Dear Barstow Families,
I hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer! While there is certainly no need to rush the remaining days, signs of a new school year are beginning to appear throughout Barstow Memorial School.
These next few weeks will see a lot of activity inside and outside of the school as new windows will be installed on the south side of the building and the back parking lot will be paved. Our custodians are hard at work finishing floors and putting all the finishing touches on our interior hallways, which have received a facelift with new paint and lighting. Mrs. Raymond has been restocking the school, and our teachers are beginning to return to prepare their classrooms. It is starting to feel like the beginning of another exciting school year!
Please keep an eye on your inbox for a welcome letter from your child’s teacher, which should arrive soon.
There is a lot of important information in this letter, so grab a cup of coffee, get comfortable, and feel free to read it in sections or return to it as needed.
New Faces in New Places
This year we welcome new staff either to the Barstow family or to new positions.
Brooke Makepeace is our new Second Grade teacher! She comes to us from Middletown Springs Elementary School and is excited to join us at Barstow!
Leigh Miles will be retiring on October 1st and will be assisting in Olivia Bowen’s transition to replace her as one of our Academic Interventionists. We wish Mrs. Miles well and are so happy to have Ms. B take her place!
Sarah Elliott is another new and friendly face that we welcome to Barstow. She will be working in Middle School as a paraeducator.
Lacey Mate-Ramage has been a wonderful substitute for us for years and now joins us as a paraeducator working in Middle School as well.
Finally, three teachers will be known by different names after their exciting summers. Ms. Wilcox is now Mrs. Bonar (Ms. Bo), Ms. Frisch is now Mrs. Wood, and Ms. Gecha is now Mrs. Ronn. Congratulations to all on your nuptials.
Dates for Your Calendar!
Chittenden Day is on Saturday, August 22nd. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at this fantastic community event! The PTO’s Barstow Bolt will begin at 10:00am with registration, a 1-mile fun run at 10:30 and the 5K Bolt at 11:00 am. Registration is $20.00 for kids and $30.00 for adults. Great t-shirts included! If you would like to participate, please email thebarstowpto@gmail.com. Please park behind the school to allow Chittenden Day vendors to set up in the front oval. From 12-4pm, join us for the Chittenden Volunteer Fire Department’s annual cookout, artisan showcases, festivities for all ages and so much more!
The big day, of course, is Wednesday, August 26th! That is our first day back to school for all K-8 students. I can’t wait to see everyone and hear about all their adventures over the summer! Our Pre-K students will have an orientation meeting for new families at 9:30am on Friday, August 28th and will officially begin school the next week. 4-year-olds will start on Monday, August 31st, and 3-year-olds will start on Tuesday, September 1st. Please remember that there is no school for any students on Labor Day, Monday, September 7th.
Mark your calendars to join us on Thursday, September 10th at 6:00 PM for Open House. On that night, you can meet our faculty and staff, see your child’s classroom, and meet and mingle with other families. We will also have a book fair running from 5:30 to 7:30 in the library.
Finally, Our PTO continues to be a wonderful presence in our school community. They are offering in-person and virtual monthly meetings and are always looking for new members.
Registration & Communication
To our newly registered families, welcome! Thank you for completing the registration process (including updating your parent portal with residency verification information) prior to the first day of school If you have questions or concerns related to registration or updating your profile in PowerSchool, please contact the registrar at registration@rnesu.org.
For returning students, next week, you will receive an email with a link to complete your student's 2026–2027 Student Registration in PowerSchool. All families are required to complete this annual registration. Please complete it as soon as you receive the email to ensure we have your student's most current information. If you do not receive the email by Friday, August 15, or if you have any questions or experience any issues completing the registration, please contact registration@rnesu.org or call 802-247-6833, Ext. 2605.
This year, we will continue to use text messaging and email notifications to remind you about early release or other important events. We pull information from your PowerSchool portal, so if your information changes, please help us stay in contact with you by updating your contact information. One way to know if we have your most current information is to look for the Barstow Bulletin, my weekly newsletter, in your inbox each weekend and let the front office know if you are not receiving it. We can help you get and stay connected.
