All School Board meetings are open to the public and have remote access.
📍LRUEMSD Board Meeting - Monday, November 3, 2025, 6:00PM
👉 Join in person: Orleans Elementary School
👉 Join by link: meet.google.com/ixj-whyd-thp
👉Join by phone: (US) +1 570-554-0289 PIN: 201 502 702#
✅ Board meeting agendas, past meeting minutes, and recorded meetings can be found at https://www.ocsu.org/documents/school-boards/2025-2026-school-board-agendas-and-minutes/lake-region-union-elementary-middle-school-district/829043
📍LRUEMSD Board Meeting - Monday, November 3, 2025, 6:00PM
👉 Join in person: Orleans Elementary School
👉 Join by link: meet.google.com/ixj-whyd-thp
👉Join by phone: (US) +1 570-554-0289 PIN: 201 502 702#
✅ Board meeting agendas, past meeting minutes, and recorded meetings can be found at https://www.ocsu.org/documents/school-boards/2025-2026-school-board-agendas-and-minutes/lake-region-union-elementary-middle-school-district/829043
Last week, students in K/1 traveled to Spruce Peak Arts in Stowe to see the theatrical performance of "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". Our students and staff enjoyed the lively and colorful performance as the story leaped from the page to the stage. Letters of the alphabet raced up the coconut tree! This performance supported early literacy and language development and engaged students with interactive and musical story-telling.
For more about Spruce Peaks Arts: https://www.sprucepeakarts.org/
For more about Spruce Peaks Arts: https://www.sprucepeakarts.org/
The next OCSU PTCA meeting is November 12, 2025, 6:00pm, at Lake Region Union High School. Families, staff, and community members from all schools are welcome to attend. Below is a link to the current agenda:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TEffl-2XA7-LC_m-Ki2uVyB7kSft67XcT6igmd5OI8o/edit?tab=t.0
We hope to see people there!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TEffl-2XA7-LC_m-Ki2uVyB7kSft67XcT6igmd5OI8o/edit?tab=t.0
We hope to see people there!
🏀 NOW HIRING Middle School Basketball Coaches 🏀
Interested? Apply here: ⤵
https://www.schoolspring.com/jobdetail?jobId=5396462
Email Dana Jacobs for more informaion: djacobs@ocsu.org
Interested? Apply here: ⤵
https://www.schoolspring.com/jobdetail?jobId=5396462
Email Dana Jacobs for more informaion: djacobs@ocsu.org
Ms Baker's class studied leaves in science. They learned that trees drop their leaves to save energy for the winter. They also learned why leaves change color. To end the leaf unit Ms Baker's class invited Ms Schneider's class to join in listening to the book "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert and then they made their own leaf men. Some of the students then named their leaf men and told us what they saw on their adventures in the wind.
🌟Colleague Spotlight of the Week🌟
LINDA MERCHANT & WENDY SIMPSON: Let's take a moment to recognize and thank our amazing kitchen team for all they do to keep our school running smoothly and our students well-fed each day. Linda has dedicated 24 years to our school community and we are grateful.
Linda and Wendy are always willing to accommodate special requests, including preparing lunches for field trips and other special occasions. Coming up, they’ll be preparing a special Thanksgiving luncheon for our students and families to enjoy together—a wonderful Barton tradition!
In addition to their daily work, Linda and Wendy strive to ensure that all meals meet state nutrition requirements, are healthy and allergy-safe, and are served with care and kindness. We are so grateful for their dedication and the positive impact they make in our school community every day.
Please take a moment to thank them for their hard work and the warmth they bring to our school kitchen!
LINDA MERCHANT & WENDY SIMPSON: Let's take a moment to recognize and thank our amazing kitchen team for all they do to keep our school running smoothly and our students well-fed each day. Linda has dedicated 24 years to our school community and we are grateful.
Linda and Wendy are always willing to accommodate special requests, including preparing lunches for field trips and other special occasions. Coming up, they’ll be preparing a special Thanksgiving luncheon for our students and families to enjoy together—a wonderful Barton tradition!
In addition to their daily work, Linda and Wendy strive to ensure that all meals meet state nutrition requirements, are healthy and allergy-safe, and are served with care and kindness. We are so grateful for their dedication and the positive impact they make in our school community every day.
Please take a moment to thank them for their hard work and the warmth they bring to our school kitchen!
We kicked off Good Choices Week with Flannel Friday—thank you to everyone who has contributed to our food drive so far! The drive will continue throughout this week, so please keep those donations coming if you are able. Cash donations are also accepted as food shelves can often stretch a dollar farther than individuals can.
