As part of their leadership training on 8th Grade Day, Isabel, Patrick, Kingston, Kate, Lila, Moxie, Phoebe, Leo, and Zane explained "what makes Riverside special" to our new teachers. |
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Greetings!
Happy First Day of School! We hope each of you enjoyed a fabulous summer. We are thrilled to have students and families back on campus. The start of the year involves so many logistics and so much information, please reach out with questions!
Nelia
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The Monday Memo is an essential tool for building and maintaining our supportive community at Riverside. Please make it a part of your family's routine to read and make sense of it at the beginning of each week. On the annual Biography form there is a place to let us know if you prefer a hard copy, and to share grandparent email addresses with us if they'd like to receive it also. The Memo is also posted on our website by the end of the first day of the school week.
The Constant Contact platform for email uses a software system that formats the Monday Memo for your email address. If you wish to forward the email, please scroll to the bottom and follow the directions to forward. Please let us know if you are experiencing any technical issues with Constant Contact so that we can try to resolve them together. You may find the message in your promotions/spam folder, and need to cue your email software that it's an important message that you want in your primary inbox.
As we await everyone's annual forms (see below) in order to finalize our email lists, all families will receive a hard copy of the Monday Memo on the first day of school.
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If you haven't yet returned your colored enrollment forms, please do so as soon as possible. It's challenging to start the school year without updated contact and medical info. We also need your permission to take students on the Fall Field Trip next week.
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Most new families received their 2022-2023 Riverside Family Handbooks at the New Family Orientation. Please be sure to review the booklet with your child as is appropriate to his/her age (a 7-8th grader might read it entirely, a 4-5th grader might read sections you recommend, you might talk with your 1-2nd grader about items you feel are important) and sign and return the acknowledgment form in the front pocket so that we know that students are familiar with the information.
Don’t miss additional information and forms in the front pocket, including a cover letter from Roy, the form to confirm that you've read/reviewed the handbook, and various other items.
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The Board of Trustees has developed and approved a set of COVID guidelines for the school year. Our goal in developing these procedures is to keep students in school and return to our normal pre-pandemic programming as much as possible. By and large, the protocols are a resumption of what we have done in past years in dealing with sickness and absences, with exception of dealing with positive COVID cases.
We do ask that parents please complete this form to give consent for their child(ren) to be COVID tested and/or to mask for the remainder of the day should they present with or complain of illness.
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The Extended Day Program, directed by Sean Fortier, will begin running on the first day of school. Because of additional grouping structures and staffing required to make this happen, it is essential for us to know how many students to plan for at a time. Additionally, some of our school day schedule and cohort arrangements will have to be made in consideration of which children might need to interact with each other after school, so we need the completed Extended Day Program Registration Form so that we can plan accordingly.
We understand that unexpected situations occur, and in the spirit of being a supportive community, we will work to accommodate changes in attendance when we have 24-hours notice.
Students in the preschool program must attend After School in that classroom, and be picked up by 4:15 ($5). K-8th grade students can be picked up by 4:15 ($5) or by 5:00 ($10) in the kitchen. The rates are higher on half days when the program runs longer. More details about the program are in the Family Handbook.
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INSTRUMENT LESSONS & BAND |
In an effort to expand our music program, middle schoolers will be required this year to take either band or chorus (or both!) as one of their electives. Ellis Music has great options for renting instruments and makes weekly stops at Riverside for drop-offs/repairs/supplies. Here is the link to their rental information. As part of the commitment to band, students will be encouraged to take lessons either with Marie during the school day, or outside of school. If rental costs are prohibitive for your family, please talk to Marie or Krystal; we have some school-owned instruments that are available. Elementary students are also encouraged to play an instrument and take lessons and can work toward joining the middle school band. Please reach out to Marie with any questions!
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We are so excited to return to a traditional Fall Field Trip program this year! 4-8th graders will be spending September 14-16 at Copper Cannon Camp in Franconia, and K-3rd graders will join us there on Thursday, September 15 thanks to parent chaperones and carpool drivers. Parents and siblings are strongly encouraged to join us, as your schedule allows. You might spend one or both nights, or maybe just join us for an afternoon activity, a dinner, or an evening campfire. Please let Nelia know if we should plan a bed for you. Details about the schedule, packing list, etc will be in next week's Monday Memo.
