Teachers and staff from the Grand Isle School wave off their students as they head home for summer vacation. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
SOUTH HERO – A school year that began with big changes and new faces came to an end this year as Grand Isle County’s public schools let out for the summer.
Across each of the Champlain Islands’ schools, students and staff gathered in hallways and gymnasiums for ceremonies that celebrated graduating middle schoolers, accomplished classmates and their own achievements as they marked the end of another school year.
According to Ashley Hanlon, the principal at the Grand Isle School, the end of the school year brought a sense of pride after an anxious start ten months earlier.
This school year had been the first after local officials consolidated the Champlain Islands Unified Union School District’s programming in Grand Isle. For the first time, students attending the smaller North Hero School were moved into Grand Isle, and while there had been some concern about how the transition would play out, Hanlon said that the experience had been mostly positive.
“I’m really proud of our schools coming together,” Hanlon told The Islander. “I think people found some joy they didn’t know existed.”
In Alburgh, Timothy Francke ended his first year as the Alburgh Community Education Center’s principal in part with a final “Student of the Month” assembly in the school’s gymnasium. One by one, students came up to receive certificates celebrating their respective displays of curiosity, one of the many themes the school built its monthly awards around.
Shortly before dismissing his students, Francke thanked his students and staff for allowing him to “really enjoy” his first year as the elementary and middle school’s principal.
“It seems like just yesterday that I was standing before you, introducing myself,” Francke said. “I’m really looking forward to my second year as a Mustang.”
Students in South Hero marked the end of the school year with an annual Field Day event. On the lawn behind the Folsom Education and Community Center, students met with their counterparts from the two-grade cohorts they would learn with when school resumed in August for activities that ranged from volleyball and facepainting to races and other team-based games.
According to Julie Pidgeon, the Folsom Education and Community Center’s principal, the event helped students celebrate their accomplishments from the prior school year and reintroduce themselves to the larger community groups they would work with come August.
“It’s a chance for us to say to the kids, ‘You’re amazing, you’ve grown and we’re proud of you,’” Pidgeon told The Islander. “We had a lot of laughs, and the kids learned a lot.”
Teachers and staff from the Grand Isle School wave off their students as they head home for summer vacation. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Students and staff from the Alburgh Community Education Center gather in the school’s gymnasium for the elementary and middle school’s last “Students of the Month” assembly of the school year. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A class of elementary school students from the Alburgh Community Education Center gather for one of the many “Student of the Month” awards presented during the school’s last assembly of the year. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A student from the Alburgh Community Education Center collects a “Student of the Month” award from Timothy Francke, the elementary and middle school’s principal, on the last day of classes in Alburgh. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Students meet in the Alburgh Community Education Center’s gymnasium as Timothy Francke, the elementary and middle school’s principal, presents the last “Student of the Month” awards for the school year. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Timothy Francke, the Alburgh Community Education Center’s principal, gives one of his students a “Student of the Month” award during the school’s last assembly of the year. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A student from the Alburgh Community Education Center holds up their “Student of the Month” award during the Alburgh elementary and middle school’s final assembly of the school year. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
The Alburgh Community Education Center’s Timothy Francke poses for a photo with Lisa Arnold, an educator at the elementary and middle school, and the last “Teacher of the Month” winner for the school year. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
The Alburgh Community Education Center’s Timothy Francke shares a hug with Lisa Arnold after the educator won the elementary and middle school’s last “Teacher of the Year” award for the school year. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
The school year came to a close last week in Alburgh as the town’s elementary and middle school let out for the summer. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A student paints their face during the Folsom Education and Community Center’s end-of-the-school-year Field Day event. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Jamie Bedard, the Folsom Education and Community Center’s arts teacher, paints a chicken on first grade teacher Natalie Kendrach’s face during the South Hero elementary and middle school’s Field Day event. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A student paints their face during the Folsom Education and Community Center’s Field Day event helping mark the end of the school year. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
The Folsom Education and Community Center ended its school year this past week with both a “Step Up” event welcoming students with their new classrooms and cohorts for the next school year, as well as an outdoor Field Day event. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
The Folsom Education and Community Center’s Jamie Bedard helps a student with their face paint during the school’s Field Day event. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Students from the Folsom Education and Community Center race to return the ball during a volleyball game organized for the school’s end-of-the-year Field Day. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A student from the Folsom Education and Community Center in South Hero serves during a game of volleyball organized for the school’s Field Day. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A student from the Folsom Education and Community Center in South Hero serves during a game of volleyball organized for the school’s Field Day. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Students attempt to pass cups of water to one another during a game organized for the Folsom Education and Community Center’s Field Day. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A pair of South Hero students struggle to pass a cup of water to one another during a game organized for the Folsom Education and Community Center’s end-of-the-school-year Field Day. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A group of elementary school students from the Folsom Education and Community Center work together to hoist a parachute during the school’s Field Day event. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Students from the Folsom Education and Community Center gather beneath a parachute during the school’s end-of-the-year Field Day event. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A group of South Hero students lineup for “Dizzy Bat,” a game where students intentionally make themselves dizzy by spinning around a bat before sprinting toward a cone. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A student tumbles during a game of “Dizzy Bat” at the Folsom Education and Community Center. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Students pass cups of water between one another during a game organized for the Folsom Education and Community Center’s Field Day. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Students from the Folsom Education and Community Center chat with their teachers from inside a school bus after the last day of classes at the South Hero elementary and middle school. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Students and staff at the Grand Isle School gather to send off the school’s graduating sixth graders during the last day of classes at the local elementary school. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Younger students from the Grand Isle School share high-fives with the elementary school’s graduating sixth graders during the last day of the school year. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Younger students from the Grand Isle School trade high-fives as they get ready to leave for summer vacation. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Students from the Grand Isle School peak through the windows of their passing school bus as they say goodbye to their teachers for the summer. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A student from the Grand Isle School boards a bus on the last day of the school year in Grand Isle. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Staff from the Grand Isle School gather outside of the elementary school to bid farewell to their students as they head home for summer vacation. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A student from the Grand Isle School waves to their teachers from inside a passing school bus. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Teachers from the Grand Isle School wave to their students as school buses pull away on the last day of school. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A group of teachers gather outside of the gymnasium at the Grand Isle School to wave off their students as the last day of the school year comes to a close. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
A student from the Grand Isle School waves to their teachers from the back of a school bus as buses pull away from the elementary school on the last day of classes. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
Teachers and staff from the Grand Isle School wave to their students as they leave for summer vacation. Photo by Michael Frett, Islander Staff Writer.
