Harwood Middle School update, September 27, 2019

Curiosity at work. 7th grade scientists grapple with how to make an identification tool for nails and screws. What characteristics should be used to help others identify the nails and screws? This task models how scientists classify living organisms on Earth. It’s not as easy as it sounds!

Connected as a Caring community 
HUMS hosted our second student led community meeting this past
week.  One of our excellent student government representatives (pictured center above)
announced the decision to allow backpacks for students during the school day.
  We also celebrated our the continued hard work of our athletic teams,
and announced the first assembly team meeting. 

We have received a few questions about additional information that may be of
some benefit regarding our recent John Halligan presentation. 
Please click on the link below to access collected resources
for parents and families.  Let us know if you need any assistance
with this. 
https://www.ryanpatrickhalligan.org/resources.htm 

Oct 11	No School
Oct 14	No School - Inservice for educators
Oct 18	CBMS dance for grade 7 - 8  More information to come.

Oct 11

No School 

Oct 14

No School - Inservice for educators

Oct 18 

CBMS dance for grade 7 - 8  More information to come. 

Hello 8th grade parents, 

Here is the link to the Legislative Page Program from the state of Vermont. 

Link:  https://legislature.vermont.gov/the-state-house/civic-education/become-a-legislative-page/ Mr. Pierson will be completing letters of recommendation over the weekend.  Please have your son/daughter(s) bring in their completed application packet to school and give them to Liz Hepp our administrative assistant.  We will complete the application and send them out in the mail, postmarked September 30 to meet the deadline for submission.  

Subject:  HUUSD Board Meeting Recap 9/25

Dear members of our six town community,

HUUSD Community Forums Oct. 1 & 7

       The Harwood Unified Union School Board invites you to join us Oct 1 or Oct 7 for one of our Community Forums. Open to staff, students, parents, taxpayers, residents...if you’re part of the HUUSD, you’re invited!  We'll be discussing possible scenarios to reconfigure our school district and meet the needs of our students, PreK - 12th grade.Come to either or both meetings: Tuesday, Oct 1 from 7-9PM @ the Harwood Union Library OR Monday, Oct 7 from 7-9PM @ the Crossett Brook Cafeteria.

Each session will include:

1. A presentation of change models being considered

2. Q & A for clarifying questions about data, models, and process

3. Small group conversations facilitated by Board members

We will be providing LOTS of information at the meeting, so everyone can participate in the discussion, even if this is all new to you.  If you also want more background before you come, please visit the HUUSD.org website and click on PreK-12/Bond Plan tab.         Childcare will be provided. We ask that those planning to use babysitting on site to please RSVP to Torrey by 9/29 at tcsmith@huusd.org 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please visit https://huusd.org/prek-12-bond-plan to complete a brief survey on how the board should approach its decision on our PreK - 12 plan

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At our last meeting on September 25, 2019, the Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) Board heard a presentation on possible change models for the district’s PreK - 12 configuration.

The board took action on the four (3) items below (listed in order of the time in the meeting when the vote occurred):

Adopted: A motion to direct administration to add modeling option D(c) in time for the first community meeting on October 1

Approved: HUUSD board protocols 

Approved the following items as part of the consent agenda:  Approved: Minutes of 9/11/19; Accepted: Vouchers 1065, 1066, and 1067 equaling $640,842.63; Approved: Out of state field trips; Approved: Bid for Harwood Auditorium HVAC Replacement from VHV in the amount of $284,923.10 funded from the Maintenance Reserve Fund; Accepted: Final Vision Process Report

Our next meeting is Wednesday, October 16th at 6:00 pm in the Harwood Union School library. 

Please visit https://huusd.org/huusd-board to confirm time and place of meetings. You’ll also find all board and committee agendas, packets and minutes, and the link to board meeting videos. The direct link to watch this and other recent meetings is: https://mrvtv.com/category/school-board-meetings/. An archive of older meetings can be found here: https://archive.org/search.php?query=Harwood+Unified+Union+School+Board&sort=-date 

Thank you for your continued support and engagement.

Respectfully,

The HUUSD Board

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.

Family Contradance    September 28, 6:30-9pm, at the Warren Town Hall. "Honey in the Hive" returns to Warren along with caller Lausanne Allen! Show us your dance moves, learn to dance, or just come to listen and watch. To help us preserve our historic wood floor, please wear clean, soft-soled shoes. Free and open to all. Sponsored by the Warren Arts Commission.

The Nutcracker   Come be a part of the holiday magic of Vermont’s longest running Nutcracker performance with Albany Berkshire Ballet. Student Dancer Auditions will be held:
 Burlington, VT - September 29, 2019, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts – Flynn Space, 153 Main St., Burlington, VT 05401, 10:00 am Ages 4-5, 10:30 am Ages 6-8, 11:30 am Ages 9-11, 1:00 pm Ages 12 and up. Audition fee of $20. Shows will help kick off the holiday season Thanksgiving weekend November 30 & December 1, 2019. Children are generally in one show. For more information contact Lori Preiss at abbvermontnutcracker@gmail.com.

Trick or Trot 2019     5 K walk or run and kids' fun run to benefit Warren School PTO, October 27, 1pm at the Warren School.  Kids $10 and adults $20. Costumes are encouraged. For more information contact HGreene@huusd.org or NMcdonough@huusd.org

Baked Beads Tent Sale  Skatium Benefit: 10/11-10/13, 10am-5pm, under the tent at Skatium Ice Rink.

Barn Dance and Fall Harvest Fest to benefit The Children's Room.   September 22, 2-5pm, rain or shine, Beard's Barn, 1601 Barnes Hill Road, Waterbury Center.  Live music, dancing, hayrides, games and refreshments.  $20/family

Rise Against Hunger Event

Harwood Rotary Interact is partnering with the Mad River Valley and the Waterbury Rotary Clubs for an event to support Rise Against Hunger. The goal is to bring together 100 volunteers (students, parents, teachers, community members, etc...) on October 19th in the Harwood Cafeteria from 12:00-2:00 PM to assemble 20,000 meals for communities experiencing hunger. 

Why support Rise Against Hunger?

"820 Million people don't receive enough nutrition to lead an active, healthy life."

Rise Against Hunger meals are provided in schools to encourage increased enrollment and attendance. For adults in community empowerment programs, the provision of meals offsets productive time lost while attending training sessions. Meals distributed in hospitals and clinics may support patients’ nutritional needs and complement their treatments. (riseagainst hunger.org) 

794,700 lives were impacted by support from Rise Against Hunger in 2018.

Want to get involved? Sign up here: https://www.mrvrotary.org/ 

Questions? Contact Pete Colgan: email: peter.colgan@gmail.com; cell: 781-771-5568 or Ellen Berrings: eberrings@huusd.org