Veazie Community School

4/6/21 Hello VCS Families, Much work continues on our schedule for returning all students to in-person learning after April Vacation. Thank you all for completing our survey. The information you provided has allowed us to revise our drop-off/pick-up schedule as well as bus seating assignments. Beginning Monday, April 26, Veazie Community School will be using the following schedule for morning student drop-off and afternoon student pick-up: Morning Drop-off (walkers and parents transporting students): Grades PK - 5: 7:50 - 8:00a.m. using current drop-off locations (the student day for grades PK - 5 begins at 8:00a.m.) Grades 6 - 8: 8:00 - 8:10a.m. using current drop-off locations(the middle school student day begins at 8:10a.m.) *The current morning bus schedule should remain unchanged (same morning pick-up times) Afternoon Pick-up (parents picking up children and when walkers are released): Grades PK - 5: 2:20p.m. Grades 6 - 8: 2:30p.m. *The current bus dismissal schedule will remain unchanged (same afternoon drop-off times) Important things to note: *It is important for parents in vehicles to follow our drop-off and pick-up times. These are not suggestions, and are scheduled this way to mitigate excess traffic congestion. *Parents should be mindful of the amount of time it takes to drop-off and/or pick-up a child. If extra time is needed, please use one of our parking spaces so that there is a reasonable flow of traffic. *Unless extra space is available, siblings will be required to sit together on the bus in order to safely space out riders. *If a middle school student has a younger sibling in grades PK - 5, they are allowed to be dropped-off between 7:50 - 8:00a.m. We will also dismiss these same middle school siblings with their younger siblings at the younger pick-up time (2:20p.m.) Thank you for your continued support! Sincerely, Mr. Cyr

April Vacation Travel Advisory: Travel guidelines established by Governor Mills remain in effect. At this time only the following states are considered exempt from testing or quarantining: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Guidelines for international travel differ and require a quarantine regardless of testing. For most up to date travel guidelines please see the CDC website https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/airborne/coronavirus/travel.shtml If your child and/or family will be traveling over vacation to areas not included on the exemption list or internationally, please notify myself (mcyr@veaziecs.org), our school nurse (apeters@veaziecs.org), or our office manager (tlindsey@veaziecs.org). After doing so, you will be contacted to review instructions and discuss guidelines prior to return to school. Thank you all for the efforts and continual support to keep the school safely running, the community safe and mitigate the transmission of COVID-19. It is very important at this time to continue to be vigilant with symptoms checking and following guidelines. We are excited and look forward to our step toward “normal” and returning to a full in person schedule after April break. -Mr. Cyr

March 25, 2021 Return to Full-time, In-Person Learning: PK - 8 Beginning April 26, 2021 Dear VCS Families, At last night’s special meeting, the Veazie School Committee voted unanimously in support of a return to in-person learning plan for all students PK-8, which was originally drafted by the VCS HYFLEX committee, and later approved by the VCS School Reopening Advisory Committee. Beginning after April Vacation (April 26, 2021), all Veazie Community School students in grades PK - 8 may return to in-person learning, 5-days/week. While fully-remote learning will still be an option for families this spring, we are encouraging remote-only students to consider returning to in-person learning for these final 7-weeks of school. March 31 and May 12 will continue to be early release days as scheduled, and our last student day remains to be Friday, June 11. Our advisory committees have taken into consideration several factors including the eligibility of educators to receive vaccinations, recent scientific recommendations pertaining to social distancing, and our sincere desire to end this school year with a level of normalcy for both staff and students. Notable safety protocol changes approved by all three committees include shifting to 3-feet of spacing within classrooms when 6 feet cannot be achieved, and expanding our pod sizes for grades PK-2, 3-5 and 6-8 (as needed for the delivery of specialized instruction). What hasn’t changed: mask mandates for all inside the school and outside on school grounds; 6 feet of spacing and no talking when masks are removed during snack/lunch; and, minimal hallway exchanges for students (specialists will come to the classrooms). I want to stress that this new plan is in response to relatively positive safety measures in recent months. We will continue to closely monitor how new variants of COVID-19 have been impacting community transmission, and if needed, reserve the right to adjust our plans accordingly. A great deal of work and planning must be done prior to this exciting step forward and we need your help! We are asking all families to complete the following short survey so that we have the necessary information we need to move forward. SURVEY LINK: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfbdlV7yUCBtYA7kwJeypPcyd3rpuN2nSZesF6ak94Y-ESnCg/viewform?usp=sf_link The information families provide in this survey will assist in the development of a revised pickup/dropoff schedule beginning after April Vacation. We will do our best to keep timeframes close to where they are now, but do ask for your patience in advance while we work through many factors including the overall safety of our students, bus runs, and traffic flow patterns. YOUR ASSIGNMENT is to complete the survey above on or before Thursday, April 1 (and that’s no joke!) Since many families make different decisions for individual children, we ask that you complete the survey separately for each child. I will communicate official dropoff/pickup procedures as soon as they become available. If you have questions or need help with the survey, please contact myself, or our office manager, Tiffany Lindsey: mcyr@veaziecs.org, tlindsey@veaziecs.org We will stick with our current plan to increase in person learning for grades 3 and 7 prior to April Vacation while grades 4, 5, 6 and 8 will continue on their current hybrid model until vacation: Week of March 29: Grade 3 will attend M/T/W and grade 7 will attend W/Th/F. (normal schedule for all others) Week of April 5: Grade 3 will attend M/T/W/Th and grade 7 will attend T/W/Th/F (normal schedule for all others) Week of April 12: Grade 3 and grade 7 will attend M - F (normal schedule for all others) Week of April 26 - remainder of the year: In person learning for all, grades PK - 8 (remote-only option as requested by families) We are excited for this positive change and look forward to seeing our students in person each day. The Veazie Community School staff, as well as all of our families, have undergone herculean transformations in order to balance in person and remote instruction over the past 8 months. Our goal all along has been to safely return all students to in person learning. Thank you kindly for your continued support. Sincerely, Matthew D. Cyr Superintendent/Principal Veazie Community School

