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ABS ~Notes, thoughts, and inspirations By Angela Filion

The Time of Year to Celebrate!

As we begin to wind down the school year, I find myself doing a lot of reflection on how the year has gone, what things we have been able to learn and do, and what areas we have struggled with, so we can fine tune our systems as we move toward the 2023-2024 school year. Upon this reflection, I though a lot about what we can celebrate....and there is so much to be proud of! So, I have decided to give you the top 5 things to celebrate here at Allen Brook School for the 2022-2023 school year.

  1. Despite having many staffing challenges this year we have been able to shift and adjust our internal supports/staffing to cover areas that are most critical in the building. This required flexibility and understanding from our faculty and staff. We have been fortunate to have parents and community members step into supporting roles as well. It has truly taken a village to adequately staff our building. Thanks to ALL that contributed their time and energy when needed.
  2. Parent and community activities have gradually started to increase as we moved out of pandemic guidelines. We were able to host our first ever open house to welcome our children and families into the building and share what wonderful things we are doing here at ABS! Parent volunteers, field trips, Four Winds, art shows, plays and various other celebrations have been had where families are welcome to join us in celebrating student success and experiences.
  3. As indicated in a previous segment, we had a dedicated group of educators come together as a systems think tank to analyze various topics post pandemic. We were able to begin looking at how we are currently structured and what possibilities in our future we may consider to better meet the needs of our youngest learners. We have created new data systems to store pertinent information on students in a way that is more accessible and efficient. We are also looking at our intervention model and brainstorming ways to use the resources we currently have, paired with the growing needs to the best of our abilities. All of this work will serve us well as we move forward into our next school year.
  4. With the rebuilding of the FAP, we have been fortunate to be able to offer rich experiences to our children with funds that have been raised and allocated. Here is a list of the wonderful things that have taken place across Williston Schools this year due to the revitalization of FAP: Author visit at ABS - Rebecca Rule "The Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Ride Ever!", purchase of decodable readers matching interest and reading level of special education students, purchase decodable books for reading groups in Horizon House, purchase of large tapestry loom for weaving in classrooms or public spaces at ABS, purchase of books and other resources to support the Pathway to the Seal of Bi-literacy program at WCS, School Chicken Coop at WCS, Abenaki Land Link Presentation at ABS for students participating in this project, Jeh Kulu West African Dance and Drum Theater Residency at ABS, purchase of decodable readers for reading groups in Synergy, creation and purchase of original and unique circuit boards for specific lesson in Design Teach at WCS, purchase of specific board games to be used with DELTA students to support SEL skills, and purchase of new student atlas collection for Sterling House. Thanks to ALL that contributed to providing these rich experiences for our children!
  5. Lastly, I want to celebrate the incredible dedication and commitment that our faculty and staff continue to exude despite the hurdles and challenges we have faced together over the last few years. The resilience, persistence, and creativity that people bring to our schools is admirable. I have seen incredible support, empathy, and understanding when things get tough, and for that I feel honored to lead this group of hard working human beings!

The Importance of Sharing Your Passion

Everyone has something that they are truly passionate about. Passion that is kept a secret is meaningless. It needs to be shared and be seen for it to be meaningful. More than anything else, sharing these small, personal and real-life “moments” helps people get to know you and, once people know you, they have a narrative and story which they can attach and remember you by. Sharing common interests is a great opportunity to nurture connection, encourage positive family rituals, and expose children to new ideas. Here’s a few things to keep in mind to make sure it’s a positive experience…let them get involved. Sometimes our hobbies are great ‘me’ time and that’s important too. But letting your kids see you pursuing your interests sometimes is powerful as well. Their natural curiosity and desire to spend time with you will often have them wanting to know more. Be prepared for questions and little hands wanting to try too.

In the last few weeks I was able to share my passion for dance with a small group of students who signed up to do Hip Hop dance with me. I shared a little bit about my journey with dance and let the children share with me what things make them feel joyful and passionate. I also did this same thing with a small group of the staff after school. We laughed, moved and grooved. These experiences brought us together and connected us in a new way.

We are also fortunate that David Bolger shares his passion for music with us every Friday morning. He strums his guitar and children gather around to sing and dance with him. He sometimes invites other musicians join him. The energy and joy this brings is infectious. The experiences and connections we share with one another help us be a part of a community that embraces different parts of our identity.

I encourage you to share your passions with your children. Most importantly, enjoy yourself. As parents we are our children’s biggest role models. We can show them what passion, dedication, and learning look like. We can welcome their curiosity and share our joy and knowledge with them. What passions have you shared with your kids lately?

Dancing together after school was so much fun!
Hip hop until you drop dance group from Lucky U

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Spring Has Sprung!

On March 20th, the first day of Spring, I received a special invitation to join the Kindergartners on Tree Island to celebrate! For those of you who don't know, Tree Island is this magical place on our campus where many of our K students go and learn, explore, discover, and imagine. On this particular day... Mrs. Dyer and her dad explained all about how to make maple syrup, as this is something their family does right here in Williston. The children all gathered around and waited patiently for their sample as they learned and asked questions about the sugaring process. This is just one example of the many wonderful things that are happening at ABS during this sunnier time of the year.

Learning how maple syrup is made

There have been many field trips, events, and celebrations to be thankful for as we round the corner towards the end of our school year. Thanks to the rebuilding of our Families As Partners(FAP) we have been so fortunate to use the funds that have been raised to offer many wonderful activities for our students. Students have been enjoying many different activities as part of the LUCKY U fundraiser event last month. From cake decorating, hip hop with the principal, being our front office greeter and so much more..students are enjoying quality time with some adults they may not often get a chance to see.

Author Visit: Rebecca Rule

We recently had a lovely Author visit with Rebecca Rule who read her book Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Ride Ever! During the week of April 17th, Jeh Kulu West African Dance company will be here at ABS. Kids will be dancing during PE classes. At the end of the week the students will participate in a school wide party to show off all the moves they learned during their classes. I am so appreciative of our FAP committee for their hard work to reboot and reimagine possibilities for our school community. I also want to share that our teachers take additional time to apply for these funds in order to provide these rich experiences for our children. This partnership is such a valuable and authentic way for us to work together and bring joy back into our lives little by little as we move out of the pandemic! Happy Spring everyone!

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ABS Think Tank

At ABS we have a dedicated group of professionals coming together each week for a few hours to do some reflection and brainstorming about what hopes and dreams we have for our future work together. We have come to realize as we move our way out of the pandemic and back to some sense of "normalcy" that we need to take a deeper look at the systems that we currently have in place and if they are still serving our students needs well or not. Some of the topics of discussion include: Configuration possibilities, Kid talk process(weekly meetings with teams to brainstorm student specific needs), EST(Education Support team for students with higher needs/supports), WIN(What I Need block to support intervention/enrichment), Farm to School opportunities with our food service program, master schedule analysis/planning, and analyzing our intervention model/supports. Although this is a lot of deep systems work, we are committed to making space and time for this authentic, on-going and forward thinking dialogue. From this dialogue we have come to realize that we want to focus more intentionally on building our connections amongst teams and grade bands, create systems that help with smoother transitions for our students, the relationships we build with students/families being a high priority, and creating systems that can be sustainable over time. I will leave you with this quote from one of my favorite scholars, Margaret J. Wheatley that has inspired some of this work, "There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about."  Stay tuned for updates on our next steps as we move forward in this very important systems work!

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In the month of February we will take time to honor and respect the notion that we are "ALL Unique and Special." As part of Black History month(and all through out the year) we immerse students in rich stories and conversations that provoke us to wonder, learn, ask questions, and be curious about our world prior to our existence and how the world presents in real time. These conversations shed light to our unique qualities and helps us to take in the perspectives of others.

Students do a whole school celebration and decorate themselves for our school-wide bulletin board
A list of great reads shared by Cara Clopton our school librarian

We are very fortunate to have district DEI(Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) coaches in our schools who help provide us with professional development, resources, and support to help guide this integration of learning. If you and your family would like to expand your thinking, I will leave you with a few resources for you to incorporate at home. Through education, awareness, and dialogue we can empower our youngest learners to become curious, self aware, and compassionate in the world around them.

Black History Month Coloring Book

PreK-8 Lessons and Resources

Magical Moments/A Sense of Belonging

As we have turned into the New Year, I want to take a moment to reflect on one of the many magical moments I have seen in the first half of the year. There are so many moments that have brought me shear joy and pride.

David Bolger one of our veteran teachers at ABS is the true essence of the word "magical." He just has this way about him that when you are in his presence you are bound to feel good! He helped to organize an annual event that we haven't been able to host due to the pandemic. Right before the holiday break, we all gathered in the halls and sang seasonal songs together. There was so much joy and heart in the voices of everyone around me. To see people singing, smiling, and together unmasked, is a testament to how far we have come and gave me a sense of hope and belonging...something we all need more of these days!

I have had the opportunity to be in a lot of classrooms for the last month as I gave faculty "The Gift of Time" slots to take a thirty minute break to either catch their breaths or work on one of the many things they need to get done in their busy day. This also affords me the chance to spend some time with the students and engage in the magical learning and growing that goes on at Allen Brook. I am continually amazed at how resilient and dedicated our faculty, staff, students, and community are at helping our youth thrive and grow. In every space I enter, I see students proud and excited to share what they know. Students are connecting and growing and learning how to find their voice in this complex world. Being in the classrooms reminds me the importance of community and pride within the learning environment. One of the most magical things about Allen Brook to me is that no matter where you are in this building...you see and hear students and adults connecting, engaging, learning, and growing....together! ABS is a safe, inclusive, and magical place to be! Here is to 2023!

