First Branch Unified District

Weekend News

October 9th, 2026

Upcoming Events:

10/5-10/16: Parent/Teacher Conference Window

Tunbridge Campus Conference Link
Chelsea Campus Conference Link

10/9: No School, In-Service Day

10/12: No School, Indigenous Peoples' Day

10/13: Tunbridge Campus Picture Day

10/14: Chelsea Campus Picture Day

10/16: Chelsea Campus, 5th-8th Grade Mountain Day

10/16: Twilight Campfire at Tunbridge Campus 5:00 pm-7:30 pm

10/18: Capstone &Headstart Family Outing (Pumpkins!)

10/20: Friends of First Branch Meeting

10/23: Early Release Day, Noon Dismissal, No Prek

10/29: Book Fair Night 3:00-6:00 pm

10/30: Educational Day, Women's Hockey at Dartmouth for K-4th Grade

11/1: First Branch Community Support Holiday Letter Due.

11/3: Picture Retakes Day

11/4: Early Release Day, Noon Dismissal, No PreK

11/5: High School Info Night at Chelsea Campus 5:30-7:00 pm

11/20: Tunbridge Campus Feast

12/2: First Branch Elementary School Winter Concert " Cookie Awards"

12/10: Chelsea Campus Feast

2026 Soccer Schedule

Grades 3rd-8th: Click Here!

Grades K-2nd. Click Here!

REMINDERS:

Tunbridge Campus opens at 7:15 am.

Crosstown Buses depart at 7:40 am; be there by 7:35.

Chelsea Campus opens at 7:30 am.

Dear First Branch,

Just a reminder that there is no school on Friday, October 9, or Monday, October 12. We look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday, October 13!

Picture Day is right around the corner! This year, the SU is working with a local photography company. One change is that families do not need to order photos ahead of time. The flyers with additional information are included below, and we encourage families to visit the photographer’s website for details.

📸 October 13: Tunbridge Campus Picture Day

📸 October 14: Chelsea Campus Picture Day

A big thank you to all of the community members who helped make Applefest happen today at the Tunbridge Campus! This is always such a fun event, and we are grateful for the time, energy, and community spirit that make it possible.

We hope everyone has a wonderful and restful long weekend. It's a great weekend to read!

See you Tuesday!

Be Well,

Janet Cash & Dan Rivers

Co-Principals, First Branch

First Branch

Community Support

Holiday Letter 2026

Due Date Nov 1

Friends of First Branch

(Parent, Caregiver, Community Group)

Hello!

I hope your school year is off to a good start. Please consider joining us at an upcoming event - there are a variety of opportunities to support our students, staff and community in the next couple of months -

Friends of First Branch Meeting

Tuesday, October 20th, 6pm

Meet with us in the Elementary Library and get involved in planning special events, fundraisers and celebrations of our students and staff.

If you'd like to attend by zoom email friendsoffirstbranch@wrvsu.org.

(As this is our first email of the school year, if you find yourself wanting off our mailing list, please reply to let me know :)

Thanks,

Eliza, and the Friends of First Branch planning crew

🐾 Tunbridge Campus

Random Acts of Poetry

October 7th, 2026

Thank you, 4th Grade, for such a fun day of poetry! Students led the morning announcements, shared poems they had written at lunch, and surprised us with “poems in their pockets” throughout the day! What a wonderful way to celebrate the joy of poetry and share your creativity with our school community. This work also connects to our 4th grade EL Model: Poetic Forms and Inspiring Minds!📚✨

Applefest

We had a great time at Applefest! 🍎 This year, students made cider, took on the challenge of eating a donut off a string, painted with watercolors, built scarecrows, and, of course, tasted plenty of apples! CLiF also stopped by with books to take for the long weekend!

It was a fun-filled day of fall traditions, creativity, and lots of smiles! 🍂🍎

In Fifth Grade Science, our first engineering unit is called Liftoff:

Engineering Rockets and Rovers, which is part of the Engineering Adventures curriculum developed by the Museum of Science, Boston.

Engineering Adventures is a curricular program that introduces children to engineering and the engineering design process.

Throughout this unit, children will learn about aerospace engineering and work to engineer model rockets and rovers. The unit is set in a real-world context: children will learn about the International Space Station, the Jet Propulsion Lab, and some of the work NASA scientists and engineers do.

There are many reasons to introduce children to engineering:

• Engineering projects reinforce topics children are learning in school. Engaging students in hands-on, real-world engineering experiences can enliven math, science, and other content areas.

• Engineering fosters problem-solving skills, including problem formulation, creativity, planning, and testing alternative solutions.

• Engineering and technological literacy are necessary for the 21st century. As our society increasingly depends on engineering and technology, our citizens need to understand these fields.

Chelsea Campus

"Life in the Middle"

Week 5

Click Here

Health HUB:

First Branch Virtual Backpack:

2 026-2027 First Branch Unified District Student/Family Handbook

2026-2027 Bus Routes

Backpack Program

First Branch Guide of Support

School Calendar

Registration Info for One Planet

Community Events & Opportunities:

Curious about travel? Ms. Mindy has information on the EF Educational Tour Program. Click here to learn more. These documents were at Chelsea Open House this week.

School Menus:

We Are Here to Help!

Our main offices are the best place to start!

Tunbridge: 802-889-3310

JASMYN Sprague, Admin Assistant

Chelsea: 802-685-4551

JAZLYN Locarno, Admin Assistant