Bolton Valley Ski & Ride Program 2015-16

BRMS partners with Bolton Valley to offer two sessions of five (5) Thursday nights. Busing will be available.

Session one sign up deadline is November 25.  Session two deadline will be January 13, 2016. I will need all money, registration forms and online videos completed by these dates. There will be a limited number of seats on the bus so first come, first served. No late registrations are possible.

Registration forms are available on the school web site, and at the front entrance of the school. Contact person this year is Theresa Gingras (teltag@aol.com)   Forms should be mailed to Theresa, not the school. (291 Poker Hill Rd. Underhill, VT 05489)

Ski and ride dates for session one are December 17, January 7, 14, 21, and 28, with a make-up date in case of cancellation of February 4.

Session two dates are February 11, 18, March 3, 10, and 17, with a make-up day on March 24.

Cost per session is $90 for each five week program. Lessons are available and highly recommended at an additional cost of $55 for 5 lessons.

If your child has a season pass at Bolton, you only need to sign a release form and pay for transportation (or drive).

Session price does not include transportation. Based on the cost of the bus, if we get 40 skiers per session, the cost will be $50 per person. 

Rentals are available for $55 per session for skis or snowboard (helmets are an additional $25, and are required).  You can also lease for the entire season, November 7 - April 5 for $89.
Rental information is on the school web site.

There will be a need for chaperones, skiers as well as snow bunnies to sit in the lodge. We get a complimentary lift ticket for each 10 students enrolled. Siblings under 6 ski for free:

Gear transport:  I need a few people to transport gear.  I will be on the bus as I do not have a vehicle able to transport gear.

 Lodge Chaperones: We are looking for a few people to hang out in our designated area, by the fire. Your responsibilities will be to be available in the event of an emergency. You will be expected to stay in the designated area so the Bolton staff can find you if something comes up.

 Slope Chaperones: We need people that are willing to look out for our students on the slopes. I don’t ski, so I need you to be my eyes and ears on the slopes. Your responsibilities will be to make sure students are being safe and to look out for anyone that needs assistance. You will ski for free, unless we have too many volunteers. In that case you can purchase a special rate ticket for $22.00 at guest services.

Thank you,

Theresa Gingras, 

Bolton Ski and Ride Program Coordinator
teltag@aol.com
802-899-2962 home
802-233-3339 cell
291 Poker Hill Road
Underhill, Vermont 05489

Thank you for Voting

The word has spread fast and people throughout Vermont and beyond have gotten involved in our Facebook one-day only voting process. What an incredible showing of our global family and friends voting for us.  Indeed our formidable challenge was meet with AMAZING community support. We had a considerable challenge against schools from large states like California, Texas, and Colorado, yet our AWESOME teamwork was seen. THANK YOU!

After the close of the public voting period, a review panel will judge the results of the public vote, community support effort and will also consider factors like whether the school will be able to quickly incorporate innovative teaching methods as a result of the makeover. The Northrop Grumman Foundation will then take the five highest scoring schools out of the twenty schools selected and announce the winners.  

Hopefully our community’s votes made a strong positive difference for Browns River Middle School on Facebook, yet we eagerly wait the news.  

As we anticipate the results, we want to voice our appreciation to the Northrop Grumman Foundation for helping us dream. 

Thank you to everyone who voted for BRMS and a special shout out to our outstanding teacher, Willie Lee!  

Thank you to our communication team: Lisa McGuire, Mike Berry, Rob Sleamaker, Vincent Marias, and Joyce Babbitt.  

And a special thank you to the following local organizations for their support:

Regional Education Television Network
http://www.retn.org/

Vermont Agency of Education
https://www.facebook.com/VTEducation/

Vermont Kids Family Newspaper

https://www.facebook.com/kidsvt/?fref=ts

Burlington Free Press News

http://m.wptz.com/news/vt-school-needs-votes-to-win-grant-for-design-lab-makeover/36505596

Mountain Gazette News: On Page 14
http://www.mountaingazetteofvermont.com/CURRENTISSUE.pdf

WCAX News:
http://www.wcax.com/story/30505000/sunday-science-browns-river-middle-school-goes-for-100000-stem-grant#

VPR News:
http://digital.vpr.net/post/browns-river-middle-school-wants-votes-win-lab-makeover#stream/0

Champlain Valley News:

http://www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/brms-seeks-votes-for-lab-renovation 

WPTZ  news:

http://m.wptz.com/news/vt-school-needs-votes-to-win-grant-for-design-lab-makeover/36505596

VPR Radio:

http://digital.vpr.net/post/your-vote-today-could-help-browns-river-middle-school-upgrade-its-lab

Fab School Labs

VOTE FOR BRMS TODAY!