Singing in our jammies!

Social Emotional Supports At ABS

Co-Authored by Angela Filion and Nicole Pfende

We’ve made it to our first winter break, time to take a breath, spend time unwinding and gearing up for the start of a new year. When we come back to school in January, teachers may take some time to reestablish routines and norms, and will work on reintegrating students back into the school schedule and expectations. While this can be a fairly easy and seamless transition for some, other students (and adults) may struggle getting back into the school routine.

It is important for all of us at Allen Brook to accept students and meet them where they are at. What this means, is that some of our students are working on academic areas, while others are working on Social, Emotional and Behavioral areas. We would never remove a student out of class because they didn’t know their math, likewise, we work to keep students who are struggling behaviorally in the class, providing support and encouragement to work through their struggles. Of course, there are times when students need to take a break outside of the class. During this time, they receive support and processing which includes opportunities to restore any harm that may have been caused.

At ABS we work extremely hard to protect student’s privacy, and integrity. There are times where classrooms may be cleared, to remove the audience and keep others safe. There are other times where a student may walk out of a classroom yelling threats and swears. Sometimes students leave class without permission and run around the hallways. Some students make noises, cry loudly, or climb tables/chairs. Whatever may be the external behavior we are seeing or hearing, what we know is that students are doing what they think is the BEST choice for them at that moment.

We are very fortunate to have an amazing team of social emotional supports at ABS and we work proactively to support the various needs our young students may be presenting. All teachers use Second Step(a standards based SEL program) to teach explicit lessons in the classroom weekly. Students can access a variety of incentive plans that are tailored to their interests and individual needs. We offer small groups to practice prosocial skills, lunch bunch groups with our school counselor, restorative circles, we have two trained therapy dogs, provide lots of positive reinforcement and of course, lots of TLC!

If your child comes home and tells you something happened at school with a peer, here are a few questions you could ask/say: Tell me more about that, Did you let an adult know? If yes, what happened after that? If no, how come and who can you talk to in the future? Were you able to have time to talk with the student? What can you do differently if this happens again? As always, we are here to support all students to be the best version of themselves. Please reach out should you have any questions or concerns. We wish you a much needed break with lots of cuddles with family and friends! See you in the New year! -Angela and Nicole

Ziggy the therapy dog comes in to help bring smiles and support to people.

What is WIN?

I wanted to take this segment to share with you a little bit about our new WIN block that we have implemented this year for all of ABS. You may be wondering...what is WIN? WIN is an acronym that stands for “What I Need”. It is designed to provide flexible options to support students’ individual interests and needs. From extra help to social time to extracurricular activities and more - WIN block is intended to give students “what they need." This is not a totally new concept to Allen Brook as Horizon House has been providing this for a number of years. We have dedicated a lot of time and energy to create a Master Schedule that allows for us to create this time for students 3 times a week for 30 minutes. We will have periodic rotations of WIN through out the year and all classroom teachers, Essential Arts teachers, specialists, interventionists, and social emotional staff are all contributing to making this a successful time for our young learners.

What happens during WIN block? WIN block provides a variety of options for students including the following: Targeted academic support from teachers to help reinforce or reteach learned content in a small group setting, activities planned with a focus on physical and social-emotional well-being. Students will benefit from differentiated instruction that occurs during a 30-minute daily WIN time that includes reteaching, remediation, or extension activities for Math, Literacy, technology, the arts, and Social-Emotional Learning. When students are not participating in the WIN block(as this is on a rotational schedule in grades 1-2), then they will be focusing that block of time on science/social studies lessons. We are hoping that this will be a great way for us to help support our learners in a variety of ways, especially given the staffing situation we are currently in(refer to Jackie Parks note last week on our current state of conditions with our staffing situation).

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Open House Fun!

September was a very busy month for us here at ABS! Opening the school doors and welcoming everyone back is always very exciting(and busy). Our focus for September was to settle our students and families in and start to build authentic relationships and routines with one another. I would say the highlight of the month was our open house event! One teacher shared, "it felt like Christmas eve today in the building" because students were so excited and proud to share their learning environment with their families and loved ones! As I handed out cookies/cider and bounced around the building, it was so nice to see families engaged in some hands on activities, students parading their parents around for the scavenger hunt, and families connecting and chatting with one another! As I drove home that night, I reflected on how these wonderful community events all went away while we navigated the unknowns of the pandemic. It felt so hopeful and inspiring to be able to recreate those partnerships with families and regain a sense of community. Please enjoy these photos of our first ever open house event. I look forward to more and more of these types of events and experiences for us as we move our way past the pandemic and move toward a sense of belonging and connectedness!

The halls are filled with families!
Gross Motor fun in the gym!
Art is in our heart!
Yummy snacks from our food service team!

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Welcome Back!

Welcome back to the 2022-2023 school year everyone! It has been so great to welcome back our faculty, staff, students, and families here at ABS! I am excited for our theme this year of re-creating a sense of belonging in our community and learning our students and families stories. Our district is committed to gathering student/family story through the lens of identity, connection, direction, and proficiency. We are intentionally taking a slow and steady approach as we transition students/families to new people, routines, and expectations. We believe that this will serve us well as we start to integrate the content and curriculum into our daily practice. In a few weeks we will be welcoming all of our families to an open house on Thursday 29th from 6-7. You will get a chance to explore the school and see some of the things your child has been working on. We look forward to seeing you all in our building for the first time in 2 years!

This week I was able to go around to all of the classrooms to greet the students, deliver our theme of the year about story and belonging, and share a read aloud with them called, You Are Enough by Sofia Sanchez. This story was inspired by a young girl with down syndrome Her story reminds us all that being who are is enough and that we should be inclusive and caring so that everyone feels a sense of belonging. Teachers have been intentionally gathering student/family story and taking the time to build connections and routines in the beginning weeks to inform how they will plan for learning moving forward. Please feel free to share any parts of your family narrative with your child's teacher that you feel is important for us to know! In case you missed it here is the recent newsletter from Superintendent Sanchez sharing his thoughts as we open our year together. We look forward to seeing you at open house in just a short few weeks!

Introducing our theme for the year..student story and creating a sense of belonging!

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A Time to Celebrate!

As we are winding down a school year that has been like no other we have ever experienced, I am reminded to take pause and celebrate all that we have accomplished despite the many hurdles we have faced! Just last week we were fortunate to have a surprise celebration to recognize one of our first graders, Kyle Adams, for his submission in the Google Doodle contest. Kyle's doodle(seen above) sends us a message that we should identify the ways we take care of ourselves. He stated in his submission, "Meditation is a powerful way to manage hard feelings, troubling thoughts, and lets our mind take a needed rest." This shows me that our students are learning and responding to our social emotional curriculum and finding strategies that work for their own well being! He was titled the Vermont State winner and is in the running for the National title. Please click here to support Kyle by casting your vote!

There have been many other end of year celebrations occurring to wrap up the year, including saying farewell to some of our educators that are retiring. Sharon Davison(K teacher) and Jean Russell(Special Educator) will be concluding their careers in education at the end of this school year. They have dedicated their entire lives to educating our youth and providing them with rich experiences and access to learning in very creative ways. Jean often stops by my office to share the latest news and celebrations that her students are having success with. I always appreciate when she makes it a point to highlight and share with pride the things her students are accomplishing on a daily basis! I will also miss Sharon's wisdom and expertise with global goals and hearing about all of the amazing adventures she has taken around the world both physically and virtually. Both of these dedicated educators are moving on to spend much needed time with loved ones and discovering their next path in life...they will be greatly missed and we wish them all the best!

Jean Russell(above) and Sharon Davison(right)

As we conclude this school year, I will be looking for and enjoying all of the "bright spots" and celebrations that will occur both personally and professionally. My daughter will be graduating from high school and heading to college in the fall. We will welcome our new Kindergarteners and say goodbye to our 2nd graders as they transition to Williston Central School. All of these events are both exciting and can also be emotional. I encourage us to take pause, celebrate, reflect, and look forward to the days ahead where we can recreate a sense of normalcy in our lives! Enjoy your summer everyone!

A

Signs of Gratitude & Hope

Part 2 prepares vibrant messages for our teachers to arrive to on Monday of Teacher Appreciation Week!

As this week comes to an end I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of hope and gratitude for the work we do as community partners to education and shape our future...our children! We kicked off the week with teachers arriving to school with vibrant messages from the students on the sidewalks as they entered the building. A huge thanks to Amanda our after school director for taking my idea to action with the students from Part 2! Through out the week we had daily drawings, lots of delicious food and desserts, a beautiful arrangement from our school board of directors, find the mascot scavenger hunts(teacher finds the mascot and earns a break from the principal), coffee, cookies, and breakfast from our food service department....the list goes on and on! These acts of gratitude come to us at a time where we are winding down from one of the most challenging school years we have ever experienced! So thank you to those that have stayed the course with us as hard as it has been, and also taking pause to provide our educators with appreciation. There was a newfound energy in the building this week that felt hopeful and encouraging! THANK YOU!

