In The News

Last week during a press conference, Governor Phil Scott said that Vermont’s students “are not okay,” and announced that all schools in the state have to move to at least four days of in-class teaching. The Windsor Central Unified Union School District is ahead of the curve following the recent transition of two sixth grade classrooms at Woodstock Elementary School (WES) to temporary classrooms at Billings Farm & Museum (BFM).

Ann Jones, the mother of a sixth grade student at WES, was listening to the press conference. “It hasn’t been easy,” she said. “Knowing that Woodstock is going to be in a better place made me feel good.”

The classes, with a total of 37 students, had their first day at BFM on Feb. 25, just a few days after district schools returned to school following winter vacation.

The move comes months after the state made the recommendations that social distancing for grades K-6 be reduced to three feet in November, according to Sherry Sousa, interim superintendent for Windsor Central Supervisory Union.

“Most of our schools were able to return students in those grades to school four days a week. At Woodstock Elementary School, being our school with the largest enrollment, this was a challenge,” Sousa said. “Over winter break when we saw that the requirements were not going to allow more students in our buildings, Principal Mills and I began to explore other options so that WES students could also be on campus four days a week.”

Sixth grade teacher Rob Hanson said, “Our move to Billings Farm directly impacts not only the WES sixth graders but now provides safe in-person learning for the entire school four-days a week. Doing so has been a goal for the school since September, allowing for a school experience that more closely resembles a “normal” year.”

The students in pre-K to second grade at WES had been going four days a week, but grades 3-6 were still adhering to a hybrid schedule, according to Mills.

“Hybrid learning is really tricky,” she said.

Sixth grade teacher Martha Giller explained, “It’s been challenging. For the students, they’ve missed the social and intellectual climate of the classroom and it’s been hard for some of them to structure the home learning days. For the teachers, it has been difficult to have half the class in person while at the same time send assignments and monitor the other half at home.

“Working with smaller groups in school has allowed us to cover more in one day but it’s hard knowing that the other half is home experiencing a long day and possibly without academic support and the social interactions important for their emotional well-being,” she continued.

Hanson added, “For our students and ourselves, the need to socially distance and wear masks creates special challenges for staying not only physically healthy but to grow socially, emotionally, and intellectually. Learning requires all of these things, so both students and staff have had to adapt. As educators, we’ve compensated in many ways, including taking learning outside as-much-as-possible.” “The students are excited to be back together. They’ve only seen half their class since the start of the year,” said Mills. “I think it will be a special … a unique way to end their sixth grade. It will be quite memorable.”

Billings was pleased to be able to offer the space to the school district. “We are happy to support the students, schools and community,” said Michelle Adams Somerville, executive vice president at BFM and parent of a sixth grader at WES. “We were approached by the school to see if we had a space for the students.”

“Our sixth grader classes will benefit from the willingness of Billings Farm to partner with the district to provide this opportunity,” said Sousa. “Without their generosity and hospitality, we would not be able to have all of our K-6 students in school four days a week. We are indebted to them for opening their doors to our students.”