Slate Valley Unified School District

Dear Slate Valley Families, On Friday, September 17th, 2021 we learned about a person in our learning community with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) at Castleton Elementary School. We recommend that you take action to help limit the spread of COVID-19, even if your child is not experiencing symptoms. The most important things you can do: -Make sure your child is wearing a mask when recommended or required. -Make sure your child is washing their hands. -Keep your child home if they are sick. -Call your primary care provider if you or your child has symptoms of COVID-19. -Make sure that your children get vaccinated when they are eligible. Find a location near you. People who may have been exposed will be notified: Anyone who is not fully vaccinated and was in close contact with the person who tested positive may have been exposed to the virus and will be asked to quarantine, which means staying home and away from other people for up to 14 days. Anyone who is fully vaccinated or has recovered from COVID-19 within the past 3 months and was in close contact with the person who tested positive does not need to quarantine unless they develop symptoms. Please read the complete letter from Superintendent Olsen-Farrell here: https://5il.co/z85b

The Slate Valley Board will hold public hearings to discuss the closure of Castleton Village School on the following dates: Monday, September 20th - 5 p.m. at Fair Haven Union High School Attend in person or join Google Meet https://meet.google.com/swv-prjj-mhf or dial (US) +1 617-675-4444 PIN: 577 845 560 7807# (More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/swv-prjj-mhf?pin=5778455607807) Monday, September 20th - 7 p.m. at Castleton Village School Attend in person or join Google Meet https://meet.google.com/pbf-sqfr-txw or dial (US) +1 617-675-4444 PIN: 434 083 972 7435# (More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/pbf-sqfr-txw?pin=4340839727435) Tuesday, September 21st - 6 p.m. at Castleton Elementary School Attend in person or join Google Meet https://meet.google.com/nmk-nqis-tyg or dial (US) +1 617-675-4444 PIN: 843 805 075 9156# (More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/nmk-nqis-tyg?pin=8438050759156

Slate Valley is hiring! To see our current employment opportunities, visit: https://www.slatevalleyunified.org/page/employment-opportunities

Upcoming Vaccine Clinic at FHUHS: Monday, September 20th there will be a vaccine clinic at Fair Haven Union High School from 9:00-5:00. A full list of clinics, clinic hours, and registration information can be found at http://www.healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine

Slate Valley Unified Union School District is hosting a Community Engagement Meeting on September 23rd from 5:30-7:00 p.m. in the Fair Haven Union High School Gymnasium. You may also join virtually at https://meet.google.com/vis-nccm-ghw. For more information, please visit https://www.slatevalleyunified.org/page/esser.

September 14, 2021 Dear Slate Valley Families, If you have not done so already, we are asking you to notify us of your child’s COVID vaccination status. This pertains to all eligible students (age 12 and up). School districts are permitted by law to request that parents voluntarily disclose their student’s vaccination status to assist with the implementation of pandemic precautions. You may opt to not disclose this information. If you decline to provide the school with their child’s vaccination status, your child will be counted as not-vaccinated. Understanding the accurate percentage of vaccinated students in our district is critical to knowing when we meet the 80% threshold where masks will no longer be required. It is also important to know in terms of contact tracing. If your child is fully vaccinated, they will not need to quarantine due to an exposure. We greatly appreciate your help and support in getting this information to our school nurses. Please fill out the form below and return to the school nurse in your building. Again this only pertains to eligible students (12 and up) at this time. We will be mailing forms home as well. As always, if you have any questions please reach out to your school nurse. Best, Brooke Olsen-Farrell Vaccination Attestation Letter: https://5il.co/yvyg Student Vaccination Attestation Form: https://5il.co/yvyi

