Cougar Chronicle
October 10, 2025
Our students have been working hard on our school rules: We are safe, We are kind and We are here to Learn AND they are working towards earning an ALL SCHOOL CELEBRATION. We are planning a Fall Decoration Day... but we need your help in order to make this happen! We are in need of:
- Lots of pumpkins
- Pumpkin carving tools (safe for kids)
- Hay bales
- Adult Scarecrow clothes (will not be returned)
- Old sheets for ghosts
- PLAIN Brown paper leaf bags (to fill and decorate)
- Paper towel or toilet paper rolls
If you are able to donate any of these items, please sign up here. You can send things in with your child to be given to their teacher, or drop things off at the front office. We need donated items by Monday, October 29th.
With your help we can make this first celebration a fantastic, memorable event that was well earned!!
The students are close to earning their All School Celebration so we are planning to do this event on October 31, 2025 (tentatively scheduled from 1:00pm-2:30pm). We are looking for volunteers who can help run the below stations:
- Pumpkin carving or painting
- Scarecrows
- Making ghosts (Dead balls, white sheets)
- Paper crafts decorations (skeleton pattern and paper tubes)
If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out this form by October 21st!
We are planning an all school field trip/hike (with the exception of PreK, but we hope to go somewhere with them SOON) to Hubbard Park on October 27, 2025. Our rain date will be November 3, 2025. Please be on the lookout for permission forms that will be sent home next Tuesday!
We will be asking if any parents/guardians in the K/1 class are able to chaperone for this field trip but we should be all set with the other grades. However, if parents/guardians would like to join us on the hike, we would love to have you come with us! 😀 There will be a spot on the permission forms to include that information and we ask that only parents/guardians come and not any furry friends or younger children!
Next week, she will be at Calais on Tuesday 10/14, Thursday 10/16
10/11-10/12 - Rail City Fan Fest
10/13 -Indigenous Peoples Day - No school
10/16 - Families of Color Affinity Group Meeting
10/17 - Coffee and Conversations with the Superintendent @ East Montpelier Elementary
10/27 - Field Trip to Hubbard Park (Everyone except PreK)
10/31 - Halloween Costume Walk
11/1 - 2025 Calais Halloween Spooktacular
11/3 - Field Trip to Hubbard Park (Everyone except PreK) RAIN DATE
1/4 - Parent Advisory Team Meeting
11/7 - Picture Day Retakes
11/13 - Friends of Calais Meeting
11/21- Coffee and Conversations with the Superintendent @ Rumney Memorial School
12/19 - Coffee and Conversations with the Superintendent @ Berlin Elementary
1/16 - Coffee and Conversations with the Superintendent @ Calais Elementary
Hi Calais Cougars!
Today we are interviewing Astrid.
Her favorite color is teal.
Her least favorite color is white.
Her favorite animal is a hedge hog.
Her least favorite animal is a caterpillar.
Her favorite food is watermelon.
Her least favorite food is meat.
Her favorite sweet food is mint ice cream.
Her least favorite sweet food is coconut candy (same).
Her favorite sport is gymnastics (no surprise).
Her favorite show is Bluey.
Bye for now!
Ms. Scoop
The Calais Parent Advisory Team met this past week and there are many exciting opportunities being planned for this year. Be on the lookout for sign-ups and more information, but we are looking forward to great things happening this year. If you have any questions or would like to join the Parent Advisory Team, please let Jarrod know.
Next meeting - Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 5:30pm in the Library.
Friends of Calais is a volunteer-led organization, collaborating to design fun, engaging events and programs intended to foster closer bonds within the Calais community. Click here for more information and to see a list of all of their upcoming events!
We’re excited to announce that Calais Elementary will have a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team this year! Phil Matheson and Luke Bennecker will serve as co-mentors, and we are looking for 4–5 more dedicated students (ages 9–16) to join. FLL is not just playing with LEGOs—it’s a hands-on challenge that combines robotics, research, and engineering. Team members must commit to 2–5 hours per week with meetings on Mondays at 4:00 PM at Calais and an additional weekend meeting added later in the season as we prepare for the December competition in Montpelier. If more students sign up than we have space for, we will hold a lottery and create a waitlist. Interested students should review the FLL challenge resources (linked below) and submit a short note about why they want to join the team. If your child is interested, please contact Phil Matheson at philej@gmail.com.
Teamwork and Creativity for Children and Youth
https://www.destinationimagination.org/
We are hoping to start Destination Imagination teams for kids and teens this fall in Washington Central afterschool programs. This Challenge Experience is a fun way to do STEAM (STEM + Arts) projects and build social-emotional skills through teamwork.
Each group will do lots of creative activities, and collaborate on a project Challenge in one of these genres: Scientific, Technical, Engineering, Fine Arts, Improvisation, or Service Learning. Teams present their Challenge solutions in March at the State Tournament in Barre.
To make this happen for our students, we need adult Team Managers to supervise and facilitate team meetings once or twice a week after school. Vermont DI provides training, resources, and ongoing consultation. Are you interested? Please contact vtdicreativity@gmail.com
Quiet weekend on the sports front - other than practice for PK-K and 1-2 there are no games this weekend. Games this coming week for 5/6 Girls (10/15 @ Calais Rec Fields), 3/4 Coed (10/14 @ Calais) and I know 5/6 Boys have games (but I can’t remember, even though I have a kid on that team 🙂). On Saturday the 18th there are Jamborees for all the 1-6 grade teams and we will share that info next week.
Hey Families!
The deadline has passed for Basketball Sign-ups, but PLEASE still sign-up. Make sure to sign up as soon as possible. Basketball Registration Link
Sara Howard, Athletic Director Rumney/Doty/Calais
Wood Splitting Queen Kindling
Phone: 1-802-224-6718
Just Basics is partnering with Calais Elementary School along with The Humanity & Justice Calais Coalition to assist families in the Calais area with weekly food and household essentials.
Families who are interested may contact Caroline Munroe at Just Basics through her cell at: (802)917-8164 or by email at caroline@justbasicsvt.org or feel free to stop by Counselor’s Office or Main Office at Calais Elementary School or email Ruth Frisenda at rfrisenda@u32.org if you wish to complete intake form to receive items.
