Brattleboro Union High School Board Meeting Agenda

BRATTLEBORO UNION HIGH SCHOOL BOARD
53 Green Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
www.wssu.k12.vt.us

NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The BUHS #6 Finance Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 in the WSESU Central Office Conference Room, 53 Green Street.

NOTICE OF MEETING

The BUHS #6 Board of Directors will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, August 19 in the WRCC Cusick Conference Room. PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF TIME


Language, Music and Spirit in Ireland and India: Themes That Inspired a Suspense Novel

Language, Music and Spirit in Ireland and India: Themes That Inspired a Suspense Novel 
Wednesday, August 14, 7 PM

Join Vermont author Kathryn Guare on Wednesday, August 14, at 7 PM in the library’s meeting room to share a multi-media presentation of the elements that inspired the writing of Deceptive Cadence: The Virtuosic Spy, a suspense/mystery released in the spring of 2013. The novel introduces Conor McBride, an Irish musician and reluctant undercover operative who is sent on a mission to India to capture the man who ruined his career: his own brother.


“Smart” Meter Talk on WVEW with Martine Victor, Matt Levin, Ray Pealer & Rick Dahm

Join DJ Pockets for another experience that you won’t soon forget. This week its “smart” meters with Martine Victor, Matt Levin, Ray Pealer & Rick Dahm. This Tuesday from 6-8pm on 107.7fm or www.wvew.org or on your android phone

Martine has been a Manchester resident for over 20 years, and is a mother of two daughters: the eldest a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy, and the youngest a junior in high school. She is a founding member of www.StopSmeters.org, the largest organization opposing wireless smart meters in Vermont.


Northfield Drive In – Help Us Survive Digital Conversion!

It is predicted that within the next year we will be forced to make the conversion to digital projection equipment here at the Northfield Drive-In Theatre. The digital conversion is the most significant advancement of technology in the movie industry since the introduction of audio soundtracks in the late 1920s. Just as the introduction of “talkies” led to the end of the “silent” movie era, digital projection technology will mean the end of 35mm film. This will be an enormous expense for us, especially given the fact that we are only a seasonal business.


Monday Movie Matinees for Kids at Brooks Memorial Library

Monday Movie Matinees for Kids at Brooks Memorial Library
Monday August 12 at 1 pm

Bring a lunch and join us at 1:00 p.m. in the Meeting Room for a free feature length movie. 

All movies are rated G or PG and run approximately an hour and a half. 

Call 254-5290 ext 110 for movie title, or download schedule at brookslibraryvt.org, click on “Kids and Parents”


School Daze: Brattleboro Public Schools and Modern Education

School test results are in and again this year, not one of our five public schools made “Adequate Yearly Progress” under the federal definition of that term. To make matters worse, all five, including Oak Grove Elementary, which was only in the Improvement phase last year, are in some form of corrective action. For perspective, ours were among the 73% of other Vermont schools in the same boat, roughly the same as last year.  What is going on?

In an effort to get a handle on both the Brattleboro public school system and public education generally, it was necessary to view the problem from all angles. It all starts with a change in federal education policy via the Bush-era education act, No Child Left Behind, which mandated frequent testing of school age children and something called “teacher accountability.”  Obama’s Race To The Top program builds on No Child by adding incentives (some would call them bribes) to teachers whose students perform well on standardized tests.  There’s also federal education funding at stake, in the form of grants, that are distributed through the program to winning applicants.


BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 8/12/13

BCTV Ch. 8 Schedule for the week of 8/12/13

                    Monday August 12

12:00 am      Community Medical School: The Brain’s Frontal Lobes and Memory

1:31 am       The Journey Continues: Lake Champlain Maritime Museum

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       Holistically Speaking Ep. 62

4:30 am       The Book Nook Author Series- Jon Clinch

5:30 am       For the Animals: “Ask The Vet” show #1


5:45 Live: 8/9/13

The I-91 and Bratt/Hinsdale bridge, skating rink, sidewalk upgrade, and new BMH ER make for a bustling pilot episode of 5:45 live’s new Friday round up. Plus VY/Flotilla, a much deserved League of Women voters appearance, and all the other usual 5:45 Live hijinks.


Twilight on the Tavern Lawn Presents Occidental Gypsy on Sunday, August 11

Twilight Music continues its 11th annual Twilight On The Tavern Lawn series of folk, world beat, rock, jazz, zydeco, Celtic, swing, blues and bluegrass summer concerts on Sunday, August 11 with Berklee College of Music-trained, acoustic Gypsy jazz/swing/pop quintet Occidental Gypsy. The seven concert series continues every other Sunday through August 25. All concerts begin at 5:30 pm in downtown Putney on the Putney Tavern lawn (bring a lawn chair or blanket) or at Next Stage at 15 Kimball Hill in case of rain. The series is sponsored by the Town of Putney, Putney Food Co-Op, Soundview Paper Company, The Putney Inn, Next Stage Arts Project, The Stockwell Brothers and many other Putney businesses and organizations.


