Please bear with us as we strive to improve our site!

CESU schools are in the process of transitioning websites to another provider. Due to this work our sites will be under construction for a period of time. We'll work hard to get those up and running smoothly as soon as we can. If you need to access school information such as calendar, contact information, etc. please feel free to visit the district page at http://www.cesuvt.org/, continue to follow our social media feeds or give us a call. We'd be glad to assist.

OPEN

Here's hoping you all have a safe and fun-filled summer! See you in August!

HIring of Human Resources Director

May 16, 2016

Mt Mansfield Modified School District and Chittenden East Supervisory Union are pleased to announce the hiring of Rebecca Thibault as our new Human Resources Director.  Ms Thibault comes to CESU after ten years of experience at Onion River Co-op, City Market as a Human Resources Benefits Manager.  Prior to that she worked for IBM as a Human Resources Program Coordinator.  At City Market, Ms. Thibault focused on the mission of the organization to ensure local farmers, vendors, and members of the community were supported while also serving all employees.  During her tenure she shifted the entire employee health care policies to align with the Affordable Care Act.  She has worked in policy development, labor relations, benefit plan structuring, and employee wellness, building a strong organizational culture, implementing human resources and payroll software and recruiting top talent.  In addition to her impressive skillset and experience, she brings energy, passion and a supportive demeanor, all of which will contribute immensely to our school district.  Ms. Thibault holds a bachelors from Saint Cloud State University in Minnesota and an MBA from the University of Vermont.  Ms Thibault lives in South Burlington with her family including two young children.  Please join us in welcoming her to our community!

SPIRIT WEEK

Smilie

Spirit Week

May 23rd - 27th is Smilie Spirit Week! Show your support for the “Happiest School in America!”

Monday - Hat and Sunglasses

Wear your favorite hat and throw on your coolest shades!

Tuesday - Hobby Day

Show us what you like to do outside of school!

Wednesday - Dudes and Divas

Dress up in your coolest clothes*

Thursday - Crazy Hair Day

How wild can you be?

Friday - Sports Day

Dress in your team uniform or as your favorite sports star.

*All outfits need to adhere to the school dress code

Just a reminder....

Smilie School's 9th Delayed Opening is on Wednesday, May 11, 2016. School will begin 2 hours later than normal.

School will officially begin at 9:30 a.m.

SEARCH COMMITTEE ANNOUNCED for RES PRINCIPAL

Richmond Elementary School Principal Search Committee Announced

Chittenden East is pleased to announce our Richmond Elementary School Principal Search Committee members. Thank you to all the volunteers. We created a balance of members representing parents, the school board, and various grade levels. 

Committee Members:

Jeanne Adams, RES Administrative Assistant; PK/K: Marion Mumford; 1/2: Kristin Darling; 3/4: Katie LeFrancois ; Unified Arts: Beth Redford; Sp Education: Wendy Touchette; School Board member: Jon Milazzo; Parents: Amanda Repp, Allison Ross; CESU administrator: Barbara Nason, principal at Underhill Central School

Any school district member is welcome to reach out to a committee member so he or she can know your thoughts.  Everyone is also welcome to participate in the second round candidate visits on May 31st at Richmond Elementary School from  7:00 am - 8:00 am and 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm.

Here is the draft timeline and process

Please do not hesitate contact jennifer.botzojorns@cesuvt.org at CESU if you have any ideas, thoughts or questions.

Thanks for the training, Alex Bouchard!

Our P.E. classes had a special visitor last week. Kelly Spreen invited Mr. Alex Bouchard, a member of the United States Tennis Association, to help our students learn the techniques of playing tennis. Alex had students practicing their serves and their returns. Students also learned important vocabulary words related to the game, including the language of keeping score.

Thanks for all you do, Mrs. Mahoney!

We had some very special events last week. It was National Administrative Assistant’s Day and Mrs. Mahoney enjoyed many delights throughout the day. We are grateful for all that Mrs. Mahoney does for us each and every day. The students joined in to say thanks and now Mrs. Mahoney has some love filled messages to adorn her refrigerator. At the end of the fun-filled day, Sherry and Mr. Bear shared some delicious chocolate cake!

