Family Newsletter 10.29.21

Harwood Families -

On Tuesday please remember to vote.

As staff engage in Professional Development work to continue supporting our goals to

1. cultivate and maintain a community where all students, staff and families feel safe - seen, heard, understood and respected and

2. strengthen and sustain a rigorous and robust academic program that provides access and meaning for ALL students -

We will remain hopeful that our community will support the Bond that will allow us to truly meet our third goal of creating and maintaining a physical environment that reflects a positive school climate and culture and ultimately instills pride in our students and community.

We look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with all stakeholders as we consider all of the details needed to truly accomplish this goal.

We encourage all to take the time to inform yourself and urge you to watch this 10 minute video if you have not done so already.

In partnership,

Laurie, Meg and Duane

Upcoming Important Dates:

10/29	End of Quarter 1
11/02	​Bond vote by Australian ballot
11/02	No School - Staff inservice
11/03	We will run a regular Tuesday schedule NOT an ELO schedule due to not having school on Tuesday.

Curious

Topics	Information/Links	Contact(s)
Superintendent Search	Did you know our district is embarking on a search for our new Superintendent? Over the next 3 months, our HUUSD board will be working with search firm McPherson & Jacobson to recruit, interview, and select a leader who will assume the role of Superintendent on July 1, 2022. We need your input! On Nov 8 and 9, Dr. John Gratto of McPherson & Jacobson will lead stakeholder conversations organized around 4 key questions: What makes our community a good place to live? What makes this a good school district - for students and staff? What are the issues that a new superintendent needs to know about as he or she comes into the district? What skills, qualities and characteristics will the new superintendent need to be successful? Please join one of our community stakeholder meetings via Zoom on Monday November 8th (11/8 Zoom link) or Tuesday November 9th (11/9 Zoom Link) from 7:00-8:30 PM. There will also be an online survey open from November 1st - 10th where you can answer the 4 questions above. This will be posted at https://huusd.org/superintendent-search and shared in our community bulletins. Dr. Gratto will synthesize findings from the survey and stakeholder meetings with teachers, staff, administrators, high school students & community members into a report for the Board. The Board will use the input to finalize qualifications for the new superintendent at the 11/17/21 Board meeting. Please join us to share your thoughts. We will continue to update the Superintendent Search page throughout this process so all community members can monitor the work to date.	​Caitlin Hollister

