Monday, June 29, 2020

Harwood Middle School Summer Edition, June 29, 2020

Harwood Middle School celebrate their end to a very unique
school year.  Pictured here our 8th graders receive a send off
via drive through complete with balloons, Harwood gifts and letter snd well wishes
as they head to their 9th grade year in the fall.  




June 2020
Dear Students and Families:

As you can imagine creating the master schedule in our present situation has been challenging.  Prior to going remote we had collected student course requests from the class of 2021 & 2022. We then collected student requests from 2023 & 2024 remotely, we thank you all for your attention to that process.

The goal is to send student schedules out later this summer July we have been given an opportunity to review the return to school guidelines. School counselors will be available prior to the start of school in August to work with students who need to add, drop or change their schedules.

Thank you for your patience. I wish you all the best as we approach the end of this school year. Enjoy your summer break.

Take Care,
Sally McCarthy
Director of School Counseling

Harwood Middle School Families/Students 
Crossett Brook Middle School and Harwood Union Middle have compiled a listing of summer learning resources for your middle school student. The resources links offer both academic and enrichment activies for all levels of learners. This is a great summer to build time for continuing to build academic skills and pursuing interests and learning as part of daily routines. Part of our rationale for leaving chromebooks home with families for the summer was to support access to these kinds of resources for all.





What will school look/feel/be like next year?   


HUUSD district and school based teams have been working on possible models for what school will look like next year. Our work is based on the initial The Vermont Agency of Education return to learn document.   The state plans on sending at least four more installments of "Return to Learn" documents over the summer to inform our work. We are creating plans for some possible scenarios or a combination of the following:
  • Continued remote learning/ no in person school, 
  • In-person instruction with enhanced safety measures.  
  • In-person instruction with safety measures. 

Levels of interactions/ or not for the 20-21 school year will be determined by the VT Dept of Health and Agency of Education. Over the next few weeks HUUSD will communicate with school famlies regarding the details for how school will open in August. We also understand, as we have been told repeatedly by state officials, that the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve rapidly and the guidance may change. Please know we are taking all you have shared with us, all we have learned, and our best thinking to work to meet the needs of our community.  More to come. The Harwood Middle School will be sending out periodic updates on our school blog beginning late July through the August to keep you informed about the planning process.

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Sunday, June 7, 2020

Harwood Middle Remote Learning Update June 7, 2020




Dear Harwood Middle School Community;  
Recent acts of police violence against people of color have again highlighted the urgency of countering racism and promoting social justice within our school program.  With the pandemic upending our ability to teach in the classroom, it is more critical than ever that we do everything we can to ensure our students have the support and resources they need to thrive, regardless of who they are.  A large part of that commitment lies in analyzing our own biases and listening and learning from people of color.  To this end we continue to educate, inform, challenge and support the work necessary to expose this entrenched systemic injustice.  This work will not be easy and will require conversations that may at times be uncomfortable and challenging.  But I have no doubt that our Harwood community can rise to this challenge.  By doing this we strive to make sure every Harwood student feels respected, safe and accepted regardless of who they are.  The wellbeing of our students, faculty, staff, and community members of color depends on it.

Over the past week, HUMS hosted two “student/teacher circles” at each grade level on Racism and Violence in America specifically about the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. Our seventh grade Social Studies and English classes  combined into one Megaroom and held a Harkness discussion on George Floyd protests and rage in the US. In 8th grade Social Studies,  several students choose to examine a current events article about George Floyd and violent protests, creating their own lessons around examining racism in the US


Harwood Middle School is taking an active role in addressing these issues and all students will be invited to an anti-racism group on Monday, June 8 at 12:30 in order to identify advocacy initiatives for the summer and ideas for next year.  

The below list identifies videos, articles and books that support families with resources to review for the summer.  

Article about talking to your kids about racism:



Short Videos: 

Overview Article: 

These are the individuals who continue to move us forward in our quest for a more perfect union.  The following individuals have offered significant contributions to the communities around them and have helped to raise the consciousness of all Americans. You should also consider following them on Twitter.   
  





Athlete and Activist for Equality in Women’s sports, Serena Williams:  

Student, Activist, and Author, Marley Dais

Author and speaker, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie:   

 Spoken Word Poet, Emcee, and Teaching Artist, Rajnii Eddins

And so many more...Check out this list that the Los Angeles Times Complied in 2015, and this compilation of names from Global Citizen in 2017.  

