On December 18, 2024, Barre City Middle School performed their Winter Concert.

Join BUUSD Special Services Administrators to learn more about:

- Evaluations and Assessment
- Systems Development
- Special Services Vision
- Service Delivery

Presenters: Dr. Melody Frank, Laurie Smith, Jesse Schattin, & Rebekah Mortensen

When: Monday, January 27
Time: 6 - 7:30pm
Introductions, Presentation, Q&A
Where: Barre Town School Library
Online Google Meet:
meet.google.com/crf-cxhx-sgw?
Or dial: (US) +1929-329-2361 PIN: 923 987 601#
More phone numbers:
tel.meet/crf-cxhx-sgw?
pin=6793688178483

For our Q&A, please fill out this form, to pre-submit questions. We will prioritize these questions, before taking additional questions during the forum. 

If you need interpretation, please RSVP by 1/20/25, by contacting mfranbsu@buusd.org, so we can secure interpreter services.

On November 15, BTMES Middle School Drama Club put on a Skit Night to raise funds for their spring show. What a splendid evening!

BCEMS students performed in a talent show on Thursday, October 24, 2024.

BCEMS 1st graders learn how composting works with John Jose from Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District (CVSWMD).

By Frances Hodgson Burnett
Adapted and directed by Mr. Adam Jacobs

We have had a wonderful Teacher/Staff Appreciation week! Our school board has supported and sponsored Appreciation Breakfasts all week at each of our schools, and it was a terrific opportunity for many of our board members to connect with the people who work with our students every day. These breakfasts were well attended and greatly appreciated by all!

As I was enjoying breakfast on Wednesday morning at BTMES with a group of teachers, I got to join a wonderful conversation with 7th grade teacher Darby Heibert and some of her colleagues about Edgar Allen Poe and how she is introducing his works to her students.  BUUSD Director of Curriculum Karen Fredericks joined Darby and her students yesterday to see what's going on, and you can see here how incredibly engaging and fun this work has been after hearing from her and her students!

This work is typical of what is happening in all of our schools. We have much to be proud of!

With this pride in mind, I want to remind the community that our FY25 Budget Revote is next Tuesday, May 14. Everything you need to know about the budget, from the basics to deep details, can be found on our website here: BUUSD Budget Page

We think the link to Frequently Asked Questions is particularly helpful! Please remember to cast your ballot and spread the word to your friends and neighbors to remind them to do the same!

Have a great weekend, and Happy Spring!

I just visited the SHS Interact Club on this beautiful "spring" day, and Interact Club Advisor Margo Austin and her students have the latest update on the annual Tree Plenish project. From Margo:

The Interact Club is hosting Tree Plenish for the 3rd year in a row. Our goal is to offset Spaulding's annual carbon emissions by planting 1,000 trees. This year's options are: Red Maple, Eastern Redbud, and Yellow Poplar. Trees will be available for pickup or have them planted by students at your home on Sunday, May 5th. Order your trees by April 5th. We have 300 FREE trees remaining, after that saplings are just $5. Contact Margo Austin at maustshs@buusd.org with any questions! The link:

ORDER TREES!

Supporting the SHS Tree Plenish project is a terrific way to support our students as they try to reduce our school's carbon footprint, and it's free! Reach out to Margo at: maustshs@buusd.org if you have any questions.

We wanted to share a fun visit that Zero the Hero had with BCEMS kindergarteners this past Monday, the 100th day of school!  BCEMS Principal Brenda Waterhouse, BC Kindergarten teacher Allyson Healey, and the whole K team celebrated the 100th day with all of the students by working on their numeracy skills with a real superhero!  Check out the celebration.

This annual event is a fun and engaging way to make math connections for our students that the whole community looks forward to every year.  The kids absolutely loved it!

We also wanted to share this update:

Plans for April 8 Total Solar Eclipse

As most people are aware, central Vermont is going to be a popular part of the earth on April 8.  There will be a very rare total solar eclipse that day, and our part of the world will be a perfect place to see it!