Calendar update: K-8th graders will all be dismissed at 12:30 on Friday at Riverside (preschool will have a normal full day). The Extended Day Program will run, please email Sean if your child will be there so that he can plan accordingly for the long afternoon.
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Our PAG, who support communications, mentorship, and participation at Riverside, are gearing up for the year just like the staff are. Chairpersons Kim Adams (6th grader Cora and 7th grader Gabe) and Deandra Early (kindergartener June and 2nd grader Henry) have been meeting with Roy and Nelia to set goals for the year and help coordinate some of the fall community events. Other PAG members have been reaching out to new families in their classes to welcome them. We are so grateful for this team supporting our school. The first PAG meeting (to which all parents are welcome) will be Tuesday, September 20 at 5:00 pm. Remember that the parents listed here are prepared to support other parents.
- PK: Candice Guyer, Claudia Lechuga
- K: Amanda Anderson, Alex & Tonia Brown
- 1: Kate Renner
- 2: Deandra Early
- 3: Heather Linehan
- 4: Molly Moghari
- 5: Courtney Daffinrud
- 6: Katie Desjardins
- 7: Kim Adams
- 8: Alex & Anat Donn, Arcelie Newell
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The following are a few easy ways to help support Riverside throughout the year.
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Price Chopper Tools for Schools: This simple fund-raiser benefits the school each time you shop all year long. If you shop at Price Chopper, sign up to support Riverside on the sheet in the front pocket of your Family Handbook. In the past our Price Chopper rewards have earned us much needed sports equipment, a digital projector, and a wireless microphone set.
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Box Tops for Education: Download the Box Tops app and use it to scan your grocery receipts. Numerous products offer 10cents to your designated school for each purchase.
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Good Search and Good Shop: When you use www.goodsearch.com as your search engine and select The Riverside School (in Lyndonville, VT) as your charity, we get one cent for each search conducted. Set your browsers now! From that site you can link to goodshop.com, which then links to all your favorite on line shopping sites (Amazon, Borders, Staples, Marriott), United Airlines, QVC, eBay). Following that link to complete your shopping, and having the Riverside School (in Lyndonville, VT) set as your charity, will result in a portion of the sale being donated to our school.
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Amazon Smile: Start at smile.amazon.com and select "Riverside School Inc" in Lyndonville, VT. Once you choose us the first time, all you have to do is start your shopping at that url in the future, and .05% of the price of eligible purchases will be donated to us!
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SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY NIGHT |
On Friday, September 23, from 5:00-7:00 pm, all families are encouraged to attend this informative, community-building evening. We are still sorting out the details, but it will definitely include time in classrooms with teachers sharing specific needs and information, time to socialize specifically with other parents from the same town and/or classroom, and time to share food. |
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BURKE FALL FEST AND PARADE |
We traditionally show off our school pride at the East Burke Fall Festival and Parade and are so excited to return to this event for the first time since 2019!. Mark your calendars for September 24, when we will meet at 9:00 am to ride/walk in the parade. There may be some help needed in getting our float and giant heron puppet ready the week before, any info about that will be in future Monday Memos. The Burke Chamber of Commerce is also requesting volunteers for this event. If you can lend a hand for a few hours, it would be much appreciated, please email Laura Maliewski.
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Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 13th, from 3:00-7:00 pm (we won't schedule soccer games for that day). We hope students, teachers, and parents alike will register to participate solo, or as a team. The money raised by your pledges will go directly to Riverside's scholarship program. You'll keep track of points earned by completing laps and fun stations, on foot or on wheels! Stay tuned for links to register and print a pledge form. Start talking to your friends, neighbors, and extended family about why you think more students should be able to attend Riverside and why they should pledge money toward your success in the race. |
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After the Fall Field Trip in this space you will find links to google docs for each grade level, with brief information about learning activities in each subject area and announcements unique to their class for the week. For this week and next, teachers are establishing routines and relationships in their classes. |
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30 Lily Pond Road, Lyndonville, VT 05851
phone: 802.626.8552
fax: 802.626.4156
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