What a spook-tacular afternoon at the LR Student Council & OCSU PTCA Trick or Treat & Fall Festival event. We'll be sharing more photos here over the next few days: https://www.ocsu.org/page/ptca-groups
All School Board meetings are open to the public and have remote access.
📍Carousel Board Meeting - Monday, October 27, 2025, 6:00PM
👉 Join in person: Lake Region Union High School
👉 Join by link: meet.google.com/foq-cdxi-mjo
👉Join by phone: (US) +1 225-443-2157 PIN: 534 955 317#
📍LR Board Meeting - Monday, October 27, 2025, 7:00PM
👉 Join in person: Lake Region Union High School
👉 Join by link: meet.google.com/pfo-owqr-mph
👉Join by phone: (US) +1 401-526-8598 PIN: 774 582 310#
📍EMS Board Meeting - Monday, October 27, 2025, 7:00PM
👉 Join in person: Lake Region Union High School
👉 Join by link: meet.google.com/zbb-tbub-vzm
👉Join by phone: (US) +1 442-324-4437 PIN: 108 178 932#
👉 Board meeting agendas, past meeting minutes, and recorded meetings can be found at https://www.ocsu.org/documents/school-boards/2025-2026-school-board-agendas-and-minutes/784126
📍Carousel Board Meeting - Monday, October 27, 2025, 6:00PM
👉 Join in person: Lake Region Union High School
👉 Join by link: meet.google.com/foq-cdxi-mjo
👉Join by phone: (US) +1 225-443-2157 PIN: 534 955 317#
📍LR Board Meeting - Monday, October 27, 2025, 7:00PM
👉 Join in person: Lake Region Union High School
👉 Join by link: meet.google.com/pfo-owqr-mph
👉Join by phone: (US) +1 401-526-8598 PIN: 774 582 310#
📍EMS Board Meeting - Monday, October 27, 2025, 7:00PM
👉 Join in person: Lake Region Union High School
👉 Join by link: meet.google.com/zbb-tbub-vzm
👉Join by phone: (US) +1 442-324-4437 PIN: 108 178 932#
👉 Board meeting agendas, past meeting minutes, and recorded meetings can be found at https://www.ocsu.org/documents/school-boards/2025-2026-school-board-agendas-and-minutes/784126
Tomorrow LR Student Council and OCSU PTCA invite you to our Fall Fest & Carn-EVIL events! See flyers for details. It's going to be a spook-tacular time!
Both school boards are seeking an Irasburg resident to fill their vacant Board Seat. If you are interested or want to learn more, please reach out to board chairs
Neil Urie (LRUEMSD) nurie@ocsu.org
Richard Carbonetti (LRUHS) rcarbonetti@ocsu.org
Neil Urie (LRUEMSD) nurie@ocsu.org
Richard Carbonetti (LRUHS) rcarbonetti@ocsu.org
This Wednesday -- We hope you'll join us for our Barton & Glover School Community Club (PTCA) meetings. All stakeholders are welcome!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ka2fAqc8Aa1JYonxkPhpXBRhSXHE5lxbwkDQ1Y4N518/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ka2fAqc8Aa1JYonxkPhpXBRhSXHE5lxbwkDQ1Y4N518/edit?usp=sharing
Modern Band Concert at LR October 24th
Barton - The Lake Region UHS presents our annual Modern Band concert on Friday, October 24th at 7:00 PM in the LR Gymnasium. The LR Jazz Band, Modern band and solo vocalists will present music by Tower of Power, John Coltrane, Rodgers & Hart, Charles Mingus, Black Sabbath, Johnny Cash, CCR, Robert Johnson, Goodbye June, Couch, Evanescence, Tracy Chapman, Cranberries, and originals. Artwork by the LR visual arts students will be on display. Our Community Spaghetti supper starts at 5:30 PM, free to all concert goers. Admission is free but donations will be accepted to benefit the Music Activities and Scholarship Fund. This show is supervised by Dr. Sara Doncaster, LR Music Director at LR; and Chris Doncaster, bassist and LR Modern Band Instructor. For further information, please call Dr. Doncaster at (802) 754-2500 x219, or email sdoncaster@ocsu.org
🌟Colleague Spotlight of the Week🌟
CALEB FRIEND, Mr. Friend, Substitute: We are so grateful at Barton for our dedicated substitutes who step in to support our students and staff. Mr. Friend is one of those valued team members. He joined OCSU as a substitute last year and has been a consistent and positive presence at Barton ever since.