We will also continue to offer in-person or virtual IEP, 504, EST and any home/school meetings. Please communicate your preference to the person who sets up the meeting. We remain committed to a high level of home-to-school communication.
If you would like to follow us on social media, you can find us at:
Barstow Memorial School 
barstowbobcats
**Should you not have access to email, please let us know at the front office so that we can send a hard copy of home/school information home with your child.
The Barstow Family Handbook is a terrific resource that can answer questions you might have regarding procedures at Barstow. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about school procedures or district policies.
School Supplies
As always, Barstow provides a Free and Appropriate Education for all of our students, so there is no need to send in school supplies for your child. All teachers appreciate donations to their classroom supplies, however. If your child’s teacher does not send home an optional wish list, any donations of these items would be greatly appreciated:
16-Count Crayons
Pencils
Colored Pencils
Glue sticks
Sticky Notes
3x5 Notecards
Emergency Operation Procedures
Barstow uses a set of standard response protocols in an emergency. This School Emergency Information Guide for Families can help you gain a greater understanding for how our school will respond in the event of an emergency. Throughout the year, we will share our ever-updating plans as we work with the Chittenden Volunteer Fire Department, Chittenden Emergency Management Team, the Vermont State Police and our central office to improve our response plans. If you should ever have any questions about these response plans, please feel free to contact the school.
State Meals Program & Household Income Disclosure
The Vermont Universal Meals law ensures that students receive meals through their schools at no charge. However, this does not change the Agency of Education’s need to collect student-level household income information. Please complete the Household Income Form from the Agency of Education linked below. This information is critical for all families to fill out. Your input helps the school and district qualify for many state and federal programs, not just free and reduced meals. I appreciate your attention to this.
Please complete the electronic form here:
https://education.vermont.gov/householdincome
Bus Routes and Drop-Off/Pick-Up Routines
All bus routes will be posted on the school website and sent out by email as soon as they are released from Central Office. This is typically a couple of days before school starts.
The structure for drop off and pick-up will look the same as last year. Students may be dropped off as early as 7:50 AM and as soon as an adult is present at the South Entrance (playground entrance). Please do not let your child out of the car or wave them into your car until your vehicle’s front door is even with the cones at the entrance. This is our safe zone for drop-off/pick-up.
At drop-off, after you come up the hill, please split into two lanes. The right lane is for any families with a student in the car who is in grades 5-8. All those students (even your younger students) will exit the car past the south entrance drop off at the stop sign. A crossing guard will guide them across the left lane to the front entrance of the school. The left lane has three drop-off areas marked by cones. Please pull up so your card door is equal with the cone. If your child is in pre-k or if you need to get out of your vehicle to assist your child in exiting the car, please pull up to the last cone for drop-off. This will keep the lanes moving smoothly.
Early Release Days
RNESU will continue these days again this year. Learners will be released once a month at 11:30 AM. Lunch will be sent home with those who sign up for it. The dates for these release days are listed on our District Calendar. They are also on the calendar on our website.
BYC and Middle School Sports
The BYC is putting it's final touches on the upcoming fall sports season for children in grades 3-6! The deadline for registration is August 21st. Practices for grades 3-6 soccer & co-ed flag football begin the first week of school, so please make sure you have registered AND paid for your child. Questions? Reach out to Mr. Gallagher: jamiergall@me.com
For our 7th & 8th grade students, soccer practice will begin on the first day of school from 3:00-4:00. Please use this link to register: Barstow Sports Registration. Parents, please plan to attend a brief Family meeting from 4:00-4:30 on that first practice day to meet the coaches and ask any questions you might have about the upcoming season. Our first game is scheduled for September 14th!
As the final days of summer dwindle away, I hope you and your family are able to enjoy them. We look forward to seeing all the kids soon and wish you all an excellent start to the school year. As always, please reach out if there is anything we can do to help make that happen!
See you all soon,
Bob
Bob Myers
Barstow Principal
E-mail: bmyers@rnesu.org
(802) 773-6926 ext.2502