Banbury and Damaris Herlihy
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