Mary Hogan Family Newsletter

Dear Mary Hogan Families,

We rolled into November like everyone knows the routines and is in a groove in classes. It is pretty awesome to see. The students are taking care of themselves across the day and they are taking care of others. They do this in so many big and little ways - from walking a friend to the nurse when they get hurt to listening closely at All School Meeting. Each little thing adds up to make others feel connected and belonging. Our students are awesome!

The students really loved spending time together this past Wednesday at our November Community Day. We had an All School Meeting, led by 4th grade, then buddies had time together - to read, to play, to explore, and more! We also read the November Community Read - Sharice's Big Voice - together. You can click on the link and read it again with your child online. Its a great read!

💙,
Jen

Monday 11/10 - 5.30pm - Cooking with NOM (NOM will email participants with more info)

Sunday 11/16 - 4.15-5.30pm - FREE Mary Hogan Family Skating Night at the Memorial Sports Center (more info in MESA Message)

Wednesday 11/19 - 5.45-7 - Math Night! (see below)

Thursday 11/20 - 6.30 - MESA meeting in Mary Hogan Library (see more below)

Please come in and enjoy a free pasta dinner with our community. It’s a chance to recognize every child’s effort and growth in math. When families explore math together, children feel more supported and confident. You can visit classrooms to play math games with your mathematician, view student work, and learn more about at-home resources.

You may have read in the Addison Independent story that ACSD is helping all families to make sure our students have enough to each when they are not at school, especially with the delay in SNAP benefits.

As part of this work to bring our community together and help each other, MUHS, MUMS, and Mary Hogan are teaming up to host a food drive. Starting Monday 11/10, we will be collecting non-perishable foods that will be donated to HOPE on Fridays until 11/21.

If your family is able to contribute, HERE is a list of foods HOPE that are of highest need. Students can bring in their food and leave it in the round container in the main entryway. Thank you for helping our community and talking with your children about how we all need a little help sometimes and how to help neighbors.

For the November Reading Challenge, we are encouraging students to learn about Vermont! Students can learn about an animal that lives in Vermont, a famous person from Vermont, a book by a Vermont author, or complete a webquest to learn about Vermont facts! We can't wait to see who many students will complete this challenge! This is the link for more information- https://sites.google.com/acsdvt.org/november-library-challenge/home

HERE are some tips and 2 recipes for how to best use winter squash.

Here are some other recipes!

• Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs - Eating Well
• Winter Squash Black Bean Burgers
• Delicata Squash Smiles
• ​Butternut Mac and Cheese

Wednesday was our November Walk and Roll to School Day. Many students, despite the colder weather, walked, rolled, carpooled, or bussed to school on Wednesday. They got prizes from reflectors to be more visible when walking in the winter to stickers.

We hope you all keep walking and rolling this month. It is so good to get outside, even when it is cool out!

We had a great All School Meeting, led by the 4th graders. The meeting actually started with two 5th graders offering a land acknowledgement, something they started us learning about and doing in October.

Then the 4th graders took over to lead us in a greeting (low/deep voice greeting), help us learn about our Community Reads book (Sharice's Big Voice) and the Ho-Chunk Nation that Sharice is a part of.

After singing the Vermont State Song, we thought about what it meant to be a communicator - not only talking but also listening. Communicator is our Learner Profile attribute of the month and something we are working on each day. The 4th graders did a great job modeling this throughout the meeting.

They also communicated with us and showed how knowledgeable they are with math by taking raw data about what we liked best - apple sauce, apple pie, or apple crisp - and making it into a graph!

Finally, 4th graders ended the meeting by sharing about what a haiku is and the haikus they wrote about many different kinds of winter squash. Their poems are beautiful and reflect students' learning as well as their thinking and creativity.

Mrs. Bibb followed up with a bit more Farm to School news when she shared how many garlic cloves were in a bag. Students had estimated the answer in the previous 2 weeks. And instead of telling us the number, she showed us the 10 frames with garlic her class used to count the number. Check out the slide show to find the answer for yourself!