Browns River Middle School is the only school in Vermont and the only school in New England! We need your votes TODAY. This is a one day vote. Your vote could be worth $100,000 to BRMS. Help us TODAY!

We have an excellent chance to win a $100,000 fab lab makeover grant, which will benefit our students and our community. Every vote counts, including yours. 

Here's how you can make a difference:

1. TODAY go on Facebook and vote for Browns River Middle School at Fab School Labs

https://www.facebook.com/FabSchoolLabs/

2. Tell your friends! Share that Facebook link with all your friends and ask them to vote BRMS TODAY.

3. Send this email to your email or Instagram contacts and ask them to go on Facebook and vote for BRMS TODAY.

4. Please use your laptop/desktop computer since the voting CANNOT be done from mobile devices TODAY before midnight EST time.

Picture Retakes

Diane Parenteau will be at BRMS on Tuesday, November 17, for picture retakes.  Also if your child was absent on Picture Days, they should come and have their picture taken on Tuesday.

BRMS T-Shirt for Sale

• A fun and fashionable way to support BRMS!
• Order your BRMS t-shirt, designed by WYATT!
• Exciting colors to choose from!
• Proceeds support BRMS students!
• Order now for the holidays!

Here's the form.  Orders are due by December 4th.  Make checks payable to B.R.A.G. with t-shirt written on memo line.  Turn order forms with payment in to Greg Martin or Diane Border.

Kinship Care & Adoptive Parent Support Group

Are you an adoptive parent or family member other than a biological parent who is the primary caretaker of a CESU student?

If so, you are not alone!

Who: Adoptive parents, grandparents, and caregivers other than biological parents who are           the primary caretaker of a CESU student

What: An opportunity to share resources, information, and support with other families who              may have similar experiences and challenges

When:  Monday, November 16, 8:00–9:00AM

This will be a monthly group.  Future dates will be determined by the group and updated flyers will be distributed.

Where: Mount Mansfield Union High School, Room 309, 211 Browns Trace Rd., Jericho

Participation in this group is free and we encourage you to spread the word and invite others to this group who may wish to participate.It is helpful to RSVP so that we can set up to accommodate the group size. 

To RSVP or you have questions about the group, you can contact:  Ellen Arrowsmith, School Social Worker, at 802-338-1676 or ellen.arrowsmith@cesuvt.org.

Emergency Notification System

Dear Parents and Community Members,

Browns River Middle School, as well as the other schools of Chittenden East, are replacing its old emergency notification system with Schoolmessenger as of November 18th.

We will test the new emergency notification system on Wednesday, November 18th, at 6:00PM. The system informs you of urgent information such as school closures, delays or emergencies.

You may have received a test two weeks ago from the old system. We apologize for any inconvenience that a second test may cause.  The new system was not available to us in August, and we had to keep the old and tested system in place until now.

Phone calls, emails and/or text messages will be sent you.  Posts will be made to the school's website, Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Note: If you requested text messaging, you will receive a text message from Schoolmessenger or Chittenden East on Tuesday, November 17th asking you to accept future text messages.  You must accept that request in order to receive future text messages.

If do not wish to be in the system, please contact us at 899-3711.

Kevin Hamilton

DELAYED START REMINDER- Wednesday Nov. 11th.

We would like to remind you that tomorrow, Nov. 11th, is our monthly delayed start day for Staff Professional Development.   All buses will be running two hours later than normal.  Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

BRMS Robotics

IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT!!!

BRMS ROBOTICS: Needs to change its LATE afternoon and Parent gathering to Wednesday, November 11, due to some last minute changes. Sorry...

So, here are the details…

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER !!
     Robotics Prep:  2:45-5:30
     Eat and Chill:  5:30-6:00
     Teams show work:  6:00-7:00
     (Robot Game and Project)

We will still meet during our scheduled time from 2:45 till 4:00 on Thursday. Let me know if you have any questions...THX!  

~Willie Lee, Willie.lee@cesuvt.org

I will be sending home detailed information about Sunday’s competition in Northfield tomorrow (Tuesday).

BIG NEWS!  Our school is among the 20 semifinalist schools to be selected for the Northrop Grumman Foundation’s Fab School Lab’s science classroom, thanks to Willie Lee for submitting his video entry.  We are so thrilled to be in the running!  

