The Doty Digest
September 22, 2023
Greetings Doty Families!
It feels like we are really in the school year now, I have to spend some time and think about how long ago we started. The rhythm of the days feels natural and like we are back in the school groove. It’s funny how the school year works, the first two weeks are just an exhausting blur and then you quickly get to the point where you wonder what you did when the kids weren’t around!
I have seen a couple of the white, fuzzy caterpillars on the playground. For those of you who weren’t around in the fall of 2019, these creatures can cause dramatic allergic reactions. We are reminding kids to leave them be. The littles especially are magnetically attracted to things that creep and crawl and this is one curiosity that we don’t encourage!
The VT Agency of Education has mandated that we do a “lockdown” drill before the end of September. I will be sending out our official letter to give notice at the beginning of next week. This letter is now mandated by the state. The sneak preview is that we will be doing this as a planned drill and that this one is about practicing being quiet and listening to directions.
Next week looks like it is going to be sunny again! We are getting to the time of year where we look for reasons to get the kids outside both to play and to learn. It won’t be too long before we are all huddled inside!
As always, thank you for sharing your students with us!
Gillian
From the Nurse’s Corner 9/22/23:
This week’s hot health topic is fall viruses. Many viruses float around our school, including the common cold, flu, COVID, and RSV. Since we have seen an uptick of one virus around school, I would like to focus specifically on Hand Foot Mouth Disease. Also abbreviated HFMD, this very common viral infection can start with a headache and fever, followed by mouth sores and tiny blisters on the hands and feet. The latest strain of this Coxsackie A virus may also cause tiny blister type rashes on the arms, legs and torso.
HFMD spreads from person to person, 3-6 days after exposure, by breathing airborne droplets, touching surfaces touched by an infected person, or having skin exposure with a contagious person. If your child develops HFMD, they may return to school 24 hours after being fever free without fever reducing medication, and their blisters are healing and drying. Hand Washing helps prevent transmission, and we are encouraging hand washing multiple times a day in school.
If your child is sick with any virus, whether it’s a cold or HFMD, please allow them to rest, encourage extra fluids, and treat the symptoms. Please consult with your child’s healthcare provider if you are concerned about their condition. You are welcome to call the health office if you have any questions. Be Well, Nurse Lydia
Several Helpful links: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/11129-hand-foot-and-mouth-disease
https://www.cdc.gov/hand-foot-mouth/index.html
A Glimpse Into The Classes - by the 6th graders
Chrissy's PreK - "They painted, they read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and other books. They went to the Library and had PE and Guidance. They celebrated Jaxon’s 5th birthday!!"
Ms. Julie's Kindergarten and 1st grade - "Ms. Julie's class has been studying apples and Johnny Appleseed. The recently made crock pot applesauce. Soon they will make paper bag scarecrows. During math they are learning about Ten's Frames and how to "turn and talk"."
Ms. Frantz's 1st and 2nd grade - "They talked liked a pirate, read pirate stories, made pirate hats for "Pirate Day". They read stories by David Shanon and came up with different endings for the stories."
Ms. Fayle's 3rd and 4th grade - " The 3/4 class is learning the scientific method by solving a mystery using paper chromatography. They have been writing narratives with a focus on strong emotions and where they feel them in their bodies. Third grade math is finishing up rounding and place values as their first unit of the year! ."
Ms. Honi's 5th and 6th grades - "Sixth graders have been working on the area of parallelograms. The whole class is learning and using new vocabulary. During Science students have been studying the river and they are building rock towers."
