RICHFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL One Elementary School Rd. Richford, VT 05476 Douglas Kussius, Principal Maureen Sodaro, Guidance Counselor

Phone: (802) 848-7453 or 848-7827 Fax: (802) 848-7720

August 18, 2012 Dear Rattlesnakes, Family, and Friends; Welcome back to the 2012-2013 school year here at scenic Richford Elementary School. The entire staff and I are excited to see you again (or to meet you for the first time) and share another year of learning together. This year promises to be an exceptional year of learning for all of us. It’s sort of like our beautifully restored playground the PTO created for us, we are taking things we do as teachers and making them better too. Here’s how: Responsive Classroom: Last year we started teaching about the FISH philosophy: Be There, Make their Day, Choose your Attitude, and Play. Responsive Classroom grows those concepts deeper. RES has always been known as a welcoming happy place to learn. Now it will be a happy welcoming place to learn that develops strong community and ensures a SAFE, JOYFUL, and CHALLENGING learning experience for all students. Because of Responsive Classroom we will be responding to misbehaviors differently-Please see the ‘Rules’ section of the handbook for more details. We will be helping students learn how to stay happy and focus on learning in the classroom by teaching strategies like cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control. Common Core: Teachers will be learning about the Common Core standards and begin implementing them. As you may have heard in the news, Common Core standards have been adopted by 48 states and guarantee a rich and viable curriculum that emphasizes depth and rigor over content. Basically, there are some really important things to get really good at, and with this curriculum students have the space to learn it well. It fundamentally changes how we teach and how students will learn. It requires deep thinking and sets the bar high. Student led Conferences: In line with the first two initiatives, we will be having two parent teacher conferences this year. The first will be the same as always, with the addition of student goals being shared. The second will be after the 3rd marking period in April. Your student will lead these conferences! This will be an opportunity for you to finally hear the answer to the question—“So what did you learn in school today?” (Trust me, the answer is not “nothing”!) Student of the Month: Student of the Month assemblies are a great tradition at RES, one we are going to continue. To make it better we will begin recognizing and celebrating students who have shown EFFORT and ACHIEVEMENT. This means that there may be more than one student recognized from each class a month. In fact, your student may be recognized up to 3 times in the same month for various achievements won through effort. See the handbook for a complete description. Fresh Fruit and Veggie Grant: Tracy Snider our Director of Food Services has won the FFVG grant for RES this year! This means that students will get the opportunity to try many different fresh fruits and vegetables as a FREE healthy snack. The days of eating a lollipop as you come off the bus are gone. What a great way to keep the brain fueled up to learn! See the handbook for all the details. As you can see we have a lot going on here at RES and we encourage you to be a part of it. Fill out a volunteer check at the office or join the PTO (it’s more than meetings!). Either way, come be a part of the wonderful things we are doing to provide a quality education for the whole child. Keep in touch and have the best school year ever. Your Elementary School Principal,

Doug Kussius Principal of Richford Elementary School [email protected]