Students are always excited to see Mr. Friend, and staff appreciate his flexibility and willingness to help wherever needed—even when plans shift throughout the day. We are fortunate to have him as part of our school community. Thank you, Mr. Friend, for all you do!
CALEB FRIEND, Mr. Friend, Substitute: We are so grateful at Barton for our dedicated substitutes who step in to support our students and staff. Mr. Friend is one of those valued team members. He joined OCSU as a substitute last year and has been a consistent and positive presence at Barton ever since.
Students are always excited to see Mr. Friend, and staff appreciate his flexibility and willingness to help wherever needed—even when plans shift throughout the day. We are fortunate to have him as part of our school community. Thank you, Mr. Friend, for all you do!
🌟Colleague Spotlight of the Week🌟
STEPHANIE SPEARS, Ms. Spears, joined our OCSU community a few years ago and continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to learning and growing in her practice. She is currently enrolled in a course on executive function and comprehension through Partnership in Literacy and Learning. Her ongoing professional growth has also included studying the science of reading and implementing high-quality literacy curriculum resources.
As a member of our PBIS Leadership Committee, Mrs. Spears played an important role in planning and organizing our recent PBIS assembly. She worked with her second-grade students to create a fantastic video showcasing our CUBS Core Values—what it means to be Caring, Understanding, Brave, and Safe in our school community. The video featured student-led skits and cheers that brought our values to life and helped make the assembly a huge success!
Thank you, Mrs. Spears, for your creativity, collaboration, and dedication to our students and school community!
STEPHANIE SPEARS, Ms. Spears, joined our OCSU community a few years ago and continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to learning and growing in her practice. She is currently enrolled in a course on executive function and comprehension through Partnership in Literacy and Learning. Her ongoing professional growth has also included studying the science of reading and implementing high-quality literacy curriculum resources.
As a member of our PBIS Leadership Committee, Mrs. Spears played an important role in planning and organizing our recent PBIS assembly. She worked with her second-grade students to create a fantastic video showcasing our CUBS Core Values—what it means to be Caring, Understanding, Brave, and Safe in our school community. The video featured student-led skits and cheers that brought our values to life and helped make the assembly a huge success!
Thank you, Mrs. Spears, for your creativity, collaboration, and dedication to our students and school community!
Memo from the Health Office
We’ve had a busy and productive start to the school year! As students settle into new routines and expectations, they’re also adjusting to the increased exposure to everyday germs that comes with being part of a busy school community.
We’re proud of the way our students have embraced healthy habits—especially handwashing—which plays a big role in keeping our school environment safe and healthy. Even so, it’s normal for students to experience occasional minor illnesses or general feelings of being unwell during the school year.
In many of these cases, symptoms may not be severe enough to require a student to go home, but they can still cause discomfort. When this happens, the health office provides comfort measures—like rest, hydration, and reassurance—to help students continue with their day.
Some students may feel they should go home, even when medically they are able to stay at school. This presents an opportunity to help them build an important life skill: resilience. I’ve started conversations with students about what resilience looks like when it comes to health—acknowledging discomfort, managing it, and continuing with their day when they are able.
We’d love your support at home to continue these conversations. Here are a few questions to explore with your child:
- What is resilience?
- Why is it important?
- How can you develop it?
It may also be helpful to share what you do to make it through your day when you're not feeling 100%, but still have responsibilities to manage. These discussions can help normalize the experience of not always feeling your best, and provide your child with practical tools to cope with common, mild symptoms such as:
- Minor headaches
- Cold symptoms
- Indigestion
- Menstruation
- Seasonal allergies
Understanding your expectations and strategies can help your child build the confidence and resilience to stay at school and finish the day when they are well enough to do so.
Thank you for being our partners in supporting student health and wellness.
Cessilee Franks, Health Office Staff
We’ve had a busy and productive start to the school year! As students settle into new routines and expectations, they’re also adjusting to the increased exposure to everyday germs that comes with being part of a busy school community.
We’re proud of the way our students have embraced healthy habits—especially handwashing—which plays a big role in keeping our school environment safe and healthy. Even so, it’s normal for students to experience occasional minor illnesses or general feelings of being unwell during the school year.
In many of these cases, symptoms may not be severe enough to require a student to go home, but they can still cause discomfort. When this happens, the health office provides comfort measures—like rest, hydration, and reassurance—to help students continue with their day.
Some students may feel they should go home, even when medically they are able to stay at school. This presents an opportunity to help them build an important life skill: resilience. I’ve started conversations with students about what resilience looks like when it comes to health—acknowledging discomfort, managing it, and continuing with their day when they are able.
