Thanks to Mr. David Miller, our Spanish Teacher, students learned a great deal about the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo, which has become in many parts of the United States, a joyful and colorful celebration of our neighbor's culture and heritage. Senor Miller coordinated a trip to the Flynn Theater for Grades 4 and 5 classes, at which award-winning storyteller and musician, David Gonzalez, delighted his audience with music and stories of Latin America. Students were treated to a delicious lunch of salsa, guacamole, ensalada de frijoles (bean salad), and quesadillas before leaving for the theater. Thank you, Chef Mitchell, for pulling this together. Mr. Joseph Garofalo, our Music Teacher, made sure we had plenty of Latin American music to listen to, as well. (I can still hear its lively beauty in my ears!) The artwork our Art Teacher, Mrs. Christel DeVita, prepared with students was proudly displayed on the walls of the cafeteria. Mrs. Judy Carpenter's class started the day by singing a Buenos Dias (Good Morning) song over the intercom during the morning announcements, and Mrs. Patty Kissell's class led everyone in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish, again with the helpful support of Senors Miller and Garofalo. It was wonderful to see such a dedicated team of teachers come together to help our students learn in beautiful (and delicious!) ways.

Our district and our school are working hard to make sure we're doing all we can to build and maintain a learning environment that is safe and supportive of all students. We hope you will attend our next Family-School Roundtable on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. in the Ellie B. McNamara Memorial Library to hear about the work we're doing and help us do a better job in this important area. Mr. Danielo Balon, the Diversity and Equity Director for the Burlington School District, will be present for this meeting. We thank Ms. Marcie Lewis, Principal of Lyman Hunt Middle School, for joining us last evening for a discussion about middle school. We're hoping to hold additional roundtable sessions next year on a variety of topics. Refreshments and translation services are available at these meetings.

I hope you have had a chance to visit our new school website. It can be located from either the district web page (www.bsdvt.org) or directly at http://smith.bsdvt.org. I want to take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Tina Desautels, our wonderful Administrative Assistant, and Mrs. Amy Truchon, our district's (also wonderful) Technology Integration Coordinator, for their dedication in getting the site up and running.

This week was Teacher Appreciation Week across the nation, and we thank the PTO for the events they planned to recognize the dedication of our school's faculty and staff members.

Please consult the Calendar of Events for other important activities related to our school community.

A grand total of 301 postcards have been mailed and 172 other contacts made to families to recognize positive student behavior.

Thank you for all you do to make our school a community of respectful, responsible, and safe learners.