In the spirit of family holiday letters, we put together a reflection of our year at Twinfield. This is by no means an exhaustive celebration, rather some highlights from our year.
We appreciate the support and collaboration we have with families and the wider community. Twinfield is a special place, and we see that every day.
We hope you have a wonderful holiday season and break with your students.
-Stephanie, Rachel, and the Twinfield Staff
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This year, we welcomed several new staff to join our team at Twinfield. They have all been amazing additions, and we continue to be glad they are on our staff.
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Tatese Crown, PK
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Melissa Seifert, PK Para
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Marlene Bonnell, K Para
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Delana Cheney, grade 4
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Saige Vorce, Elementary Para
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Ajla Kapo, Elementary School Counselor
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Maze Laverty, grade 6 Humanities
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Tammy Hicks, grade 6 STEM
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Annie Boudreau, 7-8 Humanities
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Eliza Cleary, 7-8 Math
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Eric Gold, 9-12 Math
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Caleb Corliss, Secondary STEM
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Mel Donahue, Performing Arts
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Nikki Matheson, French
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Heather Grate, Student Assistance Professional
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Brittney Duke, WCMH School-based Clinician
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Twinfield Democracy Project
This was our second year exchanging students with Virum Gymnasium in Denmark. We sent 8 high school students to Denmark for 2 weeks to study and engage in their democratic lifestyle before hosting 8 Danish student in Central Vermont. We are hoping to expand this program to other schools next year, to share what we have learned and involve more students.
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3rd grade Geographers
Our third graders have been learning about the seven continents and practicing how to use facts and details to write strong informational paragraphs. We explored each continent through virtual field trips, which helped bring our learning to life. Students gathered information, asked questions, and created many artifacts to show what they learned. Here, we are investigating why it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere when it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
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Student Meeting with Senator Sanders
Senator Sanders came to Twinfield to with our middle and high school students about issues that they are concerned about. He wanted to hear directly from students about their concerns and priorities and then took questions from them. It was great to see our students engage directly with one of their government officials.
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Our summer program was a success again. We want to give a huge shout out to Pam Quinn and Nicky Auberach who were our site directors this year. We had approximately 103 students in grades first through twelfth. Students engaged in art projects, collaborative games, hands-on science projects, and focused math and literacy activities.
Below are comments from families about their students' experience at our summer program:
- Everyone was enthusiastic and my kids had a blast!
- The whole program worked well so I could work and not have to worry as much about where my daughter was
- I love the schedule of the program being just four days a week and getting done at 2:00. That being said, I appreciated the week we could drop off early and I do wonder if the limited schedule allows those who most need it to take advantage of the program. The mix of learning time and “fun” is so perfect - I love knowing my child is getting some academic practice but also getting to experience a camp like setting in an environment she is comfortable in.
- Neither of my kids wanted to go to summer school, but agreed to "try it." They came home on the first day wet and happy and never asked to stay home again!
- We appreciate the balance of academic, creative and outdoor opportunities!
- Summer program went very smoothly
- It was great that the summer learning camp was offered for the solid month of July. We are fortunate to have folks who were dedicated to make the program happen this summer. Thank you!!
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Middle school kicked off our winter wellness program with their first trip to the Craftsbury Outdoor Center for cross-country skiing. They will have several days experiencing an outdoor wellness activity. Later this winter, high school students will head to Bolton Valley for several days of downhill skiing. |
Our annual community nights are going strong. We hosted a pumpkin walk (and haunted pumpkin walk for high schoolers) in October and just had our Obstacle Course and Cookie Swap night in December.
Thank you to the Twinfield Together Mentoring Program and high school DREAM class for organizing and running these events.
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This is year 2 of working with a literacy coach from the University of Delaware to support implementation of the Bookworms curriculum in grades K-8. We have seen an increase in engagement in literacy as well as growth across multiple skills to support reading and writing. Twinfield is leading implementation within our supervisory union and hosting staff from other CCSU schools. We have also hosted teachers outside of our SU who want to learn from our staff.
2nd grade Bookworms Unit Update:
The second grade is starting their Bookworms Native American unit. They are learning about 4 different tribes and doing a poster showcasing their learning for each tribe.