We’d love your support at home to continue these conversations. Here are a few questions to explore with your child:
- What is resilience?
- Why is it important?
- How can you develop it?
It may also be helpful to share what you do to make it through your day when you're not feeling 100%, but still have responsibilities to manage. These discussions can help normalize the experience of not always feeling your best, and provide your child with practical tools to cope with common, mild symptoms such as:
- Minor headaches
- Cold symptoms
- Indigestion
- Menstruation
- Seasonal allergies
Understanding your expectations and strategies can help your child build the confidence and resilience to stay at school and finish the day when they are well enough to do so.
Thank you for being our partners in supporting student health and wellness.
Cessilee Franks, Health Office Staff
Last week, Green Mountain Farm to School worked with our students to put the gardens to bed for the winter and plant garlic. During this time, they moved the dirt from our community garden beds on the playground in anticipation of some big changes this spring. Stay tuned!
We want to extend a HUGE thank you to the Orleans Fire Department and Justin Peart for visiting Barton Graded on October 9th during Fire Prevention month to review fire prevention strategies, what to do if you experience a fire in your home and how the department helps the community! They also had the opportunity to learn about the fire truck and see the inside.
Important:
- Make sure smoke alarms are installed and working in your homes. It's best practice to test them monthly to make sure they are working.
- Have a fire escape plan. Have conversations with your children about a designated outside space where you would all go to meet up if there was ever a fire.
- Teach children that fire is never a toy. Children should not play with fire.
For more information about fire safety, visit: https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/home-fire-safety
Important:
- Make sure smoke alarms are installed and working in your homes. It's best practice to test them monthly to make sure they are working.
- Have a fire escape plan. Have conversations with your children about a designated outside space where you would all go to meet up if there was ever a fire.
- Teach children that fire is never a toy. Children should not play with fire.
For more information about fire safety, visit: https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/home-fire-safety
The primary goal of the behavioral threat assessment is to prevent harm and promote the safety of everyone and everything involved:
the person showing unsafe behavior
students and staff impacted by the unsafe behavior
the school building and related property
Threat assessment is not an adversarial process; many threats are a cry for help. Having a team approach with a clear process allows for the safety of everyone involved. The process is designed to address, evaluate, and manage threatening behavior and troubling situations that may impact school safety. OCSU’s guide is based on best practices created by the U.S. Secret Service & U.S. Department of Education, and the need to follow these best practices are mandated by the Senate and House.
To learn more about behavioral threat assessment in OCSU, please visit this website. To report a potential incident please do one of the following:
Contact your school principal or the superintendent of schools (1-802-525-1204)
Email the team at: crisis@ocsu.org
Use our dedicated crisis form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeAD01ohaIZa9tcu8F9KWYNK6KaPejqZFjt9ZgRgLoNrNAzSw/viewform
the person showing unsafe behavior
students and staff impacted by the unsafe behavior
the school building and related property
Threat assessment is not an adversarial process; many threats are a cry for help. Having a team approach with a clear process allows for the safety of everyone involved. The process is designed to address, evaluate, and manage threatening behavior and troubling situations that may impact school safety. OCSU’s guide is based on best practices created by the U.S. Secret Service & U.S. Department of Education, and the need to follow these best practices are mandated by the Senate and House.
To learn more about behavioral threat assessment in OCSU, please visit this website. To report a potential incident please do one of the following:
Contact your school principal or the superintendent of schools (1-802-525-1204)
Email the team at: crisis@ocsu.org
Use our dedicated crisis form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeAD01ohaIZa9tcu8F9KWYNK6KaPejqZFjt9ZgRgLoNrNAzSw/viewform
The Lake Region UHS presents our annual Modern Band concert on Friday, October 24th at 7:00 PM in the LR Gymnasium. There will be a Community Spaghetti Supper in the Cafeteria starting at 5:30 PM, free to concert goers. Artwork by the LR visual arts students will be on display. The LR Jazz Band, Modern band and solo vocalists will present music by Tower of Power, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Black Sabbath, Johnny Cash, CCR, Robert Johnson, Goodbye June, Couch, Evanescence, Tracy Chapman and originals. Admission is free but donations will be accepted to benefit the Music Activities and Scholarship Fund. This show is supervised by Dr. Sara Doncaster, LR Music Director at LR; and Chris Doncaster, bassist and LR Modern Band Instructor. For further information, please call Dr. Doncaster at (802) 754-2500 x219, or email sdoncaster@ocsu.org