Caring

Topics	Information/Links	Contact(s)
Message from our Athletic Department ​	As you may have read/heard in the news, there are some very public stories regarding student-athletes being subjected to Racist, Sexist, and Transphobic comments from spectators and opponents. We want to be clear to you - our student athletes and our Harwood community that we do not condone this behavior. Here are Harwood’s Expectations for Sportsmanship: The ideals of good sportsmanship, ethical behavior and integrity permeate our culture. In perception and practice, good sportsmanship should be defined as those qualities of behavior which are characterized by generosity and concern for others. Good sportsmanship is a concrete measure of the understanding and commitment to fair play, ethical behavior and integrity. The ideals of good sportsmanship, ethical behavior and integrity are the essence of interscholastic athletics. The concept of sportsmanship must be taught, modeled, expected and reinforced by all those involved in athletics and activities. That all administrators, coaches, athletes, officials, and spectators should demonstrate and promote good sportsmanship as a concrete measure of the understanding and commitment to fair play, ethical behavior and integrity. At Harwood, if students or student athletes are identified as making harassing comments to other teams or fans the following steps will be followed: A student misconduct investigation will be commenced All named as involved will be questioned Once completed with full documentation, if a student was found to have violated our code of conduct -- discipline will be issued, and a working file record will be kept by the school If you witness harassing comments made during a game or event, we ask you to immediately report it to your coach. In turn, your coach will speak with the official and on site Administrator or Athletic Director. We all want to ensure that participation in athletics continues to be fun, enjoyable and safe. We are here to support you and ask you to do the same for each other and our community.	Chris Langevin
​Winter Sports Registrations are OPEN!!	​HS Winter Sports Signup Link MS Winter Sports Signup Link Winter Sports will begin on November 29th!! Register now!!	Chris Langevin
​Resources from our Substance Abuse Coordinator	Talking with Teenagers about Marijuana Actually, Weed is Addictive	​Mara Urban
​An important message to keep us all healthy	​All students should stay home from school if they show the following symptoms of COVID: Runny nose Cough Headache Fatigue Sore throat Muscle pain (muscle or body aches) Loss of taste or smell Fever (100.4F or greater) Congestion Shortness of breath Chills Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea Please understand that we can not differentiate between COVID symptoms and other viral illnesses. If these symptoms last longer for 24 hours, they will need a COVID PCR test to return to school. One of our school nurses will contact you if your student is out sick to help determine the next steps. Please review this document from the Vermont Department of Health. Please reach out to our school nurses, Magge or Phil, at HUHS-nurses@huusd.org if you have any questions.	Meg, Laurie and Duane
​Wellness Center update	We are so pleased to announce the reopening of the Wellness Center for the 2021-2022 school year! Our space has moved a few doors down the hall from last year and is filled with lots of regulation tools for students, as well as a calm, welcoming environment to help students to get the most out of their school day. The Wellness Center is open to all students during certain times of the school day to take up to a 15 minute, tech-free, self-regulation break. The breaks need to be at an appropriate time and with teacher permission. Students also have the option of talking to a counselor while visiting the space. Prioritizing student social, emotional and mental health has been reported by the US Department of Education as a top priority this 2021-2022 school year in addition to accelerating academic achievement. Taking time during the school day to care for yourself and learning how to manage stress is needed this year more than ever. Please encourage your Harwood student to check out the Wellness Center if they have not done so already. One other addition is that Jen will have designated time on Wednesdays for individual student follow-up appointments in the Wellness Center. Please reach out with questions to Jdreimiller@huusd.org	Jen Dreimiller
​Health Office Update	First, as we head into the holiday season, we wanted to make you aware of opportunities for support. Thanksgiving: Mad River Interfaith Council - is providing complete Thanksgiving dinners. MRV Thanksgiving Basket Sign up (link is embedded.) National Life and Sodexo are providing a free Thanksgiving meal to their neighbors in Washington County. They partnered with Just Basics, Hannaford, Central Vermont Medical Center, Hunger Mountain Coop, Cabot Cheese, the Vermont Foodbank, and Vermont Creamery to offer traditional turkey and vegetarian meals to-go.Since we’re still navigating the impact of Covid-19, they will once again provide a free pick-up or delivery of Thanksgiving meals to those who need one. To reserve a free meal, call 802-229-7300 or email giving@nationallife.com by Nov 17. Gift Giving Holidays: Giving Tree of Central Vermont is a gift giving program serving Central Vermont. They provide students and siblings of 3-4 HUMHS families with support for holiday gifts and clothing. Reach out to mstone@huusd.org by 11/3 if interested. We will pass along other opportunities as we learn of them. Other updates: Please remind your student if they are signed up for COVID testing that it takes place in front of HS gym (9-11) and in the MS common room (11-12). We have seen an uptick of students with upper respiratory symptoms in school. Please keep your student home if they are sick. Whether they are vaccinated or not, if symptoms last longer than 24 hours, they will need a COVID test to return to school. The district is following the guidance from VDH here. Please see the Community Bulletin for contract tracing and testing updates. If your student has an injury or illness, please let the health office know and send in supporting documents (discharge summary, MD note, activity restrictions, orders that can be done in the health office) so that we can support your student. Please email HUHS-Nurses@huusd.org with any questions.

Connected

​Topics	Information/Links	Contact(s)
​Assembly in the auditorium is back!	​This past Tuesday the Harwood community enjoyed its first assembly in the auditorium in 19 months. Masked and distanced we laughed as our teachers were challenged to a Halloween dress up contest and basked in the music of our Assembly band. A huge thank you to the Assembly Flex block crew for bringing the vision to fruition and to those behind the scenes as well.