Dear Brookside Community,
We did it! While we were hoping for a year that resembled a regular, pre-COVID year, we have started the 2021-2022 school year off with two fantastic first days! Thanks for your patience as we streamline our systems for drop-off and pick-up. We were six minutes faster today than we were yesterday at pick-up :) It has been wonderful to see the smiling faces of our students. It is wonderful to see them together again!
With all of the changes in the HUUSD bus routes, our first day left some room for improvement in terms of pm bussing. We are hopeful that with accurate PickUp Patrol plans, adjusted dismissal call times and building procedures, we will continue to fine tune our end of day routines. As the bus routes are adjusted from First Student, we will do our best to update you via Swift Reach in a timely manner so adjustments can be made.
Attendance: Please note that the attendance link has changed from last year. Please fill out this form when your child is absent: Brookside Attendance Form 2021 If for some reason you can not access it, you can call and leave it in the attendance mailbox, voicemails can be left 24 hours/7 days a week.
From Nutrition Services:
Dear Harwood Unified Community, the Harwood Unified Union Food & Nutrition Department is excited about the upcoming school year! Welcome back to all students, staff, and parents.
Welcome to the:
Highlanders Café @ Harwood Union High School & Middle School
Cougar Café @ Crossett Brook Middle School
Fox Café @ Fayston Elementary School
Bobcat Café @ Moretown Elementary School
Eagle Café @ Brookside Primary School
Wolverine Café @ Waitsfield Elementary School
School Café @ Warren Elementary School
School Meals: Allowing and encouraging your children to eat school breakfast and school lunch not only helps assure their health and academic abilities, but also supports the Food & Nutrition Department and enhances our entire community.
School Breakfast: We offer Grab & Go Breakfast in all of our schools. Students can choose from a variety of items daily to make their own breakfast. Milk, fruits, vegetables, whole grain items and proteins are offered. Breakfast is offered before and after the bell.
School Lunch: Our Lunch Program is a success; we cook fresh whole foods for our students everyday. Students can choose from a variety of items including milk, fruits, vegetables, whole grain items and proteins. A Salad Bar with farm fresh produce and house made salads will be available in every school once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
August/September Menu: Please find our monthly menu in this link
Farm to School: We are committed to continue to offer highly nutritious meals cooked from scratch. Our nationally recognized Farm to School Program will also continue to thrive, offering as much local products and education as possible.
Meal Modifications: To request a meal modification due to for example an allergy, parents must follow the procedure in this page. We can't make a meal modification without the right documentation on file. Please find more information in this link.
To-go Meals: We will continue to offer free to-go meals for all students 18 and under that are not physically in one of our 7 schools. To sign up please visit our website.
Price and Payment: Independently of the learning model that your child is receiving instruction this school year (HUUSD schools, Homeschool, not yet enrolled in the school system, or not in school but 18 years old and under) your child is automatically eligible for FREE Breakfast and Free Lunch daily.
Please make sure your child is taking advantage of this wonderful benefit, the more free meals we serve the better it is for our Food & Nutrition Program, and to our community. More Free Meals Served really equals More Local Products into our schools! Which equals better nutrition to our students!
Our FREE meals are not only for families in need, and you won't be "taking away" a meal from someone in need if you decide to get a meal for your child.
Free/Reduced Applications: Children need healthy meals to learn. Harwood Unified Union School District offers healthy meals every school day. In School Year 2021-2022, all children will receive free breakfast, and free lunch regardless of your household income eligibility.
It is still very important for families to submit the Application for Free and Reduced Price School Meals to track our community’s Free and Reduced Percentage. Filling out and returning the application may help your family, the school, and community at large, qualify for other financial assistance.
P-EBT benefits to your household, grant funds for the school, and telecom reimbursements for the community are just a few examples of the benefits of having higher Free and Reduced percentages.
Please find more information and application in this link
Providing students with the knowledge and skills to make healthy food choices is our mission.
We encourage students' and community members' involvement to help create and foster this environment.Our culinary staff look forward to continuing to provide healthy, nutritious food in an educational environment.
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Erika Dolan and Paul Morris, HUUSD Food & Nutrition Co-Directors
School bond survey -- open through September 7th The HUUSD School Board is in the process of developing a bond proposal to put before our 6-town community this November. The Board has created this brief survey to better understand our community’s perspective on the decisions ahead. If you are a parent, a student, a teacher, or a resident of our six towns, please consider filling out the survey so that your thoughts can be added to the mix. Encourage your friends, family and neighbors to do the same! Here is a link: https://forms.gle/e2iMW5A8kjrBY1Do9 The survey will be open through Friday, September 7. It takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete and no previous knowledge about the district’s work in this area is necessary. Thank you, in advance, for sharing your thoughts with the Board.
-Torrey Smith Chair, HUUSD Board
Communication
As you may have noticed in our first communication of the year, the weekly FYI’s are now called the Brookside Blast. We will send this each Friday so that you have all of the timely information you need. It will be linked under the “Quick Links” section of our school website. The most recent edition will also show up under “News and Events “. Community Events will be housed under the “News and Events” section as well. A link will also be provided for Community Events at the end of each Brookside Blast. Our goal is to give you timely and important information as well as make it easy to find if you need to refer back to it.
Community Events (Also found under New and Events on the Brookside website)
Volunteers Needed for Nature Education Program
Brookside Primary School's Four Winds Nature Education program is seeking volunteers to help teach kids about our natural world. Get kids outside to experience hands-on standards-based science education concepts. This year the theme is “patterns in nature” and we will be teaching 5 different outdoor lessons. If you’ve been a volunteer in the past please join us again this year. You do not need to be a parent of a BPS student. We have had excellent volunteers that were grandparents, aunts/uncles, neighbors, and interested community members that just want to help introduce the splendor of our natural world to young minds. We offer all the training and supplies to get you started. Please email us at fourwindsbps@gmail.com to let us know if you are interested in volunteering this year or if you have any questions about the program.
-Christine Colangeli, Lindsay DeOld, Emily Marotto
Have a great weekend!
Contact us:
Chris Neville
email : cneville@huusd.org
Phone: 802-583-8026
Sarah Schoolcraft
email: sschoolcraft@huusd.org
Phone 802-583-8007