21st Century Learning for Pre-K-8 in Shelburne, VT
This week, students had their first session of Winter PE at the Shelburne Field House. Students will continue to go to the Field House once per week for sports and games throughout the months of January and February. The first visit was particularly special for students, as it was their first trip on our new school bus!
Our 1st annual Gingerbread Festival was a huge success! Vermont Day School students and community members enjoyed lots of fun-filled gingerbread themed activities, including constructing a life-sized cardboard gingerbread village, decorating gingerbread houses, creating and sewing a stuffed gingerbread person and exploring with gingerbread playdough! A big shout-out to all who participated in the gingerbread structure competition and congratulations to the winners! The submissions were so creative. Many thanks to our Parent Committee for helping to organize this event, and to Vermont Day School families for contributing to the silent auction fundraiser for our financial aid fund.
Congratulations to our talented musicians on their outstanding performance at the Shelburne Town Hall on December 7th. The songs and dances were fun and festive, and your voices, instrumental pieces and stage strong presence were impressive! Thanks to all the parents, grandparents, siblings and Vermont Day School friends and supporters in the audience.
Thanks to the generosity of our families, we collected 420 lbs. of food to donate to the Chittenden County Emergency Foodshelf. This surpassed our goal of 360 lbs. of food. On December 13th, the 4/5 class delivered the donated items to the Foodshelf in Burlington, and also received a tour of the facility.
The 4/5 class was excited to welcome Dr. Tom Roland, Radiation Oncologist at UVM, into their STEM classroom to kick off their human anatomy unit. The students had the opportunity to ask Dr. Roland detailed and thoughtful questions about his work and background, how he diagnoses and interacts with patients, and how the body systems interact to keep us healthy.
Our after school Lego Robotics, Jr. team has been busy this fall learning how to program Lego robots. They are participating in First Lego League’s challenge and will soon be showcasing their work at an upcoming Lego competition. Students are loving the challenge so far!
On Sunday, October 30th, Vermont Day School students and parents created a Halloween float to ride in the Town of Shelburne Halloween parade. It was a super fun afternoon for all! Thank you to our families for your help and for all the blue and green razzle dazzle!
As a culmination of their first project-based unit on Vermont, the 2nd and 3rd grade students hosted a Chamber of Commerce events for parents and schoolmates. They each researched an aspect of Vermont and created a brochure to inform people about this unique feature of our state (i.e. Swimming Holes, Maple Syrup & Cheese, Skiing etc.). They also sent brochures to family, friends and leaders who live outside our state to entice them to come visit. One student mailed his brochure to the President and is eagerly awaiting a response!
As part of unit on “We the People,” 4th and 5th graders are learning about the purpose, function and history of our government, as well as the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizens. The class conducted extensive research, and then used the information they learned to create iMovies for adults that have recently arrived in Vermont from all over the world. On October 26, the 4th/5th grade class presented their iMovies to staff members at Vermont Adult Learning.
Thank you to all our amazing Grandparents and Friends that visited our school on this special day. We loved hosting you and are glad that you had the opportunity to visit and participate in learning in action! Below are just a few photos from the morning (we took a lot!).
This Fall, our classrooms have taken advantage of local places to visit in our community. Our K/1 class recently visited Shelburne Orchards, to pick apples and observe apple cider making in action. When they returned to the classroom, they made amazing apple sauce and recipe books to share! Learning about Vermont History, the 2/3 class spent a day at the Shelburne Museum to experience life in early Vermont; they made beeswax candles and churned their own ice cream! The 4/5 class had a fabulous day for a class hike up Mt. Philo. We are so fortunate to have so many learning opportunities in our own backyard!
As part of their year-long study of Vermont, our 2/3 Stem students are learning about wetlands and the Lake Champlain Basin. They tested samples from McCabe Brook, located just behind Vermont Day School, to measure phosphorous, nitrates, dissolved oxygen and turbidity. They also did an experiment to demonstrate how wetlands act as a filter for taking out pollutants and nutrients, as water flows from the Brook into the Lake. The class has decided to create an educational video to share their findings with others and to provide suggestions for reducing pollution in our watershed. Stay tuned!