Dear Slate Valley Families, On Monday, September 13th, 2021 we learned about a person in our learning community with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) at Fair Haven Grade School. We recommend that you take action to help limit the spread of COVID-19, even if your child is not experiencing symptoms. The most important things you can do: -Make sure your child is wearing a mask when recommended or required. -Make sure your child is washing their hands. -Keep your child home if they are sick. -Call your primary care provider if you or your child has symptoms of COVID-19. -Make sure that your children get vaccinated when they are eligible. People who may have been exposed will be notified: Anyone who is not fully vaccinated and was in close contact with the person who tested positive may have been exposed to the virus and will be asked to quarantine, which means staying home and away from other people for up to 14 days. Anyone who is fully vaccinated or has recovered from COVID-19 within the past 3 months and was in close contact with the person who tested positive does not need to quarantine unless they develop symptoms. If you are identified as someone who may have been exposed, someone from either Fair Haven Grade School or the Health Department will notify you and will provide information and guidance on quarantine and other recommendations. If the Health Department calls, make sure to answer the phone or call them back. Additionally, if your student is in quarantine and would like access to meals please notify the main office of the school and arrangements will be made to provide your child with meals during the quarantine period. Please read the complete letter from Superintendent Olsen-Farrell here: https://5il.co/yu89

Tonight (September 13th) You’re invited to the Slate Valley Unified Union School District Board Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Fair Haven Union High School. This meeting will be in person or you may virtually connect by going to https://meet.google.com/jjz-yxpn-xyn or join by phone (US) +1 617-675-4444 PIN: 411 413 765 0756# Tonight’s Agenda: https://5il.co/yo9x Previous Meeting Minutes: https://5il.co/xtg7 Next Board Meeting: September 27, 6:30 p.m. at CES

Dear Slate Valley Families, We recently announced that your child’s school will be offering weekly COVID testing for ages 5 and up for both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated individuals (staff and students). Unfortunately, due to technical issues with the vendor/state we will not be able to start on September 15th as originally planned. Instead we are planning on starting weekly surveillance testing on September 29th. It will occur weekly every Wednesday after that. Again, it is completely voluntary. If you are interested you need to complete a consent form on-line. https://www.cic-health.com/consent/vt. After consenting you should receive an email from COMMUNICATION INTEL. Your building nurse will be organizing the testing. Frequently asked questions about the testing program. https://education.vermont.gov/news/covid-19-guidance-vermont-schools/school-staff-covid19-surveillance-testing/school-staff-resources Please reach out to your school nurse if you have any questions. Best, Brooke Olsen-Farrell, Superintendent

Dear Slate Valley Families, Your child’s school will be offering weekly COVID testing for ages 5 and up for both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated individuals. We will be starting weekly surveillance testing on September 15th. It will occur weekly every Wednesday after that. It is completely voluntary. If you are interested you need to complete a consent form on-line which can be found on the following link. https://bit.ly/3jXlspB After consenting you should receive an email from COMMUNICATION INTEL. Your building nurse will be organizing the testing. Frequently asked questions about the testing program can be found here. https://bit.ly/3BUmAk0 Please reach out to your school nurse if you have any questions. Best, Brooke

Reminder - Tonight! Please join Casey O'Meara, Slate Valley's Director of Curriculum, for an informational meeting on leveraging Title I Schoolwide Programs to Address Barriers to Academic Success at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 9th at Castleton Elementary School. The meeting can also be accessed using the following google meet link: https://meet.google.com/wpn-eika-ozr?hs=122&authuser=0. You may view the slides (with a survey at the end) from the presentation here: https://bit.ly/3h1Bddb.

Reminder - this Thursday! Please join Casey O'Meara, Slate Valley's Director of Curriculum, for an informational meeting on leveraging Title I Schoolwide Programs to Address Barriers to Academic Success at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 9th at Castleton Elementary School. The meeting can also be accessed using the following google meet link: https://meet.google.com/wpn-eika-ozr?hs=122&authuser=0. You may view the slides (with a survey at the end) from the presentation here: https://bit.ly/3h1Bddb.