Search Committee for RES Principal

April 26, 2013

Dear Teachers, Parents, Families, Students and Community Members,

Mike Berry, Principal at Richmond Elementary School has been selected to serve as the school district Director of Curriculum, Communication and Innovation.  We offer him our congratulations, and appreciate the time he has invested in at Richmond Elementary School.  We are forming a search committee which includes parents, board members, teachers and support staff to find a replacement for his Richmond principal position.  We are looking for individuals who are interested in serving on the search committee.  If you are interested in playing this role, please email Jennifer.Botzojorns@cesuvt.org.  Below please find a tentative timeline for our hiring process.  

April 26 Advertisement posted on schoolspring.com

April 29th Initial meeting with interview committee to review process

(2:30-4 pm- if people are unable to attend this meeting, there can be individual meetings)

April 29 - May 19 Committee reviews applications (candidates names kept confidential)

May 19 Committee meets to select candidates for first interview (3:30-6 pm)

May 26 First round of interviews by committee, select finalists (12:30-5:00 pm)

Committee recommends finalists to the superintendent

May 31 Second round: full day visit by candidates w/performance task (all day)

Final candidates visit and all stakeholders provide feedback for superintendent

Here is a link to a draft of our hiring process, once finalized, we will share a link on our website. Once we reach the second round of the process we will make the finalist candidate’s names and resumes public.  Please mark your calendar:  

May 31, 2016

7 am - 8:00 am & 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm.  

Richmond Principal Candidate Meet and Greet

On the 31st of May, finalists for the principal position will visit Richmond Elementary and all parents, families and community members will have the opportunity to meet, ask questions and then provide input.  We will provide detailed information including resumes for each candidate when we are closer to the actual date.

We have always been appreciative of the interest and support from the school and community in Richmond. During times of transition, one always feels uncertainty, however, we are confident we will find an excellent individual to lead the school community for the years to come.

Please do not hesitate to email (jennifer.botzojorns@cesuvt.org) or call 434-2128 if you have any ideas, thoughts or questions.

Looking forward to your participation in this process, I am

Sincerely yours,

Jennifer Botzojorns

Assistant Superintendent

Chittenden East Supervisory Union

Michael Berry: New Director of Curriculum, Communication and Innovation

Welcome Michael Berry: New Director of Curriculum, Communication and Innovation

Chittenden East Supervisory Union would like to announce the appointment of Mr. Michael Berry to serve as our Director of Curriculum, Communication and Innovation commencing July 1, 2016.  We began the search process in January with 28 initial applicants.  The search committee interviewed five candidates and selected two finalists.  The finalists engaged in a lengthy interview and reference check process including several performance tasks and full day visits to seven schools.  We received feedback from multiple stakeholders including parents, board members, teachers, administrators and students.

Mr. Berry received his bachelor's degree in Children's Literature and Education from Castleton State College.  He served as a classroom teacher for seven years in East Montpelier, then as school principal first at Underhill Central, then Richmond -- for the last nine years.  He received his masters degree from Union Institute and University/Vermont College.  His passions include supporting teachers and children to explore all learning styles, and to use technology to expand the realm of education. He believes that students are natural learners, curious about the world around them.  He lives with his wife and two daughters in Barre, Vermont.

Mr Berry can be followed on twitter @PrincipalBerry or his blog https://principalberry.wordpress.com

Superintendent John Alberghini, “I welcome Mike to his new role on our leadership team.  He brings a breadth and depth of knowledge to our school district.  We look forward to his ability to communicate and integrate technology, and his passion for learning for all including children, scholars, teachers and administrators.” School board chair, Jon Milazzo, “We are extremely excited to welcome Michael Berry as the new Director of Curriculum, Communication and Innovation in CESU.   His educational experience, quality leadership and effective communication background will be an asset to CESU.   The school board looks forward to working with Mike as we serve together to ensure every student receives consistently the same high-quality education in CESU through the implementation of effective systems around curriculum, assessments and instruction.”

