Interim Principal Unanimously Appointed to Permanent Roles on Tuesday Night

On December 10, 2024, the Burlington Board of School Commissioners unanimously approved Superintendent Tom Flanagan’s recommendation that Sabrina Westdijk be named principal of Burlington High School effective immediately. Westdijk has worked in BSD for the past several years, serving as an Assistant Principal and Principal at Edmunds Middle School before joining the BHS team last fall. Since stepping into the role of BHS Interim Principal in 2023, she has made great strides improving systems, supporting anti-racist teaching practices, and focusing on student achievement. Prior to entering administration, she was a classroom teacher for fourteen years as an elementary art teacher and a secondary English Language Arts teacher.

To visit BTC, students must use this link to sign up AND they must complete and return the BTC permission form to Ms. Stein in room 209a by January 9th.

To visit CTE, students must use this link to sign up AND they must complete and return the CTE permission form to Ms. Stein in room 209a by December 20th.

Greetings, BHS Families, Students and Community. Please check out this week’s BHS Newsletter here, and consider providing feedback on the new format with a survey linked inside.

Contents in this week’s issue include

• a review of the late arrival and early dismissal procedures (student call-outs)
• upcoming events, including the fall musical, a Junior parent info night, and the BHS Culture Night Dinner
• upcoming opportunities for students, including extracurricular activities, travel abroad, and after school programs
• other news and celebrations!

With appreciation,

Sabrina

Hello, parents and caregivers of the Class of 2025!

As your student prepares for their final year of high school, we invite you to join us for an evening presentation designed to provide the tips and tools you’ll need to support your senior’s journey to post-secondary success. Please join us for our annual Senior Parent Information Night on Thursday, September 19th, 2024 from 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm.

Can you believe we’re already at the midpoint of summer vacation?! While you enjoy this restorative time, the BHS School Counseling Department continues to work diligently to finalize student schedules for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic school year. Yesterday, our Data Team completed their rollover of the drafted schedules in PowerSchool, so some of you may have noticed a temporarily visible schedule during this transition. Please note that those schedules were not meant to be seen because we’re not quite finished yet. This error has since been corrected and previews of the drafted student schedules are no longer visible. 

Students may expect their class schedule and more information about the upcoming school year, including 9th Grade Orientation and Add/Drop Week procedures, to be released on August 12, 2024. Students will have the opportunity to schedule time with their assigned School Counselors during Add/Drop Week to discuss and finalize their schedules for the year. 

Mark your calendars with these important dates: the first day of school for all BHS students is Monday, August 26, 2024. Add/Drop Week will run from Tuesday, September 3 – Monday, September 9, 2024. 

We hope you may enjoy these remaining weeks of vacation and look forward to welcoming you back for the new school year soon!

Please remember that starting on Thursday, 5/30, BHS is on a special schedule for the YES Program. Credit Recovery (for those students eligible to attend) begins on Friday, 5/31. If your student is not in credit recovery, they can arrive shortly before the start of the morning YES session, and are permitted to leave when their afternoon YES session ends. Here is the detailed schedule:

Daily Schedule

8:00-9:15 Credit Recovery (starting May 31)

9:30-11:30 Morning Course

11:30-12:15 Lunch

12:15-2:15 Afternoon Course

2:30-3:30 Credit Recovery (starting May 31)

NOTES

• Wednesday, June 5 is designated for morning classes only. Students will meet both before and after lunch with their morning classes.  
• Thursday, June 6 is designated for afternoon classes only.  Students will meet both before and after lunch with their afternoon classes.  
• Daily attendance of YES sessions is required! (Absences can result in not earning YES credit, which is an annual graduation requirement.)

From now until Sunday February 18, 2024, students may submit their class requests in PowerSchool for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic school year.
We encourage a review of the following helpful resources to help you finalize your selections: Course Request How-To Video, 2024-2025 Program of Studies, and the Course Request Worksheet needed for your grade level.

School counselors will conduct a thorough review of all requests next week in order to prepare for our follow up meetings, beginning after the February break. We look forward to connecting with you after this initial phase of the scheduling process!

Whether you are college-bound, training-bound, or not sure, this event is for you.

Workshop choices include

• Career Search: Finding the Right Fit
• College Search: Finding the Right Fit
• Paying for Education After High School
• Short-Term Training & Apprenticeships
• Navigating the Admission Procesds
• And more!

The trip is Thursday, March 14, 2024; 8:30 departure from BHS; 2:30 return.

Completed permission slips must be returned to Kate Stein in room 209a by the end of the day on Friday, February 23, 2024.

BHS is pleased to offer transportation to the event thanks to a generous donation from VSAC. Seating is limited to 40 participants.

Please contact Kate Stein, kstein@bsdvt.org with questions.