photo credits: Alex Pintair, Ambient Photography

On Monday, October 28^th, Vermont Day School held a heartfelt Groundbreaking Ceremony to mark the building phase of a new addition. Attendees included key community partners including Lee Krohn, Shelburne Town Manager and Lou Natale, of Shelburne, who served as a community advisor on the project. Bob Bickford, Project Manager for Wright & Morrissey, and David Epstein of Truex Cullins were on hand to celebrate the milestone as well as Rich McClean of Lakepoint Property Management and Rob Wheeler of Northfield Savings Bank.

Sage Bagnato, head of school, introduced and thanked all of the community partners involved in bringing the project to fruition. Board Chair, Ed Wilkens, remarked on how far Vermont Day School has come in just five years and how proud he is to be involved with the school. Lee Krohn, Shelburne Town Manager, spoke of the impact a small school can have on a child’s future and congratulated Vermont Day School on its milestone.

Students and faculty marked the occasion by singing the school song and sharing their “hopes and dreams” for the new space. Remarked one middle school student,

“The old building ties us to our roots and the past while the new addition shows how the school is willing to grow with the times. I’m very excited that each class will have their own space to grow and learn.”

Vermont Day School, located near Route 7 in Shelburne, has nearly outgrown its current space and will build a 7,000 sq. ft. addition, nearly doubling its size, to accommodate new classrooms, a dedicated space for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), and a community gathering space.

“We are growing with intention,” says Sage Bagnato head of school. “We are in need of a larger space to accommodate student demand and to fully realize our vision for building community partnerships, high quality STEM curriculum, and high quality project-based learning.”

In 2015, Vermont Day School opened its doors with 12 students, 4 faculty, and a powerful vision. Today, that vision is being realized, and continues to grow, as the school celebrates its 5^th year of operation with 63 students enrolled in grades K-8. The new space will allow the school to grow to about 100 students.

The mission of Vermont Day School is to foster skills, knowledge, personal attributes, and work habits that enable children to thrive effectively, meaningfully and joyously in the world of today and tomorrow. The school realizes this mission through high quality project-based learning, which not only is a rich and engaging learning experience, but also prepares students to be 21^stcentury creative thinkers and problem solvers. Community partnerships with organizations like Shelburne Farms, Ben & Jerry’s, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Seventh Generation, and Burton have enhanced the student learning experience outside of the classroom.

Vermont Day School is pleased to welcome Ted Adler to the Board of Directors.

Ted is the founder of Union Street Media, the top real estate digital marketing firm, and Scout Digital, a web development and digital marketing company located in Burlington.  Ted is a strong believer in independent schools, the impact they can have on the lives of their students and the larger community.

 “I believe Vermont Day School is at the very beginning of a remarkable journey to become the best school in Vermont.  As an entrepreneur, I love to help things flourish and I’m in awe of what Vermont Day School has accomplished in a mere five years. I am honored to join the Vermont Day School board and thrilled to be a part of the school’s future.“  -Ted Adler

Ted is a former Keewaydin Camp staffman, a little league baseball coach and a volunteer soccer coach. He comes to the VDS having served on a number of boards throughout Vermont, including Spectrum Youth & Family Services, Vermont Public Radio, the Vermont Business Roundtable, the Greater Burlington Industrial Corp and the Middlebury College Alumni Association.  Ted lives in Burlington with his wife and three young children.

Founded in 2015, Vermont Day School is an independent, non-profit school that prepares K-8 students to be passionate learners, creative thinkers, effective collaborators and responsible global citizens in the 21st century.