You know spring has arrived when the floor becomes lava. Is that snow they are calling for Sunday into Monday? Yuck.

On Friday, March 19, Veazie Community School staff will join nearly 1,400 educators from Eastern Maine for a day of training with a focus on Social, Emotional, and Equity Learning. This regional workshop is hosted by the Penobscot River Educational Partnership (PREP). There is no school for students on this day (3/19/21).

3/11/21 Dear VCS Families, Last night, the Veazie School Committee agreed to a plan for gradually increasing in-person student learning to full-time for our smallest intermediate class (Grade 3) and our smallest middle school class (Grade 7) beginning the week of March 29. We will also add one additional day for grades 4, 5, 6, and 8 by alternating Wednesdays beginning after April Vacation. We are actively working to redesign the entire schedule to allow for increased access to our specialized teachers (P.E., Music, Guidance, Health, Art, Spanish). And finally, we will soon be offering after school intramural activities for students in grades 4 - 8. Here is a detailed list of our upcoming schedule changes: Week of March 29: Grade 3 will attend M/T/W and grade 7 will attend W/Th/F. (regular schedule for all others) Week of April 5: Grade 3 will attend M/T/W/Th and grade 7 will attend T/W/Th/F (regular schedule for all others) Week of April 12: Grade 3 and grade 7 will attend full-time M - F (regular schedule for all others). April Break Week of April 26: Grades PK - 3 and Grade 7 will attend full-time. Grade 4/5 in-person M/T/W. Grades 6/8 in-person Th/F. Week of May 3: Grades PK - 3 and Grade 7 will attend full-time. Grade 4/5 in-person M/T. Grades 6/8 in-person W/Th/F. *Grades 4/5 and 6/8 will continue to flip-flop Wednesdays through the end of the year. This gradual increase of in-person days allows for our school to responsibly reflect and respond to safety and learning concerns in a reasonable manner--if you recall, this is the same approach we made to start the school year and had great success. To date, we have had 3 positive cases of COVID-19 within our school walls. Our safety plan has worked exceptionally well and can be highlighted by a zero transmission rate (meaning no person has contracted the virus while at school). This is certainly a reason to celebrate, but we are not yet ready to begin removing all safety measures--the DOE recently announced that we cannot remove social distancing and mask wearing mandates. We still have 16% of our students requesting full-time remote instruction--this and social distancing remain to be our biggest challenge. Under this new plan we will introduce specials during the day for all students and after school physical activities for our older students. This plan was developed during the month of February using information we had at that time. Much has changed just in the last two weeks. Our HYFLEX committee will continue meet and consider further changes as new information becomes available. We are proud of how our school and community has persevered these past 116 school days. Thank you for your patience and support. Respectfully, Mr. Cyr