Mr Berry shared, “As a member of the MMMUSD-CESU learning community for the past nine years I’m more than grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to continue to work with and learn from our amazing scholars, educators, families and communities.  As the Director of Curriculum, Communication and Innovation my goals will align with helping our learners achieve their dreams.  I will continue the important work of promoting, supporting, and increasing the implementation of innovative approaches in teaching, learning, and leadership throughout our schools.  Finding ways to recognize, celebrate and connect innovative approaches will help to create opportunities for growth and experience for all learners in our schools and beyond.   I am sincerely thankful for the opportunity and look forward to learning together.  Thank you and please feel free to contact me with ideas, celebrations or questions anytime.”

WSCC MEETING

Announcement:

Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community (WSCC)

Team Meeting

Chittenden East Supervisory Union

Thursday April 28th, 4pm - 6pm, Camel’s Hump Middle School

We envision a community for our children to grow into a thriving adult world.  Our purpose is to gather a diverse group of individuals committed to growing healthy children. Come join us in the conversation.  More details are in this announcement.  

Smilie Cares, Shares and Reads 2016

Smilie Cares, Shares and Reads Shoe Project 2016 has come to end! We read enough books to travel from Bolton, Vermont to Nigeria, Kenya and back again! Thanks again for all of your support! The whole school celebrated together with a dance party on Friday, April 15. I have included some photos of all of the creative designs our students made on their white canvas shoes.

The colors and designs were beautiful!

Preschoolers had their own dance party!

Everyone was proud of their creations!

Just a reminder....

Smilie School's 8th Delayed Opening is on Wednesday, April 13, 2016. School will begin 2 hours later than normal.

School will officially begin at 9:30 a.m.

Director of Curriculum, Communication and Innovation

Candidate Finalists

April 11, 2016

Chittenden East convened a search committee comprised of members of the school board, faculty and administration to review candidates for the director of Curriculum, Communication and Innovation.  The committee selected two finalists, Ms. Libby Bonesteel and Mr. Mike Berry.  On Monday, April 11th the two finalist candidates will tour our supervisory union.

There will be two public sessions, one for each candidate, at Camel’s Hump Middle School between 3:30 to 4:30.  The sessions are open to parents, teachers, administrators, board members and community members to meet and greet and ask any questions of the candidates.  We will have input forms for everyone to provide feedback.  

Please contact Barbara Tomasi-Gay if you have any questions. 

 Mike Berry and Libby Bonesteel’s resume

April 11 visitation schedule

The position of Curriculum Director is currently held by Jennifer Botzojorns; she has accepted a superintendent position in Caledonia North beginning July 1.  Following the day long visitation and interviews, all feedback will be reviewed by the superintendent.  The superintendent hopes to make a final decision and recommend to the school board the finalist by the end of April.

MMMUSD-CESU MATH NIGHT VIDEO

Smilie Shares, Cares and Reads

Hi folks,

I wanted to update you on our school-wide

 initiative we are calling, Smilie Cares, Shares

 and Reads. The teachers and students have 

been having fun decorating shoes, hearing 

stories about how important shoes are and

reading lots of books. Every time a student 

reads a book, the title is written down on a

 "footprint ticket" and placed on our bulletin 

board. We are making a path of these tickets 

from Vermont to Kenya. Today, one of our fourth

 graders calculated that it is 7,241 from Vermont 

to Kenya, Africa. Our fourth graders are donating 

pairs of shoes to a poor area in this country. She 

then figured out that each of our "footprint tickets" 

was worth 20 miles. We need 362 tickets to make

it to Kenya. We currently have about 164 tickets, 

so we are almost halfway there and we have 2 more

 weeks of reading!! Of course, we need to come back

 from Africa, so we need 724 miles for our round trip.
Today at our assembly, we watched a video about 

"paying it forward". We saw how one kind act toward 

another person can fill our hearts with love and make 

us want to do something nice for another person!
Thanks for helping your children keep up with the 

reading each night!