Here are things you can watch.  This is by no means an all-inclusive list.  
(The included age ranges come from Common Sense Media - Reviews for what your kids want to watch ((before they watch it)) Trusted ratings created with families in mind)

Remember the titans - Ages 10+
Akeelah and the Bee - Ages 8+
Betty & Coretta - Ages 11+
The Help -  Ages 12+
The March - Ages 12+
Kid President:  Are We There Yet? - Ages 8+
Dolores - Ages 11+
Long Time Coming:  A 1955 Baseball Story - Ages 12+
Selma - Ages 13+
Hidden Figures - Ages 10+
Woodlawn - Ages 10+
Behind the Movement - Ages 10+
Gandhi - Ages 12+
March On! The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World - All Audiences
McFarland, USA - Ages 10+



The summer is long...inject more diversity into your reading list.  There are many books to choose from.   


March (Books I, II, and III), John Lewis and Andrew Ayden 
Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson
Refugee, Alan Gratz
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History  by Vashti Harrison
Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History by Vashti Harrison
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Kwame Alexander’s books: Crossed, Booked, Rebound, Solo, The Playbook
Jason Reynold’s books: Ghost, Patina, Sunny, Lu, As Brave as You, Look Both Ways
Sharon Draper’s Books: Clubhouse Mystery Series, Jericho Trilogy, Stella By Starlight, Out of My Mind, Tears of a Tiger, Panic, Double Dutch
Watler Dean Meyer’s Books: Cruisers Series, Kick, Monster, Blues Journey, Fallen Angels
Kekla Magoon’s Books: Shadows of Sherwood Series, How it Went Down, The Season of Styx Malone, Camo Girl, Light it Up
Mildred Taylor’s Books: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, The Gold Cadillac, The Friendship 
Jacqueline Woodson’s Books: After Tupac & D Foster, Behind You, Feathers, Brown Girl Dreaming, Hush
Count Me In by Varsha Bajaj
For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington
Born a Crime - Young Adult Version by Trevor Noah
The New Kid by Jerry Craft
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Christopher Paul Curtis’s book: Bucking the Sarge, Watsons Go to Birmingham, Bud Not Buddy, Mighty Miss Malone
Rita Williams-Garcia’s Books: One Crazy Summer, Gone Crazy in Alabama, P.S. Be Eleven


Last Day of School - Tuesday,  June 9, 2020 

Harwood Middle School Parent and Student Surveys
Both 7th and 8th grade teams will be sending out an end of year survey to inform us of what worked and what we can improve upon as we enter the 20-21 school year. We understand that HUUSD recently sent out surveys similar to these, however we hope that be sending these out at the end of the year our participation rate increases.  These surveys will send sent out by both teams as well as within an email I will send out on Monday.  Please let me know if you have any qusetions.  


8th Grade "Moving Up" Event Announced!  



On the evening of Tuesday, June 16 beginning at 6:30 pm, we will hold a “moving up” celebration for all HUMS 8th grade students.   HUMS staff will be present to celebrate your middle school success and transition to high school as you stop/drive by the middle school to pick up some gifts and well wishes, along with lots of enthusiastic cheering and love from all of us.   They have been missed a great deal!!

The format for this event will be that each student must be in their own family vehicle, and everyone will stay in their cars for the duration of the ceremony.  Family cars will enter the Harwood Union driveway and follow the traffic pattern indicated. The flow of traffic will use the southern parking lot as a holding area for vehicles. A Harwood staff person will let one vehicle at a time to enter the bus loop to pick up their moving up items and see and hear from their teachers.

In order to expedite the process, we have staggered the start times, based on your last name:’ Please don't forget your face masks!

A - M - show up to the school at 6:30
M - Z - show up at the school at 6:40

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL AT HUMS ON THE EVENING of JUNE 16




What is happening with our Chromebooks/other school devices for the summer?



Dear HUUSD families,



Moving into summer, most students are looking forward to less screen time than they have experienced for the past two months. We appreciate, however, the role computers, iPads and other devices have played in keeping us connected for learning and social purposes throughout this time.



While recently loosened restrictions have allowed us more direct contact with each other and the outside world, there is much that remains unknown in regards to the future. We believe technology will play a continued role in supporting connection and access to information.  As such, HUUSD has decided to leave laptops and iPads lent out with students for the summer.  

The only exception to this is for students graduating from HUHS, or planning to move out of the district; these devices need to be returned to your child’s school by June 15th. Logistics on how to return these devices will be communicated directly by each school. 