We concluded our week with our annual Arbor Day Celebration at ABS! This happens to be one of Mr. Marino's favorite school events of the year, that encompasses taking time to appreciate our campus, trees, and the growth and prosperity that nature gives us. A huge thanks to Horsford's nursery in Charlotte for the donation of the tree, to Mr. Matt and Mr. Kyle for preparing the tree for planting, to Chapin Kaynor(who has been volunteering as part of our Four Winds Program for many years) who knows a lot about trees and helped us pick just the right spot for our tree this year! This was the first time that we have come all together as a school community in almost two years. The beautiful sunny day, the landscape of our campus, the smiling faces, and us coming together to sing and be thankful for our earth and all it encompasses was a wonderful way to end the week. Here is a copy of the Arbor Day Program and some wonderful photos to share with you what our experiences were like this week...enjoy!

We brought back our traditional dessert day-people nibbled all week long!
Adding soil and water to our newly planted tree!
Everyone at ABS together to celebrate our beautiful campus and all it has to offer!

Springing Ahead

As we have been adjusting to the time change and seeing more daylight, we are reminded of the importance of sunshine and rejuvenation! Spring always gives me a feeling of hope and energy that you can just feel in the air. By now many of you have had your spring conferences with teachers. I always loved this time of year best as a primary teacher! There is so much growth in these early years and sharing that with families is such a great reminder of our purpose as educators. I am incredibly proud of all we have been able to accomplish as a community who has stayed the course amongst some of the most challenging times in our lives. I have a belief that the partnership between our schools and families is by far the most critical component to student success! It has been wonderful to slowly and carefully start having more in person opportunities for our families to engage in.

As we begin to think about our transition to the 2022-2023 school year, we will begin to start our placement process. Next week you can expect that we will send home a parent input survey for you to fill out and return to us by Friday April 18th. We use the input from classroom teachers, specialists, and parents to make informed decisions in our placement process. "The purpose of the placement process is to create classroom communities that are balanced, diverse, and positive for all students.” In order to achieve this vision we see families as partners in this process. Parents and Guardians should communicate a sense of their child’s well-being on the placement forms and also trust the school’s placement process. We believe that we approach the placement process with good intentions, using clear and collaborative processes & communication for all involved parties within the school. We encourage you to use the placement forms to provide input to the placement team. As you can imagine creating balanced and diverse classrooms is a very time consuming and thoughtful process. We appreciate you trusting and respecting our vision and look forward to helping your child/children transition to the next step in their educational journey!

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To Mask or Not to Mask....That Is The Question?

There is no right or wrong answer to this question. By now you have likely read this note that came from Superintendent Sanchez about us not requiring masks as of Monday March 7th. As you can imagine this causes different reactions to different people. Throughout this pandemic we have had many twists, turns, burdens, and even some celebrations along the way! Each and every time we come to a big decision like this I have noticed the change in behavior it can cause in people. This is all based on our emotions. Our emotion of angst and fear of the unknown, our emotion of excitement as we inch our way back to life prior to this pandemic, our emotion of relief as we start to become less restricted in our daily habits. All of these emotions are to be expected and how people handle them varies. One thing that I have found to be helpful when we embark on these significant changes in protocol is to just name it and talk about it.

I encourage you to have conversations with your children about how they are feeling about this new change. Ask them what they feel they need as we make this transition. Encourage your child to express and articulate what feelings may be coming up for them. Remember many of our students have been wearing masks to school since they began...it is all they know! Here is a social story that was shared with our teachers as a resource and guide to talk to our children about this next step out of the pandemic. It was shared with us from some Shelburne teachers and we felt it was a great tool to help start a conversation with our students.

I was out helping at recess the other day and some kids were running around without their masks on...for some I had not ever seen their beautiful little faces nor had they seen mine. We had this lovely conversation about how great it was to see each others smiles. The children asked me if it was true that if 80% of kids were vaccinated could we no longer wear masks. They had questions, wonderings, and curiosity. They were so aware, intuitive, and thoughtful during this discussion. I shared with them during this chat that everyone is going to have different feelings, needs, and beliefs about whether to wear your mask or not. We all agreed that it will be a choice for people and that we can expect that some friends will choose not to wear them, while others may still need more time to feel safe- and that is okay.

We will do our best to honor the individual choices that families make moving forward. We do ask that you talk to your child about this so that they can manage their mask wearing choices on their own and with your guidance and support. We will not be expecting teachers to keep track of this for each kiddo as that would be difficult to manage. Remember the power of a conversation can go a long way! I look forward to seeing more and more faces and smiles(many of them toothless) in the coming days!

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A poem shared with my by David Bolger

I share with you the above poem that was sent to me by our very own David Bolger, who said when reading it he knew that it would "speak to me." As I read this poem I was instantly moved by the essence of what the poem was saying, but was even more moved at the fact that he took the time and space to share it with me in mind. It is these types of small gestures and interactions that remind me the power of seeing and connecting with others in ways that are authentic and genuine!

The poem reminds us all of the importance of accepting simplicity and embracing small achievements along the journey of wonder and intrigue. It gives me a sense of relief to be reminded that it is ok to live ordinarily rather than trying to strive for the extraordinary. I hear sprinklings and narratives that because of this pandemic our children "are behind" or "not thriving." Yet each day when I lean into the wonderment and inquisitive learning that takes place at ABS; I see extraordinary moments of pride, discovery, problem solving, and growth! Of course we all want to see our children be successful but for each child success means something different. Might we challenge ourselves to not ask questions like, why isn't he/she at grade level but rather what strengths, challenges, and successes has he/she discovered along the path of understanding? Just reframing these types of questions allows for us to look at things from a strengths based lens. It reminds us to take into account that we are trying to create pathways for students to reach their potential in a variety of ways. The timeline and journey may be unique and different to the individual...and that is ok!

Our educators are working on assessments with students and collecting and preparing to share report cards with you in just a few weeks. I encourage you to take this time to celebrate with your children, our teachers, and yourselves as families! Embrace all of the wonderful growth and achievement that has taken place despite all of the barriers and challenges that Covid-19 has caused us! We have all persevered through some very difficult times and yet we have so much we have accomplished and achieved! It is sometimes hard to recognize or see that when times are tough. As William Martin reminds us in this poem, "Don't ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives." Perhaps we just be ok with ordinary and strive more for curiosity and endless possibilities?

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The month of December is a time where we spread light and joy. It is a time meant to stop and think about the ones we love and provide gift offerings to show our love and appreciation for one another. While for some this is an enjoyable time of year, for others it produces stress and perhaps even financial burden. Most recently, many people who surround me are having a difficult time finding their light and joy. Our days have limited daylight as it is dark for roughly 15 hours. We can very easily fall into a slump with limited sunlight, things we have to get done in preparation for the holidays, the harsh reality of the things we are facing in the world today, and the fear of the unknowns. I myself have found it extremely difficult to "get into the spirit." This group of Kindergarteners featured in the above photo certainly helped me spark some of that joy!

One thing I know ALWAYS helps me when I am in this slump is to spend some time with the students. Most recently I have been really intentional about raising student voices and listening more intently about what they have to offer us. Their perspective on life is so pure and not as tainted by all the hurt and harm in the world right now. In fact, I have found that our children have been the most adaptable and resilient as we have adjusted to pandemic life. There are lessons to be learned from these young people. If we lean in and listen they may offer us a perspective that helps us see the light and joy in the world during a time where we may be struggling to see it ourselves. That said, I decided to spend some much needed time with some of our students and asked them what brings them light and joy. Click here to listen to their testimonials. We wish you all a joyous and restful holiday season and hope you find light and joy surrounding you and your loved ones!

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I would like to take some time to talk about empathy and compassion. Now more than ever I am reminded of how valuable a lesson it is to have an empathic mindset. This pandemic has had quite an impact on us in so many ways, and exercising empathy and compassion is something we can all benefit from! Empathy is one of the most important skills you can practice in life. It is crucial for our personal development, relationships, and society as a whole.

Websters dictionary defines empathy as, "the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner." At ABS in our social emotional learning(SEL) work with our youngest students we define empathy as, "putting yourself in someone else's shoes." Some of our ABS students have been working on this skill and have brainstormed ways they can be compassionate and show empathy. See below some photos of the ideas and the things they are doing with an empathic mindset.

As we have been combating a shortage of staff, I have had to do a fair amount of covering the needs across the school building. Many people, including myself have had to jump into other people's roles given the amount of staff being out at any given time with their own sick kiddos, under quarantine, or for the common cold. While this has been tricky to do at times, I have seen the value of "being in someone else's shoes." This allows for us to experience and recognize the work that others do around us that make ABS the wonderful place that it is! Another recent example of expressing empathy is a group of Williston parents who have been working together to provide acts of appreciation for are faculty and staff. They see all that our educators are doing to provide a safe and healthy learning environment during these challenging times and taking the time to acknowledge their hard work and tireless efforts. Let us all be reminded that even during the hardest of days, we have a choice to approach those challenges in a way that unites us and brings us together! I will leave you with a quote that speaks to me by one of my favorite scholars-Brene Brown; “Empathy is simply listening, holding space, withholding judgment, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of you’re not alone.” Brene Brown

Students collecting donations to show empathy and compassion.
Adam Deyo, one of our Kindergarten teachers steps in to help us out in the main office.
A group of Williston parents surprise our educators with an afternoon dance party, which included popcorn, bubbles, coffee, water, and lots of smiles! THANK YOU!

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As we begin to settle in a little more into our school year, we are starting to prioritize and discuss what some of the needs are for students and families. One thing I've been really trying to emphasize with teachers and families is to give ourselves permission to take things slow and be sure that health and well being comes first! In a world that seems to lack any type of normalcy it is important to remind ourselves that children(and adults) thrive off of consistent routines and expectations. Although there are many things we can't control during this pandemic, one thing we can do is provide our students with consistent expectations, follow through with our actions, and to create routines that help our students feel safe and successful.