Our PTO is looking for volunteers to sort through our CLYNK bottle drop-off site located adjacent the school storage garage. Some bottles will need to be transferred into VCS CLYNK bags. All will need to be dropped off at a local Hannaford. Contact Mr. Cyr if you think you can help. mcyr@veaziecs.org

3/9/21 Hello VCS Families, Each year, the Veazie Community School, like other public schools in Maine, receive federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Looking ahead to the 2021-2022 school year, VCS intends to use these funds to introduce a tiered intervention program called Ci3T. We also hope to use these funds to support professional development efforts of our teachers, and to support our STEM enrichment programs (robotics, coding club, gardening club, etc.) One of the requirements of ESEA is that we provide input opportunities for our students and staff. Please use this brief survey to provide your input on how we can better serve our students using federal ESEA funds. Thank you. Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdWULEGsyZSU5DNROno64aILGEAbvykGpC885ewMeMKa9a64g/viewform?usp=sf_link Respectfully, Mr. Cyr

Yearbooks are ready to order!

The Bangor YMCA has exciting news to share!

Hi all, I want to make sure my students have what they need to succeed, so I just created a DonorsChoose classroom request: Make Rainbows With Code! (https://www.donorschoose.org/project/make-rainbows-with-code/5427246/?rf=email-system-2021-02-project_submitted-teacher_7767341&challengeid=21723366&utm_source=dc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=project_submitted) Give to my classroom within the next seven days and your donation will be doubled thanks to DonorsChoose. Just enter the code "LIFTOFF" during checkout and you'll be matched dollar for dollar (up to $50). In return, you'll get awesome photos of your gift in action and our heartfelt thanks. Thank you so much, Adrian Code Club Fundraising effort led by Mr. Arias-Palomo: My students are getting started in the world of physical computing and prototyping and continuously amaze me with their creativity and their energy. In this unusual year we have tried to give the students access to a more creative and motivating curriculum and we are really pleased at how well they have responded. Interested students join me for Code Club after school where they explore programming outside the constrains of a formal curriculum to create games, animations and art. These microcontrollers will help my students explore more aspects of computing and coding while stimulating their creativity and imagination. I recently finished the Microsoft MakeCode Infosys Pathfinders Winter Institute where I learned about the Circuit Playground Express and was really impressed by the possibilities that these devices bring to the classroom. From interactive electronic greeting cards to game controllers and costume accessories, the sky is the limit. It was incredible to see the Circuit Playground Express used in the classroom setting and having this experience inspired me to bring them to our school. Using these microcontrollers, students will be able to create their own toys, gadgets and wearables and will learn about how to use code to control electronics. They will be able to make connections with other subject areas such as math, science and art. With this project I am hoping to get more students interested and excited about computer science by exploring their interests and having fun.

Tuesday, February 8, 2021 12:15p.m. EST Good Afternoon VCS Families, I am writing to share our schedule for the remainder of the week. Our safety plan is currently in place with 16 close contact individuals currently in quarantine, including both staff and students. We feel very strongly that our safety protocols, specific timelines of this case, and the weekend helped to significantly reduce overall risk levels. Thank you to all of you for supporting our protocols including daily health screenings, wearing face masks in the public and openly/honestly communicating health related concerns directly with myself and/or the school nurse. Individuals in quarantine will remain that way until the latter part of February School Vacation. If all secondary testings come back negative and these individuals remain symptom free, we should be able to have a "normal" return following February Vacation. Here is our schedule for the remainder of the week: Middle School: Due to quarantining, we do not have sufficient staff to safely bring middle school students into the building on their next in-person days: Thursday & Friday. As a result, the middle school will be remote for the remainder of the week. Intermediate: Grades 3 - 5 are already scheduled to be remote for the remainder of the week and will stick with this schedule. Primary: Grades PreK - 2 will return to in-person learning beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, 2/10/21. RECAP: PK - 2 will be in-person for the remainder of the week. Grades 3 - 8 will follow their remote schedules the remainder of the week. FEBRUARY VACATION TRAVEL: All out-of-state travel guidelines established by Governor Mills remain in effect. If your child and/or family will be leaving the state or country over vacation, please notify myself (mcyr@veaziecs.org), our school nurse (apeters@veaziecs.org), or our office manager (tlindsey@veaziecs.org). After doing so, you will be contacted with instructions on mandated quarantining and testing guidelines. I am hopeful that each of our efforts will continue to keep our kids safe, mitigate transmission of COVID-19 within our school, and help to slow the spread within our community. Thank you and have a great rest of the week. Sincerely, Matthew D. Cyr Superintendent & Principal