Please keep in mind that use of HUUSD devices is not monitored by school staff over the summer. As previously indicated, the devices do not have features like internet screening or time limits; responsibility for monitoring use rests with parents/ guardians.   We do reserve the right to disable any HUUSD device for misuse. Additionally, we have limited IT staff working during the summer, and therefore, limited tech support. Summer tech support requests will be handled through our online tech support request form, and we will do our best to meet your needs in a timely manner.

It is possible for us to disable Chromebooks (but not iPads) for the summer; this will make it so that the device cannot be used until we enable the device again in the Fall.  If you would like the device disabled, please complete this form. If we do not hear from you,  we will assume you want the device left functional, as it is now.
     
Regardless if the device is disabled or not, summer care for the device is critical. We are counting on these devices to support student learning in the fall, regardless of if we are remote or in person. Please continue to care for these devices and their chargers, storing them in a safe place when not in use.  Our HUUSD Responsible Use Expectations do remain in place over the summer. As such, the following uses of technology are forbidden: being wasteful, negligent, or harmful to equipment, cheating, plagiarism, violating copyright, visiting websites inappropriate for school, using another student’s account or folders, impersonating others, unauthorized
downloading or software installation, cyberbullying and/ or other threatening behavior.

Please contact your building principal (dpierson@huusd.org)  if you have questions.


For HUUSD updates including

School Board Information

Can be found here:






For intradistrict choice information

intradistrict-school-choice
Ballots available for absentee voting in June 16th election
Vermont law requires that school boards get budget approval from the district’s voters. The failure of the proposed school budget at Town Meeting Day means that the Board must put forth a new budget for consideration by voters. 
On Tuesday, June 16th, town clerks will be operating our community’s first election under COVID guidelines. Voters are strongly urged to call or email their town offices to request and use absentee ballots, although in-person voting will be available in each of the towns that day. Absentee ballots are mailed to voters and then returned to town clerks by the day of the election -- whether they are mailed or dropped off. For in-person voting, polling hours and locations have shifted in some towns; all towns will set up structures designed to minimize person-to-person contact. 
The budget before voters is $20,000 less than that presented at Town Meeting Day, however it is based on a series of both temporary and long-term cuts to our current configuration, not on changes to grades or location of students in schools. This proposed budget would increase total expenditures in the district by 3% -- quite a bit less than the nearly 5% average seen across the state. However, because revenues will also increase next year, the actual cost to taxpayers (the “Education Spending”) will be less than this past year by about $100,000. The state’s complicated funding formula means this may still result in a slight property tax increase -- averaging a little less than 3% across the district’s six towns.
The school board has put together extensive information for voters to review and consider, including more about the costs in the budget, the decision-making process, the election, and how to get in touch with town clerks. Click here to find out more or copy this URL in your browser: https://tinyurl.com/y7ffmp75 



Important HUMS links for Families: 

Information 
Link 
HUMS REMOTE TA SlideShow 
HUMS Weekly Virtual Meetings/Support Times 
Experiencing conflicts/concerns?   
Harwood Union's Student Support Team would like to help!   Please click on the link below and follow the prompts if you feel you need to report these concerns to our team.  
Dealing with Substance Abuse Issues or Concerns - We have a HUUSD counselor ready to help
Team 8 Learning HUB
Team 7 Learning HUB 


Link to the form here:
HUUSD Breakfast/Lunch Form 

The HUUSD Food & Nutrition will have its last delivery on Friday, June 12th.

Please fill the form below if you believe your child will need meals during the summer.


Meals will be prepared by the Barre School District Food Service and distributed by volunteers at the Congregational Church in Waterbury.

Students in need from all our schools will be able to get free meals in this location, not only Waterbury residents.

Meals will be offered in a curbside delivery style. The delivery schedule will be similar to what we have now, 3 days a week (M/W/F). Time is yet to be determined.

More logistics information will be provided by June 12th.
Please fill this form ASAP


Important Community Resource  
Mad River Valley Community Fund short term assistance link:  The MRVCF created a short form application in response to a variety of Covid- 19 concerns and challenges we face as a community. In an effort to bridge the gap between layoffs and receipt of unemployment benefits we have created an expedited financial support process. Please click on the following link and select submit when finished entering your information.  Rebecca Baruzzi, the program coordinator, will be in contact with you regarding your application.Link: https://forms.gle/QA27oXMFDeRsMFZN9 
We receive daily updates from the VT Department of Health, which are linked to our district working response plan, found on the HUUSD website.

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.
 