The students were very happy to choose a brand new book that they could keep forever!  We are calling them our “forever books”.  On Monday, students starting picking out books to read at home.  Some students are choosing books they can read on their own and others are choosing books that they want to have their parents read to them or with them.  When the students finishes the book, they should return it to school and choose another book to read.  

 

Most students are still working on decorating their shoes so we are unable to wear our shoes to assemblies yet.  The students have taken the time to plan out what their shoes will look like and are carefully decorating them.

We are feeling really proud of ourselves for all the reading we are doing and for donating the shoes!  We can’t wait to wear our own shoes all together at our final assembly!

Spring Thaw Hee Haw Family Dance -Friday, March 18
Lots of Fun!

This Dad knows how to LIMBO!

Sparkling Umbrellas hung from the ceiling

Families Dancing Together 

This truck can get through ANY mud season condition!

Lots of yummy snacks were available!

"Oh, may I have some of yours???"   "NOOOOO!!"

g.

2016-2017 School Calendar

CESU #12/MMMUSD  

2016-17 School Calendar

After surveying the community and faculty staff, and taking into consideration all of the feedback, the Chittenden East and Mt. Mansfield Modified School District approved the 2016-17 school calendar. The board considered a number of topics including timing and lengths of holiday vacations, teacher professional development and how to have the calendar best meet the needs of the community and follow the Vermont School Quality Standards.  We would like to thank all the parents, faculty and staff who provided feedback concerning our calendar. The survey information concerning the Wednesday delayed start professional development days showed that we can improve in our communication, but the majority of folks are in support of the delayed starts.

Please follow this link for the calendar

Smilie Day #3 at Bolton-CANCELLED

Dear Families and Staff Members,

After speaking with a representative from Bolton regarding the current ski conditions, and a forecast of rain, hail and thunderstorms for Thursday, I have decided to cancel our 3rd Smilie Day up at the mountain. I take the safety of the children and adults very seriously and would hate to be worrying about them on a ski lift with possible thunderstorms in the area. 

We will plan another whole school celebration in place of this last Smilie Day at Bolton. I will let you know when that celebration will occur.

Thank you all for your support for these great days together. If you have volunteered, I want you to know that your efforts were sincerely needed and appreciated. We can only hope that  next year graces us with lots of snow for our winter fun!

Thanks,

Barbara

Just a reminder....

Smilie School's 7th Delayed Opening is on Wednesday, March 9, 2016. School will begin 2 hours later than normal.

School will officially begin at 9:30 a.m.

P.M. Preschoolers, Kindergarten and First Grade Students will be attending the Flynn Theater Presentation of Dr. Seuss's, Cat in the Hat, on Tuesday, March 8, at 12:00 p.m. We will leave Smilie around 11:00 a.m. and return around 2:00 or a bit before.

Smilie Day #2

Smilie Day #2 at Bolton Valley Resort

All K-4 students will be going up to Bolton Valley on Thursday, February 18, for a fun-filled day of skiing, snowboarding and swimming! We will eat lunch at 10:20 and head up to the mountain at 11:00. We will return around 1:50 p.m.

Thanks in advance if you have offered to chaperone!

Stack Fest in Vermont

STACK FEST IN VERMONT

In PE your child has been learning and mastering the competitive sport of speed stacking! On Saturday, March 5th  Vermont will have it's 1st ever Stack Fest at Camels Hump Middle School. It will be a fun day for the whole family! There will be many activities including face painting, jumbo cups, mini cups, relay races, gymnastics, bowling  etc! You can register your child/ family online or grab a paper copy in the office! Online is the prefered method but your child can return the registration form to me at school. If you have any questions about this event,  don't hesitate to contact me!

Thanks to our School Board Members!

We had our official last meeting of the Bolton School Board on Wednesday, February 3, 2016. John Alberghini expressed his gratitude to board members for their dedication and thoughtful work over the past years. He presented each board member with a stunning pen and ink drawing of Smilie Memorial Elementary School.   I would like to extend my thanks as well to Alain Cohen, Mary Ellen Seaver-Reid, Andrew Pond, Amy Turner and Paula Gervia.