Harwood Families, As we continue our Anti-Racist work as a district this year, the HUUSD faculty are book-clubbing Ijeoma Oluo’s book “So You Want to Talk About Race”. Recently the Harwood staff read Chapter 5 on Intersectionality, defined as “the interconnected nature of social categorizations ... as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage” (Oxford Dictionary). During our book club discussion staff drew connections between our goal of “cultivating and maintaining a community where all students, staff and families feel safe - seen, heard, understood and respected” and the systematic changes we have set out to accomplish this year. These changes include our explicit focus on equity of access for all students to both academic programming at Harwood and co-curricular opportunities. This is being facilitated through our continued work with ELO (extended learning opportunities), Flex Block, and clubs. We want to thank the community for your patience and collaboration in this work, recognizing that it will take time to fully implement. As Oluo states in chapter 5, intersectionality:
“helps ensure that fewer people are left behind and that our efforts to do better for some do not make things far worse for others.
helps us stay true to our values of justice and equality
makes our systems more effective and more fair.”
And it also:
● “slows things down
“These challenges to intersectionality are not easy to overcome” but as a community we believe it is worth the effort in order to support ALL members of our community.
We invite you as a family to consider the connection between intersectionality and Harwood’s goals this year as we work collectively to continue to grow and strengthen our community.
In ongoing partnership, Meg, Duane and Laurie
Important Dates:
10/06 | Senior Mt. Day at Mad River Glen *bus leaves Harwood at 9 |
10/08 | No School - staff inservice |
10/11 | No School - Indigenous People’s Day |
Connected:
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Progress Reports | Tuesday September 28th marked the half-way point of Quarter 1 in our school year and a good time to review academic progress. Progress reports were emailed to students and families from Jessica Deane through JumpRope. The email included some information about interpreting scores, but I also intended to include this link for more guidance on reading the report, which didn’t translate! Feel free to reach out to me at jdeane@huusd.org with general questions, or email teachers for course-specific details. | Jessica Deane |
Flex Block and ELO | Flex Blocks for quarter 1 are underway! The intention of Flex Block is to provide students the time to practice a skill, pursue a passion, or complete a course or support a Learning Expectation from the previous semester or school year. Students are learning the basics of American Sign Language, participating in Harkness dialogues on a variety of topics, and conducting a range of scientific investigations, among many other options. Most Flex Blocks will change quarterly, with the second round beginning in November. We have now had three weeks with ELO Wednesdays. That intention of ELO is to provide students the time for both support and enrichment within their current courses. As we strive to make ELO days meaningful for ALL students, while also enabling small groups of students to work with teachers at times, there is a rotation of fully-booked classes each week. Students may find that each week, their Wednesday schedule is a mix of: ● full class instruction addressing class needs, ● small group instruction for support or extension initiated by teachers, and ● open blocks where they can book to a study space or different extra ELO option. We are eager to reflect on feedback and data about this new structure, what is working, and what needs refining. To that end, students and families should be on the lookout for a feedback survey in mid-October. We value your perspective! | Jessica Deane |
Pronoun Change Protocol | HUUSD is committed to fostering a school culture that respects all students. At Harwood we recognize that some students may prefer to identify by a first name or middle name other than their legal name. Additionally students may prefer to be recognized by a different gender identity, and preferred pronouns. HUUSD has developed a procedure for students to request a chosen name/and or gender identity that with parent/guardian permission can be noted in Powerschool. A student or parent can start this process by reaching out to their school counselor, who will explain the process and share the link to the Preferred Name/Gender Identity Change request form. We are aware that many students will discuss preferred names, pronouns and gender identity with their TA’s and classroom teachers. Staff will encourage students to meet with their counselor for more information regarding the new procedures HUUSD has developed. As always do not hesitate to reach out to us in the school counseling department. | Sally McCarthy |
Curious:
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MAD DASH | Hey MRV Community! It's time for the 25TH ANNUAL MAD DASH. Sunday, October 10th, 2021. The Mad Dash is the Mad River Path's Associations largest fundraiser. This year runners and walkers will wind their way through the beautiful wooded trails at Harwood Union High School either in-person or virtually. Not a runner? Come to cheer on your community, family, and friends. The auction table alone is worth a visit to the event. Oh, and parents, don't forget to sign up your young ones for the Kids Fun Run. Head to http://madriverpath.org to register for the MAD DASH. Here you will also find the race schedule. *MASKS WORN IN THE MAIN TENT & START/FINISH AREA* We look forward to seeing you soon, Mad River Path Board | |
ATTENDANCE | All students must sign in and out at the front desk. This includes ANY student who is dismissed early for Co-Curricular Activities. We have IPads at the front office for your convenience. This is very important as we continue to work toward ensuring student accountability and safety. Thank you for your ongoing collaboration. | Melody Frank |
Wellness and Hygiene Program | Please See the Attached Pamphlet Note - the Health Office can be reached at: pstolz@huusd.org; or mstone@huusd.org | Melody Frank |
Caring:
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Resources from our SAP | Mara Urban | |
Update from our Health Office | COVID Updates Runny nose is one of the most common symptoms of the Delta variant of COVID-19. If your student has a runny nose, or any of the other symptoms of COVID-19 the Vermont Dept of Health and HUUSD asks that you keep your student home from school. If symptoms persist for more than 24 hours, your student should obtain a COVID-19 PCR test. Check out this helpful fact sheet detailing this information further. COVID Surveillance Testing These screening tests are intended to identify people with COVID-19 who are asymptomatic and do not have known, suspected, or reported exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Screening helps to identify unknown cases so that measures can be taken to prevent further transmission and provides overall information about the presence of COVID-19 in the school community. Please note that this testing is only for students/staff who are healthy enough to be in school; anyone experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should not be in school. If you are symptomatic and wish to be tested, please review these. If you have tested positive in the last 3 months, we ask that you wait the full 90 days before signing up for testing again. If you have signed up your student to participate, please talk with them about this so it does not come as a surprise on Monday. If your child has not participated in COVID-19 testing in the past, or if you feel a review of what the testing is like would be helpful, please check out this video. Once your student is tested, you may receive multiple emails from BINX. This is the portal used to register test samples and share results. If you would like your child to participate but have not yet signed up, you may still do so. Due to logistics of testing, if you do not sign up by the THURSDAY before Monday’s testing, your child will not be included in the testing, but will be in future testing. Click here to learn how to sign up. Please note, once you have signed your student up for testing, you do not need to sign them up each week. If you have signed up your student, and no longer wish them to participate, please reach out to the Harwood Health Office. Thank you for all that you do to help us keep our school community healthy. | Phil Stolz and Magge Stone |