News
OCT
2021
Manchester Moves Quickly on Pandemic Funds
October 29, 2021
By Darren Marcy, Manchester Journal
MANCHESTER — To help them decide the best use of the town’s $1.1 million in federal pandemic money, part of the American Rescue Plan Act’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the Manchester Select Board is launching a website and online application to identify potential needs for the funds.
Town Manager John O’Keefe said the town received a first payment of $526,173 in May, with a second payment of the same amount due in this coming May.
Northshire Day School Executive Director Laurie Metcalfe on Tuesday made an impassioned plea for help from the board, detailing the struggles the school has had in staying open and staffed while faced with monumental challenges.
“At a time when many programs across our state closed their doors and never reopened, NDS stayed the course,”
Metcalfe said. “NDS is the only program that stayed open during essential childcare in the Northshire region.”
OCT
2021
Stratton Foundation COVID Relief Grant Awarded to Northshire Day School
October 25, 2021
Vermont News Guide
MANCHESTER — The Stratton Foundation has awarded a $25,000 grant to Northshire Day School to support Tuition Relief. This grant is made possible by the Stratton Foundation’s COVID Relief Fund in recognition that the challenges parents face to afford child care and living expenses are exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. The Stratton Foundation and Northshire Day School share a goal of supporting local families by providing access to affordable child care.
OCT
2021
2021 Community Partner Service Award Winner
Vermont Country Store
October 5, 2021
At our Annual Meeting, we presented our Community Partner Service Award to the The Vermont Country Store. This spring, the Vermont Country Store purchased and installed nearly $16,000 worth of technology, giving us more time to do what we love and spend less time fussing with outdated technology. And now, NDS children are enjoying the music and movement this technology brings to the classroom.
We have an immense appreciation for the Vermont Country Store as a long time and valuable partner of NDS. Their recent investment in our work gives us the tools necessary to perform optimally and continue the important work of growing happy, healthy children.
One of the top public needs identified during the pandemic was reliable technology. When helping to arrange this gift, Ann Warrell, Community Relations & Communications Manager at the Vermont Country Store, said that they like to support early childhood where and when they can, in ways that are meaningful and helpful. Thank you to the Vermont Country store for giving to crucial areas of the community. Congratulations!
OCT
2021
2021 You Make a Difference Award Winner
Nicole Nichols
October 5, 2021
Nicole Nichols received the You Make a Difference Award at our Annual Meeting.
Nicole is known for being a bubbly, knowledgeable, engaging, and interactive Early Childhood Educator. She brings music delightfully into her classroom and can often be found sitting on the floor, being silly and singing or reading stories with her little ones. She provides the structure for children to flourish and is a core member of our team.
Her infectious personality and her abundance of knowledge about childcare development make her a wonderful asset to both Northshire Day School and the families who form lasting connections with their beloved “Cole”. Congratulations – you really do make a difference!
SEPT
2021
Northshire Day School awarded Revive Grant
September 9, 2021
Bennington Banner
MANCHESTER — Northshire Day School recently received a $500 grant from the Children’s Literacy Foundation to expand its reading and writing program with the goal of connecting kids to their communities while building a love of literacy. Books were distributed at the NDS Family Picnic on Aug. 31.
“This recent grant provides books centered around social skills, emotions, and hope to promote resiliency during a complex time and highlight the importance of early literacy. It brought us great joy to gift children books at our family picnic,” said NDS Executive Director Laurie Metcalfe.
July
2021
Maggie Rubick, honored for her outstanding support
of Oak Hill Children’s Center’s Farm to School
& Early Childhood Program.
July 21, 2021
Bennington Banner
POWNAL — A number of individuals were honored during the early evening event which was held on the center’s playground. Community Partner Awards were presented to Corinne Lyons, Early Head Start family support worker, in recognition of her outstanding service to Oak Hill Children’s Center’s children, families and staff; and Cynthia Greene, Shelburne Farms’ Farm to Early Childhood Coalition coordinator, and Maggie Rubick, Northshire Day School preschool teacher, for their outstanding support of Oak Hill Children’s Center’s Farm to School & Early Childhood Program.
July
2021
Gate fees at horse show to benefit local nonprofits
July 8, 2021
Bennington Banner
MANCHESTER — The Vermont Summer Festival has chosen the Manchester Community Library, the Manchester Elementary Middle School PTO and the Northshire Day School to provide volunteers to collect spectator gate fees during weekend events at the upcoming horse show.
In selecting the nonprofits, “the festival continues their long-standing practice of giving all admission revenue to local non-profit organizations,” the festival said in a press release.
June
2021
Vermont Country Store makes tech donation
to Northshire Day School
June 29, 2021
By Luke Nathan, Manchester Journal
MANCHESTER — Northshire Day School has secured a sizable equipment donation and, separately, a grant to support children with specialized care
and learning needs.
The Vermont Country Store recently purchased and installed nearly $16,000 worth of technology for the nonprofit early education and child care center located at 5484 Main St.
The donation included an iPad, Chromebook and Echo Dot for each of the school’s eight classrooms and five laptops for the organization’s administrative team, according to Jennifer Luty, the nonprofit’s development director.