Buddies had so much fun together on Wednesday. Some went for a story walk and others went out to our garden to examine winter squash (how do they smell and feel? Are they similar or different?). Some stayed in and read a book to each other. Others practiced coding together in a game. No matter where students were in the building they were smiling and enjoying each other's company.

The 1st grade classes are finishing up their current of inquiry centered on how the world works. This unit is centered on economics but also is all about social, communication, and self-management skills.

Students created their own shops, gathered materials here and among families, and then priced their items. In Mrs. Flint's room today they opened their shops to classmates and went shopping for the items they identified as things they wanted to buy (and were in their budget). All of the students were so proud of their shop and loved shopping!

We counted and there were 109 cloves of garlic that needed to be planted. Some students prepared the garden beds and then nestled the garlic cloves into their winter beds this week. Garlic are some of the only plants we put in the garden in the fall. Want to learn more about planting garlic? Check it out HERE.

Now, it is a waiting game to see how many come up in the spring!

Hi Mary Hogan Families,

You’re invited to MESA's annual FREE Mary Hogan Family Skating Night! This is one of our favorite events of the year, and we can’t wait to see you there.

Event Details:
When: Sunday, November 16th | 4:15–5:30 PM
Where: Memorial Sports Center (296 Buttolph Drive)
Who: Mary Hogan students and their families/caregivers
Cost: FREE (skate rentals included on a first-come, first-served basis)
• Sizes available: Youth 8–13, Junior 1–5, Adult 6–13
Helmets: Strongly encouraged but not provided
Note: An adult must accompany students-no drop-offs, please.

The concession stand will be open, offering hot chocolate and snacks for purchase. Come skate, laugh, dance to music, and enjoy time together as a Mary Hogan community!

MESA sponsors this event in partnership with Friends of Middlebury Hockey.

We look forward to seeing you on the ice.

Warmly,
Meghan Dishaw
Co-Chair of Events, MESA

Dear Mary Hogan Families,

Please mark your calendars! MESA is excited to partner with members of our ACSD School Board to host a Town Hall style conversation during our upcoming November 20th meeting held in person at 6:30 p.m. in the Mary Hogan Library. For those unable to attend in person, a virtual option will also be available: Link to November 20th MESA meeting

. Plus, I heard there will be yummy snacks!

Additionally, the School Board is also seeking feedback on the C-30 policy, which relates to school placement and choice within our district. They would greatly appreciate hearing from families. I just completed the brief survey myself, and it took less than five minutes:
C-30 Policy Feedback Survey

We can't wait to see you on November 20th for what promises to be an evening of connection, collaboration, and meaningful discussion. engaging and informative evening about our district's future.

Warmly,
Meghan Dishaw
MESA Co-Chair of Events

Our next meeting will be in November (11/20).

No December meeting

Meeting in January (1/15)

No February meeting

Meeting in March (3/19)

No April meeting

Last meeting in May (5/21)

No June meeting.

-All meetings are at 6:30 in the Library (no roundtable, unless a particular topic is brought up in advance that we'd like to discuss).

-There will be links for families to attend virtually if they'd like.

-We'll continue to bring snacks/drinks.

-Children welcome!

-They will only last an hour.

Last fall, Superintendent Baker held meetings with Bridport & Shoreham teachers and families to review student performance data and discuss how best to support greater academic success. This summer a working group of Bridport and Shoreham families formed a working group to help design a K-5 single-grade model at one school for the Board to consider for the 2026-27 year.

We now invite our ACSD community to offer feedback using this community survey which includes an overview of the Working Group’s design. All community feedback will be shared with the ACSD Board on November 10th. The Board will review the final design and all feedback in November to determine the 2026-2027 path forward for Bridport & Shoreham students.

We are so grateful to our family and community volunteers! If you plan to volunteer for an event or activity this year, now is a great time to apply or make sure your paperwork is up-to-date!

• Learn more about the volunteer process here.
• Check in with your front office if you've volunteered in the past to make your paperwork is up to date.
• Fill out this form if you've never volunteered before and plan to this year.

Want to know more about the Volunteer Process? Check out more information HERE.