Education section
BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The BUHS Teacher Curriculum Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, October 21 in the Cusick Conference Room.
The BUHS #6 Finance Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 23, 2013 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street.
September 4, 2013
To The Brattleboro Town School Board:
I write today to express my dismay at what I have witnessed in the Brattleboro Town Schools lately, particularly in the last three years.
Our town, and the district as a whole, has chosen a path that I believe is stifling the desires of both teachers and students to analyze, reflect, create and explore. Adopting commercial programs (at no small expense) in an attempt to make learning “systematic” not only narrows the curriculum for students but also discourages thinking amongst teachers. The over-emphasis on “data points” from the recently-adopted ongoing assessment system has trumped existing classroom assessment systems that actually give deeper and more comprehensive information about individual students.
Recently, Kurn Hattin Homes Music Program Director, Lisa Bianconi received an exceptional phone call from the Grammy Foundation in Los Angeles. Lisa had been waiting for news since last May when she was notified that she was one of 217 quarterfinalists (from 30,000 nominations) for the Grammy Music Educator Award.
For the semifinals, she submitted a 500-word essay describing her educational philosophy, along with a video of testimonials from colleagues, volunteers, and others close to Lisa and the Kurn Hattin music program.
The phone call Lisa had been waiting for for several months was to notify her that after reviewing her materials, the judges had selected her as one of only 25 semifinalists for the award.
BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The BUHS Planning and Policy Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, October 7 in the Cusick Conference Room.
The BUHS Teacher Curriculum Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, October 7 in the Cusick Conference Room.
The BUHS #6 Finance Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 9, 2013 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street.
PUTNEY, VERMONT: The Grammar School is excited to announce a new program open to all students in grades 2-8: The Power of Discovery, an after school STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) program. TGS invites young people to join innovative, project-based after school clubs led by talented mentors and coaches.
The Power of Discovery will offer sixteen weeks of after school club activities from late October through February, open to all children. The after school clubs will focus on developing skills and interest in STEM areas as well as creative and critical approaches to problem solving. The program will offer young people a fun, safe environment to apply concepts learned during the school day and allow children to take risks through trial and error problem solving in collaborative, team settings.
The Windham Regional Career Center at Brattleboro Union High School is pleased to announce their Community Education and Training Programs for this fall. Betsy Gentile, Workforce Development Manager and Adult Education Coordinator has developed 15 community education and training programs to meet the needs of area employers and their employees as well as providing personal and professional enrichment opportunities for all community members.
Come experience an exciting approach to second language acquisition. Escuelita Spanish School’s courses make learning Spanish feel effortless, fun, and truly effective. Many people have had frustrating experiences learning a second language. The way we were taught in school might have taught us the rules of the language but, in most cases, did not teach us to speak. Escuelita’s approach is based on brain and language acquisition research and it gets students understanding and speaking the language quickly and with a lot of laughter and fun along the way.
This year, Brattleboro’s schoolchildren and their teachers will be working within the new national curriculum, known by most as Common Core. The Common Core Curriculum, or CCSS, has been adopted by 46 states, Vermont among them. It will replace the regional and state curriculums now in place, and usher in a new era of standards-driven education aimed at creating graduates who are ready for “the global economy.”
What is this thing called Common Core, who created it, what are its goals, and why are so many people, including and especially teachers and parents, against it?
“Spanish Together” classes are a great way to learn Spanish with your child. As a result of so many parents wishing that they could enroll in Spanish classes with their children, we’ve designed a class for children ages birth-5 and their parents!
Class is comprised of songs, movement, gestures, and music from Latin America.
It’s never too early (or too late) to start learning Spanish!
Lisa Bianconi, Music Director at Kurn Hattin Homes for Children, has been chosen as one of 25 semifinalists from across the U.S. for the first-ever Music Educator Award presented by the Grammy Foundation® and the Recording Academy®. The 25 semifinalists, music teachers from 24 cities across 15 states were officially announced on September 11. In total, more than 30,000 initial nominations were submitted from all 50 states. Bianconi is the only nominee from New England to make it to the semifinals.
Added Class times and Enrollment news!
Monday Jazz Vocal Class almost full – 1 slot left! Still Will consider a Tuesday evening class if there is enough interest
Added Ensemble Classes for Saturday – at 11:45am – Bop Ensemble! Compositions to be chosen from the Sonny Rollins, Clifford Brown, Charlie Parker and Similar Book!
