Superintendent's Office
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead
August 24, 2022
Dear Lamoille North Families and Staff,
Welcome to the Lamoille North Supervisory Union 2022-2023 school year! I hope you have had time to do the things you enjoy this summer with friends and family, and are now prepared to begin the school year with excitement and optimism. To those families and staff who are new to Lamoille North, we extend the warmest of welcomes and are excited to get to know you! We anticipate a year of joy, rigorous learning, health and safety, communication, and collaboration. We are all also looking forward to a school year that looks to be a more regular school year than what we have experienced over the past three years. I am grateful for our staff, students, and community, and am looking forward to our continued partnership.
We have many things to celebrate, including our recent new teacher orientation and several other back-to-school events, for students and families. We are proud to have among us a talented and diverse group of education professionals who continue to bring expertise in their fields to our school community. This week, staff are preparing classroom spaces for our students and instructional activities for the first few weeks of school; building-level teams are creating opportunities and activities for students and families; and our transportation partners at Lamoille Valley Transportation and at our schools have established the bus routes for the fall. These routes are published on our website at www.lnsd.org/community/transportation and will also be posted in the News & Citizen this week. We cannot express how excited we are to see all of you on the first day of school, Monday, August 29th!
The excitement is palpable this year, perhaps even more than other years, as we celebrate our new families, staff and the great work we are continuing in all of our schools in the areas of restorative practices and general wellness, school safety, first-rate universal instruction, student engagement and new and expanded academic offerings. Our focus this year is aligned with the second year of our recovery plan, and as part of that, we have built into the year more opportunities for collaboration at the school and community level. Along that line, we will host several public forums this year to hear about topics important to our towns and teams and will communicate about those once we have dates scheduled.
With the 2022-2023 school year rapidly approaching, updated guidance from the Vermont Agency of Education (VTAOE) has been provided pursuant to (Evacuation) Fire Drills and other drills. The updated guidance is a departure from the COVID-19 pandemic operational stance and will be a return to the pre-pandemic drill process and schedule. You can expect to hear from your building principals about the drills we are mandated to hold. If you have specific questions, please direct them to school administration. As always, we aim to maintain a culture of physical and emotional safety and belonging, not just for our students and staff, but for members of our communities. We are never alone in this work and are proud to continue to strengthen our already strong relationships with our community partners to support the needs of our communities.
On another note, our elementary summer programs had the highest number of participants Lamoille North has ever seen (349 students) and we thank Robin Genetti, Director of the 21C program, and all of our site coordinators for creating programs filled with numerous field trips, embedded STEM curriculum at each site, and opportunities for fun and socialization. We consider our programs a huge success for our students!
Lastly, I thank our staff, students, families and Board of Directors for making Lamoille North a wonderful community and one that I am so proud to serve. I stand strong in my commitment to support our school community and look forward to a year that I know will be exceptional.
My very best to you,
Catherine Gallagher, M.Ed.
Superintendent of Schools
Lamoille North Supervisory Union