District Communications
District communications including weekly updates, COVID-19 & more.
WSD Leadership Takes a Capital Project Tour
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- WSD leadership team outside the new administrative office trailer.
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- A quick lesson on the site’s underground drainage pipes.
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- Principal Jean walking in the construction site.
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- The leadership team in the newly-walled gym.
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- Blue prints of the new construction.
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- Freshly poured concrete slabs of the Middle School wing.
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- Co-Principals Jean and Kate in the steel frame of a new science classroom.
Foundation, Steel Construction, and Gym Walls
We are in an exciting phase of construction, according to ReArch Assistant Project Manager, and Winooski resident, Danylo Whalen. “This is my favorite time in a project. This and ‘Turn Over’, when we finally get to share the finished project with the end-users (like students and staff). I like this phase because the foundation is built, and we have a real sense of what the finished product will look like,” said Danylo. “We’ve already addressed many unknowns in the ground and in construction planning and can really start to see the end product.”
The walls of the new gymnasium (picture above) are nearly complete and measure 24 ft tall. The finished space will be 67’-3” x 104’-4”. Danylo is pictured near the back wall in a yellow vest for scale.
As you can see from the video, on the northwest side of the school, the construction team is working hard to erect the new steel structure for the Middle School addition. Due to close proximity to occupied spaces, the construction team installed safety measures necessary for the protection of students and staff in the form of a translucent curtain hung over the north facing windows of the two-story Middle/High School Wing (pictured above). This solution allows natural lighting to reach the classrooms, while also screening staff and students.
As cold weather approaches, the building construction will start to look more and more like the final, finished product that staff and students are so eagerly anticipating. Danylo explains, “I’m always excited for the next phase of construction, but coming up next we’ve got steel framing of the elementary school, roof structure for the new gym, and walls for the middle school wing. Once the buildings are ‘dried-in’ (roofs installed, and walls waterproof) we can give our working crews some more comfortable space for the winter-time while we work on the interior.”
Aerial Photos of Capital Project Progress
Updated images as of September 10, 2020. Images courtesy of ReArch.
Sewing the Way Through Uncertainty
In July Winooski Middle School student, Ivy Resmer reached out to WMHS Co-Principal Kate with a question. She said that she had been making cloth face masks since the beginning of the pandemic, and had currently made over two-hundred. She wanted to know if Winooski schools had enough face masks to start the school year, because if not, Ivy wanted to chip in with her homemade creations.
The district had already ordered a large supply of cloth face masks but Co-Principal Kate said that it would be wonderful to h
ave student-made masks that were designed for and made by students.
Ivy agreed and figured that in the months leading up to school she could make a lot of masks for students and teachers.
Ivy’s generosity sparked another great idea. What if the school offered a student-led workshop to teach students and community members how to make masks? Ivy found the experience empowering, trying to focus on a helpful task during tumultuous times, and she felt other students might feel the same way. At the time of this publication, a series of mask-making workshops is planned for the last week in August. Many thanks to Ivy and her mom, Cathy, for helping to keep our learning community safe during these uncertain times.
We asked Ivy a few questions about her mask-making project:
Where did you learn how to sew?
I learned how to sew a few years ago, but I didn’t find it too interesting, and back then my mom had a very old, clunky, hard-to-use sewing machine, so I just couldn’t get into it. I sewed a coaster or two before I lost interest.
Where did you get the idea to start creating masks?
I got the idea to start sewing masks from my mom, who, from the get go, was sewing masks for her coworkers at UVMMC using a youtube video for help.She taught me a few weeks later, and it stuck. A big game changer was the new sewing machine.
Did it help you pass the time while you were quarantined?
Yes. I spent hours and hours sewing masks. It gave me something useful to do that I knew was desperately needed.
How many masks have you made so far?
So far I have made 260 masks.
WSD Family Update – August 14, 2020
Dear Winooski Families,
The Winooski School District (WSD), along with fifteen neighboring districts across Addison, Chittenden and Franklin counties adopted the hybrid model for school instruction with a public announcement on July 23rd. The hybrid model is not perfect for families or staff, however it achieves a middle ground in balancing family and staff needs. Learning will be a blend of in-person at school and remote/virtual learning. This approach is student-centered, focused on social-emotional needs, and designed to keep our students learning at a high level. Most importantly, a hybrid model affords the ability to offer in-person learning in the safest environment possible while adhering to the best practices of the guidance issued by the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE). We continue to follow the educational guidance from the VT Agency of Education, and the health guidance from the VT Department of Health experts on COVID-19. We believe that we must do what is best for our students, the community and our staff, and that includes, in part, educating students in the school. If circumstances change, we will reconsider our approach.
Our three reopening teams composed of teachers, support staff, students and administrators have worked tirelessly since late June to build these plans knowing there is no perfect solution for everyone involved but trying our very best to keep students at the center of our planning.
Yesterday, three days prior to teachers reporting to work, the Winooski Education Association (WEA), the union that represents both teachers and support staff announced they “cannot endorse the current hybrid model at this time, nor any model that incorporates regular, in-person instruction district-wide.” The full statement can be read here. I would urge you to read their statement and contact WSD school board members with your impressions:
- Tori Cleiland: tcleiland@wsdvt.org Alex Yin: ayin@wsdvt.org
- Mike Decarreau: mdecarreau@wsdvt.org Margaret Bass: mbass@wsdvt.org
- Matt MacNeil: mmacneil@wsdvt.org
Two weeks ago we told parents that we would send out our WSD Reopening Plan and announce the groups or pods that your child(ren) will be in with the guiding principle that students in the same family will attend in-person instruction on the same days. The WSD Reopening Plan outlines:
- Health Considerations: Health Screenings, Contact Tracing & Student Medications
- School Building & Operations: Meals, Transportation, Cleaning
- Continuity of Learning: JFK, WMS & WHS Hybrid Learning Plans, WSD Supported Remote Option, Home Study via State of VT and Child Care
- Social Emotional Well Being: Attendance, SEL K-5 and 6-12
- English Language Learners (ELL): Overview of ELL services
- Special Education: Overview of special education services
Please click here to find your child(ren’s) in-person instruction days: WSD A & B Groups or Pods
- A Group or Pod will attend on Monday & Tuesday
- B Group or Pod will attend on Thursday & Friday
We know this is a challenging time for everyone, and we are so grateful for your ongoing support.
Take care,
Superintendent Sean McMannon
Still Need More Information?
Contact us at info@wsdvt.org or fill out the following form.