Weekend Concert Series- Green Day, Chicago, 1994

Filmed at the Aragon Ballroom in November and shown on MTV on December 21, 1994, this concert was Green Day in its first wave of mainstream commercial success. Their album “Dookie” had made a huge splash that year, selling millions, and making Green Day a big name act.

The band was started in 1987 by childhood pals Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt with the name Sweet Children. Their first gig was at Billie Joe’s mother’s workplace that year. They were 15 years old. They gained a small record company contract in 1989 and changed their name to Green Day in honor of their love of marijuana. Tre Cool joined as their regular drummer in 1990 and Green Day’s primary line up has stayed the same since.


Brattleboro Schools In AYP Hell

Brattleboro’s public schools again fell afoul of the federally-mandated standardized testing program, with all schools failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress in at least one and in some cases all categories.  A summary is below, but suffice to say, with regard to their filling in of ovals, our students are not measuring up to federal standards.

It’s hard to pick a winner this time.  Schools that made Adequate Yearly Progress last year in one ore more categories — specifically Brattleboro Area Middle School (BAMS) and Brattleboro Union High School (BUHS) — did not do as well in 2013.  BAMS, in particular, dropped in both Math and Reading this year.  BUHS dropped in Reading.


Vermont Jazz Center presents its 38th Annual Faculty and Student Summer Workshop Concerts

Vermont Jazz Center’s 38th Summer Jazz Workshop and Concerts

For 38 years, the Vermont Jazz Center has presented its summer jazz workshop, encouraging students from down the street and around the world to hone their improvisational and musicianship skills while enjoying respite in a beautiful, country setting. The VJC’s summer workshop crystallized and attained non-profit status in 1974 when founding director, Attila Zoller officially organized the informal gatherings of guitarists he held at his home in Newfane. To this day, the VJC honors Zoller’s spirit and attention to quality, retaining many of the faculty who played alongside him. There exists a natural, intergenerational balance where participants of all ages learn from each other, gleaning from both the wisdom of jazz’s “old school” and the pedagogical advancements put forth in today’s developed system of jazz education.


BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 8/5/13

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 8/4/13

                   Monday August 5 

12:00 am      Burlington Civic Symphony Orchestra

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       The Future of the Robert H. Gibson River Garden : Press Conference

4:35 am       Winston Prouty’s “Taste of the Town”

4:41 am       WVEW’s “Wake Up Call” ft Barb Sondag 7/11/13

5:00 am       The Music COMP Service Presents: The Performance of Opus 26


Weekend Concert Series- Mumford and Sons, Netherlands, 2012

If you haven’t seen and heard the English Band Mumford and Sons perform you’re in for a treat. If you have, this is among their best performances. Mumford and Sons came into my life with their first Top 40 single, “Little Lion Man” from their debut album, “Sigh No More”. The album became a hot seller on the success of that first single and the band was launched worldwide. They went on to win Grammy nominations, and both the ARIA Music Award for Most Popular International Artists and  the Brit Award for Best British Album, 2011. An auspicious beginning.


AAUW To Hold Used Book Sale

Hundreds of used books will be on sale Thursday, Aug. 1 beginning at 9 a.m. to benefit the local scholarship fund of the Brattleboro branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

The sale takes place at Centre Congregational Church on Main Street in Brattleboro, Thursday until 5 p.m.,Friday until 6 p.m. and Saturday until noon, when all books are half price.


At Brattleboro Farmers Market: Zora Quartet Plays Bosnian Music; Free Plant Walk

Saturday, August 3rd, the Brattleboro Farmers’ Market hosts free live music by the Zora Quartet, playing Bosnian music from 11am to 1pm. Also at market this week, local herbalist Heidy Adams leads a free educational wild and medicinal plant walk. Participants are asked to meet at 11am at the center kiosk of the market and will walk the market grounds.

The height of summer bounty is rolling in from local farms and growers! Tree-ripened peaches, blueberries and raspberries, juicy tomatoes and the first corn on the cob is available, along with fresh veggies of all shapes and sizes. Globe-spanning cuisine and gorgeous crafts are available at the market; there’s something for everyone! Picnic spots and children’s play area are open for enjoyment.


BCTV Channel 8 & 10 Schedules for the Week of 7/29/13

BCTV Ch.8 Schedule for the week of 7/29/13

                   Monday July 29

12:00 am      Burlington Civic Symphony Orchestra

2:00 am       FSTV Overnight

4:00 am       From the BCTV Archives: “Mesclun 2000”

6:10 am       Ghostmaker – A Myth for Voices