Castleton Elementary School

Universal Preschool Screening is coming up next month! Please see the flyer for details.

Students in 5th grade have just finished a unit of study about how to use atlases in library class. We traveled to the countries they focused on using VR glasses! Students stood on glaciers, went to the Eiffel Tower and visited a coffee shop in Helsinki. Thank you to Ms. Cacciatore and Mr. Batschelet for helping to make this wonderful experience happen!

The Agency of Education Special Education Team will be hosting two Parent Information Sessions on Special Education Rule Changes. Please see the flyer for more information.

Our "K" for Kindness food drive was an enormous success! Mr. Hackett's kindergarten class donated a total of 127 items! Every other classroom donated at least 50 items, in recognition of our 50th anniversary at CES. Castleton Cares Administrative Director, Lyn Petty, who drew the winner for the ice cream party, was overwhelmed by CES's "Kindness!"

In anticipation of the SVUUSD Annual Meeting (February 28) and Town Meeting Day (March 1), we have created a web page with all of the FY23 Budget information in one place. For your convenience, please visit: https://www.slatevalleyunified.org/page/budget

Thank you to all of our School Counselors, School Based Clinicians, and School Psychologists! National School Counseling Week 2022 is Feb. 7-11, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. We are fortunate in Slate Valley to have a talented and committed group of school counselors, school based clinicians, and school psychologists to support our students and our school community. Please join us in extending sincere gratitude to all of these folks!

There will be no practices or athletic games in Slate Valley tomorrow (2/4/22).

Good Afternoon, All schools in the Slate Valley School District will be closed tomorrow, February 4th due to the weather. Stay safe and enjoy your weekend! Brooke Olsen-Farrell, Superintendent

Good Morning, All Slate Valley Schools will be closed today, February 3rd due to the weather conditions. The back roads are all icing over. Please stay safe and enjoy your day. Best, Brooke Olsen-Farrell, Superintendent

First Graders at CES recently enjoyed a well-deserved ice cream party! They got to bake brownies and then make ice cream sundaes! Students earned this by participating in an online learning challenge and earning over 2,000 points! Keep up the amazing work!

During Library class 3rd and 4th grade students were read, 'The Little Mermaid' by Jerry Pinkney. Afterwards, they worked with Mrs. Rampone and Ms. Cacciatore, using the 3D pens, to create their own personalized mermaid or merman.

Miss Burke's and Ms. Janny's Second Graders took advantage of some fresh snow a couple of weeks ago and went sledding. Officer Justin even joined in on the fun!

Dear CVS/CES Families and Staff, We are very appreciative of all of your support and cooperation this week as we have temporarily transitioned CVS students to CES building. Due to everyone’s positive mindset and willingness to help it has been better than we could have ever anticipated. Thank you all for that! We received the results from further testing at the Village School last night. As a result we were able to move teaching materials from the building. We are hopeful that if the state grants us an emergency permit for asbestos removal, we can begin that process next week. The start date of the remediation work is dependent upon the permit. From there we will remove and repair the walls throughout the “newer” part of the building. Due to the asbestos removal, our timeline has been pushed out further in regards to a return date for our CVS students. We expect that date to be sometime in the middle to end of March. We have every intention of returning to CVS and finishing the school year there. While CVS certainly appreciates CES’s hospitality it is not an ideal situation. The costs for this work will be covered by our insurance and it will not be a local budget expense. As always, if you have additional questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to ask. Brooke Olsen-Farrell, Superintendent

Tonight - Community Connections Virtual Chat - 6 p.m. You're invited to join Central Office administrators for an informal, virtual conversation on district reorganization and the FY23 budget. Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/pbg-uvwb-idb or by phone (US) +1 402-751-0259 (PIN: 257707057)

Tonight - January 24, 2022 You’re invited to the Slate Valley Unified Union School District Board Meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Benson Village School Gym. This meeting will be in person or virtually connect by going to https://meet.google.com/dpf-dqdu-grc or join by phone (US) +1 617-675-4444 PIN: 408 056 886 3092# Tonight’s Agenda: https://5il.co/14kn5 Previous Meeting Minutes: https://5il.co/147pz Next Board Meeting: February 14, 2022, 6:30 p.m. at FHUHS

Tonight the CES/OVS Grade 5/6 basketball teams take to the court against FHGS/BVS in a basketball doubleheader. At 4:30 pm the girls game will tip off to be followed by the boys game at 5:30. If you can't join us in-person in the CES Gym you're welcome to follow along live on our YouTube channel, https://bit.ly/33Opv1U.

Dear Castleton Village and Elementary School Families, I am writing to inform you that we will not be able to hold school for several weeks or more at the Village School. This is due to the remediation needed as a result of the water damage sustained over the holiday weekend. We have been very clear throughout the pandemic that remote learning is not what is best for our students. To that end, we will be transitioning the Castleton Village School students to Castleton Elementary at least through February break. This will not be ideal but we strongly believe that it is what is best for our students. We fully expect to return to Castleton Village School either in late February or early March. In order to allow staff to prepare classrooms, there will not be school at Castleton Elementary and Village School on Monday, January 24th. Additionally, there will not be school at Castleton Village School on Friday, January 21st. This means no remote learning on Friday, January 21st for Castleton Village School. Staff still need to report. Beginning on Tuesday, January 25th all PreK-8 students will attend Castleton Elementary School for the immediate future. We will have Boys and Girls Club available on Monday, January 21st from 7:30-4:30 at Castleton Elementary School. Additionally, tomorrow Friday from 8:00-3:00 students may pick up their locker contents from Castleton Village School. Please access the school from the back door. Again, while this will not be ideal, we believe it to be an acceptable solution in the short term. Mr. Hall and Mrs. Prehoda will be communicating with you all on Monday as to what you can expect. I thank you for your continued support and understanding as we navigate this current situation.

Dear Slate Valley Families, We again thank you for your patience and understanding as we all contend with the ever changing guidance. This is happening nationwide in regards to the Return-to-Play Protocol. While it is still recommended, we no longer require the medical clearance form for your child to return to physical activity including sports, PE, and recess. We encourage you to communicate with your child’s physician after their covid diagnosis, but they will no longer be excluded from physical activity. Please let us know if your child has restrictions following their covid illness, but otherwise they will be able to participate fully in all physical activity. Again, we apologize for this change and please contact your school nurse with any questions. Sincerely, Brooke Olsen-Farrell, Superintendent

Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order 4 free at-⁠home COVID-⁠19 tests. If you are interested, you can visit https://www.covidtests.gov/ for more information and to sign up.

Join us later this afternoon either in-person or online over on our YouTube channel, https://bit.ly/3tthLgn, as the CES/CVS/OVS 5/6 basketball teams take on FHGS/BVS. The girls game tips off at 4:30 and will be followed by the boys game at 5:30.