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Twinfield has also been participating in math coaching with the All Learners Network. This coaching has supported teachers in deepening their understanding of instructional models and strategies, using data more effectively to inform instructional next steps, and to optimize our math menu time in order to effectively differentiate for all students.
3rd grade Math Celebrations:
In math, students participated in a Pass the Marker protocol using random groupings to encourage collaboration and shared problem-solving.. Students took turns explaining their thinking, building on one another’s ideas, and revising strategies as they worked. The focus was on mathematical reasoning, flexibility, and learning from peers rather than just finding an answer.
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As part of CCSU's ongoing work to increase community awareness of resources to support mental and physical wellness, Twinfield hosted our inaugural Wellness Fair. Community partners came to Twinfield to share resources, information, and connections with students. A huge thank you to all our partners! |
In October, our preschool through 6th grade students participated in fire safety. The Plainfield and Marshfield fire departments came to discuss fire safety, show their fire gear and trucks, and encourage students to make a fire safety plan at home with their families. |
The after school programs have finished the first session of clubs and we are looking forward to a new session after the break. This fall, middle and high schoolers participated in QAF, Magic the Gathering, yoga, and pottery. Our K--6 students enjoyed pottery, fitness is fun, arts & crafts, and a science club.
After break MS/HS will continue with QAF for any middle or high school individuals during the school day on Tuesdays and Magic and the Gathering for any middle or high school individuals on Friday's. We are adding in a Wii/mountain biking club for middle and high school boys and gender expansive individuals on Mondays from 3-4 pm with Jared Job, and a carpentry club for girls and gender expansive individuals on Mondays from 3-4:30 pm with Michelle Delaney.
K- 6 will have skiing, snowshoeing, and sledding on Mondays and Fridays, cooking club on Tuesdays, Spanish club on Wednesdays, and White Mountain Science on Thursdays. We have room for a few more K-6 students.
To register for TLCF for K-6, or for MS/HS clubs please use the following link. If you are registering for a MS/HS club please note which one in the "other information category.
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K-6 is utilizing Character Strong, a new social-emotional learning (SEL) and character-education program that teaches explicit, vertically-aligned life-skills lessons to help students Be Kind, Be Strong, and Be Well. It delivers short, teacher-friendly, standards-aligned lessons plus professional development and implementation supports so schools can build student wellbeing, improve behavior, and strengthen adult–student relationships. |
We started this year with a no phone policy for students and set up a system to collect student cell phones that were brought into the building. As students adjusted their phone practices, more were leaving them at home or in their cars, so we are collecting fewer phones. There have been a couple phones that pop up here and there. When that happens, they are brought to the office for the day and parents are contacted, aligned with the information we shared in our handbook.
Classes have run more smoothly. Students are more focused on learning and connecting with their peers. We have more high school students outside or playing in the gym during recess. This has been a positive change.
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We have several pockets of student leadership happening at Twinfield.
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Middle school student council: A group of 7th and 8th graders have established a student council. They are working with Ms. Boudreau to plan and implement ideas to help connect students across grades. 6th graders will be layered into this planning soon.
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Getting to the Y: A small group of high school students have been working with Heather Grate, our SAP, and other community partners to analyze our Youth Risk Behavior Survey data and develop education and opportunities for connection and healthy choices.
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Admin Advisory Team: Another group of high school students have been partnering with Stephanie and Melissa Gosselin, our secondary school counselor, to develop their leadership skills and to address components of our continuous improvement plan. We’ve been focusing on positive relationships between peers and increasing student ownership of their learning.
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High school students in Julie Shedd's Field Science class have been finishing up a unit on ornithology. As a culminating project, they teamed up with the amazing Trevor Tait, who is teaching student how to make bird feeders. Students spent their first day in the shop measuring all of the different pieces of the feeders and will hopefully have fully assembled feeders going into break. |
Our high school students helped the 3rd and 5th grade students to prepare food that was served at the community Thanksgiving meal in Marshfield at the Old Schoolhouse Commons. |
Our high school boys team made it to the Division 4 Championship this year. They were also recognized for their sportsmanship by the Vermont Soccer Officials Association. |
In addition to a wonderful season, our high school girls soccer team was awarded second place for the 2025 sportsmanship awards from the Vermont Soccer Officials Association.
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