Packet can be found here: https://aptg.co/GQ0FkQ
A reminder that the OCSU PTCA will be hosting their annual Fall Festival on October 24th. We are still looking for individuals interested in hosting trick-or-treat tables. Please fill out this form if you’re interested, or share the form with anyone else who may be interested:
https://forms.gle/RcUjunEtKCvzMtxG8
More information is in the flyer. We hope to see everyone there!
Join the Barton Glover PTCA tomorrow at 5:30pm in the Barton Graded Cafeteria. Here's the agenda: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x8wXZzNjCvXUYzLRG1Z6KTscHDoV6YvsPnf1gfNs3Bs/edit?usp=sharing
LAKE REGION YOUTH BASKETBALL is hosting sign ups:
When: Saturday, October 17th from 2pm-5pm
Where: in front of the Orleans school
Who: children in grades K-6th from:
Brownington
Barton
Glover
Orleans
Albany
Irasburg
Westmore
Sign up forms will be sent home with district students this week. Please DO NOT return forms to your students' school.
For any and all questions please email lakeregionyouthbasketball@gmail.com
Want to help? We are looking for volunteers to run tables or assist with setup and cleanup. It is a great way to join the fun and lend a helping hand. See the link below for more details.
https://forms.gle/Ck91uMDy5hiDLZEM6
the person showing unsafe behavior
students and staff impacted by the unsafe behavior
the school building and related property
Threat assessment is not an adversarial process; many threats are a cry for help. Having a team approach with a clear process allows for the safety of everyone involved. The process is designed to address, evaluate, and manage threatening behavior and troubling situations that may impact school safety. OCSU’s guide is based on best practices created by the U.S. Secret Service & U.S. Department of Education, and the need to follow these best practices are mandated by the Senate and House.
To learn more about behavioral threat assessment in OCSU, please visit this website. To report a potential incident please do one of the following:
Contact your school principal or the superintendent of schools (1-802-525-1204)
Email the team at: crisis@ocsu.org
Use our dedicated crisis form
Literacy mentorship means more reading, more conversation, more perspectives shared, and deeper connection across generations that ultimately lead to kids feeling a greater sense of understanding and belonging in this great big world. Literacy mentors are not tutors but friends who share books, games, and conversations with younger readers.
Natalie will be working hard to recruit qualified, adult volunteer mentors from the community who want to say yes to the privilege of getting to know your children better and being a trusted adult friend who can spend time connecting with them over books and conversation. Hopefully, there will be enough mentors so that every second-grader who wants one can have one, but there is a chance that some kids may have to wait as the site coordinator continues to recruit volunteers who then go through an extensive screening process first.
If you know someone who would make a great mentor, please tell them to reach out to the Barton site coordinator for Everybody Wins! Vermont, Natalie Hormilla Gordon, at barton@everybodywinsvermont.org.
Dear OCSU Families,
As we continue our Strong Start September, I want to share two important aspects of keeping our school communities safe: emergency preparedness and weather-related decisions. Each of our schools follows Vermont Agency of Education requirements and maintains an Emergency Operations Plan specific to its building and community. These plans address medical emergencies, severe weather, building security, evacuation, sheltering in place, and family reunification. We review our plans annually with local emergency responders and practice age-appropriate safety procedures with students and staff. Families will receive advance notification of scheduled safety drills. Our goal is to ensure that every student feels safe, supported, and ready to learn.
With the colder months approaching, I also want to share how we make decisions about school closings, delayed openings, and early dismissals. As you know, weather in the Northeast Kingdom can vary significantly from one town to another! To make weather related decisions, I typically begin at about 3:45 am to closely monitor forecasts and warnings for each one of our communities, looking at predicted conditions mile by mile and hour by hour. I also work closely with our transportation coordinator at Butler’s Bus Service, who gathers firsthand information from town road crews and bus drivers. After multiple check-ins with our transportation coordinator, conversations with neighboring superintendents, and continued monitoring of conditions, I make the final decision. While we cannot predict every change in the weather, the safety of our students, staff, and drivers is always my highest priority. Please reach out and let me know if you have any suggestions about how I might improve the process of making these decisions.
I know that changes to the school day can create challenges for families, and I sincerely apologize for that inconvenience. Whenever possible, morning decisions will be communicated by 5:45 a.m. through local news outlets, social media, and our automated notification system, which sends voice calls, text messages, and emails. Please ensure your child’s school has your current contact information and that you have a backup plan for unexpected changes. We are fortunate to have a dedicated team at Butler’s Bus Service who care deeply about safely transporting our students. Occasionally, staffing or other challenges may require routes to be combined, schedules to change, or a route to be canceled. Having a plan for alternative transportation, childcare, or early pickup will help your family navigate these situations.
Finally, I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of our OCSU families. Keeping our schools safe and our students ready to learn takes all of us working together. Whether you are updating your contact information, preparing a backup plan, reinforcing safety expectations with your child, or showing patience when plans change, your partnership matters so very much. Thank you for the trust you place in us each day and for the many ways you support our schools. We are grateful to be part of your children’s lives and look forward to a wonderful school year together!
Warmly,
Jackie Ramsay-Tolman
Your OCSU Superintendent
There are open school board seats. If you reside in Orleans or Westmore and are interested in joining the local school board, please reach out to Lisa Worden for more information.
