By May Clark—
Thank goodness for snowmaking machines! The DCS ski program ended the second week in February, and was wildly successful, even though the rest of the hillsides in the community were bare. Half our population skied each Thursday for five weeks, and had a wonderful time. Thanks to Lara Scheinblum for her hard work in coordinating this effort, and to all the parents who helped chaperone. The kids who stayed at school had fun too, and were sorry to see the end of skiing, if only because they will no longer have a hot chocolate break on ski afternoons!
In the meantime, we are settling in to what many people feel is the most productive learning time of the year. We have a good stretch of days to look forward to without interruptions by vacations, when children can get into a good routine of learning. We’ve seen wonderful progress this year in our students’ reading and math skills. Now they are really going to sail! (By the way, our NECAP scores, the state testing used to determine Adequate Yearly Progress, were wonderful.)
Our PTO is heavily into the planning for our Talent Show this month, and our Read-a-Thon in April, to go along with our Literacy Night. We are looking forward to these events. March will also bring voting day, on the 13th, when the ConVal community will decide on the school budget for next year and the bond proposal to renovate sections of the high school. Please remember to cast your vote on March 13.
What is most on all of our minds, however, is the illness of our beloved Emily Brnger, K/1 teacher. Children and families are working on folding 1,000 paper cranes for her, and sending lots of cards and love her way. We are so grateful for Donna Geer and Vicki Brown, our two paraprofessionals, who have each taken on Emily’s classroom during the stretch of time before our long-term substitute was able to start. She is Chelsea Aro, and she started at DCS on Feb. 20. The children all miss Emily terribly, but are growing and learning every day with Chelsea’s help.
DCS, and especially Emily, appreciate the caring and concern we all feel from our community.
Watch for an announcement about a 5K race/run/walk for Emily Brnger during the weekend of April 14-15. More information to come!
May Clark is Teaching Principal at DCS. You may reach her at 563-8332 or mclark@nullconval.edu.