Dear Slate Valley Families,  On Monday, September 6, 2021 we learned about a person in our learning community with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) at Fair Haven Grade School. We recommend that you take action to help limit the spread of COVID-19, even if your child is not experiencing symptoms. The most important things you can do: -Make sure your child is wearing a mask when recommended or required. -Make sure your child is washing their hands. -Keep your child home if they are sick. -Call your primary care provider if you or your child has symptoms of COVID-19. -Make sure that your children get vaccinated when they are eligible. Find a location near you. People who may have been exposed will be notified: Anyone who is not fully vaccinated and was in close contact with the person who tested positive may have been exposed to the virus and will be asked to quarantine, which means staying home and away from other people for up to 14 days. Read more about what it means to quarantine. Anyone who is fully vaccinated or has recovered from COVID-19 within the past 3 months and was in close contact with the person who tested positive does not need to quarantine unless they develop symptoms. If you are identified as someone who may have been exposed, someone from either Fair Haven Grade School or the Health Department will notify you and will provide information and guidance on quarantine and other recommendations. If the Health Department calls, make sure to answer the phone or call them back.  Fair Haven Grade School left voicemails for families today that we have been unable to get in touch with so please check your voicemail.  For those students now in quarantine remote learning will start on Wednesday, September 8th. Additionally, if your student is in quarantine and would like access to meals please notify the main office of the school and arrangements will be made to provide your child with meals during the quarantine period.  Please read the complete letter from Superintendent Olsen-Farrell here: https://5il.co/yit7

Please join Casey O'Meara, Slate Valley's Director of Curriculum, for an informational meeting on leveraging Title I Schoolwide Programs to Address Barriers to Academic Success at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 9th at Castleton Elementary School. The meeting can also be accessed using the following google meet link: https://meet.google.com/wpn-eika-ozr?hs=122&authuser=0. You may view the slides (with a survey at the end) from the presentation here: https://bit.ly/3h1Bddb.

Correction/Update - Boys and Girls Club will be opening tomorrow, Thursday, September 2nd, at all locations except Benson Village School. Boys and Girls Club at Benson Village School will be delaying their opening to Tuesday, September 7th due to COVID related staffing issues. We apologize for the confusion and any inconvenience this may cause.

Dear Slate Valley Families, Boys and Girls Club will have a delayed opening of Thursday, September 2nd due to a COVID case. This means that the Boys and Girls Club is canceled in ALL Slate Valley schools tomorrow, September 1st. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Best, Brooke Olsen-Farrell, Superintendent

Fair Haven Recreation and Slate Valley Vermont Youth Project are hosting their final Summer Pop Up Event tomorrow, Wednesday, September 1st at 6 p.m. in the Fair Haven Town Park: -Get to know your community -End of Summer Party -Free Stewart's Ice Cream

Fall Sports Registration for Slate Valley Middle School Padded Flag Football - district w/ Coach Shaddock and Rice (at FHUHS) Cross Country - district (at FHUHS) w/ TBD Soccer 7/8 boys district - (based at FHGS) w/ TBD Soccer 7/8 girls district - (based at FHGS) w/ TBD FHGS/BVS 5/6 Boys and Girls Soccer (based at FHGS) w/ TBD CES/OVS 5/6 Boys and Girls Soccer (based at CES) w/ coach Austin Brannock Please register your athlete at Formreleaf.com. If you have any questions or concerns there is a "help" line on the registration. Physicals are required yearly - so please check with your doctor to make sure your athlete is up to date. Physical forms will need to be uploaded onto formreleaf.com or handed to Kim Alexander, AD. Athletes will not be able to participate in athletics without an updated physical. Registration opens -- June 28th - August 30th. Please sign up early!

The Boys & Girls Club of Rutland County is seeking Youth Development Professionals for our facilities located in Castleton, Fair Haven, Benson, Orwell, and Rutland. If you enjoy working with children and like being on your feet and interacting, making their afterschool experience high quality and fun, then the Boys & Girls Club might be a perfect fit for you. Please see the position description for more details: https://5il.co/y1dj

Dear Slate Valley Families, Your child’s school will be offering weekly COVID testing for ages 5 and up for both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated individuals. We will be starting weekly surveillance testing on September 15th. It will occur weekly every Wednesday after that. It is completely voluntary. If you are interested you need to complete a consent form on-line. https://www.cic-health.com/consent/vt. After consenting you should receive an email from COMMUNICATION INTEL. Your building nurse will be organizing the testing. Frequently asked questions about the testing program. https://education.vermont.gov/news/covid-19-guidance-vermont-schools/school-staff-covid19-surveillance-testing/school-staff-resources Please reach out to your school nurse if you have any questions. Best, Brooke