Here are some things to consider as we move through the many emotions of this pandemic. Reassure your children. Recognize your child's feelings. Model how to manage feelings. Keep healthy routines. Structure the day. Use positive discipline.Direct your attention. Special Time. Take care of yourself. Take a breath. Click here for more details and examples of the above tips if you feel it would benefit your family to have some strategies for your day to day lives. Remember, we are here for one another and we are stronger together!

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As I sit here to write my first submission of the year, I am taking a moment to reflect on what I can possibly say or do to help ease the minds of our educators, our families, our students, and administrators during these difficult and unknown times. I am a believer of full transparency as I feel it helps us to process and deal with our current reality. Let me just name it...THIS IS HARD! This is hard for our educators as they come to work each day not knowing who may have to quarantine, if they or their students will get sick, and anxious about what they may read on social media with regard to how schools are handling things. This is hard for our families who are being asked to make sacrifices with their work, finances, and home life to stay home with their children for sometimes lengthy periods of time. This is hard for our students who just want to be able to play and frolic with their friends without guidelines, masks, and expectations that make it challenging to just be a kid. This is hard for administrators who are working day and night contact tracing to ensure that everyone stays healthy and safe. It's just hard!  So what do we do? How can we beat this thing that seems to continually control our lives? What can we do to support one another through these hardships we face? One strategy that I have been asking our educators to use when feeling overwhelmed and to also model with their students is to Stop, Breath, and Notice(SBN)! I find that when I consciously make an effort to do this, it changes my lens and focus to the things we may not be noticing due to the day to day stress we are living. We have proven time and time again that we can do this! I know we are all tired and frustrated that this pandemic is not behind us. However, we can't let it define usI Williston is a strong community and we must work together knowing that this is hard for all of us! I will leave you with some images of what I have noticed when I have taken the time to stop, breathe and see all the good around us! There are great things happening in this world too! We just need to take time to stop and notice. Remember....we've got this Williston!!

Spending time with my two nephews at the park. My sister also gave birth this week and we welcomed my newest nephew Asher into the world.
Parents gather at ABS to learn more about FAP and ways to support our Williston Schools.
Learning and growing in the outdoors!
Just hanging around!
Kinder families gather at the Dorothy Alling Library for a kick off event!
CVU students in a public speaking class recite poetry to our students.

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As we begin to count down the final days of school I can't help but feel a mix of emotions! This has been by far one of the most challenging years for all of us as we start to get our lives back into some sense of normalcy. Although we were faced with many challenges I feel we have learned and grown so much as a community! I feel so honored to be working with some of the most talented, persistent, and hard working teachers and support staff! They have shown excellence in care and compassion as they have navigated new and dynamic ways to teach and care during this pandemic! To them I say thank you! I also want to acknowledge our parents and extended families who also worked diligently with us during this year of unknowns. Over night you became educators along side us. You learned how to log your children into remote school, helped them with any digital assignments, exuded patience and understanding while we navigated guidelines, schedules, and technology, and trusted us to keep your kiddos safe and healthy! To parents and families I say thank you! There are so many people to recognize and thank during these trying times and I could go on and on with examples and stories of heroic people who have done extraordinary things along the way! I do want to finally take a moment to thank one person who has been a significant part of Allen Brook School for many many years! Cindy Pavlik, our Admin Assistant, will be retiring at the end of this school year and has been an amazing asset to our Williston Schools and community, She has dedicated so much of her time and energy to our community that I felt it was important to acknowledge her service to CVSD. Cindy and her husband recently bought a camper and will spend some of their time traveling and exploring new places. A HUGE thank you to Cindy and all her years of hard work and dedication to this community...you will be greatly missed by so many and we hope you enjoy the next chapter of your life!

Please join me in thanking Cindy Pavlik for her hard work and dedication to the Williston Schools and Community!

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The above photo is my daughter Mira Filion teaching some dance lessons to some little girls at ABS who have great rhythm and love to dance! She is who I will be highlighting through out this piece on children of divorced families. Recently we had a parent reach out to us in hopes that we may write one of our notes acknowledging that some of our kids in school share life between two households. It is interesting that this is something many people don't talk about. Divorce is real for many people and yet it still remains to be a subject that many people tend to avoid. I felt writing about this topic seemed relevant to me, as I have shared my daughter respectfully with her dad for about 16 of her 17 years of life. Mira has only ever really known her life as being in two homes, with two sets of expectations, celebrating occasions in twos, and with two parents who truly love and support her(just in different homes and in different ways). There is a lot of emotion that is involved when a family decides to part ways. The most important lesson I have learned in co-parenting our daughter is that respectful communication and established routines are key ingredients for success. Over the years we had some difficult times trying to navigate how to raise Mira together, yet apart. From my experience, when you separate the emotion of the two adults having ended their partnership and truly focus on your child/children, things tend to go much better! As one parent writes, "There are so many issues that surface such as accidentally leaving homework at the other parent's house or clothing that you need for your after-school sporting activity." These are all things that take coordination and communication so that your child feels a sense of cohesion from one environment to the next. Many families also merge and blend with other families. This can create a shift in beliefs, structures, dynamics, and bring up many emotions for everyone involved in that transition. It is important to take things slow and acknowledge any feelings your children may be experiencing among these types of transitions. At the end of the day, children who function under two homes are very resilient and well rounded humans. They are loved in many different ways, by so many people. They will adapt to transitions in life easier as this has been a familiar part of their journey. My daughter Mira has been volunteering as a mentor this spring at Allen Brook. She has truly enjoyed spending time in small groups with children who may need a little extra TLC. She will be a senior this next year and hopes to go into Special Education and School Counseling as her next step into adulthood. Her dad, her stepmother Dana, and I could not be more proud of the young woman she has become! Please enjoy some photos of Mira and her life as a child living in two homes with lots of love! Remember that there are many families who function this way. If you happen to be one of them, just know you are not alone! Here are a few resources that I have found helpful should you like to read more about this topic: https://www.parents.com/parenting/divorce/coping/making-a-child-comfortable-in-two-homes/https://www.greatlakesdfs.com/blog/age-appropriate-childrens-books-about-divorce

Mira's Pirate family for her birthday(Daddy, step-mom Dana, and I with our little pirate). My daughter Mira and I.
Mira and I getting caught in the rain during a bike ride together. Mira with her dad and Dana golfing.
Mira and I at a color run with our dance team for a fundraiser event. Daddy and Mira snuggles.
Dancing with mommy(Great grandma was her biggest fan)! Soccer with daddy.

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Spring is in the air! The days are getting longer and the sun is shining more. In the photo above you can see two of our educators providing some harmonious music together during one of our sunny Friday dismissals. This morning I saw a few ladybugs emerge in my home as they do every spring. It is said that ladybugs are considered a symbol of good luck and happiness! As we look at the days ahead, let us find those little signs of spring that brings us joy and happiness to help guide us through this pandemic. This is the time of the year we start to plan and prepare for our placement for the next school year. Although there are still many unknowns about what our guidelines and procedures will look like down the road, we are excited to begin thinking about transitioning our students to the next chapter of their educational careers. "The purpose of the placement process is to create classroom communities that are balanced, diverse, and positive for all students.” In order to achieve this vision we see families as partners in this process. We have sent out input forms for you to complete and return to help inform our decisions for students transitioning to K, 2, and 5. We have asked that these come back by April 9th. Parents and Guardians should communicate a sense of their child’s well-being on the placement forms and also trust the school’s placement process. We believe that we approach the placement process with good intentions, using clear and collaborative processes & communication for all involved parties within the school. We encourage you to use the placement forms to provide input to the placement team. Click here for an overview of our placement process and timeline. As you can imagine creating balanced and diverse classrooms is a very time consuming and thoughtful process. We appreciate you trusting and respecting our vision and look forward to helping your child/children transition to the next step in their educational journey!

At Allen Brook School we are focused on increasing and empowering student voice. Students heard the story, "Say Something" by Peter H. Reynolds a book that is about finding your voice, and using it to make the world a better place.

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This month I would like to celebrate! I know that it may seem like we don't have much to celebrate these days given our current circumstances. We can very easily find ourselves feeling discouraged, worried, and overwhelmed with all that we have going on and trying to anticipate what our future will look like. In our focus on the future, we often forget to relish the present. We get bogged down, feel more stress and experience more fatigue. We lose enthusiasm for our goal and maybe even forget to enjoy life. That’s why it’s important to celebrate our successes, both large and small. Many people get hung up on the term ‘celebration.’ A celebration doesn’t necessarily mean a grand event. A celebration can be as simple as an acknowledgment you give yourself. Celebrating our success is more about taking time out to reflect on our journey. A number of studies have found that this approach to life brings significant benefits, including improved physical health and better coping strategies. People who take time to reflect on and celebrate their successes are generally more optimistic, take better care of themselves and tend to be less stressed. If you think you don’t have anything to celebrate, think some more. There is much in life to celebrate: firsts, transitions, milestones, and even the tiniest goals achieved. You can celebrate the first signs of spring, your kids’ transition back to school, or the times you spend together as a family. You can even celebrate moments when you cross tasks off your to-do list(this is one of my favorite celebrations). The ways we celebrate can be just as varied. You can soak in a hot bath, treat yourself to an extra 15 minutes with a good book or call a good friend who can connect with about your joy. Some people find it rewarding to jot these moments in a special notebook. Take time today to contemplate what you have to celebrate, then go and celebrate it. Over time, you’ll find your new approach to celebrating will also lead to a new way of thinking — a way that recharges your batteries, that boosts your morale and your confidence and that carries you through to your next celebration. I leave you with many celebrations I have been able to capture here at ABS. These photos shed some light on all the wonderful reasons to celebrate the success of our students, faculty/staff, and community! Remember to celebrate!!!