2/8/21 4:00p.m. EST Dear Veazie Community School Families and Staff, This notice is to inform you that our presumptive positive student in question has indeed tested positive. All close contacts have already been notified and advised of next steps such as quarantine, symptom checking, and testing. If you have not been individually contacted, you do not need to take any additional steps. Tomorrow (Tuesday, February 8, 2021) will be a remote learning day for all students as originally announced. I am still awaiting important information before being able to announce learning programs for the remainder of the week. PK - 2 parents should expect a communication from your child's teacher about tomorrow's schedule. Grades 3 - 8 will operate using their normal remote learning schedule. As always, please remember to conduct daily screening and communicate all health related issues immediately and directly with the school nurse, Amber Peters: apeters@veaziecs.org; and, superintendent/principal, Matt Cyr: mcyr@veaziecs.org. Or by calling the school directly 947-6573. For general Covid-19 questions, please dial Maine’s helpline at 211 or 1-866-811- 5695. You can also text your zip code to 898-211 or email info@211maine.org. Please call your healthcare provider with questions about symptoms. More information can be found at www.maine.gov/dhhs/coronavirus or www.cdc.gov/coronavirus. Thank you for your support. Sincerely, Matthew D. Cyr Superintendent & Principal

2/7/21 8:00p.m. EST Good Evening VCS Families, Veazie Community School was just notified that we have a presumptive positive student in the 8th grade (meaning based on information we have at this point in time, we are taking immediate precautions as there is a strong likelihood that the student is positive). The entire 8th grade class and any staff member working with the student is presently being treated as a presumptive close contact. The entire 8th grade class and any staff member working with them will begin a precautionary quarantine immediately. Due to the significant staffing shortage that this creates, I am shifting the entire school to remote learning only on Monday and Tuesday, or until we receive test results. At that point in time we will regroup and decide next steps. Grades 3 - 8 will operate using their remote learning schedule on Monday and Tuesday. Grades PK - 2 should use Snow Day Packet #2 for tomorrow (Monday). We will use the day tomorrow to asses next steps. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we navigate this situation. Have a good evening. -Mr. Cyr

Our middle school is looking for used (but functioning) tennis racquets for creative outdoor games they've invented. Get a head start on your spring cleaning by donating those dust collecting racquets to the Veazie Community School! :) These items can be dropped off at the main office when school is in session (7:30 - 3:30). Thank you for your support!

February 1, 2021 9:10a.m. EST Dear VCS Families, The National Weather Service is predicting a significant winter storm tomorrow, with high confidence. The potential exists for 5-9 inches of snow mixed in with up to 1/2 inch of sleet/icing, and wind gusts up to 30 mpg. The timing of this storm spans both Tuesday morning commutes and afternoon dismissals. It is not often when winter storms time themselves in a manner that allows for an early safety decision. I believe the timing and track of this storm has checked all of the boxes. For the reasons outlined above, Tuesday, February 2 will be a Remote Learning Snow Day for all Veazie Community School Students. Please find your child's Snow Day Packets sent home in November. 2/2/21 will be Remote Learning Snow Day #1 for VCS. There will be no in-person learning tomorrow, 2/2/21 due to the forecasted storm. Your child's teacher will be reviewing our remote learning snow day schedules over the course of today. Our kitchen staff will be sending home bag lunches with today's in-person students that requested a lunch today (the intent will be that this will serve as tomorrow's school lunch). Please put these lunches in the fridge when students get home. Email your child's teacher(s) with questions. If you misplaced your Remote Learning Snow Day Packets and schedules, you can find them on our school website, or here: https://sites.google.com/veaziecs.org/vcssnowday I'm guessing New England groundhogs will not be able to see their shadows tomorrow morning. Be safe! Sincerely, Matthew D. Cyr VCS Superintendent & Principal