Here is an excellent description of the event from UVM's Space Grant Consortium: 

Total Solar Eclipse

The timing for the event is not good for our school day unfortunately, with the prime time for viewing taking place right at dismissal.  Due to this timing, we will be joining most other districts in the region in holding an Early Release day for all students and staff on Monday, April 8.  A few other details for the BTMES and BCEMS communities:

* March 27 was a scheduled Early Release Day, but it will now be a regular day for all.

* April 11 will remain on the calendar for Parent/Teacher conferences.

Let's hope for a clear day for Vermont in early April so we can all experience this once in a lifetime event!

One of the key goals of our FY25 budget is increased access to alternative programming for some of our most at risk K-8 students at BCEMS and BTMES.  Our Spaulding Educational Alternatives (SEA) program has provided a wonderful option for SHS students the last three years, and we are really in need of providing more options for our younger students too.  You are about to meet two soon-to-be graduates of the Class of 2024 who have benefited from their relationships with SEA Director Reed McCracken, the SEA staff, and all the program has to offer.

These two young men are huge success stories!  Many of our younger students could benefit from a similarly flexible and individualized learning environment that these students have enjoyed in their high school years - we believe this will make a huge different in many students' lives and the BCEMS and BTMES school communities.

If you have any questions about SEA, our plans for K-8 alternatives, or anything else, please reach out.

This short video helps explain how education taxes are calculated.

This short video helps to explain and give background about the terms that are used when calculating education taxes.

We have two updates for you this afternoon…

SHS Voting Expo!

The first is an exciting School Showcase focusing on the SHS Student Council and Interact Club that we covered this afternoon. We got to see SHS students engage in a Voting Expo where they had a chance to vote on eight different youth-led projects in order to decide which would get funding. The funding for this project is coming from a $40,000 grant by the Department of Education, Senator Sanders, and Vermont Afterschool. The SHS Student Council have taken the lead in surveying their peers, brainstorming solutions, and creating proposals and presentations. Now they get to use ranked choice voting and the democratic voting process to prioritize the projects. Again, very exciting! Please check out this brief video to see more.

Let's Learn About Education Finance and Taxes!

I'd also like to share these two brief but helpful slide presentations with you. These presentations will hopefully give everyone in the community a quick lesson on all of the education finance terms in Vermont and how all of this impacts our taxes. This was a collaborative effort of other districts in the region, and there has been a big effort here to simplify the very complex education finance system in Vermont. We would welcome your feedback. As we said last week, more details on the BUUSD FY25 budget will be coming in the weeks ahead, and understanding this information will be very helpful in keeping us all informed. Check the presentations out at buusd.org/budget and look for the following:

Let’s Learn About: Education Finance Terms
Let’s Learn About: Education Taxes

Finally, we will be conducting a Budget Information Night next Thursday, February 1 at 6:00 in the SHS library. There will be a virtual option for folks who can't make it in person. We look forward to summarizing all of the budget information shared so far, and answering your questions.

For this week's showcase, we spent Wednesday afternoon with the students and staff at Spaulding High School experiencing and learning about Enriching Wednesdays.  New SHS Assistant Principal Becky Busker, SHS Instructional Coach Mya Violette, and many others have been hard at work this fall creating a new approach to building community and providing many different opportunities to support our students' success.  Take a look at some of the highlights of our visit.

It was a great experience listening to students share how well these Wednesday afternoons are working for them!  You will notice here that the goal of Enriching Wednesdays is to support students academically as well as emotionally.  One primary option is to provide a "call back" for students who need support in their classes; teachers can call back students, and students can also ask to be called back.  We saw both focused study groups and specific courses where students were getting small group or 1:1 support.

Those who are not called back can pick from a wide variety of enrichment options that are both student and staff generated based on mutual interest.  Everything is about building strong relationships, and I got to see students see their teachers (and each other) in a different, non-academic setting having great fun together.

This program is still at the beginning stages of development and the SHS team is working incredibly hard with the logistics, but I was very impressed to see how far things have come in just the first quarter of the year!  I think you'll be impressed too.

Thank you for reading, and we hope you have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving break with your loved ones.