The Bridge Over Troubled Waters Project      Dr. Richard Katzman, a Waterbury community member, Bridgeside Books owner Hiata Defeo, HUUSD Principal Tom Drake and CBMS Librarian Jen Hill are excited to announce the launch of a new program for kids of all ages in the Harwood Unified Union School District.  The Bridge Over Troubled Waters Project will begin on June 15th and culminate as 2020 draws to a close with the publication of student writing and art.  Young people attending private, public or home school are invited and encouraged to participate.

The theme of the project is “How we act and feel in difficult times.” It is about challenge and resilience, success and failure, courage and despair.  Students will have a chance to read a book that relates to this theme in some way, then to create reflections from their reading and their own experience.  Prose, poetry and art work are all welcome.  Fiction or nonfiction, books from home, from a selection available at or special ordered by Bridgeside Books at no cost to participants (and for them to keep), or borrowed from a library, are all fine.

    Bridgeside Books will have available the following selection for the project.  If your child is interested in a different book, we can get it for you, usually in less than a week.
             For older readers
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson - looking back on childhood
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - novel and graphic about finding your voice
Book Thief by Markus Zusak - in Nazi Germany find comfort in words
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - family and friendship in Afghanistan
The Call of the Wild by Jack London - courage and survival in Alaska
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - hard times in the Dust Bowl
               For middle readers
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (young adult version) - true survival plane crash
Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park - true story enduring hardships
Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba - true enterprising teen
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen - survive alone in the wilderness
El Deafo by Cece Bell - graphic memoir living with deafness
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper - growing up a brilliant mind trapped in a body
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling - sarcasm, struggle
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacueline Woodson - a poem memoir of childhood
           For younger readers
The Day you Begin by Jacqueline Woodson - power of your voice and friendship
The Dot by Peter Reynolds - discover talent
Tomorrow I'll be Brave by Jessica Hische - fantastic journey with opportunities
Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall - courage to take a big important leap
Student submissions will be due by September 1st; details on how to submit will be sent to you in August.  HUUSD faculty will review the collection before formatting the efforts of participating writers and artists into a publication which will include the work of elementary, middle and high school students and which we hope to have available for the holidays by November 1st. 
  If you are interested in participating, even if you do not need a book from us, please click here and fill out this form by June 15th.  We plan to have books ready to distribute to everyone by July 1st.  Dr. Katzman can be reached at 802.793.3661 or rkatzman@uvm.edu if you have questions, or contact Bridgeside Books at info@bridgesidebooks.com.  Details on book distribution will go out to participants the last week of June.


 
Farmers to Families Food Box Program The Vermont Foodbank is thrilled to announce the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. We will be partnering with The Abbey Group, the State Emergency Operations Center, and the Vermont National Guard to distribute boxes packed with fresh, nutritious food to people in need from May 15th through the end of June, with the possibility to continue beyond that.
The Abbey Group will provide boxes of chicken, produce, and dairy products for the distributions held by the Vermont National Guard throughout the state. They will provide enough food at each distribution to serve 1000 households.  For the first several distributions, they will also provide non-perishable food boxes from FEMA. Distributions are currently scheduled through the rest of May in Berlin, Peru, Middlebury, Thetford, Morristown, Burlington, Brattleboro, Swanton, and Lyndonville.
We need your help promoting locally! Please click here to see the full schedule and help us spread the word to anyone who could use this assistance. We would prefer that you direct people to that link for the most up to date distribution details as this is a new program and details are emerging as we speak. This will ensure that everyone has access to the most accurate information possible.
 TDI@Home 2020— now an on-line summer camp!Summer camp/academic program for advanced and gifted students entering grades 4-9.  Now on-line, to be held M-F for two weeks: June 22-26 and June 29-July 3. Morning and/or afternoon options for one or both weeks; cost is $220 per morning or afternoon session.   On-line classes—including Minecraft Circuitry, Myth-Making, Eggstronauts,  Young Curators, Applied Programming, Writing and Laughing—nurture students' creativity and their love of learning. Campers have a virtual blast learning alongside other smart kids.  Go to  http://www.tdivermont.org/registration for more information. REGISTRATION DUE JUNE 8.

Virtual Girl Scout Programs: The Green and White Mountain Girl Scout organization is fortunate to be able to continue offering programs to girls and volunteers virtually for an at home enrichment experience. Free information sessions to explore the programs are held on Mondays at 3pm and Wednesdays at 6pm. To register visit: bit.ly/GSGWMVirutalopenhouse. For further information contact customer care at 888-474-9686 or customercare@girlscoutsgwm.org
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