January 28, 2021 Dear Staff, Students and Families, Notice of 2 Positive COVID-19 cases at Veazie Community School This letter is to inform you that two individuals associated with the Veazie Community School recently tested positive for COVID-19. We have taken steps to follow Maine CDC and DOE guidelines to notify staff and students as appropriate. We believe it best to share what we can and we are informing you out of an abundance of caution. The 2 individuals who tested positive have not been at Veazie Community School since noontime on Thursday, January 21, 2021, and these positive test results do not impact the school community. Per Maine CDC and DOE guidelines, we do not have any individuals considered to be close contacts. We ask that each of you continue to be vigilant and honest with your reporting of illnesses, and adhering to our preventative measures including daily health screenings. Please note for the future, if you are a staff person or a student who is identified as a close contact of a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 at school, you will be notified by the school through a phone call or email and provided initial guidance on next steps, including quarantining and testing. Once you have received notification from the school, the Maine CDC’s Sara Alert will begin sending you follow up guidance via text messages. Sara Alert is an automated system that uses daily text messages to help people who have been identified as close contacts to monitor for symptoms after exposure. All students and staff will be enrolled in Sara Alert if they are identified as having been in close contact with a COVID-19 positive person while at school. There is nothing required of you to be automatically enrolled in this service. If, however, you would like to opt out of Sara Alert, please contact Amber Peters, our school nurse. If you do opt out of the Sara Alert system, and are later identified as a close contact to a positive case, you will receive follow up phone calls to confirm you have opted to not receive the automated text messages from Maine CDC. Additional assistance is provided to Maine residents who have been identified as a close contact of a COVID-19 positive person, and need support during quarantine. You may request this assistance by using this online form: https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/form/covid-19-referral-form Additional information about community care and social support is available here: https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/coronavirus-resources/support-for-isolation-quarantine, or you can send an email to dhhs.covid.socialsupport@Maine.gov COVID-19 is a respiratory illness that ranges from mild to severe. It can be more severe in adults 60 years and older and in those with underlying conditions. The virus mainly spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes and an uninfected person breathes in the virus. Signs and symptoms include: • fever or chills • cough • shortness of breath or difficulty breathing • fatigue • muscle or body aches • headache • new loss of taste or smell • sore throat • congestion or runny nose • nausea or vomiting • diarrhea Please keep in mind that many things can cause respiratory illness, so students and staff should be up-to-date on influenza and routine vaccinations. Maine CDC recommends prevention measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These measures include wearing a face covering over your nose, under your chin and snug against your cheeks, practice physical distancing, and wash hands with soap and warm water. When soap and water is not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands and avoid close contact with people who are sick. Cover your cough or sneeze into a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe. For general COVID-19 questions, dial 211 (or 1-866-811-5695). You can also text your ZIP code to 898-211 or email info@211maine.org. Call a health care provider for questions about your symptoms. More information can be found at www.maine.gov/dhhs/coronavirus or www.cdc.gov/coronavirus. Questions for the school can be directed to the following individuals: Superintendent & Principal, Matthew D. Cyr: mcyr@veaziecs.org School Nurse, Amber Peters: apeters@veaziecs.org

1/20/21 Dear VCS Families, Yesterday, we received official notification from the Department of Education that our Corona Relief Fund Day Programming Grant will be extended through the remainder of the current school year. These grant funds pay for daycare costs associated with students needing child care on remote learning days. (Note: This grant does not cover school vacations, weekends, holidays, after school care, or teacher workshops. Also, if your child care costs are already being covered by another funding source such as DHHS, you and/or the child care provider are not eligible for additional funding/reimbursement.) Presently, we have a MOU with the Bangor YMCA, and are in the process of finalizing an agreement with Fields4Kids in Hampden. We are sending out this survey to find out if there are any other state approved daycare programs that our families are using on remote learning days (these must be state approved programs). If you are currently using, or are interested in using daycare programming (for remote learning days) through the remainder of this school year, please fill out this survey so that we can provide accurate data to the Department of Education. Once we have this information, we can begin to work with you and your state approved child care to fully cover daycare costs associated with remote learning days. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with questions. -Mr. Cyr mcyr@veaziecs.org Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScJlXPCNWtfKxahcBqmY0iS-_OL-mWyvQdRRWhxN5PsPyosDg/viewform?usp=sf_link

First Grade learned about moose today. Mrs. Richard brought in some moose antlers she had found up North. She also shared information, pictures and a video of moose she has seen in the wild. We read books to learn even more. We think they are a-moose-ing!