Fun hair day on the left, 100th day of school above!
ABS T-Shirt Logo Winners(Above), (Right) Ms. Filion spreading love bubbles for Valentine's Day!
Allen Brook School (and Williston Central School) Enrichment teacher, Julie Rogers, collaborated with ABS librarian Cara Clopton, this February on a Diversity project for Daily Affirmations. Each student made a "power pose" and thought about an affirmation that fits who they are to go with a self portrait. The hallways are filling up with these K-2. It's a JOY!

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So...what have we learned about the pandemic that can help carry us forward? To go along with my previous submission about finding light and joy during these difficult times, I wanted to highlight some of the opportunities we have found during this pandemic that might help us move forward when this is all said and done. As a district we have a group of leaders on a design team looking at these systems and procedures that we have put in place due to the pandemic and what things we may want to preserve as we move forward. “Pandemic teaching” has changed education in some positive ways. We have created conditions for in-person or remote and have prioritized social and emotional wellness, meaningful adult and peer connections, and celebrations of success within targeted content. Our approach to education now more then ever relies on: flexibility, empathy, and essential content/skills(high leverage concepts). We designed in-person learning that will likely create future changes—for example, learning in outdoor classrooms and the use of interdisciplinary units designed around essential topics and skills are things we will likely consider in our work ahead. Some other things we may consider are: virtual parent conferences, using other parts of our campus for outdoor recess/explore, continuing some virtual meetings that will save time and travel, arrival and dismissal procedures, and the way our master schedule is designed. We will continue to analyze these new ways of thinking and will find opportunities to continue with some of the ideas we generated during these Covid times. In the meantime, please enjoy some photos of students and teachers doing some amazing work. We are so fortunate to be in person with our students and stay committed to providing a safe, nurturing, and authentic experience for them!

Left: Life in the arctic. Above: Centers in the library.
Learning in the outdoors!

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People often ask me lately, "How are you doing all of this and running a school during a pandemic?" The answer often is something along the lines of, "it's what's best for our students and families!" Not only do I truly believe this, but I see examples each and every day of faculty and staff dedicating and devoting their hearts to ensuring that our students are safe in school, learning, and growing! For example, take a look at the photo above of our Kindergarteners seeing a rainbow from the library window and rushing outside to enjoy this magical moment. It is these little moments that remind us of why we are making sacrifices to stay home and be safe. It is so that our children can go to school and have these rich experiences together. As we move into the next holiday season I am reminded of the sacrifices we all face to not see our loved ones and come together as families in our more traditional ways. Some people are getting creative and scheduling zoom holiday parties and staying connected through social media. Others are creating new family traditions in their immediate households and finding new things to do together as a family. As we move through the coming days I encourage you to look for light and joy around you. We can very easily find ourselves focusing on the things we can't do which can lead to discouraging thoughts and feelings. Should you find yourself feeling this way, refocus your lens and look for those positive things that remind you of the sacrifices we are making for the greater good. We are all essential, we are all humbled and impacted by this pandemic, and we are all in this together! I leave you with some photos of light and joy I have been finding around our school and in my community to keep the focus on my purpose-schools staying open and safe so children can learn and grow together. Thanks for your partnership and continued support as we move through the year together one day at a time. Be well and have a lovely holiday break with your immediate loved ones!

It's cool to be kind! On the left students took the bit of snow we had last week to get creative!
My community has done an amazing job expressing joy through lights and messages around the town!
Our bus driver Tammy is spreading joy by adding decorations to her bus! On the right our therapy dog Bea(short for Beatrice) listens to a student read to her.

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"Gratitude-the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness." I have been thinking about this word A LOT lately! Last year around this time I wrote a short segment on gratitude and what I have realized is, what I am grateful for has significantly changed in a years time. I am grateful to be serving the Williston community and the Allen Brook School in person. I am grateful that we are in one of the safest places in the world right now. I am thankful to see and hear kids learning and playing together each day. I am grateful that myself and my family is healthy and thriving. I am thankful for everyone's patience and flexibility as we navigate circumstances we have never had to work through before. I am grateful for this amazing weather we have been having so we can be outside breathing fresh air. I did a little research to find out the benefits of having gratitude and came across a study done by two psychologists/professors from Indiana University. Joshua Brown and Joel Wong found indications of how gratitude might work on our minds and bodies. In this study they had some participants focus on writing gratitude letters(Click the link to learn more). Here are some insights from their research suggesting the psychological benefits of expressing gratitude. They found that writing gratitude letters produces better mental health by shifting a person's attention away from toxic emotions. When you write about how grateful you are it might becomes harder for you to ruminate on your negative experiences. if you decide to write a letter of gratitude to someone, but you’re unsure whether you want that person to read the letter, write it anyway. You can decide later whether to send it. The act of writing the letter can help you appreciate the people in your life and shift your focus away from negative feelings and thoughts. If you participate in a gratitude writing activity, you may not feel the benefits from it right away. Be patient and remember that the benefits of gratitude might take time. Gratitude letter writers showed greater activity in the medial prefrontal cortex when they experienced gratitude. This bit of research was interesting to me as it was found three months after the letter writing began in the study. This indicates that expressing gratitude may have lasting effects on the brain. This suggests that practicing gratitude may help train the brain to be more sensitive to the experience of gratitude down the line, and this could contribute to improved mental health over time. Want to learn more? Take this gratitude quiz and try these gratitude practices! It may be fun to spend some time over the Thanksgiving break to write gratitude letters with your children and send them to loved ones if you aren't able to see them over the holidays. Happy Writing!

Ahhhhh the great outdoors! The quote above really spoke to me as we have been spending a great deal of time making connections with each other and with nature! The outdoor environment encourages skills such as problem solving and negotiating risks which are important for child development. We are fortunate to have a beautiful campus at ABS of which we have been taking advantage of since our return to school. Teachers have been adapting their lessons and being very creative and resourceful by expanding the learning beyond the classroom walls. The weather has been very cooperative with us so far but we recognize that the colder days are on the horizon. We do plan to continue to expand beyond the classroom and get out as much as possible as we change seasons! P.E. will remain outside when possible as well. It will be very important for families to send proper attire for all kinds of weather as we move into the colder days. Research shows that healthier and happier children do better in school, and that education is an important determinant of future health. We are very committed to getting all of our students back in school for 4 days as swiftly and safely as we can.. Since we have entered into life during the pandemic, technology has increased children’s sedentary time. We are striving to find the balance between providing students with outdoor and play exploration, social emotional well being, gathering baseline data to see how students are doing academically, and monitoring the amount of technology use needed in order to access learning. At the helm of all of this is the overall safety and well being of our students, faculty, and staff. In the coming days we will be adjusting to having our students at full capacity. We will be asking in advance for your patience as we navigate this transition. We will be monitoring our systems and procedures and may need to make some shifts along the way. For example, we anticipate having to shift our temperature checks to indoors as the days grow colder. We may also need to make some adjustments to our arrival and dismissal procedures. We recognize that there is a lot of communication and correspondence that needs to take place in order for us to remain aligned as the guidelines and procedures change and evolve. We appreciate your partnership as we move forward and as always the admin team encourages you to reach out to us directly with any questions you may have. We are very excited to have ALL of our students back together next week! We've got this!

Ms. Filion sharing the read aloud "I Promise" by Lebron James to the Kindergartners at Tree Island. She made it to all of the classrooms(both in and outside) to talk about the promises we can make at ABS to have a great year together!
Exploring our natural resources outdoors!

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As I look at the photo above I am reminded of how much has changed since last year. In this photo we are gathered together in the gym for one of our monthly assemblies, holding hands, singing, and spreading joy! Although we aren't able to do many of our traditions and routines this year, the one thing we are ALL feeling here at Allen Brook is the joy of seeing students back in school with us! I often try to remind myself and our faculty/staff of the why we do this work. The why is that we know kids belong IN school learning and growing. The why is seeing a moment when a child figures something out for the first time or helps a friend who is struggling. The why is sharing our ideas and wonderings. I am overwhelmed with pride at how hard everyone has worked together to get us to the reopening of school. Thank you to the parents who have been patient with us while we navigate new systems, procedures and technology glitches. You have trusted in us that we will take good care of your children during these new and unusual times. Some of you have even released your child to us without ever stepping into our school building and that says a lot about your faith in us as educators. Thank you to the teachers and support staff who walked back into this building in August after being out for many months to prepare for the arrival of our students. You have shown us your innovative thinking, your persistent mindset, and your dedication to serving our young children and families. Thank you to our community members who have stepped up to volunteer your time to do temperature checks, make us children/adult masks, being present during arrival with our police dog Duke, and for working together to bring our community back to some sense of normalcy. I know I say this often but it truly does take a village! Please enjoy some photos of some creative/innovative ways we have prepared for our 2020-2021 year...covid style!

A way to store our masks during outside breaks & socially distant seating arrangements.
A quiet place to go on team for a break.
Using our bulletin boards to promote our new procedures and protocols.

