School News

As you walk around Shelburne Village and out at Shelburne Farms, you may have noticed some colorful signs with inspirational messages and stories. Vermont Day School students have been busy “planting hope” to share with the community.

Three times a year, Vermont Day School students in Pre-K through 8th grade come together to work on a school-wide project for C.L.I.C. Week. CLIC stands for Create, Learn, Innovate, and Celebrate.  As part of their fall CLIC Week project, students created a walkway of hopeful messages on campus and designed inspirational story walk signs to share with the public. With support from the Town of Shelburne, class projects are now on display at the Town Hall and Village Green. In addition, thanks to a partnership with Shelburne Farms, there is a storywalk of Hope that lines the walking trail beginning at the Farm Welcome Center.

Vermont Day School students hope that their positive messages spread to as many people in the community as possible during this time when they are needed most. The displays will be up to enjoy through the end of November.

Join us for our Fall Open House on Saturday, October 24th at 3pm.

Enjoy some hot cider and fall treats while you meet outside with our Head of School, Sage Bagnato, to learn about Vermont Day School.

Small group tours will be offered to see the new building space.

Weather permitting. Rain date is Sunday, October 25th at 3pm.

R.S.V.P required: fjames@vtdayschool.org

On Friday, September 4, 2020, Vermont Day School held a small, socially distanced, Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to commemorate the opening of their new school building and to celebrate the beginning of the new school year. 

The school had nearly outgrown its current space and built a 7,000 square foot addition to accommodate new classrooms, a dedicated space for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), and a community gathering space. “We are growing with intention,” confirms Bagnato. “We are so excited to have this larger space to accommodate student demand and to fully realize our vision for building community partnerships, high quality STEM curriculum, and quality project based learning.” 

Designed by TruexCullens and constructed by Wright and Morrissey, the building project began, before the pandemic, in the late fall of 2019.  It was finished just in time for the school to open for full time, in person learning this fall.  Notes Bagnato, “We are so grateful for the extra space this year. Along with our small class sizes, we can really spread out students and staff in an effort to keep everyone as safe as possible.” 

 

 

 

 

Vermont Day School plans to add one Pre-Kindergarten classroom to open at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. Part of the strategic growth of the school, our Pre-Kindergarten program seeks to:  

• Provide a high quality Pre-K education that is based on the principles of child development and the mission of Vermont Day School
• Support the cognitive and social-emotional growth of students 
• Foster a caring community of learners 
• Offer an environment that promotes problem-solving and exploration through hands on activities and play
• Provide opportunities for students to explore their interests and curiosities 
• Integrate art, music, STEM, and creativity into everyday learning
• Document student learning and growth through assessment and observation 

For this school year, the program will be full school day, with full week and limited partial week spots available. Click HERE for more program details. To add your name to the interest list and to receive application details when they become available, please contact Faith James, Director of Admissions.

On Thursday, June 11 Vermont Day School made history by graduating its inaugural class of 8th graders. Held outside at All Soul’s Interfaith Gathering in Shelburne, graduates and their parents were joined by Head of School, Sage Bagnato, Board Chair, Ed Wilkens, and their Middle School teachers.

Wilkens addressed the class by thanking them for helping to shape Vermont Day School into what it is today. He encouraged them to keep the connections going that they have made academically and socially as a community at Vermont Day School. Each student was then introduced and gave their own remarks and reflections on their time at VDS. Common themes were friendships, academic preparedness, and a welcoming community:

“VDS welcomed me with open arms and made me feel at home”

“Each one of my teachers has made me grow as a person.”

“My teacher…she understood me and gave me confidence.”

“VDS has shown me to be kind, respectful, and caring to others.”

“I’m more prepared for high school than I ever thought I could be.”

Head of School, Sage Bagnato, made an Address to the Class of 2020 and then graduates were presented with a diploma and VDS inscribed Danforth Pewter keepsake, starting the first of many traditions at Vermont Day School. Graduates will go on to Champlain Valley Union High School and Rice Memorial High School. Congratulations to the VDS Class of 2020!

Click here to view the graduation ceremony. 

Check out our latest community news and updates!

June, 2020 Community Newsletter

May, 2020 Community Newsletter

March, 2020 Community Newsletter

February, 2020 Community Newsletter

Thank you to the folks at South Burlington & Shelburne Living for choosing Vermont Day School to be the featured charity for the May issue. Coming to a mailbox near you. It looks great!

Click here to see the digital copy of the magazine. Find us on page 10.

 

 

Three times a year, Vermont Day School participates in C.L.I.C week (Create, Learn, Innovate, Celebrate), an opportunity to participate in an all school project with a unified theme. This week, students were immersed in our first ever virtual CLIC week, and focused on finding solutions to address the unique challenges we are facing during the global pandemic. Each day brought a new challenge! A few highlights included: choosing a local business and finding a creative way to provide support, creating artwork and hopeful messages for residents at a local senior center and the Critical Care workers at Fletcher Allen hospital, and engineering a new way to transport an object to a friend while social distancing and keeping six feet apart!

Every Thursday evening, Vermont Day School families are invited to participate in a family event night via Zoom. Highlights have included a Family Trivia Night, during which parents and students tested their knowledge of geography, history, pop culture, sports and more! During this week’s virtual STEM Challenge, participants were given the task of building a suspension bridge that would span 14 inch distance and hold as many pennies as possible, using only 2 pieces of paper and 6 inches of tape. Families had fun working collaboratively on this challenge at home, and their sharing their bridges with others via the Zoom call. The Thursday evening Family event nights have been a wonderful way for VDS families to stay connected during this period of campus closure!

 

 

Vermont Day School closed it’s campus on March 13th, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 18th, the school launched its Continuous Learning program to allow students to continue to advance their academic skills, and maintain connections with their classmates and teachers. Each day, students follow a suggested schedule that consists of classes in core content areas of Literacy, Math and STEM, along with Spanish, Art, Music and PE. The K-5 students are using SeeSaw for Schools as their digital platform for learning, while students in grades 6-8 are continuing with Google Classroom. Each classroom has daily video calls, where they may participate in literature circles together, work on a collaborative project in STEM or simply enjoy lunch together!

On December 18th, students at Vermont Day School loaded boxes of donations onto their school bus and delivered 1,031 pounds of food and dental hygiene items to the Shelburne Food Shelf. The Food Drive is an annual event for Vermont Day School with this collection far surpassing their initial goal of 790 pounds and setting the record for the largest in the school’s 5 year history. Susan Stock, of the Shelburne Food Shelf, also let the students know that this was the largest donation to the Food Shelf so far this year.

The 5th grade class led the initiative along with their teachers, Shannon Riddle and Erin Capps. “I look forward to Food Drive every year,” explained Capps. “It’s an authentic leadership opportunity for our students, and a great way to teach students to be active and supportive community members.” The 5th graders inspired families to participate in the Food Drive by holding signs up during morning and afternoon drop-off times, posting signs around school, and charting the school’s progress towards meeting their collection goal.

During the month of December, students learned about the concept of food insecurity. They invited Shelburne Food Shelf Board Members, Susan Stock, Dana Valentine, and Toby Knox to the school to talk about what they do, who they serve, and how it all works. They graciously answered enthusiastic questions from the crowd of elementary and middle school students and emphasized the importance of the Food Shelf in the community and how everyone can help.

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.