Harwood Middle School Update, February 22 2019

We hope everyone has an amazing Winter Break!  See everyone in March.  

Be Curious, Connected and Caring!   

HUUSD Middle School Musicians
Performing Together
Amazing!  

Music is alive and well at Harwood Union Middle School 

 Studebt Musicians perform both composer and composed songs recently fortheir peers and the greater community.  Connecting through music
is a great way to build a community. 

Parent Career Fair Help: Wednesday, April 3
Part of planning for high school is getting students forward thinking. We would love your help in exposing students to a range of career opportunities. Here is the link to some details regarding this event Career Fair 2019
Sign up to participate here

On behalf of the Harwood Unified Union School District Board of Directors, we’re asking you to vote “yes” on the two items that will be on the HUUSD ballot this year. The first will be to approve a budget for Fiscal Year 2020, in the amount of $38,600,862.00, and represents an equalized tax rate of $1.62. This is an increase of 2 cents over last year’s tax rate. The proposed budget is a level service budget, which preserves the quality of programming the board believes the community values in our schools. It’s important to remember that without the 3rd year of our Act 46 merger incentive, the tax rate would be six cents higher. Our board has worked to keep the tax rate low while providing educators with the resources necessary to help our students thrive. Our merger has also allowed us to provide more quality and greater equity in programming and a consistent equalized tax rate across our six towns.

The second question will be on contributing $1,000,000 towards the HUUSD maintenance reserve fund. This money comes from an FY 2018 budget surplus and will allow us to replace funds being used for this summer’s capital improvement projects and to save for future work and updates which will be needed to responsibly manage our 7 campuses and school buildings. We encourage you to join us for our annual meeting on Monday, March 4, at 6:00 pm in the Harwood Union High School library to hear a more detailed presentation of our FY 2020 budget.  

Thank you in advance for your support.  

Christine Sullivan, Chair

Caitlin Hollister, Vice Chair

Harwood Unified Union School District Board of Directors

 **As a reminder, one of the ways that all of YOU can engage and connect  with your broader community is through voting on Tuesday, March 5th, both at your town meeting and through the Australian ballot available  7 a.m - 7 p.m.  If you wish to learn more about the HUUSD proposed budget, which you will be asked to vote upon through Australian ballot, please join the meeting to review this budget on Monday, March 4th, 6 pm, at the Harwood auditorium.

Community Announcements

Please note that the opportunities/events listed below are not specifically endorsed or screened by school staff. As always, families should use their own standards and review processes to determine appropriate activities.

FREE Vision Screening for children preschool-8th grade, at Mad River Eye Care, during winter school vacation, February 25-March 5th.  Walk-ins welcome or call to book an appointment at  802-448-6988.

Mad River Lacrosse Season  Mad River Valley Youth Lacrosse offers a fun opportunity for boys and girls from kindergarten to eighth grade to play lacrosse. First timers are welcome at any level. Teams are divided up by boys and girls in grades 3-4,5-6, and 7-8. We offer a Sunday morning program called "Chill Lax" for boys and girls in grades K, 1 and 2. Before registering your son or daughter to play 2019 spring lacrosse, all players must first register with the U.S. Lacrosse Association(www.uslacrosse.org) and obtain a U.S. Lacrosse Membership number. Once you get the lacrosse number, please go to the Mad River Lacrosse (www.madriverlax.com) website and register your child.  Official outdoor practices are held at Mad River Park, beginning in late April, while specific team coaches may schedule pre-season indoor sessions.  Games are conducted from the first week of May through mid-June. Please send any and all questions to madriverlaxinfo@gmail.com

Volley Ball Registration  Sign up is open for Middle School Volleyball (March Madness League) for all HUUSD boys and girls grade 5-8 (including those who have never played). Practices, matches, and tournaments take place 3/7/19 through 3/30/19. Use the following link to for more information and to sign up: tinyurl.com/cbmsvb2019

TRIP Dance Company will be presenting its annual fundraiser at the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center on March 22^nd at 7:00 p.m & March 23^rd at 3 pm.  TRIP is a non-profit competitive youth dance company associated with the Stowe/Mad River Dance Academy.  Don’t miss seeing local dancers perform their award-winning dances!   Tickets can be purchased in advance directly through the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center at WWW.SPRUCEPEAKARTS.ORG or 802-760-4634.  If you can’t make it to the performance, please consider donating to TRIP Dance Company by emailing:  trip.dance.company@gmail.com