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As we wind down the school year I am mixed with many emotions of our time together. We have wonderful memories that we have shared as well as some difficult challenges we have faced. There were lots of gatherings and celebrations that we enjoyed as well as some that we had to postpone or cancel. I chose to share this photograph of one of our school wide assemblies hosted by our Kindergarten team. This photo reminds us of what our lives "looked" like prior to Covid-19. We were holding hands, united, all together in the gym celebrating light and joy! And yet this photo also symbolizes how we have gotten through this pandemic. We have stuck together and embraced the challenges as one community. Our collective efforts made us stronger, it allowed us to open our doors and hearts to our neighbors in ways we have never imagined. I have been so honored and humbled to serve this wonderful community of educators, students, parents, and community members. While there still remains much uncertainty of what our future may look like I am confident that we will get through it together.! As we close out the year let us not forget to celebrate the remarkable job everyone has done to keep our children/families safe, healthy, engaged, and supported! We wish you a sunny and restful summer and look forward to seeing you upon our return!

I stumbled upon this quote at the most perfect time..."Together may we give our children roots to grow and wings to fly." Why is this the most perfect time you may ask? Now more than ever we are having to find unique ways to work together as families and educators to provide our young ones with roots for their stability/growth as well as wings to fly on to the next school year. Many of you are probably wondering how can we possibly do this during a pandemic? How will we provide closure for this school year? What will next year look like? How will we help students transition to the next grade? These are all questions that we will need to answer together one day at a time. We will need to give ourselves permission to adjust and adapt, revise and repair, share and communicate-all for the best interest of our children! We are in this together and I want to take the time to not only appreciate our teachers this week but to the parents/families who are at home teaching their children right along with us! Another reason the timing seemed perfect for this quote is because recently a teacher shared with me a message to his 2nd grade families with these very same themes. When I read his message it brought me to tears. I immediately felt that his words deserved an even wider audience and needed to be heard by ALL of our Williston families! He has graciously allowed me to share...enjoy! David Bolger writes, "Dear Parents, I know you have just been asked to turn in your "Placement Cards" so that our folks can consider your thoughts. As we place your child with a new teacher, In a new classroom, with new classmates, in a new grade, in a new school.....what could possibly go wrong? But remember all those little second graders who left us for WCS last June? And the June before? And the June before that? They've all grown, that's what they've done! In ways they didn't even expect. With new best-friends -- met in the first week of school, and a new teacher. So new, that no one had ever seen her before. But it turned out she liked origami, and hedgehogs, and ice fishing. Along with you, we teachers describe to our transition team who your child is, what motivates them, what's hard for them, what lights them up, what do adults and classmates admire in them, how do they help, and what kinds of kids make a difference for them. Your children are beautiful. We feel so lucky that this is our work! But I've been thinking: making sure the world really gets our child isn't enough. Teaching our child to leap...that's the business! Leap on a bed, leap down a step, leap into your lap, leap out of your arms, leap into the pool, leap across the rocks, leap onto school buses. It's time to leap.! To a bigger school, with bigger desks, and more teachers, with bigger kids. Take your child by the hand, turn them towards the road. Tell them how life is about moving and stepping forward from where you were to where you've never been. Look both ways, my dear, but go! Step lightly. The world will get to know you by and by, as you get to know the world. Go!"

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"It's ok!" It's ok if you aren't on a regimented schedule every single day- this promotes flexibility and a sense of adventure. It's ok if you want to stay in your pajamas and play board games as a family-this helps children learn how to take turns and win/lose a game gracefully. It's ok if you aren't watching the latest headlines on the pandemic-this shields our young ones from having worries that they don't need. It's ok if you don't feel like you can "teach" your children-this allows teachers to support and engage with you in ways that help us stay connected. It's ok if you can't log onto the device your child uses for school-this allows children to watch you be a learner too. It's ok if you decide on a sunny day to go play outside-this allows children to experience science through nature and discovery. It's ok if you feel overwhelmed and need additional support-this allows our community to come together which will only make us stronger in the end! It's all going to be ok as long as we give ourselves permission to do the best we can during these unprecedented times. Be well! Ms. Filion

Allen Brook Teachers are staying connected by learning how to use new digital tools together. It's ALL about staying connected!

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In my opening letter of this school year I wrote about the power and importance of play. Recently I was fortunate to bring a group of educators from Allen Brook to a day long workshop on play and restorative practices. Through out the day we played various games together as adults. The laughter and joy was both refreshing and infectious. One of the presenters, Howard Moody, reminded us through his mission that "the workplace should be an environment that encourages people to be themselves and function at the highest level of insight, creativity, and teamwork as possible". He has been facilitating workshops for over 25 years and he designs presentations that are engaging and fun and focus on play, mindfulness, social emotional learning, communication, and cooperation. When the school year concludes I have arranged for Howard to come to Allen Brook to do a training with all faculty and staff. He will teach and play games from his book, The Heart of Play. My hope is that we will deepen connections amongst each other and then bring these ideas to our children to broaden their connections. The goal is for us to be fully inspired, creative, and playful! Stay tuned for updates about this upcoming training. Through the spirit of play Allen Brook participated in the 3rd annual Global Play Day on February 5th. What is Global Play day and why would we participate? Play builds creativity, imagination, problem solving skills, communication skills, positive peer relationships, empathy and more... all things our world desperately needs. Global School Play Day is more than just a day of play. It's a day of acknowledgment that play matters, that kids need play, and that our society needs to find the balance with the use of technology/academics/assessments and the value and importance of the child's right and need to play! I leave you with some photos of kids at play across ABS.

Chess anyone?
LEGOS!
Games Galore!

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Do you ever notice how much people say, "I'm sorry?" If you really take the time to listen you will be surprised at how many times in a day you will hear people say it. My next question is...do we actually mean it? Often times it becomes a habit for us to say these words without really even thinking about it. When we are working with students to repair harm that tends to be the first thing we say to them is, "did you say I'm sorry?" However, what if they are not sorry? If we encourage kids to apologize and they don't mean it are we doing more harm then good? I talked to a few kiddos around this topic and when I asked them what they think about this practice of apologizing kids responded with, "it makes me more mad if I don't want to apologize and someone makes me," "sometimes they don't even mean it and are only saying it because someone told them to." So what can we do instead to repair harm? Here are some ideas to explore: Help kids focus on communication rather than the ritual of apologizing. Helping children express their wants and needs, listen to each other, and restate what they heard others say may help them process on a deeper level. Empowering the child to repair things on their own and encouraging them to choose what they might do to make things better. You can give them ideas — writing a nice card, fixing what is broken, and saying "I know you'll figure out the perfect thing to do." Recently our school counselor has done some lessons on using a healing basket with a variety of items in it for kids to choose from to make repairs(see below). We can all lead by example and model as children learn from us how to repair relationship problems. This means we need to make sure our apologies are sincere and that we aren't meaninglessly saying those two important words ourselves.

This healing basket contains bandaids, tissues, stickers, worry stones, and things students have made in advance. The idea is the student who needs to make repairs chooses something from the healing basket to give to the person that the harm was done to.

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As we wind down from 2019 it is important for us to reflect on what brings us light and joy! The Starlings team sponsored our December assembly and did a lovely job sharing what brings them light and joy during these long winter days when light is scarce(see above). As we head into the long holiday break I want to share some thoughts/resources about Simplicity Parenting. Simplicity Parenting author Kim John Payne shares with us that in today’s world we are busier, faster, have too many choices and too little time. Children may feel the impact of all of this hustle and bustle and become anxious. Can we create more of a simplified path to allow kids to flourish? Payne says, this approach "helps you to make small doable changes, worry less, and enjoy more!" Here is a summary of some things to consider and perhaps slowly try while the children have some time off from school. Avoid over scheduling by dialing back on the amount of family activities that are happening, embrace ordinary days, reduce toys and use baskets/bins to reduce visual clutter, require children to play outside often, give them the gift of boredom as this facilitates creativity and resourcefulness, eat together, talk less and step back to give your children space, filter out the adult world, sleep (about 10 hours a day for kids 6-11), and of course value family time! In Kim John Payne’s book, “Simplicity Parenting” he recommends to get rid of all screens for children under age 7. While that may seem radicle to many families, might we find a healthy balance? In our home we started at a place that felt natural to us. My 16 year old daughter knows that she is not allowed to have devices in her room or during times that we are eating together. She has an allotted amount of screen time and then the wifi shuts off. Recent studies are finding that too much screen time is linked to learning, attention, social problems, childhood obesity, and sleep disruption. Screen time before bed is known to mess with the release of melatonin and should be avoided for at least a few hours before bedtime for young kids. Here are some tips to help with reducing screen time: keep art supplies stocked, get comfortable hearing, "I'm bored" (they will find something imaginative to do), doing physical work around your children like washing dishes, sweeping, laundry etc. inspires our kids to do their work(play), bring back car games instead of turning on the DVD player, and create mealtime rituals. On the nights that we are home as a family we go around and share about our day-it is such sacred time for us! Create rituals that work for your family, and enjoy your moment of pause. If you would like to learn more here is the link to the Podcast on Simplicity Parenting.

I came to my office the other day to find this opinion piece on why people should consider coming to Allen Brook School. Mrs. Schwartz and her class have been studying opinion writing and this was one of the pieces they wrote together. I happen to strongly agree with these young authors that ABS is an awesome place to be!

