Superintendent Message

January 9, 2024 - Introductions

I am honored to serve you as the new Superintendent of the Lincoln School District as of January 1, 2024. LCS is a truly special school and I’m incredibly grateful and excited to take on this new role and to support the families, community members, faculty, staff and students of Lincoln School District – those who attend LCS as well as our grades 7-12 students and families.

I am not new to Vermont. I have served as an educational leader in Vermont for 18 years beginning in 2001. Prior to that I was a middle school teacher and a school leader in New Hampshire. In 2019 my husband and I moved to Hawai‘i Island (Big Island) where we have spent the last five years.  In the end, we decided that Vermont is ultimately our home so we made the decision to return back to Vermont.  

I landed in Vermont late Saturday night and Vermont welcomed me back with a snow storm and what a welcome that was! For now I am settled in as a new resident of Lincoln and I am grateful for the opportunity to have an amazing short-term rental not far from the school while my husband Steve sells our home in Hawai‘i and joins me in finding our new home in Vermont.  

We have some tasks ahead of us and you will be seeing communications from us over the next few months. First, we are launching a search for our new principal who will replace Tory upon her retirement as principal following 21 years leading the Lincoln Community School.  Big shoes to fill! You will be receiving an invitation to complete a short survey later today to provide input on the attributes, skills, and experiences that you hope for in your new principal.  Next, to support the critical tasks that we are required to do as a newly formed district, we are posting for a part-time school business manager and we will be exploring additional staffing as needed. Finally, we are working closely with the LSD Board to develop a responsible budget which will be presented to the community later this month.  

I’ll end by saying again how grateful I am to be here and how much I’m looking forward to getting to know you.  Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns, or just want to say hello! 

With appreciation (and aloha!)

Amy

March 1, 2024 - Reminders and Announcements

Good afternoon and Happy March!  I wanted to take that this sunny Friday to just send out some reminders and announcements. 

Middle/High School Choice: I want to remind parents of rising 7th - 12th grade students to be sure to enroll or re-enroll their student in their choice middle or high school for the 24/25 school year. All of the information and the required forms can be found on the LCS School Choice page on our website. 

Monday April 8 Solar Eclipse and Early Release Day: As you probably have heard, Vermont will be experiencing an historical solar eclipse the afternoon of April 8th, an event which has not occurred in Vermont since 1932! The Vermont Department of Public Safety is anticipating anywhere from 50,000-200,000 visitors in Vermont that day to view this amazing phenomenon. Because the timing of the eclipse coincides with the normal end-of-the day transportation of students paired with the potential traffic concerns, the superintendents in the northern part of the state have been advised to send students home on an early release schedule. All schools in Addison, Chittenden, and Franklin counties, including LCS, will have an early release day on April 8. LCS will not be running the after school Spark program so that all students can get home safely that day. I apologize for this mid-year change to the calendar but we feel that safety needs to be our priority in this case. 

In the meantime, I encourage you to learn more about the eclipse and to consider taking advantage of the many events planned by communities, businesses, and nonprofits across the state. Our own town library is preparing for it by planning learning opportunities throughout the month. Below are some helpful links to help you plan:

Annual Town Meeting/School District Meeting March 4 6PM: I’m looking forward to attending my first Annual Town Meeting on Monday, March 4, 2024 at 6:00 PM at Burnham Hall. Information about that as well as the March 5 Local Election can be found on the Town website. The school district annual meeting will occur during the Town Meeting. Information about the proposed FY25 school budget can be found on our budget page on our school website. 

LCS Website: Speaking of our website, we’ve been continually working on the LCS website, including building out a Child Nutrition Services page which now posts our monthly meal menu. I encourage you to take a look and provide feedback to us if you feel there is any additional information you feel would be helpful to include on the site. You can also get updates and view amazing photographs on the LCS Facebook page. 

Have a great weekend!

Amy