Now we must rally our community to become eligible for one of the five $100,000 makeover grants.  As a semifinalist school, we now have an opportunity to spread the word and get our community behind creating a newly designed, state-of-the-art, fully equipped engineering design lab.  Our first step will be an online voting campaign taking place November 16-20, 2015.  Each day during this designated voting week, videos from competing schools will be posted for public voting. Our online voting date will be Wednesday, November 18.

Vote for our school at facebook.com/FabSchoolLabs

Our voices to support Willie and the BRMS Fab School Lab:

• "Willie serves as a leader for STEM education in our District. His boundless energy and creativity inspire students on a daily basis," said science teacher, Lisa Windhausen. "He is one of the most influential and motivating teachers I have ever worked with!"
• "Willie ignites our students every day in engineering and technology," said math teacher, Suzanne McDevitt.    
• "We know Willie can do great things with our students with this makeover grant," said library media teacher, Joyce Babbitt. "Let's get everyone to vote!"  

Willie Lee has inspired so many students with his innovative projects at Browns River Middle School, let's rally behind him and win this contest.

Bolton Valley Ski and Ride
After School Program 2015-16

BRMS partners with Bolton Valley to offer two sessions of 5 Thursday nights. Busing will be available.

Session one sign up deadline is Nov 25.  Session two deadline will be Jan 13, 2016. I will need all money, registration forms and online videos completed by these dates. There will be a limited number of seats on the bus so first come, first served. No late registrations are possible.

Registration forms are available on the school web site, and at the front entrance of the school. Contact person this year is Theresa Gingras (teltag@aol.com)   Forms should be mailed to Theresa, not the school. (291 Poker Hill Rd. Underhill, VT 05489)

Ski and ride dates for session one are Dec 17, Jan 7, 14, 21, and 28, with a make-up date in case of cancellation of Feb 4.

Session two dates are Feb 11, 18, March 3, 10, and 17, with a make-up day on March 24.

Cost per session is $90 for each five week program.  Lessons are available and highly recommended at an additional cost of $55 for 5 lessons.

If your child has a season pass at Bolton, you only need to sign a release form and pay for transportation (or drive).

Session price does not include transportation. Based on the cost of the bus, if we get 40 skiers per session, the cost will be $50 per person. 

Rentals are available for $55 per session for skis or snowboard (helmets are an additional $25, and are required).  You can also lease for the entire season, Nov 7 - April 5 for $89.  Rental information is on the school web site.

There will be a need for Chaperones, skiers as well as snow bunnies to sit in the lodge. We get a complimentary lift ticket for each 10 students enrolled. Siblings under 6 ski for free:

• Gear transport- I need a few people to transport gear.  I will be on the bus as I do not have a vehicle able to transport gear.
• Lodge Chaperones- We are looking for a few people to hang out in our designated area, by the fire. Your responsibilities will be to be available in the event of an emergency. You will be expected to stay in the designated area so the Bolton staff can find you if something comes up.
• Slope Chaperones- We need people that are willing to look out for our students on the slopes. I don’t ski, so I need you to be my eyes and ears on the slopes. Your responsibilities will be to make sure students are being safe and to look out for anyone that needs assistance. You will ski for free, unless we have too many volunteers. In that case you can purchase a special rate ticket for $22.00 at guest services.

Thank you,

Theresa Gingras, Bolton Ski and Ride Program Coordinator
teltag@aol.com
802-899-2962 home/802-233-3339 cell
291 Poker Hill Road
Underhill, Vermont 05489

Kinship Care & Adoptive Parent Support Group

Are you an adoptive parent or family member other than a biological parent who is the primary caretaker of a CESU student?

If so, you are not alone!

Who: Adoptive parents, grandparents, and caregivers other than biological parents who are           the primary caretaker of a CESU student

What: An opportunity to share resources, information, and support with other families who              may have similar experiences and challenges

When:  Monday, November 16, 8:00–9:00AM

This will be a monthly group.  Future dates will be determined by the group and updated flyers will be distributed.

Where: Mount Mansfield Union High School, Room 309, 211 Browns Trace Rd., Jericho

Participation in this group is free and we encourage you to spread the word and invite others to this group who may wish to participate.

It is helpful to RSVP so that we can set up to accommodate the group size. To RSVP or you have questions about the group, you can contact:  Ellen Arrowsmith, School Social Worker, at 802-338-1676 or ellen.arrowsmith@cesuvt.org.