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The dictionary defines Grat·i·tude "as the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness." The month of November is a great time to pause and think about all that we should be thankful for. When people express gratitude to others it becomes contagious! For our school wide morning meeting this Friday November 15th Harmony students will be hosting with the theme of gratitude. Families of Harmony are welcome to attend from 8:10-8:30. This year the PBIS Universal team and our Wellness team have been partnering to spread acts of kindness and gratitude to the adults at Allen Brook. We believe it is important to acknowledge the hard work and dedication that the faculty/staff bring each and every day to our young learners. So far this year we have shared a gorgeous afternoon together at a local corn maze, I went around with a coffee/donut cart(see picture below), we had a local tea company come to our school for a tea sampling, and adults are encouraged to write a note to a colleague to show appreciation for one another. We have many other things planned through out the year to pause and show gratitude to our amazing educators. If you would like to learn more about instilling gratitude feel free to click on the following links: 12 Tips For Teaching Gratitude, Gratitude Family Challenge, Gratitude Journal For Kids

Children's books on gratitude
Going around with the coffee/donut cart to show our gratitude!

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It is hard to believe that we have completed the first six weeks of school already! As the leaves have become vivid and the air crisp we have "fallen" into our routines here at Allen Brook school. We see the first six weeks of school as a time to introduce students to the people of the classroom and school community and to the expectations we hold about learning. We also introduce and establish expectations for behavior, the limits we will set, and the ways we will enforce those limits. We introduce the routines that help students learn while taking care of each other and the classroom/school environment. We carefully structure the first six weeks so that students will participate actively in all of these routines. They practice the expected skills and behaviors—at first with very close teacher guidance and structure, and then, as their familiarity and competence grow, with increasing amounts of independence. We connect all of the routines and expectations to our PBIS framework that Principal Jackie Parks spoke to in her last bell article. As you can see in the above picture, children are giving high fives to the office staff as part of one of our school wide PBIS celebrations. Children had to pop two balloons and discover a fun and quick way to celebrate filling our beehive with buzzies. We have also started a new tradition at ABS of having a monthly school wide morning meeting assembly. The entire school comes together and does a mindfulness activity, a greeting, we share updates and review the school wide expectations, then end with an activity that students are involved in. See below some of the highlights from our first gathering in September. Our next school wide morning meeting with be on Friday October 25th from 8:10-8:30. This month will be hosted with team Horizon. Families from Horizon are welcome to join us for this school wide event. Each month a different team will be a helping host and families from that team will be welcomed to attend. One of the goals of our Universal PBIS team is to connect our families to the things we are doing here at ABS....we look forward to building these connections with you through out the year!

Our first school wide morning meeting with a mindfulness movement exercise. We also unveiled our new beehive where our buzzies go!

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As I look at the picture above I am reminded of the importance of play....no matter what age we are! Seeing the joy and happiness that this brings to children(or adults) is both refreshing and infectious! Through play we pretend, discover, inquire, and learn!! One thing I value and appreciate is how well the teachers here at Allen Brook find that balance of learning through play! They are attuned to the developmental needs of our primary students and plan accordingly! If you would like to learn more about the significance of play click on this link. https://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/importance-of-play-for-school-age-children . We opened up our year in preservice with a fun little adventure for teachers. Their task was to go on a school-wide scavenger hunt and take pictures of all the things on their list. In this photo they had to play "dress up." The lesson? How to actively and cooperatively engage in the task in a timely and effective way, while having fun! At the end of this exercise the teachers shared what strategies they used that were successful and what challenges they faced while having a common goal that they had to achieve together. The sharing of each others strategies helped teams reflect and learn from one another. These are the types of lessons we want to instill in our walls at ABS! We have had a great start to the year welcoming our students and families and we look forward to a great year ahead!

Teachers had to go outside and take a picture on the highest peak they could find.
Incoming Kindergarten families join us for a Kick off at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library with our school librarian Cara Clopton reading one of her silly stories!
Enjoying some lunch with students during the first week of school.

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As we start to wind down the school year many of us are dreaming of warmer weather, echos of children playing outside until dark, barbecues, swimming, and all of the wonderful festivals that Vermont has to offer! As we all know, summer here is short and sweet and we must take advantage of the warmth and all it has to offer while we have the chance! Friday June 14th will be our last half day of school. As educators this is the most rewarding time of the year as we are able to see how much learning and growth your child has achieved in a years time! We have many field trips, celebrations, and fun to be had in our final few weeks together. For some students transitioning away from their teachers and friends can cause some angst. Parent advisor and author Eileen Kennedy Moore, Ph.D indicates, "Change—even good change—is hard on children. It's disorienting for them not to know what to expect." Here are a few short article reads on how you can ease into a summer transition with your kiddos! https://www.kumon.com/resources/6-practical-tips-for-summer-parenting-2/ . https://www.parents.com/kids/development/behavioral/transitioning-from-school-to-summer-vacation/. I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year as the Principal for Allen Brook School. The faculty, staff, students, and families have welcomed me into this magical community of learning with open arms and for that I am grateful! I look forward to spending some time this summer on my own professional development, planning for our 2019-2020 school year, and perhaps catching a few sunny days spending time with my family! Until next year...

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As I look at this beautiful mural that is now hanging in our cafeteria I am reminded of how much time, effort, and collaboration it took to create this masterpiece! Thanks to our art teacher Sarah Beeken, our artist in residence Sally Duback, her son/parent Andy Duback, endless amounts of donations from the community, the FAP, our maintenance staff, and of course our students for making this possible! If you haven't had a chance to see it up close please stop by and check it out. Another masterpiece that comes together each spring is that of the placement process as we transition our students to the next step in their educational career. We have a building council that meets regularly with representatives from each team across our school to brainstorm, problem solve, and collaborate on a wide variety of topics. We decided to work on the vision of our placement process and the role that every stakeholder plays in this process. As a building council we felt it would be important to share this important work with you. Our purpose statement is: “The purpose of the placement process is to create classroom communities that are balanced, diverse, and positive for all students”. In order to achieve this vision teachers should have clarity about their role in the process, that they can follow, and which allows trust in our ability to keep the greater good for students in mind. Parents and Guardians should communicate a sense of their child’s well-being on the placement forms that we recently sent home and also trust the school’s placement process. Students should feel prepared for the upcoming transitions, be aware of new structures, practice their flexibility and social skills, and can express their feelings about the process. Administration should demonstrate consistency in their implementation of the placement process, be responsive to input and have awareness of the whole student body. We believe that we approach the placement process with good intentions, using clear and collaborative processes & communication for all involved parties within the school. We encourage you to use the placement forms to provide input to the placement team. As you can imagine creating this "masterpiece" of balanced and diverse classrooms is a very time consuming and thoughtful process. We appreciate you trusting and respecting our vision and look forward to helping your child/children transition to the next step in their educational journey!

UVM basketball star Anthony Lamb takes time out of his busy schedule during March Madness to shoot hoops with some ABS students!
Students unplug during National Day of unplugging.

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Making worry stones with Mrs. Carr who worked so hard to organize our activity hour. Thanks Mrs. Carr!
Learning hip hop(left) and making smoothies(right)
Stopping everything to use our imaginations and create!

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If you take a look at the above picture you see the beauties of winter. What you may also see is perseverance. These kindergarteners remind us that being persistent gets you to where you want to go. As they are trenching through the high drifts of snow they are using all of their energy to stay the course. They are faced with the elements of wind, heavy snow, and fatigue. However they never gave up! In the end they reached their destination and felt proud of their achievements! Did everyone get there at the same time? Did some students have more stamina then others? Was it easier for some students to stay the course? These are the questions we face in education when we are working with students to find their success. As we answer these questions we realize that every student has their own unique path. How they get to where they need to go varies from student to student, however this idea of perseverance is what we foster in all kids to stay the course and not give up! Often times we do this by setting goals/targets with the student and monitor the progress of this goal. The more a child can be connected to the goal they are trying to achieve the more likely they will persevere. Here are some great articles for parents on this idea of teaching perseverance, grit, and goal setting.https://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/style/how-to-teach-kids-perseverance-goal-setting/. https://www.brighthorizons.com/family-resources/encouraging-grit-and-teaching-perseverance-to-children As parents we often want to do whatever we can when we see our children struggle through something. One of the best things we can do for them is to not do it for them, rather with them! Setting small and measurable goals and guiding them through the struggle will make them feel that they can do it and can achieve it-which is such a powerful journey for them to experience.! When you hear them say the words "I did it" you know the pride they are feeling inside. It's also likely that they will tackle other struggles along their journey!

This is what it looked like once they achieved their goal! "We did it!"
Here is another example of students using perseverance to lift the hula hoops with ropes and put them on the cones.
Click on the link below for suggested book reads on this topic!

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As we move into the winter months, all schools face the challenge of an increase in absenteeism and tardies. Part of our job is to monitor and address student attendance. We do take into consideration that student absences and tardies happen for a variety of reasons. We understand when families are challenged by medical needs and we want to be supportive of those needs. With that said, it is important for us to remind families of the importance of regular attendance as it is our legal requirement to ensure it. We know the impact it can have on student learning when they miss too much school. Let's say for example a student misses 14 days of school per year throughout a K-12 career. They will have missed 182 school days, or an entire year of instruction, by graduation. Recently the school has sent attendance letters home, which come out ever so often. These letters are used to notify families when a student has reached 5, 10, or 15 days of (combined excused and unexcused) absence and chronic tardies during the school year. While we know that these letters can create some angst from families (even though they have notified us of their child's absences/tardies), they are a part of an effort to reduce truancy in our schools. This regular communication is our way of supporting our students and families the best we can! We will often reach out and see if there is anything we can do to support the families as we see this as a partnership! Recently a community member reached out to me and ask that I also remind people about not leaving their car engines idle. With winter here, it's way more common and it's not healthy for our kids and the environment. They shared this statistic: idling for just 10 seconds wastes more gas than restarting the engine and for every 10 minutes the car engine is off, you avoid one pound of carbon dioxide from being released into the air. They also shared this article on the topic if you are interested in more information. As we approach the holiday break we hope that you get some much needed time with family and loved ones. This is a great time for our students, faculty, and staff to rest up and recharge. We look forward to seeing everyone in the New Year!

