MUHS Community Newsletter

Dear MUHS Community,

What fun it was to have students back in the building this week!

One of the best parts of our day is the Zero Hour (8:00-8:40 AM) when students have a lot of choice about how they spend their time at school.

The Zero Hour gives MUHS students a little extra breathing room before most classes begin at 8:45. Attendance is optional unless students are enrolled in Jazz Band, Camerata Singers, or Accountability Hour.

Students who arrive early can enjoy breakfast with friends, read or work in the Library, get extra academic help in the Learning Lab, work out in the Fitness Center, play in the Gym, participate in clubs, or connect with our Nurse, counselors, Prevention Specialist, or Social Worker.

New this year: Students can get extra help with math and writing on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and chemistry on Thursday mornings in the Learning Lab/Library. Teachers will be on duty and happy to help!

If you’re not an early bird? Sleeping in is encouraged! We love that Zero Hour provides a more relaxed start to the day while helping students arrive ready to learn when most classes begin at 8:45.

Warmly,

Caitlin Steele, Principal

James Kiefer, Assistant Principal

Julie Pettis, Student Response Coordinator

Sean Farrell, Activities Director.

T.I.G.R. Design class is looking for Legos! If you would like to donate Lego building blocks, please bring them to the front office.

The driver shortage has made start-of-the-year busing patterns especially tricky. Big thanks to our district office for continuing to troubleshoot and problem solve on this front. And thank you to families for your patience as they work toward sustainable solutions.

This year there are multiple locations that function as "bus hubs" for students to make connections. Here are the guidelines to ensure safety at those hubs:

ACSD Bus Hub Rules

2026-2027 School Year

Purpose

To ensure the safety and well-being of all students during transportation exchange periods at all Bus Hubs. Bus Hubs are defined as shared stops and/or interchanges where multiple students may board, transfer, or disembark at one time. Unlike K-12 schools, Bus Hubs are unstaffed transfer areas which require riders and their families to adhere to the following guidelines:

Guidelines for Families

• Pre-Arrival Supervision Required: Students must remain under the supervision of a parent or guardian until the bus has arrived and the student has safely boarded.

• Arrival Time: Please do not drop off students before the designated bus arrival window. Unsupervised students left at the hub prior to bus arrival create significant safety and behavioral concerns.

• Safe Waiting: While waiting for the bus, please keep students in the designated waiting area, away from the bus lane and traffic.

• Respectful Conduct: We ask that all students remain calm, respectful, and follow instructions while waiting to ensure a smooth boarding process.

• Punctuality: Ensure you arrive at the stop at least 5 minutes before the scheduled bus arrival time.

• Off-Limits Areas: Please note that the school building and playground are off-limits while waiting for the bus.

Conditions

• Failure to adhere to these guidelines may result in the loss of bus stop privileges at the Hub. (The bus will still provide a home pickup option).

• Repeated issues will be referred to school administration for further review.

There is still space on the Science Department Southwest National Parks Trip. This trip is running during February Break 2027. Any student taking an MUHS Science class is welcome to join.

If you are interested, please email Ms. Manley at lmanley@acsdvt.org or check out this link.

MUHS Library staff Stephanie Sherman, Louise Carl, and Claire Schreiber welcome back our school community to the MUHS Library!

Monday - Friday from 7:45am-3:30pm

Early Release Days: 7:45am- 1:00pm

Check out this year's Green Mountain Book Award Books!

The Green Mountain Book Award is designed to encourage Vermont's young adults in grades 9-12 to become enthusiastic and discriminating readers. Fifteen novels are nominated every school year, and students vote for their favorite in the spring.

The 2025-2026 Winner was Not Like other Girls by Meredith Adamo.

The MUHS Library Catalog is the place to go to search our book collections and access our virtual library including academic databases, ebooks, audiobooks, streaming video, and newspapers and magazines. All students and staff have access to thousands of popular ebooks and audiobooks, plus new comics and magazines via the SORA app from Overdrive. SORA is the school library version of Libby used by Vermont’s public libraries. Content is available on mobile devices (outside of school) and school-issued Chromebooks.

Join BOOK CLUB - In the Library every Tuesday morning (8:00AM - 8:40AM)

Join Mrs. Sherman, Claire, and Kathryn from Ilsley Library on Tuesday mornings. Stop in the library to sign up or show up in the library Tuesday morning to join us! Our first book club pick is Sunward: a novel by William Alexander.

• You’ve hopefully seen the exciting news that the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting for the Ilsley Library is Saturday, August 29th!

• PBS Reads on the Road was in Vermont last week. Watch the episode which features Vermont authors, libraries, indie book stores, and Vermont’s rich literary connections.

• Vermont Humanities Vermont Reads selected book for 2026 is Charity and Sylvia by Tillie Walden, the award-winning, Vermont-based cartoonist. Featuring Vermont 19th century history and the true story of the famous Weybridge couple, Charity and Sylvia

September 4-7 - No School, Labor Day Weekend

September 10 - Open House

September 21 - No School

October 7 - Early Release (School ends at 12:40.)

October 21-22 - Progress Conferences

October 22-23 - No School

October 30 - End of Quarter 1

Check out the MUHS Events Calendar online here.

Of Note: We often use AI to help with this newsletter. Our most common prompt to ChatGPT is, "Please revise this for clarity and brevity."