June
2021
Northshire Day School teachers are honored to be named Unsung Heroes by the Bennington Banner
June 15, 2021
Pandemic or not, our teachers are committed to educating and caring for the young children in our community. We are honored to be featured in a special edition of the Bennington Banner, telling incredible stories of caring during the pandemic. We are just one of many organizations and people who stepped up to help our communities over the last year. Click through to read our story.
MAY
2021
Announcing our New Logo
May 28, 2021
We have grown a lot this past year – a new classroom, new routines, new students, and now a new logo. We are excited to introduce you to our NDS Tree logo. You will see the new look on our website, Facebook, emails, and rolling out across all our documents. We would like to share our inspiration behind the logo and what is means to us and our community.
The inspiration began a year ago when NDS grew and added another classroom to our school. It felt too generic to call it “PreSchool 3.” For a creative early learning center, our classroom names were quite plain and we decided it was time to make a change. We challenged ourselves with names from colors, to animals, to shapes, but finally landed on trees. We are inspired by our home surrounded by trees in the heart of the Taconic and Green Mountains. Being outside is an extension of the classroom and we spend as much time exploring, learning, and playing in nature as we can. Our classrooms are now: Sapling, Birch, Sycamore, Willow, Hickory, Evergreen, Maple, and Aspen.
MAY
2021
Meet our New Development Director, Jen Luty
May 10, 2021
We are pleased to announce and welcome Jennifer Luty as Development Director. Jen will be responsible for developing and executing Northshire Day School’s fundraising goals and strategy.
Jen comes to Northshire Day School excited to grow a strong development program. She has 10 years of experience in the admissions office at Hamden
Hall Country Day School, where she also served on the Technology Committee and as Ski Club Mentor. Jen graduated from Burr and Burton Academy in 2006, earned a B.A. in English and a M.S. in Interactive Media at Quinnipiac University, and continues to be a lifelong learner. She is currently working toward her Professional Fundraising Certificate through Boston University. Jen enjoys forming connections with parents, educators, and the local community. Jen
lives with her family in Manchester.
APR
2021
Farm to School, What’s Growing?
April 27, 2021
My child is snacking on kale? This is one of the surprising outcomes of our Farm to School program.We have learned that when our students are part of the process of growing and preparing their food, they are more willing to try it. Often those picky eaters find out they actually like it! Surprisingly to most parents, Maggie often catches students sneaking bites of kale from the garden!
Now that spring has sprung in the Northshire our preschool students are actively planning and preparing the school garden for the upcoming season. Recently during the Week of the Young Child, the preschool pod planted early season carrot seeds. Carrots happen to be one of the student’s favorite vegetables we grow and eat! Over the next few weeks we will continue planting various vegetables and herbs. The NDS garden will provide an experiential learning environment, from gardening, to harvesting, preparing, cooking, and tasting new foods.
OCT
2020
2020 Community Service Partner Award Winner
Betsy LaVecchia
October 16, 2020
Northshire Day School is honored to award the 2020 Community Service Partner Award to Betsy LaVecchia. This award is given to an individual or community organization who has partnered with Northshire Day School to enhance and promote children's early learning experiences, provide support for families, and enriched our Northshire Day School Community.
When thinking about a partner who has made a huge impact on Northshire Day School, the choice was easy, Betsy LaVecchia. Betsy is a speech language pathologist (SLP) with the Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union and she has been providing SLP services at NDS for the past several years.
OCT
2020
2020 You Make a Difference Award Winner
Maggie Rubick
October 16, 2020
Northshire Day School is honored to award the 2020 You Make A Difference Award to Maggie Rubick. This award is given to the NDS employee nominated
by his or her peers for a making a difference in the lives of young children, their families, and fellow professionals.
Maggie Rubick joined Northshire Day School School in 2012 as an educator in the preschool classroom with Becky. Becky knew right away that Maggie was going to be a great addition to the NDS community. Maggie is patient, kind and loving when it comes to working with young children and their families. She truly believes that it is a team effort and building that strong relationship can only enhance the education of each and every child in her classroom.
SEPT
2020
Mix it Up with Love and Help our Children Grow
September 11, 2020
Written with gratitude by Laurie Metcalfe
What a fun and exciting week! There’s nothing quite like the first week of the new school year. So much curiosity and anticipation by both our wonderful children and our staff. The activity on our playgrounds, the laughter in the classrooms, outdoor art, yoga poses, building creations, imaginative play,
bubble parties and stories galore. It’s simply magical! It takes me back to the
fond childhood memories I have of immersing myself in Roald Dahl books and
his beloved story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and watching the original 1971 film of Willy Wonka. The first week of school at NDS finds me reminiscing with the “Candy Man” song running on repeat through my head begging to be sung loudly. If you are not familiar with it, I highly recommend you have a listen. It’s light, it’s optimistic, it’s filled with magic and it totally reminds me of our
stellar community at Northshire Day School.
Let’s be honest – who can wear a mask all day, playing in the sun, sprinkle it
with transitions and still make it fun?
Our Educators can. Our Educators can because they mix it up with love and help our children grow.
5484 Main St Manchester Center, VT 05255
802.362.1395