Added Ensemble Class – Saturday 1:30pm – Beyond Ensemble – Limited Space – Piano, Drums and other considered
Sign up for these and other classes:
Wednesday Jazz Ensemble – 5 pm – drums, piano and other instruments still needed
Thursday Vocal Technique – 5 pm – Sign up now! With Ken and Julie Olsson – Group Vocal Lesson
Guitar Ensemble – email for details!
BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The BAMS Committee will meet at 7:45 a.m. on Monday, September 16 in the BAMS Conference Room.
The BUHS Teacher Curriculum Committee will meet at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, September 16 in the Cusick Conference Room.
The BUHS #6 Finance Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 25, 2013 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street.
Bun-RangGaeilge
(Beginning Irish Language Class)
ag tosúi mBrattleboro
(starting in Brattleboro)
An bhfuil sinsir Éireannach agat?
Do you have Irish ancestors?
An breá leat teangacha?
Do you love languages?
Get on Board Windham County is a community-based Board Fellows program that provides networking and skills development for young professionals while building the capacity of local nonprofits. Applications for Fellows (aged 22-44 years old) and Nonprofits are due September 15. To learn more, visit gs.marlboro.edu/boards.
Join an info session on Monday 8/26, 12-1 pm at the Grad School or Thursday 9/5, 5-6 pm at the Latchis Theater. All welcome; please RSVP at marlboro-nonprofit.eventbrite.com.
This innovative program is a partnership of Marlboro College with Latchis Arts, SeVEDS, United Way of Windham County and Youth Services.
BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The BUHS #6 Finance Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street.
NOTICE OF MEETING
The BUHS #6 Board of Directors will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 19 in the WRCC Cusick Conference Room. PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF TIME
School test results are in and again this year, not one of our five public schools made “Adequate Yearly Progress” under the federal definition of that term. To make matters worse, all five, including Oak Grove Elementary, which was only in the Improvement phase last year, are in some form of corrective action. For perspective, ours were among the 73% of other Vermont schools in the same boat, roughly the same as last year. What is going on?
In an effort to get a handle on both the Brattleboro public school system and public education generally, it was necessary to view the problem from all angles. It all starts with a change in federal education policy via the Bush-era education act, No Child Left Behind, which mandated frequent testing of school age children and something called “teacher accountability.” Obama’s Race To The Top program builds on No Child by adding incentives (some would call them bribes) to teachers whose students perform well on standardized tests. There’s also federal education funding at stake, in the form of grants, that are distributed through the program to winning applicants.
Brattleboro’s public schools again fell afoul of the federally-mandated standardized testing program, with all schools failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress in at least one and in some cases all categories. A summary is below, but suffice to say, with regard to their filling in of ovals, our students are not measuring up to federal standards.
It’s hard to pick a winner this time. Schools that made Adequate Yearly Progress last year in one ore more categories — specifically Brattleboro Area Middle School (BAMS) and Brattleboro Union High School (BUHS) — did not do as well in 2013. BAMS, in particular, dropped in both Math and Reading this year. BUHS dropped in Reading.
MONTPELIER – New England Kurn Hattin Homes for Children joined an elite group of nationally certified HeathierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) schools. These schools are committed to promoting healthy lifestyle
choices and creating a wholesome school environment.
Sponsored by USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), HUSSC is a voluntary national certification initiative for schools participating in the National School Lunch Program. It supports First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign by recognizing schools that are creating healthier school environments by promoting nutrition and physical activity.
BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The BUHS #6 Finance Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 24, 2013 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street.
NOTICE OF MEETING
The BUHS #6 Board of Directors will meet at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, July 15 in the WRCC Cusick Conference Room.
Many of us had frustrating experiences “learning” a foreign language in school. We were taught the grammar rules before we could speak and understand the language, and after several years of study we could conjugate verbs but couldn’t hold a conversation. Escuelita’s classes use current brain and language acquisition research to create classes that allow our students to truly acquire the language faster than they imagined possible. Our classes are not only effective– they are extremely fun. Every class is different because they are completely personalized to the students in the group. Together, the class co-creates stories and wacky situations (ever notice how it is the strange/funny details that stick in your brain?)– entirely in 100% comprehensible Spanish!