Ali Schwartz writes, "I just wanted to say thanks for supporting our trip to the hospital. It was such a great experience for the kids! They were so proud of their work and getting to bring the donations themselves was amazing. They met several Child Life Specialists, a few doctors, some nurses, and various other people throughout the hospital. It really was a special experience." This is just one of many examples of our students learning how to spread joy to others.
Integrating technology as we learn.
Join me in congratulating ABS Harmony teacher Erin Crowley! She has recently received her National Board Certification. This is a very rigorous process and her dedication paid off! Congrats Erin!
Students from WCS walked over to ABS and spent time with our Kindergarten classes. Smiles and fun had by all!
Horizon hosted a craft sale to benefit COTS and raised a total of $513.00 -a perfect way to learn economics and spread kindness to others during this holiday season!

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We are approaching the brisk days of fall that will soon emerge into the cold days of winter. This transition to more darkness and less hours of light remind us all to appreciate the sunny days we have and how our bodies tend to slow down it's pace. I imagine more nights at home cuddling with loved ones-and when doing so why not curl up and read a book together as a family? My family and I have been trying to complete the Harry Potter series together for quite some time now-maybe this winter we will achieve that goal! Cally Ruess our Howard clinician shared some great resources around how the dark and colder months have an impact on our health. Click here for a great article on ways to ensure that your kiddos are healthy for learning. We have had many great traditions and celebrations this fall season! Mr. Andrew our gardener helped organize our annual Stone Soup event. Families contributed by bringing in items from home to add to the items from our school garden. We had community and parent volunteers come to help serve the delicious meal. The moral of the story of Stone Soup is: by working together, with everyone contributing what they can, a greater good is achieved! We definitely felt that energy during this collective event. Thanks to all who participated to make this happen! The children filled the beehive two more times and earned a pumpkin decorating contest. Each class brainstormed and created their own masterpieces (see pictures below)! Our second school wide celebration was a conga line-please enjoy some shots of this fun event! Our school safety team welcomed visitors in to share updates, ask questions, and share concerns about safety. One thing we are noticing at ABS is the drop off/pick up time becoming unsafe. We will be repainting and putting up signage to reinforce safety. Please refrain from dropping off the students or parking at all along the yellow area, crosswalk, or handicap spots. Please also refrain from stopping in the driving lane to drop off. Drop off should occur only along the sidewalks where the kids can get out safely and not be in any travel lanes or areas where they can be hit. Thanks for your help with this matter of safety! As you know we are on break next week from November 19th-23rd. We hope you enjoy some much needed time with family and friends!

Look at the behind the scenes of our Stone Soup celebration. So much goes into this and we are SOO thankful for our food service department!
Community and parent volunteers help during our annual Stone Soup harvest event. The garden club will resume in the spring with Andrew the gardener!
Mrs. LaBerge invited her Kindergarten teachers she had when she was little in to sing harvest songs.

Students from Mrs. McCormack's class use Chatterpix with our winning pumpkin design to make the pumpkin come to life! Cara Clopton had this idea after attending our professional development technology session!

Conga Line Time!
Look at how much we read in October!!

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October 16th, 2018

As we are in our second month of school, teachers and students are getting to know each other better! They spent the first 6 weeks really establishing a community with routines and expectations. There have been many field trips and experiences that they have already had and enjoyed. Now teachers are starting to dive deeper into the academic work. Teachers are excited to connect with parents during conferences to share and reflect on how things are going so far this year. This can be an adjustment for some students as the academic rigor increases. Many of you came to our curriculum/expo night where you learned what you can expect to see your child working on this school year. I walked parents through what it is like for their child to have a morning meeting. They read a daily message with me, greeted each other, did an activity where they reflected on what their hopes and dreams were for their children here at school, and then had to share this with the group. One parent approached me after the event and shared that she really appreciated this hands on approach and feeling what it was like for their child while at school. Teachers did a gallery walk of parent's hopes and dreams and reflected on what take aways or "ahas" they noticed. Many teachers spoke to the idea that parents want their kids to be good citizens, to be kind, to love learning, and have fun! We look forward to working together to provide your child with the best experience in their learning and truly see this as a partnership! Here are some highlights of things we have been doing as we ease into fall. Best, Angela Filion

Meet Sydney Hopkins! She is working as a para educator in Kindergarten.
This is Holly Cunningham...she is a para educator that works in both our preschool program as well as on team Synergy!
This is Shauna Rooney. She is a para educator for Synergy.

Students learning some new technology skills to show this beautiful fall season!

Justine Benoit's class had a Q & A with a research scientist from Yale.
Here are some updates from the library about the month of September.
Speaking of the library...here is our animated Mrs. Clopton in full affect!!
Parents sharing their hopes and dreams with each other.
Parents and students learn what great things they can experience here at Allen Brook School!
Students participated in a school wide fun run for filling our PBIS beehive for being safe, kind, and responsible!!
Allen Brook received a blue ribbon as an exemplar school for the 6th year in a row! As part of our monthly meeting we invited some 2nd graders to share their ideas of how we can improve with PBIS. Student voice is a powerful thing! Thanks to all members of the PBIS team for your hard work and dedication!!!
Lyn Porter and Dustin King (our P.E. teachers) have begun talking to the kids about a new outside activity. They are going to be hiding some rocks around the school and play areas. Each rock has a task written on them. The kids have been told they can bring the rock to an adult if they cannot read the task. Once they know the task they can either do it right away and then replace the rock in its original hiding place or they can replace the rock and do the task later. Some take some more time than the immediate. An example of one that might take more time is: Say hi to three adults. Periodically throughout the year they will relocate the rocks. There are about 2 dozen of them. Some of the rocks have social skills and some have physical activity on them. This is just another example of the creative ways teachers go above and beyond to provide great experiences for our students!

As I have begun my journey as part of the Champlain Valley School District I can't help but feel an overwhelming appreciation for how welcoming and supportive everyone in this community has been! One of my goals as the new Principal for Allen Brook school is to create positive relationships and be accessible to teachers, staff, school board members, parents, businesses, and the community that help support student learning! I will use this platform to share with you the things that are going on here at Allen Brook and look forward to our year ahead together!

Meet Cindy Pavlik and Laura Gigliotti who you will find in our main office. They have been very supportive and patient with me as I learn systems and procedures in Williston Schools! You will find them in the office keeping everything running smoothly for everyone's day-a huge thanks for all they do!

Meet Cara Clopton our new school librarian! She welcomed our Kindergarten students this summer at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library where students signed up for library cards and mingled with their new classmates. She brings such animation, energy, and character to our library!! Welcome Cara!
Cara Clopton and Jodi Blaine having a little library fun~what a great team!
Meet Emily Fisher our new multi-age teacher on Harmony house. Emily comes to us from teaching 5th grade in Hinesburg last year. She grew up in Charlotte and is a graduate of CVU. She has taught in India and Kenya and we look forward to her bringing her experiences working internationally into her classroom.
Meet Heather Scandale our new School Counselor here at ABS. You will often find her greeting the students at the door every morning, going into classrooms to teach creative guidance lessons, or in this case helping students with toppings and spoons for their ice cream! She will be providing lunch bunches and guidance groups throughout the year too!
This is Jessica Wilson our Digital Learning Leader. She has brought her knowledge and talent BACK to Williston Schools as she worked here in previous years in a different role.
This is Anne Pius our new technology integrationist. Anne comes to us with a wealth of experience from her time working in the Essex schools. She will be working with students, teachers, and staff to promote the use of technology as well as educate key concepts such as digital citizenship.
This is one of our new reading recovery teachers Laura Davenport. She works here part time as well as at Shelburne Community School.
This is Jess Eaton. You may recognize her! She worked at Williston Central School as a classroom teacher on Mosaic and has changed roles this year. She will serve both schools as our new K-4 Literacy Coordinator/Interventionist. We are excited to have her!
This is Betsy Johnson our new TA for Horizon. She has two children in our Williston schools and has joined us after being a stay at home mom for 10 years. Welcome Betsy!
This is Esther Maguire who is a new para educator here at ABS. She seems to be enjoying a delicious meal here!
Welcome to Molly Trevithick who is also new to us this year as a para educator. She also has children in our school!
Meet our kitchen staff members Jennifer and Kirt. They make and serve our delicious food each day~with a smile!
We earned our first buzzy celebration with a dance party in the courtyard!
We also had a family social where we served ice cream! It was so great to see kiddos introduce their parents to faculty/staff and earning buzzies!
Mrs. Dyer, Ms. Read, and Mr. Deyo share their learning and interest in exploring outdoor education with their colleagues. They will be taking their Kindergarteners outside every Wednesday for their learning!

How lucky to have Mr. Bolger sing us into school every Friday!! As you can see we have many new people who have joined our school community and we are off to a fabulous start! Looking forward to sharing our news and updates next month! Best, Angela Filion

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Angela Filion
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