Dec 9, 20222 min read

Family Newsletter 12.9.22

Updated: Dec 12, 2022

Harwood Families -

The last few weeks at Harwood have been filled with fundraisers, community events, concerts, celebrations and the start of the Winter Sports season. The outpouring of support and sense of community has been profound and beautiful - thank you all for your contributions.

What a joyous time of year,

Meg, Laurie and Duane

10th grade Tree Sale

For the fourteenth year, Harwood Sophomore class held the only fundraiser necessary during their high school career. Thanks to our wonderful community and the hard work of students, families and teachers the sale was a rousing success, and we sold out of the trees in our first weekend! Of course, this would never be possible without the annual support from George Schenk from American Flatbread. George was the catalyst for our first sale back in 2004! When our groups arrived on Friday to set up and begin the sale, George had set up the area and had fires warming the hut and in the firepit.

We can’t thank all of the community members enough who make this sale their annual event to purchase a tree. The Vermont grown trees as always were of top quality. We hope that we see you all back again next year!

Sophomore TA Group Gift Giving Challenge

Mrs McKnight’s TA challenged all of the Sophomore class TA groups to join them in collecting toys for families currently being housed in the CIRCLE shelter. CIRCLE’s mission is to end domestic violence. The drive will provide holiday gifts for the children whose families are in safe haven there. The end result was an incredible outpouring of generosity. One of the fun aspects of the challenge was to decorate the TA box in a creative way. Congratulations to Jane Regan’s TA for the winning submission. A huge shout out needs to be extended to Mrs McKnight and her students who continue to challenge their peers to give back to their community!

Middle School Winter Music Concert

Last night, Molly Clark, Bruce Sklar and Chris Rivers led the 7th/8th grade Band, Chorus and Jazz band in an incredible winter season concert.

Calendar:

12/13 - Fruit Sale delivery/pick up 3:30 - 9:00 p.m.
12/15 - Interdistrict Choice HUUSD presentation 7:00 p.m. (Harwood Auditorium)
12/23 - 1/01 - No School - Vacation

Safe - seen, heard, respected & understood:

Topics	Information/Links
As Harwood seeks to foster and maintain a community where all feel safe - seen, heard, respected and understood we have partnered with Starling Collaborative this year to support our work.	Starling Collaborative’s vision is to collaborate with schools as: *innovative thought partners to build communities of care, dignity and accountability where ALL members can thrive.* Starling Collaborative believes that Restorative Practices is best thought of and used as a set of tools, among a larger set of tools, that works to intentionally and systematically build the capacity, skill and motivation for youth and adults to: be active, engaged and caring members of their class, school and larger communities be able to name harm they see, acknowledge harm they’ve done and collaborate to repair that harm and plot a better course forward This year Starling is meeting with our: Core team to look at the constant integration of a sense of belonging and engagement in academic programming Student Collective leadership team to create learning opportunities for students and staff in connection to how we create a sense of belonging for all. Student Support Team to actively integrate the use of restorative practices when working day to day with students and staff. Restorative Coordinator to repair necessary harm and use these moments as opportunities for learning and growing.
The OVX and VKAT clubs will have tables during all lunches with information red pins and more to show support for the event.

Topics

Information/Links

As Harwood seeks to foster and maintain a community where all feel safe - seen, heard, respected and understood we have partnered with Starling Collaborative this year to support our work.

Starling Collaborative’s vision is to collaborate with schools as: innovative thought partners to build communities of care, dignity and accountability where ALL members can thrive.

Starling Collaborative believes that Restorative Practices is best thought of and used as a set of tools, among a larger set of tools, that works to intentionally and systematically build the capacity, skill and motivation for youth and adults to:

be active, engaged and caring members of their class, school and larger communities
be able to name harm they see, acknowledge harm they’ve done
and collaborate to repair that harm and plot a better course forward

This year Starling is meeting with our:

Core team to look at the constant integration of a sense of belonging and engagement in academic programming
Student Collective leadership team to create learning opportunities for students and staff in connection to how we create a sense of belonging for all.
Student Support Team to actively integrate the use of restorative practices when working day to day with students and staff.

Restorative Coordinator to repair necessary harm and use these moments as opportunities for learning and growing.

The OVX and VKAT clubs will have tables during all lunches with information red pins and more to show support for the event.

Rigorous & Robust Academic Program:

Topics	Information/Links
Midpoint of Quarter 2	This past Monday, 12/5, was the official midpoint of Quarter 2, and JumpRope progress reports were emailed to students and families on Tuesday afternoon. This is a progress report, and new scores continue to be entered all the time. For more context about the JumpRope reports that are sent home, which have a little more information in them than simply looking in the JumpRope portal, check out our Parent Guide to Progress Reports. If you have questions that are specific to a certain course, please reach out to the teacher. If you have general questions about JumpRope, you can reach out to Jess Deane (jdeane@huusd.org).
Thank you to all of you who joined the Socrates Cafe - what a powerful community event!	A wonderful outpouring of community spirit and wisdom was present in the Harwood Union library on Tuesday night when students in the Harkness Leadership class, a semester long English elective, presented our first Socrates Cafe in three years. Nearly a hundred people came from all walks and every stage of life to discuss the provocative question, What does it mean to forgive? Sitting in circles of about fifteen participants, each facilitated by two Harkness Leaders, people shared honestly and listened deeply for an hour. A measure of the evening’s success was that many came alone, but all left with a new sense of connection - grateful for the chance to meet their neighbors face to face and share meaningful conversation. By the end of the event, many folks had new ideas about forgiveness and one question on their lips: When will we do another Socrates Cafe? The answer: this spring, and we hope you will come!
	Are you interested in exploring a trade or technical field of study? Does a hands-on educational environment sound like something you would enjoy? Would you like to earn certifications in high school that will prepare you for a job after high school? The Central Vermont Career Center (CVCC) may have just what you're looking for. Applications to Central Vermont Career Center are due December 19th. If you’d like to learn more about the Career Center or want help completing the application, contact your school counselor.
	Vermont high school sophomores, juniors or seniors, are eligible to take Intro to College and Careers, a free course offered by the Community College of Vermont (CCV) that helps you get ready for college. This course will help you: Set goals and problem-solve Manage time and stress Improve communication skills Take better notes and reduce test anxiety Plan finances for college Explore career options Registration is open now for Spring Semester. For more information about how to sign up come see your school counselor or visit the CCV website here. * This course does NOT use one of your Dual Enrollment vouchers.

Positive school climate and culture:

Topics	Information/Links
Harwood Plaid	I am most pleased to present a brand new position of honor among the student body: The Harwood STUDENT Plaid. Our honoree was determined through a very intense process involving cosmic intervention. Rumor has it that when the planks were removed from the gym floor for repairs a few weeks ago Peter and Katie discovered a wormhole and were able to establish inter-dimensional communication with some extremely intelligent intergalactic travelers who provided us with the name of our very first Student Plaid- a student bursting at the seams with school spirit and pride . . . Mr. Owen Duffy. Just as with the Teacher Plaid, in order to name our Student Plaid there is a very specific procedure to follow as well as a specific letter to read in order to prepare you for this venture. The letter reads as follows: Dear Student of the Finest School in the Known Universe, Knowing that School Spirit is essential to the well being of the student body as a whole, and knowing that you are a cheerful and spirit-filled member of said student body, and knowing that your grandeur must be showcased for all to observe, the Universe itself wills you to be the Student Plaid for this year. Your super powers are FIRE, yet your responsibilities are CRUSHING. As you have been selected by the Universe itself, you must take on this challenging role and accept your new responsibilities as follows. Do you vow to: Wear the Plaid *cape* to all Harwood assemblies. Wear the Plaid *cape* on Fridays, for at least one half-hour, in a public place on campus. Wear the Plaid *cape* to at least one athletic event each season. Do at least *one act of kindness* unacknowledged each week for a member of the Harwood community At the end of your year, turn your cape over to a rising senior who will be known as THE Student Plaid, along with these instructions. Remember, the Spirit of Harwood, the finest School in the known Universe, is in your hands. Under no circumstances shall you let us down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Harwood Gym Update	The gym floor replacement project is progressing nicely. It was necessary to install moisture mitigation after testing occurred due to high moisture levels in the slab. As you will recall from the estimate, the cost was included if needed and the district has verified that the added expense will be covered by insurance [VSBIT]. This is the new projected schedule: 12/1 the waterproof materials arrived and they began installation. 12/5 the flooring arrived and they began installation as soon as they completed the moisture mitigation. They anticipate this will take approximately 3 weeks. Their goal is now to have this phase done by 12/30. Bleachers are then installed. Floor finish is applied after the bleacher installation. The finish will take approximately 3 weeks. Their goal is to have the floor complet by the end of January. Of course, this timeline is subject to change if they run into any issues such as staff illness, materials moisture content adjustment, etc.
	As a follow-up to Veterans Day - if you have a family member who is an Alumni of Harwood and were in the Uniformed Services of the United States of America whose names are not up on our Veterans Wall please send in the following information to Dan Morse (dmorse@huusd.org) or Ray Daigle (rdaigle@huusd.org) and we will get their names up on the wall: full names of the alumni the year they graduated the division of the service they were in
Inter-district Choice	In an effort to both improve the clarity of our processes and effectively address Intradistrict Choice (IDC) questions that families have, the school district will host a meeting on Thursday, December 15 at 7:00 pm in the Harwood Union High School auditorium. This meeting will also be recorded and made available through the district website for anyone interested in the information but unable to attend. Intradistrict choice allows students in grades K-8 to attend any of the schools in the Harwood Unified Union School District (Crossett Brook Middle School, Fayston Elementary School, Harwood Union Middle School, Moretown Elementary School, Brookside Primary School, Waitsfield Elementary School, Warren Elementary School), regardless of the town of residence within the school district. After addressing the timeline and processes for IDC we will break out into 2 sessions, during which the middle schools and elementary schools will share details regarding their programming. In preparation for the meeting we are working on a “Frequently Asked Questions” document for families. If you have questions that you would like addressed, please submit them to this form.